Superheroes Who Are Super

As someone who was reading classic DC and Marvel comic books before the members of this production were born, I see the affection in their staged readings of actual comic stories in Superheroes Who Are Super! Unfortunately, I don’t really feel the love in these comic renditions by Philadelphia’s Save The Day Productions. [Read more...]

“Ouch, That Hurts!”

For those who have always enjoyed those buddy action movies that Hollywood pumps out, “Ouch, That Hurts!” is a nice little Fringe hors d’oeuvres for your enjoyment.  Running barely 30 minutes in length, this original comedy revolves around two soldiers in Iraq contending with sand, sergeants, scorpions, and terrorists. [Read more...]

How Frail the Human Heart

Elisha Clark Halpin couldn’t perform as scheduled due to an injury, but her company, ETCH Dance Co, filled the Apothecary with dramatic tension and angst. The program was entitled how frail the human heart, but Halpin’s creations are not for the faint of heart. [Read more...]

Losing It

Losing It begins with a tantrum.  Madeleine Russell, the play’s author and star, storms on stage, bellows, and throws a chair, a stack of books, some trash and a potted plant to the ground.  She comes close to chucking a laptop before calming down.  It was, needless to say, an abrasive start and, frankly, I was skeptical. [Read more...]

Chameleon

“Home is where my parents live.” “Home is a place you go back to.” “Home is where I sleep at night.” These definitions were part of Alaine Handa’s creation Chameleon. Like the creature that changes color, we acclimate to our environs. What makes Handa’s production intriguing is that she has researched and interviewed Third Culture Kids (TCK), [Read more...]

iSchool Musical

iSchool Musical is the latest hilarious brainchild of the Washington Improv Theater’s iMusical, The Improvised Musical.  Inspired by the overwhelming popularity of Fox’s “Glee”, iMusical decided to develop its own “high school musical” format and created iSchool Musical for the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival. [Read more...]

Duets

Duets is a collection of three one-act musicals exploring the ups and downs of romantic love.  Two actors, the boyishly handsome Jonny Price, and Bligh Voth, whose achingly lovely voice easily fills the small Clinic venue, play all the roles.  [Read more...]

Give Them Vagina

Vijay Nathan, a standup comedian of considerable gifts, takes us through a whirling tour of her amusing life in this pleasant romp at the fabulous Chief Ike’s Mambo Room. Despite the title, there is little gynecology in her routine. There’s hardly time for it, or for the subject of medicine at all. [Read more...]

Mary Poppins

It’s different from the wonderful 1964 musical film and even somewhat changed from the original 2004 West End theater production, which in turn differed from the movie. But the traveling edition of Disney’s musical stage extravaganza Mary Poppins, now running at the Kennedy Center Opera House, still has that same old magic: [Read more...]

Equilibrium

Equilibrium is a collection of five very short plays done by graduates of the Theatre Lab Honors Conservatory, Buzz Mauro’s and Deb Gottesman’s excellent program of theater education. The best of these is clearly the last: The Greener Lot (Playwright: Carl Brandt Long), in which a young couple (Echika U. Agugua and Mark Ludwig) believe, erroneously, that they have found their dream home. [Read more...]