Based on the book by Melly Magrath, Not a Cult: The Musical explores the various ways we can get sucked into culty behaviour without even realizing it. This Small but Mighty production brings us into the world of Joy (Bebe Brunjes) and her adult camp that purports to be about ‘fun’ but slowly reveals the dark underbelly of what happens when we seek too hard for social approval.

The seven adults who have signed up for the camp slowly get re-named as we realize Joy has hand-picked them for their respective foibles or ‘sins.’ It takes a while to get invested in most of the characters, and the script would benefit from moving up an introduction to the different backstories. This is particularly true for Envy (Caitlin Turner), whose motivation ends up being rather integral to the climax of the show.

The performances do some of the work to make up for this: Brunjes brings the aggressive, borderline sociopathic, ‘we’re going to have fun MY way’ camp counselor energy of my childhood nightmares. The scene between Raegan/Greed (Azaria Shams) and MJ/Sloth (April Rebecca) was absolutely charming – their romantic and musical chemistry made me root for them instantly. Similarly, Dante/Gluttony and Désirée/Lust’s relationship was a slower, sweeter contrast to some of the more dramatic plotlines. The character of Cain/Anger, played by José Andrés Bordas, came off as mildly frustrated at best, and while that played better than watching an angry man try to pursue Lily/Pride, he seemed too balanced to have been invited to the camp in the first place (though to be fair, this seemed like a function of the script and direction.)

Unfortunately for the audience (and the performers) most of the time the over-loud music drowned out the voices (singing and speaking) of the performers. Whenever the entire group was onstage, the dialogue got stilted, reminding me more of a camp play than a play about an adult camp. Having said that, the energy stayed high throughout, and the final dance scene was on point, punctuating the story with a strong finish.