Archives for July 9, 2016

  At the top of the show, David Kessler admits that he has a problem: He cries too much. Tears of every emotion at just about any occasion, but especially at weddings. Little does the audience know, Kessler and the rest of what he calls “Team Happiness” have perfected a dark ritual called One Mutual […]

“I was born in 1817. When Mr. Surratt died last year, I bought this little house on H Street, with two rooms. If I could get them filled, I could live.” These words, spoken by Mary Surratt (Elise Gainer) in the beginning of the play, come back to haunt her character by the end of […]

sau·da·de, sou?däd?/, noun , a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia. Saudade; the one where I miss you is a Fringe rarity: an uplifting drama. Andrew Reid’s charming script balances tragedy with innocence and optimism. This bright and airy exploration of loss, directed by Madison Landis, plays at the Eastman Theatre through July 23.

BRYCE: Hydrogen Blonde is a whirlwind.  With the bass throbbing and lights pulsating, BRYCE transports the audience at the Logan Fringe Arts Space’s Trinidad Theatre to the throws of a raging pop concert – and on opening night, it even included screaming fans. 

We’re seeing a particularly intriguing trend emerging at this year’s Fringe: area burlesque performers and troupes trying their hand at more traditional narrative storytelling, while trying to maintain the energy and style of the burlesque format. Burlesque Classique is going the Shakespearean route with A Midsummer Night’s Burlesque, while performer Ché Monique’s Cake! goes meta […]

Heat indexes and the sheer quantity of shows aside, the numbers associated with Capital Fringe are generally kept deliberately small: budgets, cast sizes, tech hours, etc. So, it’s a fitting testament of the economy of the festival that the expansively named 75 Lezbos, 2 Trannies, 1 Pannie, Me & Me Too! is actually one actor […]

  What happens when you mix an existential dilemma with a stand-up comedian? According to Quantum mechanics, one distinct possibility is the ricochet routine of Bill Santiago, currently performing on F Street for anyone willing to take the plunge.

Coping will emotionally devastate you in all the best ways. It takes a rare production to reach deep into your chest and punch you repeatedly in your emotions, lift you up with laughter, then proceed to smack you around some more.

Among all the major Shakespeare characters, the one least susceptible to a one-actor treatment may be Romeo Montague, the doomed lover in Romeo and Juliet.  Hamlet, Lear, Shylock, Othello all have great monologues, but actors illuminate Romeo mostly in relation to other characters — principally Juliet, but the Friar, the Nurse, Mercutio, Benvolio and Tybalt […]

Dr. Erik Mueller might have the most fascinating resume in all of Fringe this year, but The Computer That Loved’s meditation on his love life is still a work in progress.

We had never had a President like Richard Nixon before we elected him in 1968, and we will never have one like him again.