REVIEW: TACOS AND EXTINCTION
It's 1834 aboard the HMS Beagle. The menu is tacos. Sailing somewhere between empire and paradise, the inebriated Captain surveys, curious and ambitious Charles Darwin devours, and the ill-fated Last Great Auk runs out of time. Tacos & Extinction is a tragicomedy from the existential minds of David Widder-Varhegyi and Elijah Varhegyi,blending myths, history and the surreal into one wild ride.
Aboard the ship, Charles Darwin (Philip Krusto) socializes with humans and chatty animals alike over a taco feast, noting particularly good choices of meat, and questions how a species smart enough to understand extinction became so good at causing it. The Captain (Adam Lemieux) is matter of fact, offering rebuttals to Darwin's astute observations. Darwin’s curious eccentricities, while sounding absurd, slowly take aim and challenge the Captain (and by proxy, the audience) to look at how humans treat our endless appetite for food, land use, knowledge, progress, and control. Both Krusto and Lemieux are excellent here in their roles and help make the challenging questions and observations being served to us feel accessible. Bravo.
Tacos & Extinction also smartly contemplates the extinction of rare creatures and how humans influence and interference has caused this. The captured animals on the ship are cleverly written featuring the tragic last Great Auk (Ashley Chant), otherworldly Spider (Skye Rogers), frustrated pogo-stick riding Cricket (Bianca Aquilina), and The First Captive Gorilla (portrayed by David Faulkner-Rundle who is effortlessly funny with his line deliveries throughout). Most of the animal characters have a labeled, almost scientific costume design which helps inform the audience who is who and the Spider costume is particularly impressive. The animals speak and share their existential dread, fretting about their need to return to their mates, the ironies of food scarcity and questioning why they're chained and being studied in the first place. This insight allows the audience to understand and fear their inevitable demise and reflect how history treated their eventual extinction.
This production is perfect for the Fringe. It’s experimental, darkly funny and thought-provoking with a talented, compelling cast handling exceptionally well-written material. Shows like this make you hungry for more. It is a highlight of this year’s Hamilton Fringe Festival and should not be missed!
Check out all three FRINGE NORTH shows!
