17c起草社区

Growing up in regional NSW as a queer millennial, Cleo Rapture wasn鈥檛 blessed with an abundance of gay representation.聽

鈥淚’m hearing slurs everyday, directed at me,鈥� she told 17c起草社区. 鈥淚 see one queer couple holding hands, and it鈥檚 like angels are getting their wings.鈥�

Thinking she had finally found salvation moving to the big smoke of Sydney, it wasn鈥檛 until what she describes as a 鈥渟tring of unsavory connections鈥� with her fellow queers that she realised community isn鈥檛 only determined through physical proximity to each other.聽

鈥淚t left me thinking, what? What are we doing? I thought we were better than this.鈥�

The revelation led to the birth of her immersive, one-woman show, Piss Be With You, a hilarious and immersive pole-based descent into the dykosphere.

鈥淚t’s me spitting my piss at people, my baggage, my sadness and my anger, but also, you know, holding one another in the piss, in the puddle, and floating together,鈥� she says.聽

Cleo says that her image as a 鈥渨hite, thoroughbred-looking, erotic figure鈥� helps to draw people in, despite any misgivings they may have about whatever piss-based poetics she鈥檚 about to deliver unto them.

鈥淚’m quite full in muscle and quite full in audacity,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o that entitles me to a certain energy. I can step into a room with my ass out and everyone knows, all right, she’s in charge.聽

鈥淚f I can get people laughing and drawn into the absurdity, that is my favourite thing in the world, because then, you know, if we’re all in on it, we’re all in on it, it means we can all have a good time, and we can all enjoy it. We don’t have to second guess ourselves. We don’t have to be anxious. We just know she’s in control. She is going to gently guide me through this ridiculous experience.鈥�

It鈥檚 this attitude and confidence that has seen Cleo establish herself as a prominent fixture of queer Sydney nightlife, earning her the persona as the city鈥檚 Pole Dance Daddy: intimidating, but ultimately nurturing.聽

Oxford Street has certainly seen its fair share of filth over the decades, so while Piss Be With You may feel right at home on its already sodden street corners, Cleo says audiences across Australia have had a somewhat mixed response.

鈥淔or some people it’s a confronting experience to have someone not just making themselves vulnerable for comedic purposes, but also vulnerable for a genuine moment of emotional release and emotional offloading,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 mean, it goes without saying, straight, white, middle aged men- it’s not really the show for them. I give them kudos for coming along with their wives.鈥�

Heterosexual, middle-aged and elderly women are unsurprisingly resonating deeply with the show and Cleo鈥檚 no-fucks-given attitude. It鈥檚 this domineering lesbian persona that queer audiences are also drawn to, many of whom are often left begging for more- one audience member told Cleo they were ready for her to actually piss on them.

鈥淥verwhelmingly, people are responding to the stories of bad sexual experiences, in the queer community specifically,鈥� Cleo said. 鈥楾hey’re saying 鈥業 thought it was just me having bad queer sex and me being disrespected.鈥� And I’m here to say no, because it turns out it’s an active choice to be respectful and to look after one another.鈥�

If you wade through the tides of absurdity, audience participation and religious satire, at the heart of the show you鈥檒l find a message of unashamed reclamation of one鈥檚 mind, body, and soul in the face of personal and political adversities, not just for our own good, but for the sake of our communities.

鈥淒on’t take on the shame of others, because that’s piss that you don’t need,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou’ve got your own to take care of, otherwise it will fester and putrefy like a UTI, and that’s gonna hurt you, and it’s gonna hurt the people around you.鈥�

Piss Be With You is playing every night this week at the QTopia Substation. Find more information .