PREVIEW: THE SAINT LUKE’S MISSION HOSTS 3 NEW SHOWS AT HAMILTON FRINGE
Hiccup Productions, Reactor Theatre and Squirrel and Nut Productions are performing at this year’s Hamilton Fringe Festival in a historic venue on John Street North: The Saint Luke’s Mission church. I had the pleasure of a virtual interview with David Widder-Varhegyi, the Creative Director of Squirrel and Nut Productions, Renata Ona, founder of Hiccup Productions and Tyler Brent from Reactor Theatre and together we discuss the 3 shows performing, how to prepare for Fringe itself and why supporting Bring Your Own/Site Specific venues during the festival gives our city a boost every year, allowing audiences to check out new spaces and appreciate the history behind them.
What inspired you and the other production companies to select The Saint Luke’s Mission as your venue for Fringe this year?
Squirrel and Nut Productions (Tacos & Extinction):
Part of the reason is practical: we needed a venue. This was year three of not getting drawn in the main Fringe lottery.Part of the reason is dramaturgical: The play takes place aboard the HMS Beagle in 1834. Saint Luke’s is an almost 150-year-old church in Hamilton’s North End, built for a community connected to the harbour. There’s wood, height, age and a sense that people have been gathering there for a very long time.
Part of the reason is communal: The St. Luke’s Mission is making active efforts to engage the arts and the local/city-wide community. What better avenue than to open our doors during a multi-day festival.
Hiccup Productions (For What We Labour):
For What We Labour needed a bring-your-own-venue this year. I loved the idea of partnering with David, a fellow indie theatre producer who I had not yet met (Tyler signed onto the venue a bit later). Approaching the venue on foot for the first time, I was wondering what Fringe-goers would think about seeing a show a bit further off the beaten path. But as soon as David opened the door and I saw the dramatic red carpet, the ambient lighting, and felt the acoustics, I was instantly sold.
Reactor Theatre (I Choose You):
A historic and unique venue along with the hope that this will be the inaugural Fringe run that will be the first of many at the venue.
Describe/pitch each show being performed at the venue:
1) For What We Labour - A Comedy of Heirs
Anthisma has been raised to inherit the family business, but she has other ideas. Then there’s an unexpected pregnancy. The father returns. His brother is involved. A member of the Greek Chorus has gone rogue. Dionysus is watching. You know. Family. It’s a fast, physical comedy about inheritance, expectation and what happens when families decide they know what’s best for one another.
2) I Choose You
I Choose You sends the hero’s journey travelling from ancient theatre into a contemporary world where mythology, pop culture and Pokémon occupy roughly the same imaginative territory. The company describes it as a “story of stories about stories story.” Our hero has gotta catch ’em all.
3) Tacos & Extinction
July, 1834. The HMS Beagle. FitzRoy is trying to keep the ship on course. Darwin wants to discover something new. The Last Great Auk is running out of time. The First Captive Gorilla wakes up hungry. A Cricket thinks nobody understands the seriousness of the situation. The Spider says nothing at all. Tacos & Extinction is an absurd surreal tragicomedy about our species’ place in the Web of Life. There are tacos. That’s obvious. The pogo stick is harder to explain.
How will each show speak to audiences and how do they suit this particular performance space?
Squirrel and Nut Productions (Tacos & Extinction):
The three shows have ended up in an interesting conversation around inheritance. For What We Labour asks what we inherit from our families. I Choose You explores the stories and myths we inherit. Tacos & Extinction asks what kind of world we’ve inherited, and what we plan to do with it.
Then we put all three inside a building that has been standing in the same neighbourhood for almost 150 years. Old buildings remind us that we arrive in the middle of things. Other people were here before us. Other people will be here after us. We have temporary custody of places, stories and, for that matter, the planet. The building isn’t scenery. It has its own presence. Our job is to work with it.
Hiccup Productions (For What We Labour):
St Luke's Mission is a church. And For What We Labour (FWWL) is a farce. Right there is a bit of comedy. Especially with this venue, the comedy comes at you from yet another angle. And there is definitely some irony - the play is set in 387 BCE (Before the Christian Era) for example. And it features Ancient Greek dieties. Not to mention Scene 6 is a hilarious mess, that (with the church acoustics) will literally shake the rafters.
Reactor Theatre (I Choose You):
I Choose You is using this space to celebrate the religion of theatre, so we are leaning into the venue history/layout to achieve that.
What have been some highlights and challenges in having a Bring Your Own Venue?
The highlight and the challenge are basically the same thing: we get to build a theatre/playing space. That sounds romantic until you realize it means thinking about lights, sound, power, audience flow, insurance, staffing and what happens when sixty human beings generate body heat inside a historic church in July. We’ve spent a surprising amount of time discussing electrical circuits, DMX cable and industrial fans. This is the nature of producing.
But the upside is real. Three small companies are sharing resources and solving problems together. For two weeks, we’re building one small ecosystem. Ideally, a sustainable one.
What makes performing at a Fringe Festival important to you?
Squirrel and Nut Productions (Tacos & Extinction):
Fringe gives artists permission to stop waiting for permission. A lot of the structures surrounding professional art are designed to reduce risk. Understandably. But the result can be artists spending years explaining what they would like to make rather than making it. Fringe shortens the distance between idea and audience. You make the thing. People come into the room. Then you find out what you actually made.
For Squirrel and Nut Productions, we want to make work that provokes thought, sparks feeling and, if possible, leads to action. All in the context of localized presence - aka a HAMILTON Fringe Festival.
Hiccup Productions (For What We Labour):FWWL was first performed in November 2025 at The Staircase, after three table reads. It was a solid 60 minute production even at that time. Performing it at a Fringe Festival felt like a natural goal for this summer. Plus, we have some people on our cast and crew who have never been to Fringe before, as well as some of the most seasoned Fringe-goers, actors and producers. Performing at Fringe offers something for everyone!
Reactor Theatre (I Choose You):
This will be my 16th year of the Hamilton Fringe. It is my favourite time of year, Theatre Christmas
What advice do you have for Fringe performers/companies looking to apply to the festival?
Squirrel and Nut Productions (Tacos & Extinction):
Know the question(s) you’re asking. Can we sell this show? Does the script work? Who is our audience? Can six actors, a ball of yarn and a pogo stick sustain sixty minutes of theatre? And there are so many more legitimate questions.
Make the production at a scale you can sustain. Complexity is not the same thing as ambition. Start marketing earlier than feels comfortable. Learn to describe the show without reading the synopsis. Talk to strangers. See other people’s work. Finally, make the strange (honest) thing.
There are plenty of places encouraging artists to play it safe. Fringe isn’t one of them.
Hiccup Productions (For What We Labour):
Just do it! It's fun and festive. For What We Labour happens to be a 7 person show but some of the best shows I've seen have been 1-person productions, so the barrier to entry doesn't have to be high. I produced a 1-person show last year, and before that I attended Fringe as an audience member. It's fun to be involved on the artist side of the festival!
Reactor Theatre (I Choose You):
If you are wondering if you should apply, having doubts about if you are ready or second guessing your project; dive right in. The Hamilton Fringe is such a supportive and diverse community. Your project, whatever it is, will find an audience here. And you will meet dozens and dozens of Fringe artists who are all potential future collaborators.
LOCATION DETAILS:
Address: 454 John Street North, Hamilton, ON
Accessibility notes: There are 4 steps into this venue. There is a step-free accessible back entrance on John Street, dedicated seating for wheelchair users, and one (1) wheelchair accessible porta-john.
