CULT WAYWARD directed by Becky Johnson, with Carolyn Taylor, Lisa Merchant, Christy Bruce, Evany Rosen, Kayla Lorette, Ashley Comeau, Jess Bryson, Alessandra Vite and others. Presented by Bad Dog Theatre (875 Bloor West). Opens Thursday (April 2) and runs to April 30, Thursdays 9:30 pm. $15, stu $10. baddogtheatre.com/cult-wayward.
If you want to witness some cult comedy, head over to Bad Dog Theatre. Every Thursday this month you can watch Cult Wayward, the latest in Becky Johnson’s series of all-female improvised shows.
Two years ago, Johnson gathered some of the best female improvisers in the country to put on Wayward, set at a girl’s school. Last year they mounted Camp Wayward, set at a female summer camp. And now, buoyed by the success and the free-wheeling spirit of estrogen and anarchy, they’re putting on a show about a women’s cult.
“The idea originally came about because we were in this great moment when there were all these amazing women doing improv,” says Johnson, a member of NOW Readers’ Choice-winning the Sufferettes (with Kayla Lorette, who’s also in Cult Wayward) and the long-standing improv troupe Catch 23.
“But I realized that a lot of the great women who were my heroes when I got to Toronto are largely unknown to women from the next generation. I really wanted to facilitate that intergenerational exchange.”
So veterans like Lisa Merchant and Carolyn Taylor are rubbing shoulders with emerging talents like Jess Bryson and Alessandra Vite.
The shows have long-running arcs and each woman chooses a female character to play there won’t be any women playing men.
“These shows are about how women interact with each other,” says Johnson. “Which is something we know. I don’t want to be unfair to the marvellous men in the community, but there’s such a great level of support among women. Wait, I take that back. I work with Dan Beirne, and he’s fantastically supportive….”
But even during pre-show meetings, she says, the women in the cast chat openly about auditions and work, freely giving and taking advice.
“Sometimes we’re in competition for these parts, but we’re not receiving it that way. And this support plays into the way we make art. There’s less steamrolling than there is with men.”
As the director of the show, Johnson provides dramaturgy for scenes, asks people where they want their characters to go and then sees on the spot if they can make that happen onstage.
“As an improviser, I’m less interested in story than I am in play,” she says. “In Camp Wayward, Kayla played a hyperactive character named Rash who went out of control and found a portal to another dimension in the woods. Evany Rosen got possessed by a demon.”
Indie pop singer-songwriter Laura Barrett acts is musical director, improvising songs and providing a sonic backdrop. Each performance begins with a group number and a predetermined opening scene.
“But after that, all bets are off.”
A week before opening night, the improvisers haven’t chosen their characters yet, but Johnson knows they want to explore the idea of utopias.
“What elements would you want in a commune or collective? Why would people join one? And what would each character contribute to the group?”
As for future editions of Wayward, she’s thought about a couple of scenarios: one set in a women’s magazine and one in a women’s prison.
“But after Orange Is The New Black,” she says, “I don’t think we can do a women’s prison.”
glenns@nowtoronto.com | @glennsumi
