DC

Magic Time! 5 Reasons Capital Fringe Is a DC Treasure

The future of the Capital Fringe Festival has been uncertain since its brilliant and brave inception in 2006, but back in July 2013 its fate was especially iffy. The festival’s fabulously funky Fort...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #35: ‘Aliens, Nazis & Angels’: A solo play by Leah Harris

Mental illness, addiction, and inherited family trauma: these are the ingredients from which Leah Harris spins her solo performance. Working with Director Regie Cabico, she mined her painful family...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #37: ‘Play Cupid’ by Brett Steven Abelman

We might have been on over 100 dates between the seven us – in fact I’m betting that’s a low estimate. Myself (creator/director Brett Steven Abelman), assistant director Emily Cohen, and Play Cupid’s...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #34: ‘Macbeth in the Basement’ by Annie Bryan

181 school shootings have occurred in the United States since the Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999. 231 young people died from gun violence in their place of education. High school students...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #33 ‘Prison Break Incorporated’ by Derek Hills

You’ve run marathons in Kuala Lumpur, did the half Ironman in Hawaii, and proved your mettle on the now-quaint Tough Mudder race course as well as its clones. But where to go for your next adrenaline...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #32: ‘Hunt’: Part 2 by Jean P. Bordewich

HUNT: A Political Drama about Power, Blackmail and Tragedy in the U.S. Senate It’s hard to believe that the events in this play actually happened, but they did. I started my research when I worked in...

Capital Fringe Preview #31:’Oral Histories’ by Ward Kay

Sometimes it starts with the title. While taking a graduate research class on qualitative methods, playwright Ward Kay learned about oral histories and thought “That would make a great title!” He...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #30 ‘AND 1! at Aras Dance by Sara Herrera

AND 1! a dansical parody by ArasDance Join ArasDance for an exciting summer as they present their newest work, AND 1! a dansical parody. Yes, that is correct, a dansical parody! This will be...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #29: ‘Act Like a GRRRL’ (ALAG) by Rhonda Holdrige

Act Like a GRRRL (ALAG) is an autobiographical writing and performance program that inspires girls (ages 12-18) to write about their lives and transform their thoughts into monologues, dances and...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview # 28: ‘The Root of All Knowledge’

A Spellbinding New Play by Gabriel S. Hudson Sees Its World Premier in the Capital Fringe Festival this Summer Each year, the Capital Fringe Festival showcases innovative and avant garde artists...

Review: ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ at The Kennedy Center

The Bridges of Madison County is a romantic, sexy, and unapologetically sentimental musical. Most likely you know The Bridges of Madison County from either Robert James Waller’s 1992 novel and/or the...

An Interview with Pleasure Train’s Will Berger

Through an email interview with DC based Pleasure Train’s bassist Will Berger, we talked about the band’s favorite venue to play in, their musical journey highlight so far, and how they write their...

Magic Time! Left-Handed Complement: Liam Forde on Acting With a Puppet in ‘Hand to God’ at Studio Theatre

Studio Theatre’s fourth floor has been turned into an amazing facsimile of a Lutheran church basement, complete with inspirational posters on the walls and seating at folding tables as if for a...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #27: ‘PowerPlays’ by Michelle Rago

Local, middle-aged playwrights become first-time Fringers They’re eager. They’re excited. They’re budding playwrights. Oh, and some of them are retired. Five local playwrights, somewhat older than...

Magic Time! ‘Another Way Home’ at Theater J

You know you’ve just seen a play that hits a nerve about the distress of parents who have a troublesome, troubled son (whom they love but don’t know how to cope with) when you’re reading the paper the...

Review: ‘Another Way Home’ at Theater J

Is it a coincidence that Another Way Home—which opened at Theater J on Monday night—just happens to coincide with the start of sleepaway camp for kids in the DC area? Not at all. That’s because this...

Entertainment and More at Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia

Located just 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia, the freshly renovated Valley Forge Casino Resort offers visitors a wide range of activities, from gaming and swimming to fine dining and live...

