The Hamilton Fringe Theatre Review: All the World’s A Cage + A Gentleman’s Murder
By Ross
The true beauty of going to the fringe, any fringe festival, really, is the opportunity to see and engage with so many wonderful ideas and formulas, working their way forward before our very eyes. Some are greater than others, but all ten that I saw at the Hamilton Fringe Festival this past weekend were captivating and intriguing, even when there was some struggle. I surprised myself, as I was so very pleased with my selections, although very few won any awards on the final day (just one, I believe). Which, I have to say, astounded me a wee bit, as the ten that I did watch all contained solidly crafted ideas and engaging performances, on a level that was both electrifying and emotionally connecting. And not one truly let me down.
In Gendron Productions‘ deliciously delirious and somewhat demented All the World’s a Cage, we watch a classic reframing sprout up from the stageboards and then, in a flash, go wildly off track in the most meta-fantastic and earnest way. A charming, but somewhat controlling and petulant narrator, played by the co-writer and director Robb Gendron (the other co-writer and production manager is Sabina Stan), guides us into the most pleasurable of pleasures, very similar to Oscar Wilde’s legendary, The Importance of Earnest, played out by characters that are both polished and wise to the formula. That is, until a crack forms, and something quite out of the ordinary starts spinning forward. Walls come crashing down, within the play and between the audience and the actors, leading to a chaotic and unsettling unraveling that is “indeed a surprise.“
It’s like there’s a man in the corner reading your thoughts, one of the fine actors in this troupe of fine actors states, and the transformation and demolishing begins, from polished comedy of errors to an error-riddled exploration of theatre and an industry’s “control, abuse, and exploitation of performers for profit“. The cast, namely Lee as Jack, James Rabinovich as Lane, Drew Murphy as Cicily, Zihan Zia as Al, Olivia Gamble as Gwen, and Matt Hunt as Lady Augusta, finds fun and frivolity in the frenzy, shifting between states with sincerity. It’s a wildly wicked unpacking, where each actor shines in their own spotlight (especially actor Lee), where the line between performance and reality truly becomes blurred, and ideas of truth and reality spin the spectacle out of the cage that was built for them all. It’s a telling and fascinating construction, and with a bit more polish and direction, All the World’s a Cage could find a solid staging to stand smartly upon.
Following that, a different, darkly foreboding period piece steps out of the shadows for our rapt inspection. Having also found its strong footing on that same Players Guild stage, the sharply inventive and delightfully devious A Gentleman’s Murder stands nobly and determinedly true before us. Also inspired by Oscar Wilde, this gothic comedy draws us inward in darkness, lit only by a green lantern. A confessional is attempted, but then, quickly rewound and reworded for clarity’s sake. “Let me begin again,” he asks, as a man’s disturbing fortune is then revealed, carefully and with thoughtful consideration. Laid out quite ominously and clearly in the lines on his own two hands, a deadly and disturbing gloved horizon expands before him and his future wife, even as his life was going along quite swimmingly before his future’s unveiling occurred. It was under her insistence that this shift was made, thanks to her introduction to Mr. Podgers and his chiromancy, and the normality that this man had so far experienced was forever altered in the most unexpected and engaging of ways.
Director Tyler Brent expertly guides us with a confidence and cleverness that never falters, moving the man between the instruments of palmistry and its heavenly influence on his state of being. He finds that he must capitulate to his newly discovered and somehow required disruptive and destructive plans so he may find the happily ever after he desires, regardless of the blood that may have to stain his hands. “Church bells will toll, one way or another,” we are told, as this gentleman and would-be groom, so strongly presented here for our judgment, is thrown off his path by a dark prophecy, but instead of being passive and waiting for the inevitable, as “fate wouldn’t allow it,” he decides to act, maybe reckless and uncivilized, or maybe with foresight and ingenuity. There are all types of murder, he ponders, but murder is a sinister act regardless of the mode and manner, and we are captivated from beginning to end in the sublimation and supplication of his hand in the murder.
Walking away from these shows, I was reminded once again why I so very much love the fringe. It’s a place where inventive ideas collide, boundaries are pushed, experiments are expanded and given room to grow, and the spirit of theatre is seen and felt to be truly alive and kicking. Both All the World’s a Cage and A Gentleman’s Murder exemplify that exact spirit, and I left invigorated and even more ready to see what other festival magic was awaiting me next. Stay tuned in, I have eight more shows to see and write about.
