Phalluses, Freud, and pig ladies at the Groundswell Cafe

Why are those two men—those two brothers, no less—rolling around in a hysterically violently erotic embrace?

Why is everything shaped like that ceramic phallus from A Clockwork Orange?

What's with those two squeaking pig ladies with the nauseating Leatherface chompers and the twisted goat horns sprouting from their heads?

How does a riddle involving an infinite chess board and "Pachelbel's Canon" fit into everything?

And why, as the Simpsons' Martin Prince once asked, is all of this weirdness so strangely compelling?

The Room Nobody Knows is an off-planet theatrical piece from Japan's Niwa Gekidan Penino, ostensibly about the erotic fever dream of an overtired student.

In reality it's an assault on your rational mind, a challenge to conventional theatre, and a hell of a thing to talk about once you've sat there for an hour trying to make sense of it. It's like Mump & Smoot with blue balls in an eye-popping set designed by a young Derek Jarman, only way more Japanese. 

Local artists Elizabeth Milton and Cindy Mochizuki will be joined by Dr. Linda Kwa of the BC Psychological Association to discuss what you've seen when an HD version of the show (shot in Seattle) screens on Thursday (May 7) at Groundswell Cafe (566 Powell Street), at 7 p.m. (on a pay what you can basis).

As the media release says of the post-screening discussion: "Expect a hearty helping of Freud, and possibly costumes."

The Room Nobody Knows is presented by Theatre Replacement and their quarterly series ScreenTime, in partnership with the Powell Street Festival, as part of Vancouver Asian Heritage Month’s ExplorASIAN celebrations. See the trailer here.