Fringe is back!

Egads! It's The Shape of Water returning to DC in living color! Actually, no, it's Arma Dura, one of the acts at  2023 Capital Fringe as he showed up at the preview party.  Arma's costumes are well worth the price of admission.  More, below/By Patricia Leslie

 

Arma Dura, one of the acts at 2023 Capital Fringe, descends into the Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Come one!  Come all to any of the 49 plays which sport outrageous, hilarious, serious, entertaining, provoking and sometimes difficult scripts plus music and dance when Capital Fringe starts up again July 12 through July 23 with 275 cast and crew members in "almost entirely original theatre, dance, and unclassifiable productions." 

 Arma Dura at  the 2023 Capital Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Arma Dura, one of the acts at 2023 Capital Fringe, at the preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Many current topics are natural themes this year, from skin cancer (Onion Skin) to Charlottesville to abortion (My Name is Norma), and some celebs from yesteryear (Watergate's Martha Mitchell in Shut Up, Martha) and comedian Gilda Radner show up, too. 

Sarah Marie Hughes at the 2023 Capital Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Finding Home: Dance Journeys, one of the acts presented at the 2023 Capital Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Finding Home: Dance Journeys at the 2023 Capital Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

At the preview party, Samuel A. Simon delivered a few lines from his Dementia Man, An Existential Journey, one of the acts at 2023 Capital Fringe/By Patricia Leslie

This year's Capital Fringe theme is based on lemons:  "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"/By Patricia Leslie

Maybe you can find yourself in Who is my authentic self? Can it change?, but you'll surely want  to eavesdrop on an evening with Ernest Hemingway and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald in Tender. 

Share love in a new Shakespeare version (Only Love) or, anyone for puppets?  Try Attack on Tunggorono (for adults only). 

Enjoy magic and comedy with Charlie Ross Comedy & Magic. 

See dance (A Moment in Time and Finding Home).  Hear original music (TBD: A Devised Theatrical Celebration, Bell Wringer).

Explore memory and hope in Between Raindrops, based on  the 1922 collapse of DC's Knickerbocker Theatre which killed 98. 

The audience participates in several shows like the comedy and murder mystery, Who Did It? and help a young woman to route herself to the nunnery in The Holy One.

Of course, nudity and profanity are not to be forgotten: Brunch with the Boys, Dildos and Body Parts, Mutu Sakata and Rivershe Collective Arts are some titles.

Plus, on July 19 at 8 p.m., the Alliance for New Music-Theatre will present a free reading in English of six short-plays by Ukrainian artists, commissioned by the Center for International Theatre Development since the Russian Invasion. The shows include Ukrainian folksongs and although free, donations will help support Ukrainian artists. July 19, 8 p.m. at the Rind, 1025 Thomas Jefferson; enter on 30th.

The Fringe website lists choices of genre, dates, creators, and venues (many shows with profanity; for mature children.) 

Julianne Brienza, Fringe's founding director and programmer, chose this year's theme:  "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” which will be available for purchase at all venues. 

Short skits of 20 of the shows entertained guests at the free preview party at Georgetown's Powerhouse ("grand central" for festival-goers and crews) last weekend. 

Fringe is fun; the shows are different, original, and some, delightful!  Some, so naughty!  And they run 50 to 75 minutes each Wednesday through Friday, 6 - 11 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m at venues in Georgetown and at the Jewish Community Center and Theater J at 1529 16th Street, NW.

Artists will keep 70% of the $15 tickets which will have a handling fee of $2.51 added.  There are no cash sales.

Major sponsors are the Georgetown Business Improvement District, the DCJCC, Theater J, JLL, JBG Smith, Powerhouse, and Brick and Mortar.

According to its website, "Capital Fringe’s annual festival is the only unjuried, self-producing live performance festival in the Washington, DC area. Since 2006, we have presented 14 festivals featuring over 52,000 artists to an audience of 380,000 ticket buyers. The festival has generated $2.37 million in artist revenue. At our most recent festival in July 2022, 87% of available tickets were sold."

