Dysphoria follows five members of a religious sect as they prepare to carry out the utopian vision of their late founder. Inspired by the controversial Shambhala Buddhist community, this lively drama depicts characters forced to reconsider their faith, their sexual mores and their future together as they build a new community — in outer space. Personalities clash as the characters train in close quarters for their mission, causing the community’s past controversies to re-emerge.
Deft, vibrant and interspersed with song, Dysphoria is an exuberant meditation on finding one’s own identity within a group and on the feasibility of compassion.