Review: 44 Minutes, Fringe 2026

A barefooted man lies uncomfortably writhing in the centre of the stage, inside the framework of a cage. We shuffle in through the shipping container door, filling up every available seat in this small venue. The door closes, and I understand that we too are now held captive in this cage, feeling in my bones the claustrophobia of the four men we’re about to witness.

Why am I here?!

The story begins with a jolt, an opening jump scare to break the tension, only so it can be rebuilt slowly over the next 44 minutes.

A large digital clock on the wall, red numbers, starts counting down.

My list of questions begins to grow, but not as quickly as the three men when they awaken next to each other, locked in a cage together with this writhing man, still unconscious.

Anyone who enjoys this movie subgenre (you wake up in a windowless room with strangers and no way out) will know what to expect next: the men panic, they get heated, they doubt, and question, defend, and try to break free.

(Only the cage is electrified, and with only a half second of perfectly timed noise & lighting, the captive bounces back in pain so believably that I didn’t risk getting any closer to the cage myself!)

They’ll have trouble trusting each other, but have no choice but to cooperate as they try to look for clues and understand what’s happening to them.

Inevitably we’ll hear from the villain and their nefarious demands, surely testing them, with some unthinkable task or challenge.

One story, or four?

This subgenre might sound formulaic, but the framework purpose is to create a character study. To look at ordinary people put into an insane situation, where the stakes have never been higher, and which brings out folks best, and worst.

We see character dynamics at their most raw and unpolished, we see their priorities, their values, and what (if anything) they’re willing to sacrifice.

Our four characters feel realised very quickly, revealing enough information about themselves and their personalities that they feel alive and familiar, while holding back just enough from each other that we’re still left wondering, who are these people and why are they here?

I quickly found myself invested in all of them, trying to understand who’s the bad guy, if any.

To listen for clues in anything they said: one is quick to ask and slow to answer; another is an open book with his heart on his sleeve; another shy and anxious; the fourth has amnesia (or so he says!).

The characters are powerfully acted, american theatre on the ground level, very raw and emotional. Fear, panic, distrust, faith, honesty, heartbreak, and glimpses of love for people locked outside their cage.

If you’re noise sensitive, you might consider some loops; there is plenty of screaming and arguing to keep the unfolding drama close to your heart rate. I never felt like I was comfortably lazily watching a drama unfold on my couch on TV, but as if I was in the room with them, watching their nightmare unfold in front of my eyes, their pain becoming mine

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By the final moments of the play, the dynamic of the four men had collapsed and shifted in a way that signalled we might finally get some answers to the ever-growing list of questions.

I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that how it all wrapped up was emotionally charged and harrowing in a way I didn’t expect. A very specific statement was being made; I can’t help but wonder how personal this might have been to one or more of the actors.

I have to admit I walked away feeling that while I felt positive about the ending, I felt something was missing. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, something important left unanswered.

Only while writing this review, a day and a half later, it hit me.

Again I wouldn’t like to spoil, but it might never have occurred to me without taking the time to think about the whole play again, from the start. I will say only that they subtly left a nugget of sheer genius in the ending, that not only answered that missing question, but made me appreciate on a much deeper level their decision to perform this story every day at the Fringe.

A roaring applause in the tiny chamber closes off the night, the actors finally escape their cage and I feel a collective breath of relief as our own door is unlocked and we can walk away into the rest of our night, reliving moments from the show all the way home.

Overall

I was captivated for 44 minutes; a haunting and visceral performance. Tension and mystery (and screaming) overtook my whole world as I sat within the shipping container watching this powerful drama unfold mere feet away from me, a silent observer sharing the pain and claustrophobia as the four captives are forced to open their souls to each other and worry about how their lives are going to transform when the clock finally hits zero.