2025 Fringe Festival Review: ‘The Cult of the Clitoris’

Written and co-directed by Celia Taylor with Tegen Siganski, The Cult of the Clitoris, offers a slice of history to fringe-goers. But this isn’t your snooze-inducing history class, it’s a humorous and lively play.

The Cult of the Clitoris recounts the libel case Maud Allen (Rochelle Laplante), a Canadian dancer, launched after being accused of not just being a lesbian, but of being a German spy in the later months of World War I. At the centre of the accusations is her performance in a revival of Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé, which is considered scandalous not only for its contents but the known sexuality of the author. “The Cult of Clitoris” was the headline of a piece written by Noel Pemberton Billing (Ryan Williams). It seems like a given that Allen would win her case, but it doesn’t turn out to be so simple.

The play re-enacts scenes from the courtroom, drawing directly from the transcripts of the actual trial. But it adds another layer to it — interjections of narration and commentary from different characters as the case goes on.

The change in the stage lighting signals change between what is the trial and what is commentary. The warm lighting of the courtroom would turn to cool, purple lighting. This was a great use of the lighting and worked well to not lose the audience. Unfortunately, the lighting crew missed a couple of cues, though it didn’t take too much away from the overall performance. 

It was really the characters that stood out in this play. Laplante’s performance as Allen was captivating and took the audience through a full range of emotion. She managed to communicate things, like Allen being a lesbian, without saying a word to the audience. Her dancing as Allen in Wilde’s play Salomé was beautifully done. The beaded costume meant to mimic Allen’s costume from photos, though hidden under a coat for most of the play, was exactly what the dancing scenes needed to take the audience to Salomé.

Her interactions with the other characters were fantastic to see. Most of the characters were on the accusing side of the lesbian-German-spy allegations. Laplante played Allen’s fury and frustration with the other characters well. Especially when it came to Lord Alfred Douglas (Rory Turner), Wilde’s ex-lover. The two characters’ dynamic was hilarious and so entertaining. 

Douglas’ character, although unlikeable to the core, made for great comedic relief through the play. As did the running joke of all the men not knowing the what, where, or how of a clitoris. The disgruntled judge of the trial (Timothy Anderson) was another comedic standout.

The play also did a fantastic job at involving the audience. At moments throughout the play, characters would hold up placards telling the audience to boo, cheer, applaud, or stomp their feet. The audience was treated as the jury and gallery of the courtroom, with characters speaking directly to the audience. It took an already captivating play even further in keeping the audience engaged.

Though the set was simple, it took advantage of the venue — a church. Aside from the chairs lined up towards the back of the stage which characters sat in when not speaking, they utilized the church pulpits as the stand for witnesses. 

Altogether, The Cult of Clitoris takes a piece of history and breathes new life into it with great performances and fantastic comedic elements. And though the subject matter — sexuality basically being on trial — isn’t the lightest, the play leaves you with a bit of hope at the end. It’s a play well worth seeing this fringe season. 

The Cult of Clitoris is on at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival until August 24.