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Culture Stage

Blair Williams

PIG by Tim Luscombe, directed by Brendan Healy, with Bruce Dow, Paul Dunn and Blair Williams. Presented by Buddies in Bad Times (12 Alexander). Opens tonight (Thursday, September 19) and runs to October 6, Tuesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinee Sunday 2:30 pm. Pwyc-$37. 416-975-8555, buddiesinbadtimes.com. See listing.


Buddies is known for starting its theatre season off with a bang. But this year’s opener, the world premiere of in-yer-face British playwright Tim Luscombe’s disturbing exploration of queer subcultures, promises to shock.

The non-linear story follows three gay couples who represent a range of relationship types, from civil partnerships to sadist rent boys interested in seroconversion parties. Blair Williams, known for his acting and directing work at the Shaw Festival, finds himself in emotionally challenging territory playing Stevie, a dramatist writing about a sadist who wants to infect his lover with HIV.

“It was a very, very difficult read,” says Williams about his first gloss of the script. “I thought it was horrific. I don’t understand how it can become something greater than the initial horror that strikes you, but it really has.”

With gentle yet fearless guidance from director (and Buddies’ artistic director) Brendan Healy, Williams was able to forge a connection.

“The psychological terrain is unlike any I’ve been in before. The fact that I’m playing a sadist made it initially very hard for me to find the humour, and I thought I had to be angry and cruel all the time. Brendan helped me realize that there are many different facets to these men. As a director, he’s looking to bring out the honesty, humanity and reality of the play. What does a sadist look like? What does an HIV-positive rent boy look like? There’s no absolute.”

Williams says the dark subject matter – especially the bug-chasing elements – is designed to provoke a much-needed conversation about the evolving subcultures around HIV/AIDS.

“In the 30 years since AIDS arrived, things have changed. With drugs we can live longer, we can be a little more invisible than we were in the early days of the disease, but there’s still an important conversation happening at a subcultural level.

“Tim’s theory is that for some, seroconversion is about tribal acceptance. There’s an element of consanguinity in gay men sharing blood – you’re marked in the way you are in a tribe when you become a man. There’s an element of family and of acceptance.”

Williams says the straight – and many in the gay – community don’t understand this discussion.

“They think, ‘Why would anybody want to get HIV? Why would anybody want to get seroconverted? It’s a death sentence’ and so on. Pig shows that it’s not black-and-white.”

Through this unflinching provocation, Williams hopes to foster a sense of acceptance around these new forms of love.

“I look forward to a time when human sexuality doesn’t shock, and hopefully that’s where we’re going with Pig. We can recognize the infinite varieties and not be afraid of what is within us.”

stage@nowtoronto.com

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