John Cameron Mitchell announces new scripted podcast ‘Cancellation Island’

John Cameron Mitchell has a new podcast titled Cancellation Island. It's a scripted, fictional series where the Hedwig creator explores his hypothesis that "In the future, we will all be canceled for fifteen minutes." Co-created by Michael Cavadias (Wonder Boys, Difficult People) it's described as a "hyperbolic journey through a rehab for the cancelled - the egregious, the blameless and those in between." Here's the synopsis:

Led by a wellness hack turned guru named "Karen" and her specially curated staff of Gen Z'ers ("What they lack in life experience, they make up for in certainty") - the canceled attendees are put through their paces so they can crawl back into society's good graces. But therapies including "Harass the Harasser," "Bad Touch Football," and "Anti-Racism Spin Class" ("We never seem to get anywhere!"), and mandatory ayahuasca ceremonies start to go awry. Then people start to disappear. Are they escaping the island, or are they being picked off by a mysterious player? And what does K-Anon, the new conspiracy theory about the lizard people among us, have to do with it all?

Here's more from Mitchell: "Cancellation Island is a Dr. Strangelove-ian satire about a super-connected society dying of loneliness. It begins with a zany left-wing critique of how cancel culture has saturated U.S. society from all political angles but expands to remind us that cancellation is just one symptom of a world obsessed with narratives of identity and conspiracy theory to deal with our existential panic about climate change and late-capitalist collapse. Michael and I grew up in the same downtown '90s queer performance/punk scene that created Hedwig and Claywoman are thrilled to be finally working together."

Mitchell also says Cancellation Island features "an incredible New York cast" but details have yet to be revealed. JCM and his cast will perform Cancellation Island live on stage at Brooklyn's The Bell House on April 8 & 9, with tickets on sale soon.

This will be Mitchell's second scripted podcast, following 2019's Anthem: Homunculus musical that starred Glenn Close, Patti Lupone, Cynthia Erivo, Laurie Anderson, Nakhane, Denis O’Hare and Marion Cotillard.