A surreal and sometimes hilarious ride, The Yoko Cult combines scripted theatre with visual arts and audience interaction to follow twin sisters Elle and Emme.

The twins grapple with their diverging artistic paths and the performance art legacy of their late mother. As the two become increasingly mired in the duplicitous world of high art, the weight of expectation (and capitalism) is thrust upon them by insidious forces in the shape of an eccentric gallery owner and a lawyer with ulterior motives.

Twin sisters Elle and Emme have just turned eighteen—and inherited more than their eccentric mother’s house. Lambda, a once-radical performance artist turned cult figure, has left behind a blood-stained legacy: a legacy the art world is eager to resurrect, repackage, and resell.
As the girls navigate estranged memories, a sentient sex doll, and TikTok virality, two suave older men—the family lawyer and a charming gallery curator—offer them an artistic future soaked in legacy and Coca-Cola contracts. But nothing comes without a cost. Through birthday dinners, auctions, video projections, and a canvas that won’t stop watching them back, Elle and Emme spiral through grief, betrayal, and the question: what is the price of being seen?
The Yoko Cult is a darkly comedic, multimedia play about the commodification of trauma, Asian mother-daughter mythologies, and the violence of being watched. Inspired by the real-life public reception of Yoko Ono, the piece explores what happens when pain becomes performance—and legacy becomes spectacle.
Expect sisterly slap-fights, performance art pastiche, and a dash of horror.
If you’ve ever googled your dead mom, been told you're the next big thing, or wondered whether a “voice piece” counts as art, this one’s for you.
The Yoko Cult has previously gathered at Whatlab’s Exquisite Pressure 3, the Artist Mentorship Program of Montreal's Black Theatre Workshop, and 2024/2025's rEvolver Festival.