The Moaning Yoni by Joylyn Secunda. Victoria Fringe 2071. An interview
“One performer. 17 characters. The Moaning Yoni combines physical comedy, song, and dance to transmit a hallucinatory exploration of sexuality.”
How long have you been producing work on the Fringe circuit? As an artist/company?
In 2014 I co-produced and co-wrote a show at Vancouver Fringe in the site-specific mentorship program with The Only Animal. Then in 2016 I performed in the original Commedia Dell’Arte show, Love, Lust & Lace, devised by my UBC BFA Acting class’ collective Gas Pedal Productions, and directed by Chris McGregor of Axis Theatre. This is my first summer producing a Fringe show on my own and performing outside Vancouver.
Is this your first visit to Victoria?
I visited Victoria once as a child, but I don’t remember much, so this is my first real visit! I’m looking forward to exploring the city!
Have you been (or will you be) taking the show to other Fringes?
I debuted The Moaning Yoni at the Toronto Fringe Festival in July. This is my second Fringe Festival with this show.
Is your show a new work, or has it been performed elsewhere?
The show is super fresh! I started creating it this year. After performing The Moaning Yoni in Toronto I returned to the rehearsal room and made some additions to the show that I am excited to share with Victoria audiences!
Significant awards or accolades? (not just on the Fringe circuit)
I got some great reviews in Toronto:
“Secunda has great comedic timing and fantastic physicality that really shines, as well as a killer, unique singing voice” – Mooney on Theatre
“I wish everyone under 30 could see this show. There’d be hope for better sex for everyone.” – MK Piatkowski, One Big Umbrella
And I got some nice feedback from TJ Dawe, a fantastic solo performer and mentor:
“Joylyn’s show is playful, over-the-top, hilarious, sensitive, physical and kaleidoscopic. She has a stage presence that’s always interesting and impossible not to love.” – TJ Dawe
Can you speak to the creation process of this work?
About a year ago I decided I wanted to create a solo show for the Fringe. I met with TJ Dawe, a solo performer I admire to ask about his process creating his shows. I’ve performed in more plays than I can count and have been part of writing teams, but this would be my first time embarking on the creation process alone. TJ told me about a course he was teaching starting the following week, Creating a Solo Show at Langara College, and I decided to sign up! The course helped me explore my ideas early in the process, but the most important thing I learned will stay with me for life. TJ taught that “everything is a placeholder” until you come up with something better. So often when we are creating, we discard ideas because it isn’t a masterpiece right away – but it’s mediocre ideas that eventually lead to masterpieces. This advice took the pressure off. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be the best it can be right now.
I started out trying to tell a story about an asexual character’s journey from societal expectations to self-acceptance. As I developed the show, it went from being a normal coming of age story, to an absurd psychedelic trip. I always look for the most interesting way of telling the story, so the show evolved into something that I couldn’t have anticipated at the start. Ultimately I’m telling the same story I had planned, just way wackier!
The show is highly influenced by my interest in Ayahuasca healing ceremonies and new-age spirituality. Most of the show takes place within the main character’s hallucinations, which bring her back through her past encounters with sexuality. There’s a lot of physical comedy and silliness, but it exists within a ceremonial container, which offers healing for both the character in her journey and for the audience.
Although the show is my vision, I’ve had several collaborators who were invaluable to the process. I started with Keltie Forsyth as my dramaturge who helped me develop the main characters and the story. Deanna Fleysher came in next and helped me discover the role of the audience. Finally I worked with my father, David Secunda, who helped me integrate everything and infuse a tone of spiritual healing.
Who will your show appeal to?
The Moaning Yoni would appeal to those interested in Ayahuasca healing ceremonies, yoga, new age spirituality, tantric sex, members of the Asexual and queer communities, those passionate about feminism and social justice, millennials, people who are frustrated with dating, and anyone who’s ever felt different or alienated by their surroundings.
What would you say to entice a potential audience member to come?
The show is like Lena Dunham as Alice in Wonderland but instead of tripping down the rabbit hole, she dives headfirst into her own vagina.
What do you hope to inspire in your audience?
I hope this show will provide a healing for the existential sadness many of us feel. Comedic catharsis is the prescription needed to release us from the malaise of societal normalcy.
Is there anything I’ve missed asking you, or that you would like to comment on?
I play 17 characters including a talking vagina. It’s a lot of fun!
The Moaning Yoni by Joylyn Secunda
Venue 4: VCM Wood Hall, 907 Pandora Avenue
Duration: 50 minutes
Genre: Comedy
Rating: Adults only: coarse language, adult themes, nudity, violence
Tickets: $11/$9 through Ticket Rocket online or at the door
Thursday, August 24 – 9:45pm
Saturday, August 26 – 9:30pm
Sunday, August 27 – 1:45pm
Tuesday, August 29 – 8pm
Saturday, September 2 – 2:45pm
Sunday, September 3 – 12:45pm
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/102522603721439/
Twitter: @JoylynSecunda
The Moaning Yoni: Zoë Meets her Anthropomorphic Vagina in a Psychedelic Healing Circle
An absurd solo comedy about sex, identity, and new age ideals
THE VICTORIA FRINGE FESTIVAL 2017
Created and performed by Joylyn Secunda
One performer. 17 characters. The Moaning Yoni combines physical comedy, song, and dance to transmit a hallucinatory exploration of sexuality.
A college student desperately trying to be normal resists the dictatorial pressure of her anthropomorphic vagina (or yoni). Together they cross the battlefield of Tinder, Sex-Ed, and Tantric hippies in a psychedelic journey.
“Secunda has great comedic timing and fantastic physicality that really shines, as well as a killer, unique singing voice” – Mooney on Theatre
“I wish everyone under 30 could see this show. There’d be hope for better sex for everyone.” – MK Piatkowski, One Big Umbrella
“Joylyn’s show is playful, over-the-top, hilarious, sensitive, physical and kaleidoscopic. She has a stage presence that’s always interesting and impossible not to love.” – TJ Dawe
“The show reflects a unique millennial experience, and yet is universal in that it explores the need for acceptance,” says creator/performer, Joylyn Secunda. “It’s a blend of innocent wonder and wild fantasies.”
It’s like Lena Dunham as Alice in Wonderland but instead of tripping down the rabbit hole, she dives headfirst into her own vagina.
The Moaning Yoni explores in the intersection of gender, sexuality, and spirituality. What is it like to be Asexual in a sex-filled world?
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