Reviews

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Fringe Review: ‘Men Don’t Listen to Naked Women’ By Julia Exline

In Men Don’t Listen to Naked Women, performer Monique Holt throws in a pinch of everything—hilarious stand-up, friendly audience interaction, impeccable mime and playful storytelling. Dynamic,...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Imagination Meltdown Adventure’ by Lauren Katz

The statement “Be careful what you wish for” takes on a whole new meaning through Pointless Theatre’s production of Imagination Meltdown Adventure. The play loosely follows Joseph Campbell’s...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘We Tiresias’ by Anne Tsang

We Tiresias, written by Stephen Spotswood and directed by Matt Ripa, is based on the Greek myth of Tiresias, a blind prophet ofT hebes, renowned for his clairvoyance. The story of Tiresias is told...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘President Harding is a Rock Star’ by Anne Tsang

Landless Theater Company’s revival of President Harding is a Rock Star, written by Kyle Jarrow and directed by Melissa Baughman attempts to draw parallels between the life and metoric rise of the 29th...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup’ by Doug Poms

Who is Miss Hiccup you might be wondering? She is a come-to-life doll-like clown that is played by a very talented woman from Japan named Yanomi. And yes, Yanomi does suffer from a bad case of the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Pundit’ by Kim Moeller

“The first law of punditry is the less you know, the easier it is to boil it down to a sound bite.” That’s a quote from The Pundit’s title character, Peter Peters, an authority on, well, we’re not...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Tent of Dreams: An Occuplay’ by Pat Davis

The Baldacchino Gypsy Tent, with a loud crowd thronging in the bar next door, is the perfect setting. The crowd will likely be inside, too, standing against the edges of the tent, packed in for Nu...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Madame: Helena Rubinstein in America’ by Francine Schwartz

Madame: Helena Rubinstein in America is a production of the Fourpence Theater. Their mission is to present works that explore the lives of “unique, female American icons.” According to the program,...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Goddess Diaries’ by Pat Davis

Having read that The Goddess Diaries sprang from an exercise at playwright Carol Campbell’s church, I must have had in the back of my mind the image of a basement room in an old building, a group of...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Zero Tolerance: Sex, Math and Seizures’ by Connie Morris

Barbara Selfridge’s one woman show asks the question “You decide which is scarier: epilepsy or prime numbers…and sex.” An intriguing and beguiling question that doesn’t quite maintain the same level...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘HeLovedtheSoftPornoftheCity’ by Connie Morris

I hate giving my age away, but I spent my childhood in the 1960s and 70s. Since I was fortunate enough to have the fine arts, music, and theater within my public school curricula, on occasion I would...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Pushing Boundaries’ by Connie Morris

I love reading Fringe show descriptions. I usually develop an expectation in my mind that is rarely relevant to the actual production I witness. Ellouise Schoettler’s Pushing Boundaries show...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Mindset’ by Jennifer Perry

Jace Casey is, put simply, a wunderkind. This young DC area teen with Signature Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, and Olney Theatre Center performing credits, has directed, composed, arranged, and co-written a...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Will Rogers’ USA’ by Jessica Vaughan

I walked out of Will Rogers’ USA thinking that this guy was the most awesome man on the planet. Everyone should see this play, especially if they have no idea who is. I was intrigued by the program...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Hair Chronicles’ by Veronique MacCrae

Thought-provoking, probing and deeply personal, The Hair Chronicles, written by Nileah Bell, Mary Nyingi and Michelle Whittaker is based on the real event of the playwrights’ search for a paper topic...

