Depending on which circles you move in, and/or the tone of your voice, describing a play as being perfect Fringe fare can be a ringing endorsement or a dire warning. I want to assure you that, when I say this about Destroyer of Worlds, I mean it in the most complimentary way possible. The “seriously, you should see this, it’s excellent” way. So, yeah, Destroyer of Worlds is perfect Fringe fare.
Writer Caleb Lewis has created a semi-autobiographical play, quirkily weaving the lives of Robert Oppenheimer – the inventor of the atomic bomb – and Haruo Nakajima – the man famous for portraying Godzilla on screen a dozen times – in with his own story of a failed relationship fifteen years ago. He has created something that is like watching a Charlie Kaufman film, on stage. It is sweet, funny, intricate, and highly entertaining.
The fourth wall is broken (if it was ever there to begin with) and we meet actors Bec and Phil, who play out short scenes from each of the protagonists’ lives. Both are engaging performers and bring humour and pathos to their multiple roles. In between, a small projection screen names the scenes and also shows snippets of an interview with Lewis’ mum. With this many, seemingly unrelated, things going on, it would be easy to get lost, or for the show to feel disjointed, but Lewis’ writing is tight and each of the parts come together to make a cohesive whole. There’s a lot to appreciate here.
Kryztoff Rating: 5K
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