Revolution is the name of a monthly BDSM event held in northern Italy, just out of Milano. As far as these things go, it's a quite innovative spin on the usual pervy party: in fact, a big part of it is actually a BDSM performance - partly theatre, partly erotic show, partly... something else, hard to pin down. If you want to have a look at it you can just jump to its bilingual website: it's got hundreds of photos and even videos from the performances.
Here is a look backstage, to learn about the wild world of BDSM showtime right from the mouths of the cast itself. Here's what they told us:

Ayzad (director)
When I was first contacted about Revolution I was given what you'd call a dream assignment: "Just make this monthly meetings the best BDSM event in the world". Cool - until I realized it really was a nightmare of having to build everything from the ground up: not just the concept itself, but a way of making it feasible in a small community such as the Italian one, where real players and dependable people are sparse at best.

Since the beginning I had this megalomaniac idea of "The 120 Days of Sodom as seen by Le Cirque du Soleil", meaning a very well-staged performance in terms of music, lighting and coreography, but based on really serious action - all the time making it sensually exciting. That means finding those rare players who are both competent and good-looking, not to mention willing to show their faces in the photos and videos we shoot for publicity. Also, I'm doing backward somersaults to keep the acts varied and somewhat consistent with a common storyline, while giving them a spin in order to bring some fresh air to situations most of us are excessively familiar with.
I usually spend the last week before the show panicking after the minutest details, from safety to backup acts, from technical problems to the building of any stage item we need. As a matter of fact, by the time the show's over I'm so out of adrenaline I can't really play myself... and it's a shame, given the wonderful place we're in and the great people attending Revolution.

The coming of summer brings a new type of event: it's longer, less structured, possibly a little more relaxing for me. So of course I'm working ahead for the Autumn performances, where we're really planning to blow everybody's mind - you could call me a perfectionist, but the sad reality is I'm probably just nuts.
So is all of this sweat and stress worth it? Well, since "it" is getting so many people hot and smiling... I can't think any better thing to damn myself for.

Guido (sponsor and financial manager)
Revolution started out as a marketing tool for our online BDSM shop, My Realities. We needed something to attract people's attention to the website, and seeing that everybody was lamenting the poor quality of most other Italian BDSM parties I thought we could well seize the opportunity to kill two birds with a stone, and give the Scene a great event to play, socialize and talk about. We knew Ayzad's good work for the community and he seemed the obvious person to turn this beast to, but his ideas snowballed and we really found ourselves at the helm of a monster. A kind one, mind you, but way larger than we'd planned, and probably more successful that we could initially handle. In fact, the merchant taking care of customers' payments just couldn't manage the explosive growth of business stemming for a big part from the success of Revolution, and we had to actually hold the shop for a few days while trying to cope.

What surprised me was the hostile reaction of part of the Italian BDSM scene: some gurus actually started a public campaign against "those people who sold themselves out", implying that making your living out of BDSM is somehow a betrayal of an idealized, noncommercial pervy utopia. I just can't get it: My Realities is actually just me and my companion Niky, and we're both passionate players since 15 years ago or so. We started this business out of passion, and to provide us and other players some way to get hold of quality items without having to buy them from abroad, or at incredibly inflated prices - and this is what we do. Success notwithstanding, Revolution is still very much in the red, and (unfortunately, yes) nobody's profitting from it.
But I prefer to look at the brighter side anyway: we're having fun, getting new people to know about proper BDSM, broadening our horizons in terms of activities or play style. Sure, I'll be happy if you'll buy the performances soundtrack CDs (they're great, really) or the t-shirt, but the best thing is to feel the guests' appreciation. If it was not for it, I'd probably opt for an altogether way of advertising... and it would be a shame.

Amatcase (sound & light engineer)
How do you turn what originally was a swingers club into a BDSM theatre? The first time I saw the 300+sq. meters stage area I couldn't believe we could cut it - and that comes from someone used to have to perform miracles for concerts of every size for a dozen years.
As it turned out I had a wonderful support from the club owner: they got me a pretty decent light set (but I'm pushing to improve it) and a seriously boss sound set. We added up a laptop PC for storing the whole soundtrack as high quality MP3 files, so that I can juggle and tweak it much more efficiently.