Capital Fringe Review ‘Fallen Angels’ by Jennifer Perry

Fallen Angels, a trio of miniature operas composed, produced, and musically directed by Michael Oberhauser, shows much promise for future expansion. Under the direction of Nick Vargas, the cast of...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Webcam Play’ by Grace Kim

The Webcam Play, written by Timothy J. Guillot and directed by Sasha Bratt, is a funny dramedy about online dating. Most of us singletons have tried online dating, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Despertar’ by Amanda Gunther

Despertar. Literally Spanish for awakening or to wakeup. The wakeup call here is that there are 122 other shows at The Capital Fringe Festival to go enjoy. Director and Playwright Jon Jon Johnson...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Harmony’ by Julia L. Exline

Quite frankly, this is a play that should be called Discord. Directed by Matthew Sonnenfield, the plot centers around three women (Amelia Bane as Regina, Chelsea Reba as Isabel, and Alexandra Kelly as...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘No Exit’ by Tzvi Kahn

As you enter the basement level of the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church for OUR Theatre’s modern adaptation of Sartre’s No Exit, the play’s Valet (Thomas L. McGrath) appears in character to direct...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Jilly Manilly’ by Andrew L. Baughman

Jilly Manilly (written by Carl A. Fischer and Walt F. Strasser; directed by Patricia Woolsey) riffs on the Milli Vanilli lip-syncing controversy of the late 80’s. Scout Records Owner Mark Franklin...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Hysterical Blindness’ by Jennifer Perry

Justin Purvis’ autobiographical monologue, Hysterical Blindness, is a compelling one. Directed by Daniel Flint and co-created/produced by Chantal Martinaeu, it starts off as largely a comedic improv...

‘Parade’ at The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts by Alex Murphy

The Theatre Lab’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s musical Parade marked another entry in the long line of excellent musicals that showcase the outrageous talent of their young performers. The young...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Discharged’ by Jennifer Perry

Discharged, written by Erin Webreck and performed by Kelley Quinn, is a solo-piece, which explores how family pressures and relationships impact one’s life no matter one’s station and personal...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Flight of Fancy (A Steampunk Ballet)’ by Grace Kim

MOVEius Dance’s Flight of Fancy (A Steampunk Ballet) will invigorate your senses with a dance performance set to fourteen indie rock songs. I love dance performances and one that’s billed as an...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Rightful Masters’ by Dr. Layla McCay

When Mark Whitney, solo performer of Rightful Masters, thanked us for supporting ‘independent theater’ at the end of his ‘performance’, the audience looked puzzled. Because Rightful Masters may be...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Everything Fringe Show You Want To See in One Fringe Show Fringe Show’ by Jessica Vaughan

The Every Fringe Show You Want To See in One Fringe Show Fringe Show is hilarious! I (and most of the audience) was laughing out loud, uncontrollably, every 20 seconds. Why? The show’s three actors...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘In This Economy’ by Jessica Vaughan

If you have ever known or happen to be either a 20-something searching for a job in DC or employed in a perpetual entry-level position, In this Economy will be both funny and severely painful. It is...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Breaking Up With Ed’ by Jessica Vaughan

Breaking up with Ed was not written so much as collected by Angela Pitko but from survivors of eating disorders. Five actors – Caroline O’Grady, Rebecca Philips, Anika Harden, Stefanie Garcia, and...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Girls Who Think They’re Hot’ by Julia L. Exline

“What you have just seen may be called by the easily-shocked, ‘shocking.’” Ritchie Porter directs this madcap mockumentary where 1950’s princess Poppy Topp (Clare Lefebure) finds herself intrigued by...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Donna Has A Boyfriend’ by Jessica Vaughan

Hayley Cutler is the choreographer behind this memorable hour of dance called Donna Has a Boyfriend. Her background is in the postmodern style. I was unaware that we have moved on from modern, but was...

National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap: ‘Hamlisch Goes Gershwin ‘ by Jane Coyne

’S always wonderful and marvelous to spend an evening at Wolf Trap, especially when the most wonderful and marvelous Marvin Hamlisch shows up and devotes the entire evening to George Gershwin....

