Jealous/Pervert is a perversion of the Ancient Egyptian myth of Osiris infused with a contemporary story of a woman betrayed by her lover. Osiris – a king, a great lover, an innocent – is murdered by his jealous brother, Seth. Seth dismembers the body and scatters it about the land. Isis, Osiris’ love, collects the pieces, binds them together, and begets a child - Horus. Horus avenges Osiris’ murder in a battle with Seth. Seth’s demise allows Osiris, and all humanity, to be born again after death.

Our retelling of this tale of creation and destruction reveals a side of Isis not hitherto imagined - her jealousy.

Jealous/Pervert was originally conceived to be a juxtaposition of two separate original theatrical works: Jealous and Pervert. Jealous was based upon Mia’s personal experiences and fascination with feral emotions, mating rituals, tango, and motherhood, while Pervert was based upon Ian’s imaginative fantasies and fascination with sexual violence, primal animalistic drives, and innocence, and how they play out in ancient mythology and today. When the material was presented to Tom Stroud, it became apparent that the pieces naturally gravitated towards one another. Over the months leading to the production, we have been working to develop connecting tissues that not only unite Jealous and Pervert but also create a story that serves them both. Serendipity was one of our allies in this process, allowing us to bridge the seemingly gigantic gap between Ancient Egyptian mythology and contemporary emotions. It was surprising to find how we could relate current behaviour to “primitive” desires, allowing us to imbue our characters with a kind of timeless psychic sensibility. The tango, a kind of ritualistic dance of love, life and death, also had a hand in guiding the development of the play’s story, aesthetic, and atmosphere.

Jealous/Pervert is still at an early phase of development, and we look forward to witnessing its exciting evolution. We would like to thank Tom Stroud for his challenging and fearless direction, and Petra Steinert for her guidance and marvelous ideas.

- I.M. & M.v.L., out of line theatre

Concept & Development & Performance by Ian Mozdzen & Mia van Leeuwen
Artistic Collaboration & Direction by Tom Stroud
Choreography (selected) by Petra Steinert

A Note from the Director

The wonderful challenge in the creation of Jealous/Pervert has been to discover the connections between seemingly disparate elements … tango, mythology, sexuality, betrayal, vengeance, perversion, procreation, rites of passage, to name a few … and to weave these elements together using a blend of styles, disciplines and mediums. It has been a great joy for me to work on these challenges and to attempt to dig under the subject matter to learn how these ideas are connected. It has, as always, been a voyage of self discovery, a journey into our own psyches, which is what we hope to share with you this evening ... a mythological voyage through a psychological landscape, where the elements of style, narrative, image and poetry intermingle to mirror and question the nature of our own personal journey. Where the desires of the flesh embrace those of the gods, the bodies speak, and a tango begins. Many thanks to out of line theatre for including me.

- T.S.