The awards ceremony (including, for the first time, audience awards) and the free closing party will be July 23, 7 - 11 p.m. at the Powerhouse.

Better get tickets while you can!  Some shows will certainly sell out.  For more information: capitalfringe.org.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Capital Fringe's 'Politician' scores big win

The playwright, John Feffer, is a. D.C. resident who has never worked for the U.S. government, but is well versed in its composition, stemming from his background as a D.C. journalist, pundit, and foreign affairs authority. Last year his Fringe production of The Pundit sold out, and this year's version, The Politician, picks up the story, but you don't need the first to know which way the winds blows.

At the Politician's Fringe premiere, the audience packed the Goethe-Institut 's main stage in Chinatown, eager to see
another political show, for in this town, another political show is always welcome. (Many are not on stage yet.)

The Politician is all about one assistant assistant undersecretary at the State Department, "Peter Peters," (Sean Coe) a typical Washingtonian A-lister moving up and over bodies to reach higher and higher plateaus, none which remain satisfactory for longer than a nanosecond. Isn't that the nature of the human beast? (Especially the ones in D.C.)

Peters advances to assistant deputy secretary to under secretary, and next stop: NATO.

Wait!

Along the way he’s got to deal with his wife (Lisa Hodsoll; does she have to call so much?), his son (“No! I don’t have time to go to his violin concert!”), interns, interviews ad nauseum, a terrorist from Kharzaria (?), and even a pesky radio d.j.

The play is a comedy-drama with lots of great lines, many coming from the hilarious but serious terrorist, Ruslan X (Ethan Kitts) who says his parts with the solemnity of a bomb about to detonate. To the audience's delight, he often mixes up his English: "puddle" for "splash," and "ghost us" for "haunt us." (You have to be there.)

For Fringe, it’s a big cast of seven, with four who have two or more roles (and five who are the radio callers). Smooth transitions gave no hint about multiple parts, only afforded the experienced. No weaknesses were observed in any presentations, however, "show stealers" were Conor Scanlan, Peters' intern who also acts as his son, and Morganne Davies in three roles, including Peters' mistress.

It's not often you see one person in four roles, deftly acted here by Michael Crowley. In one of her two parts Sarah Strasser delivered the ideal exaggeration and inflection of an entertaining television reporter.

The sound director deserves special recognition, but at left center stage was a burned-out light bulb needing replacement. Microphones would have aided reception. Costuming was match perfect.

Doug Krehbel directed with assistance from Christine Barry.

Although the performance lasted two hours (long for Fringe), I was not ready for it to end, and would welcome a combined production on a bigger platform, like maybe Woolly Mammoth's? Latecomers' intrusions would be thwarted.*

Whatever, not to miss!

*About latecomers: When I placed my order for a Fringe ticket package, I had to acknowledge three times my understanding that latecomers would not be seated, but they were at the Goethe-Institut. Not just one or two individuals, but trickling groups, too. The entrance to seating at the Goethe is at the front, so latecomers have to walk on the stage platform. Which is what they also did after intermission. Maybe they were politicians on waivers. 

What: The Politician

When: July 24, 5:45 p.m. and July 28, 12 p.m.

Where: Goethe-Institut, Main Stage, 812 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001

Duration: About two hours with one short pause

How much: $17 + a one-time charge for the $7 Fringe button required at all venues or buy discounted seats in multiples

Metro stations: Metro Center, Mt. Vernon Square-Convention Center, Gallery Place-Chinatown, Archives

For more information: 866-811-4111

Language: X-rated 


patricialesli@gmail.com

Capital Fringe's 'STATUS' is an experiment, all right

Limousines, Inc.

 

Guurrrrlll!!!  We should all have a year (or part of one) like Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly had in 2011 when her boyfriend ended their six-year affair, and she took off and said "yes" to all invitations.

