“We are all scared as shit.“ So proclaims man-boy Luke in Elizabeth Hagerty’s delightfully weird little play Nephrectomy. A study of the “quarter life crisis” that so plagues the millennial generation, Nephrectomy is as zeitgeisty as a New York Times trend piece, only, thankfully, much funnier.
Archives for July 2013
Fireball XL
Fireball XL is what Star Trek would have been like if the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise had been populated entirely by women, and also if Gene Roddenberry had been cheerfully insane.
Waiting for Orson
Na-nu na-nu. There, now that’s out of the way. Waiting for Orson gives audiences a seat next to Tristan (Christopher Leith), a wholesome 30-something with Midwestern appeal who just happens to believe an alien wants to meet him at Penn Station.
Bully
Any veteran Fringe fan knows that one-man shows can be, at best, hit or miss. Lee Kaplan’s nationally touring show, Bully, a boxing-themed look back at childhood traumas past, pulls off the tricky combination of landing many emotional hits without missing opportunities to add comic lightness to a play about a timely and otherwise heavy […]
Jonah Dove
Jonah Dove, which takes its cue from the biblical Book of Jonah, was presumably intended to examine the emotional turmoil of one complicated man – the eponymous Jonah Dove – as he rescues his niece from a life of abject poverty, reconciles himself with his sister, and grows to accept not only the existence, but […]
Smellin’ Up the Den
Before making my way up to the Gallery at the Goethe Institut for Red Knight Productions’ sketch comedy show Smellin’ Up The Den, I was honestly surprised by how diverse an audience they had brought in on their opening night. Young and old, first-time Fringers and seasoned pros, the whole gamut.
Lore
If you loved choose-your-own-adventure stories as a kid, Lore is the show for you.
Violent Delights: A Shakespearean Brawl-esque Sideshow
Violent Delights: A Shakespearean Brawl-esque Sideshow is the first creation of the new company Off the Quill. It’s an ambitious undertaking, particularly for a brand new group, and their enthusiasm is much appreciated.
The Black-Jew Dialogues
The Black-Jew Dialogues, presented by Mabel and Esther Productions, is first and foremost an educational piece. Like most productions of its kind, it attempts to straddle the line between entertaining and informative. Facts, figures and a bit of fun. Unfortunately, in this case, there was a bit too much of the former and a lack […]
The D.C. State Players Present Agamemnon
Misfortune, misfits, and mis-direction. All plague the “D.C. State Players” and as Tonee Bollocks (a.k.a. Tony Bollocks), the “Director,” leans toward the audience, he pontificates, “the best laid plans of mice and men… ” “…are like sands through the hourglass,” finishes Gabriel Sweetbottom, (a.k.a. Gabriel Swee) the “Producer.” Laughter sounds, and three minutes in, it’s […]
Cabaret XXXY: Who Do You Think You Are?
There’s a racket ascending on New York Avenue over the debut buzz of Fringe Festival, and the happy hour buzz of Baldacchino Gypsy Tent Bar. There are bass and guitar riffs and crash rides, and voices who want to know one thing: Who are you? Cabaret XXXY is making a gorgeously musical racket, and they’re […]
Polaroid Stories
Blind Pug Arts Collective’s remount of Naomi Iizuka’s dark and gritty Polaroid Stories delivers a gut-punch of love lost, violence, homelessness and addiction. Sure, it will kill your buzz and ruin your date night. Sometimes good theater does. And Polaroid Stories is brutally good.