Fringe is usually filled with scrappy fledging companies of artists banding together in the hopes of making some theatre magic on zero budget, a wing and a prayer. But, every once in while there is a show, like Harlot Production’s Gilded, that obviously has greater resources at their disposal. It shows in everything from the […]
About Amy Couchoud
Review: Horse People at Capital Fringe
Lindsey is in love with a rock. Yes, an actual rock. More specifically, a rock that’s made up of many other rocks encased in concrete. Yes, actually in love. As she says herself while gently caressing the object of her affection: “I want to eat it. I want to fuck it. I want to be […]
Review: MasterMimes: The Show at Capital Fringe
Prior to the start of MasterMimes: The Show, a man and a woman are sleeping on the floor. Every few minutes, an alarm clock goes off and the woman hits snooze with ever increasing annoyance. Finally, the lights go down as lively old-timey music starts.
The Last Night of Ballyhoo at Theater J (review)
“Jewish Christmas trees don’t have stars!” Or at least they don’t according to Boo Levy, one of the matriarchs of the affluent southern Jewish Freitag-Levy household where the family has barely heard of Passover, but the aforementioned tree is proudly displayed (sans star, of course) in the front parlor.
5 Epiphanies (Capital Fringe review)
Full disclosure: I have spent most of the last decade as a teacher, immersed in the world of autobiographical storytellin . I work with my students to become less “literary” and more “conversational”. I teach them not to use notes so that they can converse and connect better with the audience. I ask them to stand, […]
The Kind of Thing That Would Happen (Capital Fringe review)
What is truth? It’s a big question to explore in 50 minutes, but Agora Dance’s The Kind of Thing That Would Happen attempts to do exactly that. The result is a beautifully executed, if overly intellectualized, piece of modern dance-theatre.
Return to the Scene of the Crime (Capital Fringe review)
An autobiographical one-man show about performing a different autobiographical one-man show? It sounds like the ultimate Fringe Festival cliché. But despite its conceit, David Kleinberg’s Return to the Scene of the Crime is a sincere and moving, if sprawling and unwieldy, show which embodies a totally different Fringe cliché: the diamond in the rough.
Polarbear performs Mouth Open, Story Jump Out (review)
How do you know the difference between a story and a lie? According to British spoken word artist Polarbear (aka Steven Camden), a lie is selfish, but a story is a gift. If that is the case, Polarbear’s engaging autobiographical one man show for children 8 years and older, Mouth Open, Story Jump Out, is […]
Darkly hilarious Laura Bush Killed a Guy (review)
On November 6, 1963, 17-year-old Laura Welch (future First Lady Laura Bush) was driving down a dark road on her way to the movies when she failed to heed a stop sign, causing a car accident that would take the life of her friend and high school classmate.
Quotidian’s production proves it’s time for Doubt (review)
You have likely encountered Doubt: A Parable before. Whether it be through the Tony Award-winning original Broadway production, the Pulitzer Prize-winning script, the Academy Award-nominated film or the multitude of well-received regional productions (including several in the DC Metro area), John Patrick Shanley’s meditation on the power of doubt vs. conviction has been in the collective […]
Blues having its way with love. Blues in the Night at Creative Cauldron (review)
‘Tis the season to think about love, and whether you’ve got the “Dirty No-Gooder Blues,” are “Taking a Chance on Love” or you’re “Just a Lucky So-and-So” there’s a song that will speak to your heart in Creative Cauldron’s swinging production of Blues in Night.
The Second Shepherd’s Play from Folger Consort (review)
In a season full of holiday spectacle, the rarely performed The Second Shepherds’ Play stands out for its sweet simplicity. With only a small three-piece band of expert musicians and modest, yet effective, staging and design, director and adapter Mary Hall Surface and her cast create a gentle bit of Christmas magic that is uniquely […]