You wouldn't believe the intricacies of Revolution's sound design: our almighty director is big on psychoacustics, the science of controlling emotions through music and sound, so we're playing a very accurate selection of tracks, some of them subtly edited to convey special feelings. Honestly, I didn't believe it could work to such an extent. But well, the joke was on me: now I'm stuck in the goddamn D.J. box while the emotional feedback from the public rises and rises, the excitement (yes, in a sexual sense) grows... and I can't get down to play myself! Luckily I'm free to roam or dive in a private playroom when the performance is over, otherwise it would be the ultimate T&D game.

smell (performer)
I'm the all-round victim around here: when they need somebody to torture, every eye falls automatically on me. I'm not complaining, really, but it's a weird feeling. There's a video online where you can see me screaming as two slaves are pulling a "zipper" of some hundred clothespins or so from my body: believe it or not, that was my very first time with clamp-y toys, and with showing my face in an erotic video or photo publicly.
It was the same with the bullwhipping: "you just let us tie your wrists to that column, then relax..." they said. And there I went, skinned alive to Sade (not the marquis) songs. And with those pinwheels, and... Oh, well: I guess there are much worse ways for a slutty slavegirl like me to spend her time - and for the next show they already asked me if I was familiar with that Story of O scene with the whipping between two columns... I am. And can't wait to be a part of it.

Dayana (barwoman)
Working in an adult club you quickly get to see all sort of weirdness and weirdos, but the Revolution gang blew me away. I remember the first show, when they lighted up hundreds of candles, a kinda-Gregorian chant rose up and that girl got roasted under fifty more candles or so... I just couldn't believe it! In fact, nobody could. For the whole performance time the bar was just dead, and everybody simply stared mouth agape to what happened on the stage.
I thought they were just from another planet. Then I saw someone from the public gingerly stepping on her partner lying on the floor, and both obviously having fun. I asked a performer if I could try that myself: he "trampled" me (see? now I know the words!) and I sorta started to grasp what it was all about. Next time they're here, I gotta ask about those whips...

Mistress Ingrid (performer)
As a prodomme I know very well the importance of a good setting. The atmosphere does half the trick, and Revolution has lots of it. Going on stage there is like starring in a movie: a dream situation enhanced by perfect music and lights. Timing and coordination between performers is a bitch, but it's definitely worth it. The videos really don't give a good idea of what being there is like: there's something simply out of the world, and said by someone who's got a real operating room in her basement this means quite a lot.

Michele (club owner)
In the beginning I accepted the Revolution gig as a novelty act, mostly, as the club had just opened and I wanted to get a clientele as varied as possible. I'm in the adult club business since the Eighties, and I never did S/m because of the weird and frankly ugly folk I had always saw in that scene. These guys were very different from the start: when I discovered they were not showbusiness professionals I was honestly astonished. They've got more style you can handle, gorgeous women and men, and they pack the house everytime, soft openings included.
I'm still all for old-style sex, but now I'm trying to get them to do a second, fetish-y night a month.

Shakner (performer)
When they asked me if I wanted to be in the cast of Revolution I jumped at the chance, as the concept is something new from the typical sex show, a challenge against the norm and a bet we're trying to win with every performance. Our shows could be at home even in a regular theatre (have you seen La Fura dels Baus' XXX?) for their strict direction and scenography, with the big difference that our acts aren't simulated... it's all real, pure high quality BDSM.
The cast often jokes saying that these performances are hard work, but a great showcase to attract new play partners. I can't deny the exposure has its benefits, but what really excites me is how the performance blends into a public play party. You know that feeling at the end of a good movie, when you'd want to be part of the fictional world you've just seen? Here I feel like a star or a storyteller, creating a world of erotic fantasy... of which the guests can be part of! The performance is a stimulation to drive everyone to play, a setup very different from other parties where people spend the first hour just chatting and staring at an empty playspace. A revolution, in fact.

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