Montreal’ Imago Theatre is bringing the World Premiere of Cult Play to audiences this fall. A multi-media experience with plenty of audience participation, Cult Play is unlike anything you’ve seen before! I got to ask author Scout Rexe and director Annie Valentina some questions about Cult Play, their process, and what audiences can expect from this exciting new show!
- Could you please introduce yourselves to my readers and tell us a bit about your respective roles with Cult Play?
My name is Annie Valentina (she/her) and I’m the director of Cult Play. I’m a recent transplant from Atlantic Canada, but have been involved in the play’s evolution for the past couple of years through Playwrights Workshop Montreal. The wider scope of my theatre practice is dramaturgy and playwriting so new work development has always been a main focus of my career. Thrilled for the opportunity to shepherd this exciting new play to the stage!
My name is Scout Rexe, and I’m the playwright. Cult Play has been a passion project for the past several years, originally born of heartbreak, lockdown, and an excessive amount of cult research. This play was developed in close collaboration with dramaturg Fatma Sarah Elkashef and digital dramaturgs Emily Soussana and Andrew Scriver, and of course Annie who has been instrumental in the play’s development and is now directing its world premiere.
- Scout, what was your inspiration behind Cult Play?
I became enthralled by cults as a way of understanding coercion and how coercive control works in groups, in intimate relationships, and in institutions. In dramaturgical conversation, Sarah and I began to understand how people get lured into high control groups: usually it’s because someone is invited to a course or an event by someone they know, or they are in a vulnerable moment. It would be the rare person who joins a cult on purpose. So I began to explore what it would take for me to fall into a cult, and that thought experiment bore this play.
- Annie, what has it been like working on bringing Cult Play to life?
Incredibly enriching. I’m grateful to have a keen and talented team, and to feel so grounded by the precision of Scout’s beautiful writing. I have to say, it’s a real gift to have this kind of ongoing relationship with a script before going into production – not a luxury we often get as directors, in an industry where the expectation is typically to turn over work on three-week timelines. This process has been intentional and thoughtful at every step, which is so necessary to enable true exploration and creative risk.
- What has been your favourite part of the process so far?
Annie: It’s been very exciting, for me personally, to balance creation with new learning. This project has many elements I’ve not worked with before, and in that sense is a truly multidisciplinary experience. Collaboration is one of the things I love most about theatre – one of my mentors referred to it as an “undefinable state of grace”, which is something I’ve been thinking about a lot in this process. I won’t give any spoilers, but working alongside designers and consultants to find visual answers to dramaturgical questions has been a powerful exercise in stepping outside the text-based storytelling which is my comfort zone.
Scout: I agree that there have been so many exciting moments of discovery in working with the multi-media elements and seeing the story come to life. The collaboration–the divine spark between us–has also been deeply enjoyable for me. And I am most looking forward to the collaboration that comes next between Alex and the audience.
- What can audiences expect from Cult Play?
Annie: To feel all their feelings! Sometimes one at a time, sometimes all at once.
Scout: Audiences can expect to be engaged; participation is completely optional, but the play will give you the sense that it matters that we’re all in the same space together.
I want to thank Scout and Annie for taking the time to answer my questions. Cult Play runs until November 2. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.imagotheatre.ca/cult-play
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