The Substation has just kicked off its annual SeptFest. For the whole month of September, you can expect, among others, an art forum, a documentary on North Korea’s film industry, a mini-festival-within-a festival and, er, porn stars.

Yes, a certain Da Wood Brutal will be strutting his stuff alongside companions Rina Hangat (Hot Rina), Double D aka Dijilat Djari (Fingerlicker), Toshi Goheadgostunt (Toshi Forward Backward), BDSM aka Boy Dripping Sampai Muntah (Boy Dripping Till You Vomit) and LSD aka Leila Suka Daging (Leila Likes Meat).

Don’t get your knickers in a twist, though. These are just the cheeky nicknames of The Substation’s Artistic Director Noor Effendy Ibrahim and his collaborators in the experimental mouthful of a show Chapter IV: How To Dance Badly And Cock One Eyebrow When You Feel The Rumbling In The Ground, Burping As You Sneeze.

It’s the fourth instalment of a series that the performance/theatre artist has been exploring with fellow artist Rizman Putra on an ad hoc basis since the early 2000s. This year, they’ve roped in Bani Haykal and Nur Suhaili to play around with a situation involving “ex-porn stars”.

“We use the term very liberally, okay,” quipped Effendy. “(The series) is simply an opportunity for the four of us to just jam. For this show, the characters find themselves in a ‘concentration camp’ and each of us has a history of trying to rekindle his worth or relevance.”

They’re still working on it, but as Effendy clarified: “There’s no nudity or sexual simulation. It’ll centre around physicality and sound.”

And silly nicknames.

The festival’s eclecticism is further revealed in the rest of its line-up: Its Open Call programme presentations from emerging artists include a multimedia installation from visual artist Kin Chui, an improvisational piece from choreographer Chan Sze-Wei and an iPhone app-supported sound environment from sound artist James Lye. Film is represented by the 6th Singapore Indie Doc Fest, which opens with The Great North Korean Picture Show by Lynn Lee and James Leong.

Meanwhile, the Nanyang Technological University’s Centre For Liberal Arts and Social Sciences is organising an art forum titled Performing The Local In Singapore Arts, which will include a range of speakers from groups like TheatreWorks, Drama Box, Singapore Art Museum, W!ld Rice and Grey Projects.

This year’s SeptFest wraps up with, well, a show that’s like a mini-festival in itself.

After encouraging artist collaborators to create shows for its two-year experimental Decimal Points series, Cake Theatrical Productions is bringing them all back. Decimal Points: First Station will feature a series of performances all over The Substation. Rizman Putra, for example, will also be doing a solo performance titled In Search Of Sunshine In The Folds Of A Clutter. He’ll be sharing the theatre space with video artist Brian Gothong Tan, who revisits his quirky film-meets-theatre show Decimal Points: 4.44 with a “version 2” featuring half of the original cast, Jo Kukathas and Karen Tan.

Upstairs, you’ve got sound artist Philip Tan’s Serendipity, a piece done in two connecting classrooms featuring Edith Podesta and Sean Tobin. Meanwhile, designer David Lee will be doing a durational performance in the Random Room, where he’ll stay for close to 24 hours waiting for one-on-one conversations with audiences who he can’t see (they lend him something and he, in turn, will be making a piece of art for them).

Finally, collective Neon Tights, led by Nizam Supardi, will be doing an interactive installation that stretches from the building’s facade and lobby area to its toilets.

“We’re programming it a little bit like an ‘edgy festival’,” explained Cake Artistic Director Natalie Hennedige. With some of the performances overlapping, a ticket can get you to a maximum of two of the three “sit-down” pieces at the theatre and upstairs classrooms, and you can always queue up or check out the other two.

“Decimal Points is about creating and defining the spaces in which these artists can make their work. Once the frame is there, the artist just fills them in,” she said.

It’s a bit like SeptFest itself, actually. Said Effendy: “It’s got an eclectic kind of programming. We wanted to get at least one representation from the key art forms. It’s a culmination of indie stuff and new original work.”

Chapter IV: How To Dance Badly And Cock One Eyebrow When You Feel The Rumbling In The Ground, Burping As You Sneeze is from Sept 19 to 21, 8pm. Tickets at S$20.

Decimal Points: First Station is from Sept 27 to 28, 8pm. Tickets at S$35.

SeptFest runs until Sept 28 at The Substation. For details, visit www.substation.org/septfest.