Hana'a Dorey

On Guard for Thee is the quintessential Fringe show. Four cast members, making the most of a small, intimate set, and a story that is more vibes and feelings than fully concrete reality. This is not a critique, but an endorsement.

Bits of the metaphors fall apart; and the world on this stage requires a few leaps of dream logic that might put off the most hardcore of pragmatic realists, but there's real concrete commentary about the world, economics, and Canada as a nation of people that are heavy and good to chew on.

The main cast are the four horsemen of the Apocalypse - Conquest (Brennan MacDonald), War (Janine Adema), Famine (Ben Burchell) and Death (Misha Bakshi). Each actor brought their whole soul to the role, and each had a moment that bombastically reverberated through the theatre and demanded all eyes focus solely on this one performer.

Lights and Direction, as well as sound mixing were good. Setting an atmosphere that complemented the dilapidated remnants of a faux service Canada Building that represented the stage. I need to shout out a moment of magician trickery from Janine Adema where she altered the set in a single motion. A moment of misdirection, sleight of hand that was very striking (yes, this is a pun).

Misha Bakshi portrays the rise and fall of a confused young soul that comes into power and then has it very suddenly taken away. Their performance and stage presence was magnificent as always and they did one of the hardest things possible: be the audience's point of view for the world being painted without falling into the set dressing for our own egos - still a character with hopes and dreams you root for.

Brennan MacDonald reminded me of every annoying white dude from my home town. He killed it as Conquest, a pastiche of white nationalism and 4chan/reddit moderators. Booming but shaking in fear. A coward wearing wolf's clothing.

Where Misha's death was confusion, and anger; Janine's War was Rage and hope. Never booming, but at times bellowing, controlling the scene through her stances alone. We see the reality of a woman who is clinging to one hope and what happens when that hope is ripped apart.

Ben Burchell's famine was perhaps the concept I had the hardest time seeing both sides of. Each character we're supposed to have moments where empathy rises and falls, justifying their role as a different horseman of the Apocalypse. War can be fought in defence. Death is part of life. Conquest can be something that makes a better tomorrow in the face of oppression (even if it is just an abusive individual you remove from your life). But, there isn't a good side to famine. As such, Ben had perhaps the hardest job but did a bang up job of presenting a man torn between his capitalist dreams that are destroying the world and the deep sorrow he feels as a father. Literally ripped apart as represented by the suit jacket full of holes he wears.

(As a note, each actor wore clothing coded for the colour of the horses the horsemen rides, and that extremely ruled). Misha and Ben's on stage chemistry, especially during a scene near the end really brought an emotional heart to the production that grew past the dream like logic of how this world works.

That said, I have spent a long time picking apart the "rules" of the cosmology. This is a fringe show and that isn't the point, but I do feel like some of the political commentary didn't hit as hard due to the natural distraction of the world's logic. Still, a proper show of heart, and emotion that will make you leave hopeful, and angry in equal parts; like all good theatre should.