Capital Fringe Preview #26: ‘BECOMING’ at fusiondance by Candra Preshong

Why BECOMING will challenge everything you think you know about dance Becoming….’to begin to be’….you may be asking yourself, what does that even mean? I wasn’t sure either, I just knew I needed to...

Review: ‘Hadestown’ at The New York Theatre Workshop

You have until July 31st to treat yourself to a trip to the East Village where you will find Hadestown, a rich plum cake of a folk opera, happily ensconced at the New York Theatre Workshop. I came to...

A Report on ‘AFI DOCS’ Part 3: ‘The Dog’ and ‘Chicken People,’ Sonita,’ ‘The Road,’ and ‘in the shadow of the hill’

Final Day of the AFI DOCS and it ends with a nice and easy day, just two but sadly for you, I can only talk about the one (well, you won’t regret that in a moment, I promise). I saw two films today,...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #25: An Interview with Chè Monique on Her Cap Fringe Show ‘Cake’ and Her Cabaret ‘Summer SOULstice’

I think everyone who’s ever popped a pastie or twirled a tassel has thought about jumping out of a cake. When one actually considers the logistics of doing that though it quickly becomes a “No, that’s...

A Report on ‘AFI DOCS’ Part 2: ‘Sonita,’ ‘The Road,’ and ‘in the shadow of the hill’

One of my favorite strategies for navigating the sheer volume of films in a packed festival is to, on at least one day, let the screening committee do my work for me and put myself in one theatre for...

Review: Dick Gregory: An Evening of Comedy & Jazz at The Kennedy Center

Internationally known comedian and civil rights activist, Dick Gregory, closed out the last of a series of five District of Comedy Festival performances along with a young all white jazz trio who...

Capital Fringe Preview #24: ‘The House of Yes’ by JP Sisneros

November 17th, 1983 Dear Capital Fringe: Hello Capital Fringe, I do hope you are doing well, as I am doing just fantastic. Well, I am reaching out to you to inquire about your Thanksgiving. As I,...

Capital Fringe Preview #23: ‘Glacier’ at MOVEIUS Contemporary Ballet

DANCING CLIMATE CHANGE: Merging Ballet, Science, and Film in MOVEIUS Contemporary Ballet’s “GLACIER” at the 2016 Capital Fringe Festival This groundbreaking, multimedia production puts an immersive,...

Post-Play Palaver: ‘Next to Normal’ at The Keegan Theatre

Post-Play Palaver is an occasional series of conversations between DCMetroTheater Arts writers who saw the same performance, got really into talking about it, and decided to continue their exchange in...

An Interview with Patrick Garrity of ‘Round About’

I interviewed Patrick Garrity, who plays rhythm guitar and sings, about his band Round About, their favorite venue to play in the DC area and how they write their music. The band won Honorable Mention...

Review: ‘See Jane Sing’ at The Kennedy Center

It’s hard to imagine what to expect at a cabaret debut from a television actor turned Broadway performer turned television game host. Jane Lynch—who some know as Sue Sylvester from the hit-television...

Review: ‘Mariposa & the Saint’ by Arcturus Theater Company

The very transportable set for this touring production consists of a small enclosure of flimsy, fragile fabric cubes painted to look like stone blocks but really as insubstantial as little laundry...

A Report on ‘AFI DOCS’ Part 1: ‘Zero Days’, ‘Tempestad,’ and ‘Haveababy’

The Opening Night Gala which featured a new documentary from Alex Gibney on that Stuxnet virus you’ve probably forgotten about called Zero Days. That has a much more prosaic explanation: Zero Days has...

