The Goddess Diaries

The simplicity of The Goddess Diaries only adds to its brilliance. The single prop on stage is a giant ship’s wheel. A woman in white (Kim Posthumus) tells us that, since ancient times, the wheel has been used as a symbol for time. The wheel can represent both a single year and a single lifetime.

This is the third year The Goddess Diaries have appeared in Capital Fringe, each year bringing a new collection of stories.

The Goddess Diaries doesn’t need an elaborate set or fancy costumes. With captivating stories and phenomenal actors to tell these stories, this play is perfect just the way it is, simply told. Eight women, from eight different phases of life, share real life stories of grief, hope, and joy.

The first storyteller is the teenager (Eryn Gleason). In the cycle of a single year, she represents the end of winter. The teenager speaks of rebellion and the maturity gained from moving out on her own at the age of seventeen, followed by Spring Equinox (Kathleen Barth), Beltane (Halah Zenhom), Summer Solstice (Ruthie Rado), each storyteller older than the one before.

The story about the abusive husband (Dana Maas) is gut wrenching (“I did not come into this marriage with a history of abuse”). But the story about the young mother trying to shelter her kids from religion (Ruthie Rado) is hilarious and adorable (“No, he’s not calling me a bad word, I really am a witch”). The story I could personally relate to most was the one about the woman in her thirties who is terrified of getting married (Halah Ball).

Each scene is no more than ten minutes long, which is the perfect amount of time to feel fully immersed in the story. And each actor is fantastic. They all truly engage with the audience. This is the strongest cast I have seen so far at Fringe.

If you love beautiful storytelling and heartfelt acting you should see this gem.

Take me to the DCTS 2014 Capital Fringe Guide