Fringe Review: Cabaret of Murder

Dates: Aug 21, 2024 - Sep 1, 2024

Location: Metro Studio (Fringe Venue 1)

Created by: Blair Moro

Performers: Bella Ciccone, Katie-Rose Connors, Paulina Pino Rubio (Vancouver, BC)

Duration: 60 mins

Rating: Ages 18+

Genre: Comedy

⭐⭐

Serial killers can be artists too. In Cabaret of Murder, Ciccone, Connors, and Rubio sing, recite, and perform the works of a number of mass murderers, from monologues, to excerpts from plays, to songs. It's certainly an intriguing concept, and the trio delivered the performance with a lot of energy.

Ultimately, however, the show didn't work for us. These serial killers may have dabbled in writing prose, poetry, and music, but that doesn't mean they were good at it. In fact, the performers themselves even lament how bad some of the passages are. Even with their campy, exaggerated delivery, they could not make up for the fact that these murderers were much better at killing people than creating art.

As we walked out of the theatre asking ourselves what we had just seen and why anyone thought we needed to hear from a bunch of killers, the secondary issue become clear: there was no thematic commentary from one vignette to the next. The performers briefly acknowledged the victims at the end of the show, but that didn't seem nearly enough after an hour of showcasing the art of a handful of monsters.

Even though Cabaret of Murder wasn't our thing, we're obliged to note that the show was sold out, the trio elicited a number of laughs, and in true Victoria fashion, about a quarter of the audience gave them a standing ovation. Ciccone, Connors, and Rubio had a sold-out run in Edmonton and Vancouver last year, and they even won Pick of the Fringe in Vancouver in 2022. So who knows, this might be the play for you!

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The Victoria Fringe Festival, presented by Intrepid Theatre since 1986, has become a cornerstone of the city’s arts scene, known for its unjuried, anything-goes approach to performance. For Carmunist and Septimus, Fringe is the highlight of the year. We’ve been involved as volunteers for more than a decade, and more recently, we’ve opened our home to performers as billets. Reviewing Fringe shows is something we’ve talked about for some time, and now we’re putting our experience as fiction editors and theatre stans to work, offering our thoughts and workshop notes for as many performances as we can attend.

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