By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The St. Luke’s Mission, which can be found at 454 John Street North in Hamilton, is one of the chosen venues of this year’s annual Hamilton Fringe Festival, which will take place from July 15–26, 2026. The Mission is working with three different independent theatre companies to produce three unique short plays that encompass a wide range of themes and styles about human life. The plays, which will be performed one after another almost every night of the festival, are expected to be moving displays of creativity.
Tacos & Extinction, presented by Squirrel and Nut Productions, will marry existentialist humour to absurdist tragedy to create a show that will have audiences both laughing their heads off and thinking hard. In 1834, aboard HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin socializes with humans and chatty animals alike over a taco feast. It’s going to be a very strange sea journey to paradise. But what happens if the boat sinks?
This experimental play is co-written by David Widder-Varhegyi and Elijah Varhegyi, and also directed by Widder-Varhegyi, who says that the play explores the question of “the right way to live.”
“Tacos & Extinction asks how a species smart enough to understand extinction became so good at causing it,” explains Widder-Varhegyi. “Beneath the tacos, talking animals, and absurdity, the play takes aim at our endless appetite for food, land, knowledge, progress, and control.”
For What We Labour comes from Hiccup Productions. In Ancient Greece, a dysfunctional noble family deals with the problem of an accidental pregnancy. It’s tricky enough trying to hide the shame from the public and protect the great house’s reputation, but now the gods in the clouds above are interfering as well. For What We Labour will feature a witty script by Renata Ona, who is also producing.
“For What We Labour was an unexpected creative project. It’s loosely inspired by the untold stories in Pot of Gold by Plautus and the style of Kristen Wiig’s groundbreaking comedy Bridesmaids,” says Ona, on what inspired her to compose her play. “I knew that I wanted to write an original play from start to finish, and I knew that I wanted to have a creative table read session with fellow theatre folk. For What We Labour was a gift of an idea that came to me in two visions, which motivated me enough to start writing.”
Tamara Kamermans is directing this project. She has directed several child-oriented pantomimes at Theatre Burlington in the past, and is excited to showcase this distinctive theatre-going experience aimed at adults.
“For What We Labour has a strong Monty Python type of appeal, with a little dash of Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Forum,” promises Kamermans. “The cast has performed it in many different settings and with varying technical support, but I think this incarnation at the Fringe Festival will frame its quirkiness the best.”
I Choose You is a time-travelling narrative epic coming from the minds of Reactor Theatre. The typical “hero’s journey” is deconstructed in a timeline stretching from the roots of Ancient Greek theatre to the postmodern world of today, where great heroes in fiction are aided by new innovations and fight battles in new, updated fantasy worlds.
This introspective play, in which literature and theatre are smoothly blended, is a team collaboration between local theatre names Tyler Brent, Leonard A. Cain, Charles Lo Manto, and Douglas Millar. Brent, who is directing as well as acting, is notable for his memorable performance as the long-suffering son of a maddeningly stubborn father in Theatre Burlington’s Timepiece back in 2025.
“The hero of I Choose You battles with clowns, Shakespeare scenes, musical theatre, solo shows, and captures them in Poké Balls,” Brent explains.
All three plays will run at St. Luke’s Mission from July 16 to 25, 2026, in the evenings. Tickets can be purchased directly on the Hamilton Fringe Festival website. It should be noted that all attendees of the Hamilton Fringe Festival are also required to purchase a one-time $5 Fringe Benefits Button to help support the festival’s continued operations.
