The Neo-Futurists’ “Cult Show”/Photo: Justin Lynk
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Do you believe in God? Yes? No? How about a compromise, you don’t have to, unless he’s real and you must. Deal? Then you are ready for the…
“Cult Show,” running through May 25 at the Neo-Futurist Theater, asks you to replace one God with another and rebel against a society that gives too little while you give too much. In fact, forget all this “you” nonsense; you were you, but now we’re we; we we we we we…
If you’re confused, don’t worry. This is on par for a Neo-Futurist show. Try to keep up.
Six cult members dressed like deranged Santa’s elves worship the six-sided god, Hexel, created by ChatGPT to guide its followers toward a future of paradoxical libertarian conformity via coded messages. Sure, we’ve seen it before. But have we seen it with marijuana advocates dancing a balletic waltz while using blue plastic bags to simulate crashing cymbals before attempting to suffocate themselves by placing the bags on their heads? I think not!
If this sounds goofy, sarcastic and “out there,” that’s because it is, and beneath the absurdity lies great depth. Directed and created by Jasmine Henri Jordan and Audrey Polinski, the cult members include Jordan and Polinski, with Alex Hovi, DeVaughn Loman, Joanna Jamerson and Lara Johnson.
The ensemble puts on a cult show with the audience as inductees, and they persuade us through skits that include tongue-in-cheek joke-telling, verbose screaming matches and moments that are genuinely frightening.
Through short, solo elucidations, we learn a little about the individual cult members. DeVaughn is staunchly against the group’s pro-weed stance. Jasmine recalls her own adult baptism while being sprayed in the face by a water bottle. Alex asks the audience to “come to my window; crawl in and wait by the light of the moon,” fulfilling the prophecy set forth in 1993 by the occult mystic, Melissa Etheridge. While playing minor chords on an electric piano, Joanna recalls her family’s near-involvement with Jim Jones and the Jonestown Massacre.
The Neo-Futurists’ “Cult Show”/Photo: Justin Lynk
The most touching backstory comes from Lara. Descended from a Christianized sect of Choctaw Indigenous Americans, she mourns the absence of her pre-colonial heritage while wanting to reconnect to her Christian upbringing. She tells the story of her people’s descent into the Trail of Tears while projecting slides of photos and newspaper clippings of her family and culture. Johnson pulls the bait-and-switch, luring us in with entertainment and leaving us with an education.
I can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as during the impromptu comedic set by “New Recruit” Thomas Kelly, one of a rotating cast of featured nightly guests. Kelly hides his broad frame behind a very large mustache. He delivers three poems (mostly about the woes of having large genitals) with jaunty dance interstitials introducing each one. Kelly’s sheepish manner and deadpan delivery brought the house down.
There are other treats. Two short films capture that creepy feeling of a popular horror trope, mysterious and grainy VHS tapes on an old television in a dark room. Sound and lighting design by Spencer Meeks creates an eerie atmosphere, with dark blue light casting ominous shadows on walls lined by tubular veins. A HAL 9000-type glowing orb rests center stage and spouts New Age maxims—“What is sacrifice?” The sense of “What WON’T they think of next” will keep you guessing.
The crew at Neo-Futurists knows how to put on a wild show. Absurd black humor and poignant biographies merge to create the image of a cult that is as fun as it is comedically dysfunctional. Will you drink the Flavor Aid? I lived to write about it, but maybe you’ll be the lucky one.
“Cult Show” runs through May 25 at Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 North Ashland. Showtimes are Thursdays–Saturdays at 7pm. Pay-what-you-can performances on May 9, 16 and 23. Tickets are $25 at neofuturists.org.
