Hard Cheese: Rat in the City: One Last Bite is a slice of FRINGE WORLD brilliance. 

The production follows Harland 'Hard Cheese' Cheese, a part rat/part man policeman turned dingy detective that is forced back into the depths of the dirty city to find his long lost lady love, The Real Life Hollywood Actress Allison Brie, through a series of vignettes with the colourful characters (some human, some animal, some puppet) of the streets. 

The strong reference to the American crime film noir theme drives the production. The dark, shadow-heavy lighting. The trenchcoats. The moody jazz orchestral musical. The clipped, snappy dialogue in accents of unclear descent. And, most importantly, a leading (rat)man with a murky past. There is not a single element that hasn't been thought through – even the cardboard-wrapped guns highlight the gritty, back-alley edge. 

This production and the direction of the show are excellent and demonstrate a sophisticated vision and creativity from the young cast and crew. 

It may be due to the scatter gun pace, or the miscellaneous accents, or perhaps by design, but I didn't quite understand what was happening plot-wise. As soon as I thought I understood the horse references, or where Allison Brie was, I'd lost it again. What this means, however, is that you are left passionately examining the show afterwards with your guests – Why did they…? How did she…? Who was the…? 

Hard Cheese is a surreal, silly, deep, proletariat, visually spectacular night out and is exactly what should be celebrated this FRINGE WORLD.