Vance Avery and Chris W. Cook in Fiji, Shatter Glass Theatre, Edmonton Fringe 2023. Photo supplied

Fiji (Stage 6, Gateway Theatre)

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca

Isn’t it what everyone hungers for in the end? Human connection at the deepest, most visceral, level? A soul mate?

That universal quest for an all-consuming, all-consumable passion is at the heart of Fiji, a dark and disturbing two-hander that’s billed as “a true crime-inspired love story.” Rom-com meets thriller in this Edinburgh Fringe two-hander of 2021, getting its North American premiere here in a production directed, with great finesse, by Lora Brovold.

It starts as one of those comically awkward meet-ups that are the sequel to online chatting. Sam nervously arrives early at Nick’s apartment for dinner with a bottle of wine. Will they live up to their online billing and be compatible in person? Will they have sex? They’re careful with each other’s boundaries, and they start to get  more comfortable with each other. They ask those get-to-know-you dating questions: What floats your boat? If you could invite anyone, dead or alive, to dinner, who would it be? If you won a million dollars, what’s the first thing you’d do?   

Chris Cook in Fiji, Shatter Glass Theatre, Edmonton Fringe 2023. Photo supplied.

Gradually, unobtrusively what has started in wincing comedy — ever so natural in the skillful performances of Chris Cook and Vance Avery — gathers unsettling details. “I’ve wanted this for a very long time,” says Sam. “There’s no going back,” says Nick, who’s making dinner, carbonara, to launch their weekend date.

It’s the way Fiji twists darker and darker, without losing its macabre sense of humour that will rattle you. Talk about deadpan; Fiji brings home the bacon. It’s a shocking little play. And I just don’t know how to tell you what it’s about without giving something crucial away. Suffice it to say it’s based on the real-life 2001 case of one Armin Meiwes, but don’t look it up till after the show if you want the full experience.

The test of the production is how it builds tension (not to mention appetite), and how it makes the unthinkable not just possible but kind of inevitable. Everything is consensual, almost reasonable. Love is sought; love is involved. And Brovold in her directing debut and these two fine actors score on all points. I held my breath so long I started to see purple stars.