When it premiered on Broadway in 1988, Carrie: The Musical lasted just 16 previews and five performances, earning a dubious place in theater history as one of the Great White Way’s biggest flops of all time.
Archives for July 2014
Dead and Breathing: CATF
Dead & Breathing pairs the formidable Lizan Mitchell with the dazzling N.L. Graham in a battle of witticisms, piercing words and stratagems about life, living, end of life decisions, and the tumultuous journey between.
The Ashes Under Gait City: CATF
At last, a play about planning and project management. If it weren’t for the stage lights and stadium seating, you might think you were at work, trapped in a 100-minute meeting with Powerpoint slides.
One Night: CATF
Playwright Charles Fuller delves into another grim aspect of military life in One Night. His 1982 play A Soldier’s Story dealt with racism and black self-hatred at an Army base in Louisiana during World War II. This new play takes place in 2008 during the Iraqi War and examines rape in the armed forces.
Ten Principles )'(
The Man burns in 46 days. Don’t worry that’s not a line from the Nicolas Cage flop Wicker Man, but Capital Fringe’s intentionally funny Ten Principles, a free flowing oral performance based around the infamous desert bacchanalia Burning Man. Through ten stories, actual festival goers, or “burners,” recount their time out on the Playa, living […]
Séance
Oh to be at Hogwarts now that summer is here! This is most definitely not Hogwarts. This is not even a side street off of Diagon Alley. This is the Lab II at the Atlas Performing Arts Center and they are trying to stir up some magic. But damned if the wands aren’t wobbly and […]
Porch
A glimpse at the Peter’s Alley Theatre website suggests that small, emotionally-loaded relationship plays are the company’s specialty: To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Proof… incidentally both, like this show, set on the porch of a house. But hey, everyone has to have a niche, right? This production of Porch by Jeffrey Sweet–a funny, charming, […]
Point…Blank…Period
Are you experiencing abdominal or pelvic cramping? Lower back pain? How about food cravings, headache or fatigue? If you have these or other symptoms, and it’s been roughly three and a half weeks since the last time it happened, you probably don’t need me to tell you what’s going on.
Sage of Blackwell
This is not one of those times where the typically short Fringe running time is a blessing. Leaving Sage of Blackwell, you wish you could spend another hour in this world, learning about the struggles, joys and regrets of these characters. It’s like an all-too-brief visit with your favorite older relative, getting another chance to […]
I Füçkèð Your Country
I had trouble asking for my tickets for I Füçkèð Your Country. Not just me. I overheard others: “”that show about Europe” or “I F-ed.” I was starting to get sweaty. But our friendly Fringe Festival volunteer had no trouble saying it out loud! Phew! So then I relaxed and proudly held the program title-side […]
Self Portrait
Sasha Sinclair’s one woman show, Self Portrait, is an interesting dramatic piece. An autobiography, it takes the audience from Sinclair’s early childhood in Virginia to her adolescence in North Carolina, and finally to her present day life as an artist living in DC.
Self-Portrait of a Sinner
In Self-Portrait of a Sinner, playwright/performer Veronique MacRae seeks to show how the sinner destroys other people as well as herself. Admirable in flashes, the solo piece is impaired by uneven writing.