The Hamilton Fringe Experience: The 10 Shows I Am On My Way to See at the Hamilton Fringe Festival
By Ross
I’m beyond thrilled for my weekend adventure in the vibrant city of Hamilton, Ontario, at the Hamilton Fringe Festival. I’ve never been to this neighboring city of Toronto, but after missing many of the shows at the Toronto Fringe earlier this month, I decided to pack my bags for a long weekend in Hamilton—to truly discover what this city and its festival have to offer. It’s a fantastic fringe experience that features many of the same shows I couldn’t catch in Toronto, plus a whole lot more.
The 21st festival runs from July 16th to the 27th, 2025, showcasing over 50 shows across more than 350 performances in over a dozen venues. Hamilton Fringe is the largest theatre festival in the Greater Hamilton Area, lighting up spaces all across town with live comedy, theatre, musicals, dance, art, film, family fare, and more. And this theatre junkie is excited to be there during the final weekend to soak it all in and see what this vibrant festival has in store. Here are the shows I plan to see at the Hamilton Fringe (click here for the downloadable PDF program, and here for the schedule).
Show #1: Gendron Productions’ All The World’s A Cage
The lights go up on a polished comedy, but something is off. As cracks form in the story and chaos creeps in, “All the World’s a Cage” transforms into a gripping, unsettling exploration of entertainment and the control, abuse, and exploitation of performers for profit. The line between performance and reality is blurred, forcing the audience to question their role in the spectacle. Are you just watching… or are you part of the cage?
Click here for more information
Show #2: Cant Stand Sitting Productions’ A Canadian Explains Eurovision to Other Canadians
A Canadian Explains Eurovision to (Other Canadians) is a love letter to the weirdest, wildest music competition on Earth. Part stand-up, part TED Talk, part glitter-fueled existential crisis, this one-person show by creator Matti McLean takes you on a whirlwind tour of Eurovision history, queer joy, and what it means to find yourself through sequins and song. Whether you’ve never heard of it or you’re a diehard fan, there’s a space for you in Eurovision.
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Show #3: House + Body’s Sex Goddess
Join pop star Rayna at the listening party for her new album SEX GODDESS. While sharing her album, Rayna, performed and created by Riel Reddick-Stevens, takes her audience on the journey of one long, wild night that changed her life and perspective forever. SEX GODDESS uses Hip Hop/ R&B music, comedy and heightened storytelling to explore the relationships between power, bodily autonomy and sense of self in a patriarchal world and business.
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Show #4: Minmar Gaslight Productions’ A Question of Character
Paula Wing and Tanisha Taitt star in this edge-of-your-seat thriller that will keep you talking after it ends! The clock is ticking when Leni Riefenstahl is visited by an interviewer with more than questions for the infamous filmmaker. From the winner of the Best New Play in Toronto and Hamilton Fringe, Steven Elliott Jackson, and acclaimed director Alice Fox Lundy, comes the most talked-about play of the Hamilton Fringe!
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Show #5: Alex Dallas Productions’ Horseface
Veteran English comedian Alex Dallas (Sensible Footwear)— is sensational in this razor-sharp one-woman show that takes on everything from manspreading to #MeToo.
A memoir of encounters with men throughout her life: handsy professors, train manspreaders, A-list fondlers, pornography-cataloguing fathers.
Dallas is furiously funny with that signature dry British wit. Hilarious and powerful, Dallas really gets to the heart of what it means to be treated like prey in a world full of wolves.Click here for more information
Show #6: Reactor Theatre’s A Gentleman’s Murder
Directed by Tyler Brent, a would-be-groom is waylaid with a dark prophecy that threatens to disrupt his plans for a happily ever after, unless he can take bloody matters into his (soon to be) bloody hands. Church bells will toll, one way or another.
A darkly staged gothic comedy inspired by Oscar Wilde.Click here for more information
Show #7: Falling Iguana Theatre’s Crane Girl
Inspired by a real event, Best New Play Award-winner ‘Crane Girl’ (Falling Iguana Theatre), written by Alexa Higgins, follows a woman who walks out of her life and climbs a crane. It explores rage, women’s bodies, reproductive rights, and what it means to find your voice in a patriarchal nightmare. And it’s funny. This fast-paced, highly physical play stars three actors playing multiple roles, and the real kicker? Our titular Crane Girl is on that crane the entire show!
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Show #8: Meat Market Collective’s Meat Market
Strap in and strap on, you’re about to step into the absurd & raunchy world of gay hookup apps. With their first semester of college fast approaching, Fagabond decides to download Findr for the first time. Through the barrage of horny weirdos, desperate sugar daddies, and cheating husbands, Fagabond, written by Alex Boese and Shaun Soutar and directed by David Civcic, embarks on a transformative journey of self-discovery without ever leaving their bedroom. Audiences beware, it’s about to get very gay and horny up in here.
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Show #9: Redheaded Stepchild Productions’ The Heterosexuals
A deep-dive into the shocking world of Heterosexuality! THEY WALK AMONG US! But where did they come from? And what do they think they’re wearing? Find out in this explosive solo show based on undercover research gathered while posing as one of their own, writer and performer, Johnnie McNamara Walker! Combining elements of storytelling, satire, and deep personal humiliation, The Heterosexuals spills the T on what The Queers really think about The Straights.
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Show #10: Breadbox Theatre’s Waiting for* Godot. *Waiting for Waiting for
Waiting. We all do it, but what does it really mean?
To wait is to want, to want is to yearn, to yearn is to earn!
Waiting. The final fun-tier!
To quote THE brilliant philosopher of our time, “Whatever you’re schemin’. I’m already dreamin’. Come over, come over. And don’t keep me waitin’” – Carly Rae Jepsen
For further information about our show, please wait for the beep.Click here for more information
