Underneath The Lintel - You Gotta Love This Sleuthing Librarian!

Written by American playwright Glen Berger, Underneath The Lintel is a Fringe Festival anomaly. Unlike many shows you'll see at the Fringe, King Baby Productions chose an existing script - one that was published, proven and has been performed in several countries as well as translated into multiple languages. Kudos to this independent professional company based on Bowen Island for bringing Vancouver this intriguing story well told. 

Staged in the Culture Lab at the Cultch, we meet The Librarian (played by David Cameron). He has rented this "auditorium" for one night only - it's expensive, you know - and plans to offer us proof of just WHO perpetrated a unique crime. He used to work at a small library in the Dutch town of Hoopdorf, but no more. Why? Well, one fine day the Librarian was reshelving the books returned overnight and he found a late book. 113 years late, to be precise. This discovery kickstarts his unlikely world-wide quest to find the perpetrator of this outrage!

This fine production has much to recommend it. Based on a solid script, actor David Cameron turns in a tour-de-force performance as the determined Librarian who uses all his research skills to track an elusive, seemingly immortal quarry. Director Jackie Minns employs simple staging to great effect - a blackboard, a slide projector and screen, and most importantly, a chest of evidence (each piece tagged for easy reference). Underneath The Lintel is a Fringe gem - don't miss it!   

(If you want to learn more about the play itself, check out the Wikipedia entry here.)