America LoveSexDeath

As a matter of course, Billy the Mime, sometimes known as Steven Banks, does most of the things his Marcel-Marceau-trained colleagues do. He pretends to climb stairs, walks rapidly in place, and comes up against unforgiving walls. But when he does, he doesn’t just leave it at that. Not by a country mile.

In America LoveSexDeath, his macabre, highly disturbing, and wickedly provocative solo piece now playing at the Flea Theater, he takes these mime staples to dark places other mimes don’t think — or have the audacity — to go. In doing so, he’s daring audiences to stay with him or resist. My guess is that the stayers and the resisters will split about 50-50. Okay, maybe 25-75. Or if you factor in the fence-sitters and non-mime-lovers, of which I’ll declare myself one, 25-65-10.

The titles alone of some routines he’s created and performs indicate what confronts the intrepid patron. “A Night With Jeffrey Dahmer,” “The Priest and the Altar Boy,” “The Abortion,” and “A Day Called 9/11” were just a few of the 15 sketches at the press performance I attended. Left out of his nearly 40-sketch repertoire, but possibly to be performed on another evening, were “Dreams of a Young Crippled Boy,” “Kurt Cobain: Why?” “The Aristocrats” — which he does so brilliantly in the superlative documentary of the same name — and “Virginia Tech 4-16-07.”

The programs, no matter which sketches they include, represent what Billy clearly believes is an accurate portrait of the deranged way we live now and have lived for some time. Following the origins of the AIDS epidemic in “A Night in San Francisco:1979,” Billy is graphic about the flagrant sexual behavior that led to widespread fatalities. For “A Night With Jeffrey Dahmer,” he sees fit to include ingesting and body-parts sawing. In “The Priest and the Altar Boy,” he depicts a priest undressing a child clearly meant to be five or six and leaves little of the ensuing activity to the imagination. Nor does he neglect to show the silence-after-wrist-slap that the religious hierarchy makes its policy.

A lean fellow in expected white face (who at least once suddenly resembled Keith Richards), Billy has mastered the crisp movements that are an essential element of the familiar technique. Only occasionally can what he’s up to be difficult to read. During “JFK, Jr. We Hardly Knew Ye,” which consists of scenes from John Kennedy, Jr.’s life and early demise, what’s intended by the segments in which Billy reads and writes is obscure. For example, does he want to suggest the various occupations the ill-fated President’s offspring tried before settling on his George editorship? Maybe.

Material this outspoken (even if not actually spoken) is political, to say the least; but the politics can be confusing. For instance, in “The Abortion,” Billy mimes an illegal operation completed with a straightened wire hanger. Since the aborted fetus is distinctly a well-formed infant, Billy is obviously excoriating this type of abortion. But by doing so, is he implying that he’s pro-choice and that he wants solid laws that would obliterate illegal procedures? Or is he pro-life and condemning abortions no matter how legally they’re performed?

In the end, AmericaLoveSexDeath still hasn’t made me fall head over heels for the art of mime. I can admire expertise at the craft, while at the same time maintaining that my deepest emotions are almost never engaged. Even with someone as ground-breaking as Billy, I sense a preciousness of presentation that continues to keep me at a distance. Yet, I can absolutely recommend seeing this show for Billy’s nerve and his commitment to doing pioneer work — even if it goes a little too far for some audience members.