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Why So Serious?’ By Derek Mong

Fringe Review: Why So Serious? Comedy Exposes Society’s Stern Outlook on Life Why So Serious?: Comedy Exposes Society’s Stern Outlook on Life features Trevor Joyner in his debut performance at the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Diamond Star Project’ By Derek Mong

The Diamond Star Project may have been the most confusing experience I have had yet at the Capital Fringe. The 45-minute performance is based on Catherine Asaro’s sci-fi book of the same name,...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Underdeveloped and Overexposed Life and Death of Deena Domino’ By Derek Mong

The Underdeveloped and Overexposed Life and Death of Deena Domino follows the life (and, well, death) of child star Deena Domino as her stardom waxes and wanes (mostly wanes) over the course of her...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Mitzi’s Abortion’ by Julia L. Exline

“Downer subject, don’t you think?” When 22 year-old Mitzi (Natalie Cutcher) becomes pregnant, she welcomes the adventure despite some unsettling doubts. While things are hard enough with a tight...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘SINGLEMARRIEDGIRL’ by Andrew L. Baughman

There’s a little gem of a solo-show buried in the great gallery of Capital Fringe, don’t let it slip under your radar! SINGLEMARRIEDGIRL is a production by one of DC’s newest companies, Tasty Monster...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Interview’ by Anne Tsang

“I didn’t make these decisions, they were made by people much smarter than you or I” says James Shannon in Peter Swet’s The Interview, currently playing at the Capital Fringe Festival. That’s the way...

‘Dr. Science’s Science Time Science-va-ganza!’ by Andrew L. Baughman

What is the secret formula for an exquisite fringe production? Well, author/comedian/molecular biologist Adam Ruben and his team decisively prove that it doesn’t take production budget (any!) or even...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Erica Laxson

The Capital Fringe offers local artists the opportunity to practice their craft and bring unique visions to life. Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an off the wall, punk rock...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Occupy This! Tales of an Accidental Activist ‘ by Amanda Vicari

A mix between stand up comedy, motivational speaking, and traditional story telling, Occupy This! Tales of an Accidental Activist is a simple yet interesting journey from the entertaining and likable...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ by Amanda Vicari

Faruq Hussein- Bey’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, directed by Camille Kashaka, is a series of small stories that address the roles of perception and perspective on race, class, sexual...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Stopgap’ by Joel Markowitz

It’s amazing how many fantastic young actors appear in Fringe shows who you just hope would be ‘discovered,’ and that’s the way I felt with the exceptional cast of Stopgap. This hardworking cast...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ by Joel Markowitz

At last year’s Page-To-Stage I was introduced to some of the songs/arias that composer/librettist Dr. Andrew Earle Simpson had composed for his adaptation of Bret Harte’s 1869 short story The Outcasts...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Mein Kampf’ by Tzvi Kahn

According to a press release and other advertising, Scena Theatre’s production of George Tabori’s Mein Kampf constitutes a “daring,” “savagely funny,” and “in-your-face dark comedy,” not to mention a...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The New and Improved Stages of Grief’ by Pat Davis

The famed Italian novelist Italo Calvino during a 1968 visit to the US noted the following: Americans laugh at death. He had seen a comedy routine at a jazz club and wrote home about it, somewhat...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Right to Remain…The Life and Mind of Tupac Shakur’ by Pat Davis

Even on a cool night, the heat of the Fort Fringe Bedroom is stifling. You will forget about it within two minutes as you enter Tupac Shakur’s world, shaped and portrayed by Meshaun Labrone in his...

‘Hairspray’ at Montgomery College’s Summer Dinner Theatre by Derek Mong

Montgomery College continues its 35th consecutive year of Summer Dinner Theatre with a show-stopping performance of Hairspray, directed and choreographed by Pauline Grossman. Set in 1960’s Baltimore,...

‘I Am (Not) My Mother’ at Maryland Ensemble Theatre by Mike Spain

A local playwright Suzanne Beal is having a World Premiere run of I Am (Not) My Mother at Maryland Ensemble Theatre. Proceeds go to help The Woman’s Giving Circle. It is a great story of putting...

‘The Addams Family’ at The Kennedy Center by Doug Poms

The Addams Family, the kooky clan that was first the subject of Charles Addams cartoons in the New Yorker, then featured on a popular television sitcom, and more recently a couple of Hollywood films,...