The Mikado   Reviewed by Darcy Sabatino “Are you sufficiently decayed enough” to perform? This was my take on Sullivan’s question after exiting the Fringe’s production of The Mikado. The fate of Gilbert’s dry humor and Sullivan’s musical score depended on who was on stage and how old they were.

Manifesto!  Reviewed by Carrie Klewin  If you are looking for an hour of whimsical delight, this café, created by surrealists and run by clowns, is the place to be.

The Hefner Monologues: How Hefnerian  By Matt MacNelly  When John Hefner steps on to the stage, you have to believe there was a mix up at the last name factory. With his thinning hair and a thickening midsection, Hefner’s appearance from the beginning suggests he’s not a silk robe and slippers kind of guy.

The Chalk Boy   Reviewed by Miranda Hall Orangeade? Check. Feisty girl-power soundtrack? Double check. Title role? No dice.

Wiener Sausage: The Musical!  Reviewed by Tim Treanor In Chief Ike’s Mambo Room, you can buy a substantial iced tumbler full of vodka and Kahlua for the very reasonable price of $8. Thank the Lord God Almighty! Because without cheap and plentiful alcohol, you will be forced to watch Wiener Sausage sober, as I did.

Born Normal   Reviewed by Carrie Klewin  If you want to see a shooting star on the rise, try to catch Stephen Spotswood’s Born Normal. 

On Sale Now!    Reviewed by Tim Treanor I don’t know if Slash Coleman has big matzo balls, but I know that Rick Huddle does. First, he wrote to our website using his own name. Second, he is doing a one-man show about consumer choice, which will get you about six people in your audience.

Life is a Dream  Reviewed by Tim Treanor  Uncut Pages, an all-woman troupe stages Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s 320-year-old play, which was written with only one female character. This is not necessarily a barrier to a successful enterprise.

The Dream-Casting   Reviewed by Carrie Klewin  This stream-of-conscious, cornucopia of quasi-carnival inspired non-sequiturs is not for the intolerant fringer.

I Like Nuts  (The Musical)   Reviewed by Tim Treanor  Attention Musical Writers: Urinetown is not a template. The first time we see a Musical which is all about subverting musical conventions, it’s cute. But it gets awfully old awfully quickly after that.

Slave Narratives Revisited  -A Celebration of Freedom Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson Nothing quite puts today’s national political election is perspective like Slave Narratives.  This production is a fascinating montage of voices, experiences, and resilience of captured Africans

B-Digga Presents  Reviewed by Miranda Hall “Man, I forgot the Fringe was a theatre festival,” shrugged the rapper E.R.K. as he jauntily took stage Saturday afternoon. “I’m music,” he laughed. “Well alright. Here we go.”