Note to all artists, from New York City to New South Wales: NEVER underestimate the power of a titillating title!  Cl*t Cult, a one woman show by playwright/producer/actor Star Stone and directed by Ryan Cunningham, played as part of FRIGID NY: New York City Fringe 2026.  The title rightfully implies that this extremely personal show is about the power of feminine sexuality.  Indeed, this funny yet extremely provocative piece is about one young woman’s erotic journey: not the least of which was achieving her first Big “O” (And the “O” doesn’t stand for “Oreos”…).  But Star Stone’s trajectory was anything but a “traditional” pathway, if there even is such a thing in 2026.  This performer’s quest for that Big “O” took a VERY unorthodox pathway– and it turned out to be less about empowerment than it was about exploitation.  Ms. Stone shared her truly unique story about her time in L.A. in 2015, when she was in her late 20’s.  Surely enough, the “cult” of the show’s title turns out NOT to be a hyperbolic code for something else.  Stone indeed found herself in a bona fide cult, named “OneTaste”.  As she joked early on in her show, “You can’t live in L.A. without joining a cult or a multi-level marketing company!”   Her recollections of the “orgasmic meditation meeting/gathering” and the odd characters she met at those gatherings were both spot-on realistic and often hilariously funny. I could listen to Star Stone use terms like “neurospicy” and “grippy socks vacation” all night long, and the audience also learns that the tampon was actually deigned by a man– to which Stone shrugs: “That’s a toxic shocker!” 

Humor is indeed a big part of Cl*t Cult, but Stone also tells some truly toxic shock-ing anecdotes.  As we increasingly lose our ability to be shocked as a society at large, being able to provoked and even outraged by a performance piece is actually a great thing. So… Cl*t Cult turns out to be both a jaw-dropping drama and a dark comedy, mostly thanks to Star Stone being a fine raconteur.  Her story includes some very relatable  markers of pop culture: Ms. Stone shares about heading to the West Village (the “sex center” of New York at the time) to buy the famous vibrator from Sex and the City, only to find out that… it was sold out!  (All together now: “Awwww….“) That turns out to be one of the more INNOCENT anecdotes in Cl*t Cult, by the way…

But that’s not all! In addition to stories, Cl*t Cult also has songs. Yes, kids, there’s MUSIC too.  In fact, there are three original songs, and they are unexpected… ahem, bangers.   The song presumably named “VAGINA” warmed up the afternoon audience (More about that later…) and even became a  became a clap-along– but in my opinion, this song also deserves to become a club hit. (I can’t wait for the dance remix…)  Later on, the foot-tapper presumably named “NARCISSIST” also became a fast fave of mine.

Had Cl*t Cult been a work of fiction, or merely just BASED on fact, it would be a great piece of entertainment in itself: a disquieting adults-only tale exploring an underground sex community that couldn’t POSSIBLY be true… could it?  But Cl*t Cult IS actually a true story, which is absolutely horrifying.  There really is a OneTaste, and there are some VERY current new articles about the group.  (I won’t include them, but you can Google “OneTaste cult” to find out.  Be prepared…)  The performance of Cl*t Cult I attended suffered from a sleepy audience, perhaps because it was the afternoon show designed for a distinctly nighttime crowd.  It took a while for the attendees at New York City’s wild project to warm up to Star Stone’s idiosyncratic charms.  This show absolutely deserves a “wild”-er audience.  That said, everyone cheered when about halfway through Cl*t Cult, our heroine finally achieved that aforementioned Big “O”– and I don’t mean an “Orange Julius”… Catch this show when it… ahem, comes to your neighborhood.

Visit http://www.StarStoneSpeaks.com.