I love the Fringe Festival. I love everything it stands for. I especially love that it gives aspiring actors, writers, and directors the chance to produce their own work, to get to see or perform that work, and to have other people experience it.
One of the Fringe performances I saw recently was Renfield or, Dining at the Bughouse. Created and performed by Bill Zaget, who goes by Zag Dorison on stage, Renfield is a dark dramatic piece told through the eyes of Dracula’s “assistant,” Renfield, who you might remember as the madman in the dark who spent most of his time munching on insects and awaiting his next order from his master Dracula. Renfield is told through a variety of mediums, such as storytelling, spoken word, poetry, and interpretive movement.
I was very intrigued by the premise of Renfield; after all, who doesn’t want to root for the underdog and hear their story? I was impressed by Dorison’s performance, both in his acting and in his storytelling; he puts his entire soul into his work.
It was an interesting piece—dark, creepy, and extremely tragic. I found, however, that it was a bit heavy on the metaphors; I love listening to people’s stories, and I love metaphors and symbolism, but sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. Dorison tells Renfield’s story through a stream of roundabout, guess-what-this-is-implying symbolism, often comparing particular childhood experiences to whichever insects or arachnids he’s eating at the moment. It’s an interesting notion, but I found my mind wandering after a while, which was unfortunate.
Renfield is a very interesting piece, extremely gutsy and unusual. I would recommend it just for the fact that it uses a concept (storytelling through insect eating) that is pretty, if not completely, unexplored in theatre.
Dorison also touches on mental health and childhood trauma, and will definitely spark peoples’ empathy, but he does it in such a creative way that it’s never difficult to digest. No pun intended.
The Victoria Fringe Fest runs until Sunday, September 3.