Somebody cared enough about a young black girl killed by a white cop in the powder keg summer of 1969 to give her a story. Nothing much was known about the girl—just her name, age and how she died. But she matters. Playwright Monica Bauer gives Vivian flesh, passion and purpose in the affecting play […]
Archives for July 9, 2019
33 1/3 Chorus Girls. Overheard conversation with Fringe sketch comedy author
We listened in as Allison Malcomstogle sat down with Robert Kittredge, author of 33 1/3 Chorus Girls, talked about the upcoming festival. Some of what we heard was barely believable. Malcomstogle: How did you get involved in the creative end of a theatrical production? Kittredge: Having grown up in Des Moines, I was always a […]
We’re All Going To Fucking Die!, a Fringe solo show about joy
Twanna A. Hines, a sexual and reproductive health educator and creative entrepreneur, answers our questions about her Capital Fringe show at Arena Stage. Where did the idea for your show come from? Like every delicious thing — from french kissing to ménages à trois — you can blame this on the French! You know that […]
Review: Wrecked at Contemporary American Theater Festival
In Hillel Mitelpunkt’s The Accident, a self-involved man, somewhat drunk, hits and kills a Chinese immigrant at about eighty miles per hour. Then, with his passenger, an equally self-involved and even more drunk man, they decide that their work is too important to have it interrupted by the inconvenience of a homicide investigation, and so […]
A show truly on the Fringe: Marx in Soho, an interview with Karl herself
Mary Myers is about to embark to the Edinburgh Fringe festival to play Karl Marx in Mark in Soho. Before leaving, she’s given us these words as she prepares for her last show in the States. The conceit of Marx in Soho is that Karl Marx, enraged at how his ideas are being interpreted and disregarded, petitions […]
Review: A Welcome Guest (a Psychotic Fairy Tale) at Contemporary American Theater Festival
In 2010, the Contemporary American Theater Festival staged something called The Eelwax Jesus 3-D Pop Music Show. It was the first musical they ever did. They’ve never done one since. The play began with the fine actor Anne Marie Nest, as Esme, ironing white napkins. One after another. She must have ironed a thousand of […]
Review: Support Group for Men at Contemporary American Theater Festival
Gaseous and unpredictable, witty and sentimental, Support Group for Men is ninety minutes traffic of our stage which seems longer, an earnest foray into secrets and feelings masked as a comedy. It is complicated without being complex; amusing without being satisfying. It is like the old cliché about Chinese food: in half an hour you’ll […]
Review: Show Boat at Glimmerglass Festival
Glimmerglass Festival opened its 45th season with a sensational Show Boat. The musical, based on Edna Ferber’s novel about a floating theater on the Mississippi, could have been delivered as just a slice of Americana and even get sweetly sentimental under less capable hands. But Artistic Director Francesca Zambello has dug deeply into this enormously […]
Review: La traviata at Glimmerglass Festival
A “new” production of La traviata shared the buzz opening weekend at Glimmerglass Festival. Nonetheless, as a co-production with Washington National Opera (and a handful of other opera companies because this is how opera sustains itself these days,) it was seen first at the Kennedy Center last Fall as its season’s gala opening. My review […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.