Wow!  You talk about a wild side.  Or was it a wild ride?  I think it was both.  

I've heard about this in Washington, D.C., and I believe Ms. Kelly's show at Capital Fringe, STATUS - A Social Media Experiment, could be up on the big screen, and can't you just imagine the film?  I am ready to buy a ticket.

You see, my lifestyle ain't exactly like Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly's, being that I am much older (one reason) but some of us can live vicariously, can't we? And when does the movie start?

Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly stars in her own play, STATUS - A Social Media Experiment at Capital Fringe/Phil Kogan

Okay, she's a Kennedy Center dancer (she said it was a true story) who starts going out "on the rebound" real fast, like the speed of water gushing from broken pipes, to parties galore, where "Mr. Billionaire" paid her mortgage (!!!) after she agreed to try on one of the many new bikinis he kept  on his yacht on the Potomac where all the women, she said, had been his sleeping partners at one time or another. (Not all at the same time, I don't think since that would require a mattress as big as FedEx Field.  I don't guess a mattress is necessary though. Do you ever wonder how these people remain disease-free?  Maybe, they aren't!) 

(In her one-act, one-person play, Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly never mentions having sex with any of her new "friends."  Shame.)

Anyway, one party led to another and another, and four hours' sleep per night became the norm along with all those alcoholic calories and friends.  Oh, she found a lot of those on FB: to be exact, 687 she "friended" over the year. 

Once she got out her dancing shoes, it didn't take long to break into the D.C. party  circuit and rub shoulders with the elite, including one of the female U.S. Supreme Court justices, and they discussed dance:  modern or ballet? 

And pretty soon, Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly was going to all the fancy digs with so many escorts who knew their way "in," invited or not.  Just act like you know what you're doing, she said, and the hosts will be too embarrassed to kick you out.  (She didn't name the Salahis at the White House, but their images appeared to many of us.)

Ms. Kelly's props are a computer on a fold-out table, a chair, a bell, and the screen behind her where activities, friends, and male pals are displayed in a slide show.  Sadly, no real names supplied.  Just nicknames ("Captain Morgan," Mr. Liteweight," "Lieutenant Delicious.")  There is no intermission (but all the Fringe intermissions I know about are nothing more than pauses). 

Honestly, I don't think she was really acting as much as pouring her guts out about her incredible year over 60 minutes which, for sure, won't appeal to all, but I'll bet a large portion of "all" might be interested in seeing this movie.  (A book?  No.  Well, maybe, written in sixth-grade style for all those people who don't like to read.) To Hollywood or bust!

When I went last Saturday evening, the audience was about 90 percent female.

I can visualize the movie right now and all the scenes in Georgetown, on the water, the yachts (!), restaurants, and the fancy clubs and magic places.  

Let's think of titles since Status makes me think of concrete.  How about D. C. Party Girl or Diary of a Washington Dancer?  Fabulosity in the Potomac? Phabulous Phantom on the Potomac?

Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly has some tips, too, the most important of which is: 

1.  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" as in be there and show up.  (She did not name the Bible verse, but I'll supply some:  Luke 6:31 or Matthew 7:12.)

and

2.  Never pay a cover charge. 

3. If a guy buys you a drink, you are only obligated to converse with him the time it takes you to gulp the drink. 

4. Always carry an extra cocktail dress in your car. (!) 

5. Never drink red wine when wearing a white dress.  

This was the first sold-out Fringe show I've been to this year, and thank goodness I had a reservation since the venue's box office was turning away last-minute purchasers.

What:  STATUS - A Social Media Experiment

When: July 20, 7:45 p.m.; July 21, 10:30 p.m.; July 24, 6:30 p.m.; July 27, 3:30 p.m.

Where:  Caos on F, 923 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 2000r

How much: $17 + a one-time charge for the $7 Fringe button required at all venues or buy discounted seats in multiples.  Buy online or at the box office.

