Plot

Peter Lu's Freshman Mushroom Project plunges attendees into the heart of a discomforting, autobiograpical live performance that examines sexuality.

Both performers were given the freedom to improvise as they felt fit. Lee Ann sits on the throne. She looks like a doll but has the aura of a goddess. She is indifferent to Michael and to the audience. She looks straight forward with a goddess like authority. She may look indifferently at the audience but knows she commands their desires. She may read a book or check her phone. If she does, she does with a doll like grace that she owns and she is indifferent to the fact that people look upon her. Michael is nude on the floor, with his penis in a vacuum device. The horse is on the floor disassembled. Michael enthusiastically assembles the horse that he built himself. He is infatuated with his own accomplishment but believes he is performing his task objectively. Periodically, he glances towards Lee Ann and give the penis pump a few squeezes, but otherwise pretends like he is indifferent to her. Michael completes the assembly of the horse. When the horse is assembled, he walks into Lee Ann's space without looking at her as the penis pump dangles from his genitals. He takes the two ceramic vases on the pedestals. He brings them back to the horse and ties them onto the hole in the back of the horse and inserts the flog. He straddles the horse acting like he is testing it out. He glances towards Lee Ann, expecting her to come over and give him a good spanking, however soon he becomes self conscious and suppresses himself from acting overly desperate. After a minute of testing the horse out, he dismounts. He is embarrassed and ashamed but tries to hide it. He slowly disassembles the horse with much less enthusiasm, neatly stacking the parts as if they are going right back to the storage. I walk into the space and gently tap Michael on the shoulder. Then I walk to the curtains and let the audience know the performance is over.—Peter Lu of the Freshman Mushroom Project