Metro stations:  Metro Center, Mt. Vernon Square- Convention Center, Gallery Place-Chinatown, Archives

For more information:  866-811-4111

Language:  X-rated

patricialesli@gmail.com

Capital Fringe's 'Last Train to Nibroc' is a sweet exchange

Lena Winter stars in Last Train to Nibroc at the Capital Fringe Festival

    

A man and a woman sit side-by-side on a train bound from California for Chicago, strangers until they meet, like we all are.  The time is World War II.

He’s a recently discharged soldier ("medical reasons"), and she’s a religious “goody goody,” sporting the hurt of a recent break-up.

They share the train with the coffins of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nathaniel West, and I'm not sure what that connection was, other than "Raleigh" (Justin McLachlan) is an aspiring writer, and "May" (Lena Winter) is a reader.  A religious reader, at that.  It's the last train Fitzgerald and West will ride.  Maybe it's May's "last chance."

It doesn't take long for the two living travelers to discover their common link in Kentucky where May is headed to meet family, but Raleigh is bypassing the state, his homeplace, too, for New York.

Hold it: May has never been to Kentucky’s Nibroc Festival (that's Corbin spelled backwards) and Raleigh invites her to go, of course. She hesitates:  "Do you really want me to go?"  Oh, come on, May!

Like one might expect of a sheltered, conservative woman brought up in an evangelical household, May shuns anything which remotely suggests fun and excitement.  With library shoes on her feet, an old-woman's hairstyle, and in a sedate dress with a brooch conveniently pinned at the center to hide cleavage, May is correctly costumed for her role in the 1940s.

 

In the second scene (which could be eliminated), Raleigh wears a wife-beater with suspenders, no belt, and a cap, perfect for the era and quite a contrast to his military uniform in the first scene. 

Their southern accents are a trifle overdone, and their conversations, not all sweetness and timid affection like one exudes when trying to make a favorable impression.  (In WWII, I believe they called it "courting.") 

Innocent conflicts are heard over the three scenes spanning several years for, after all, what's a performance without conflict?  Not a play.

Some of the dialogue is redundant.  However, the ending was a surprise  for I thought it was on a different track.

Props are minimal and totally adequate:  a bench and two chairs, and what more do you need?  A sunset.  Provided.

The two actors made me realize more than ever the wealth of talent found in Washington, D. C.  which Fringe allows us to observe with its myriad, versatile offerings.  Some friends tell me they love theatre but don't even know what I am talking about when I say "Fringe." They don't get out much.  How could theatre-types not know Fringe? I like to say I am "doin' the Fringe."

Another thing I adore about this festival of independent works is the hole-in-the wall buildings which come alive for some of the venues (all, air-conditioned!)  like the Nibroc site conveniently located right around the corners from Fringe Capital ("Fort Fringe") where you can get good cold beer at reasonable prices and the best hummus and pita I've eaten. 

On last Saturday's  hot afternoon,  service was a mite slow, no doubt explained by waitstaff and volunteers who have never waitstaffed or rung up a bill, but the beer temperature and the tasty morsels made up for it.

Get out and support your local arts community and have a good time, too.

Last Train to Nibroc, directed by Scott Sparks, written by Arlene Hutton, and presented by Homeward Theatre, was first staged by the New York International Fringe Festival before it went on to Off-Broadway.

 

What:  Last Train to Nibroc

When: July 17, 7:45 p.m.; July 21, 6:15 p.m.; July 24, 9:15 p.m.; July 26, 9:45 p.m.; July 28, 12 p.m.

Where: 612 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

How much: $17 + a one-time charge for the $7 Fringe button required at all venues, or buy discounted seats in multiples.  Buy online or at the box office.

Metro stations:  Metro Center, Mt. Vernon Square- Convention Center, Gallery Place-Chinatown, Archives

For more information:  866-811-4111

Language:  Nothing offensive

patricialesli@gmail.com