Review: The District of Comedy Roast of James Carville at The Kennedy Center

How do you make fun of someone who always makes fun of himself? Well, last night, Roastmaster Bob Saget and The Kennedy Center’s District of Comedy Festival managed to do just that, roasting Chester...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #22 ‘Hunt’ by Jean Bordewich

HUNT: A Political Drama NEW POLITICAL PLAY IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY OF PARTISAN POLITICS, HOMOPHOBIA, BLACKMAIL AND TRAGEDY IN THE U.S. SENATE HUNT: A Political Drama explores the dangers of extremism...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #21: ‘Juiced’ by Glenn Ricci

Power Punk Dance Trio Penetrates The Fringe Are you worthy? The Gods of Rock command you to stand in awe before this fearsome feminist punk rock modern dance band! Some call them political, some call...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #20: ‘Dial R for Robot: a Sci-Fi Hitchcock Rock Opera’ by Christian Crowley

Hitchcock’s Rope meets Blade Runner in an Interactive Rock Opera Science-lab rivalry turns deadly in the race to build the perfect robot. Hidden passions explode as artificial intelligence blurs the...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #19: ‘Ready to Serve: Unknown Stories of WWI Nurses’ by Robin Fox

Ellouise Schoettler is very excited to be returning to Cap Fringe 2016, for the seventh year. This year she is performing the premiere of Ready to Serve at Caos on F. Ready to Serve: Unknown Stories...

Review: “Celebrating Joan: A Tribute to Joan Rivers” at The Kennedy Center

Celebrating Joan: A Tribute to Joan Rivers, which left the audience of admirers howling last night at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, was an evening for “mature audiences” and fans of the...

Review: ‘Chalk’ at We Happy Few Productions

There’s an ancient child-custody legend about two women who claim to be the mother of the same infant. In the well-known Hebrew Bible version, their dispute is resolved when King Solomon orders the...

Review: ‘Next to Normal’ at The Keegan Theatre

‘Next to Normal’ Confronts Depression, and Anxiety Depression hurts. It deadens and dulls the edge of life and can even kill. With a Tony Award-winning score composed by Tom Kitt with lyrics and book...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #18: ‘In a Day of Dreary’ by Henry Ragan

Creator Henry Ragan enlightens us on In a Day of Dreary: A horror play. Joel: In the marketing, In a Day of Dreary is described as a “horror play.” What does that mean? Henry: More often than not, I...

On Parenting and a Play: Director Shirley Serotsky Talks About ‘Another Way Home’ at Theater J

I have admired Shirley Serotsky’s work as a director on such shows as Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy at Theater J in 2014 and Rapture, Blister, Burn at Round House Theatre in 2015. Shirley also serves as...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #17: ‘Paul Gonsalves on the Road’ by Arthur Luby and Andy Wassenich

Paul Gonsalves (1920-1974) was an immensely talented tenor saxophonist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra from 1950 until his death in 1974. He is best known as the creator of one of the most memorable...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #16: “The Missing Peace”

“The first time I played through the score, I was struck by its beauty and shocked that it was written twenty years ago– the message is still relevant now, and I knew the story needed to be told,”...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #15: ‘BRYCE: Hydrogen Blonde’ by Tabitha Odom

The rumors are true. After months of speculation, BRYCE confirmed he will be gracing the 2016 Capital Fringe stage with a brand new show BRYCE: Hydrogen Blonde. After a successful debut at The Studio...

Review: ‘What Men Don’t Say’ at Anacostia Arts Center

J Weeks Entertainment’s What Men Don’t Say, starring and directed by J the Actor and written by Mone’t Bradley, is a mini-tour de force that puts a new twist on an old theme about men and their love...

Review: ‘No-No Boy’ at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre

No-No Boy is an extraordinary and essential play. It’s about what happened to innocent people when this country demonized and incarcerated Japanese Americans during World War II. To witness it now—as...

In the Moment: Scenic Designer Tony Cisek on his Scenic Design for Folger’s ‘District Merchants’

Over the past nearly two decades, I have always anticipated what multi-Helen Hayes Award Scenic Designer Tony Cisek will bring forth on the Folger Theatre’s intimate stage space with its two iconic,...

Review: The Arden Cabaret Series with Tony Braithwaite at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia

At one point on opening night of his latest show, Tony Braithwaite asked if any of his fellow Georgetown University graduates were in the audience. One woman sitting up front announced that she went...

Review: ‘Fidelio’ at The In Series

The In Series ends their season with Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, a surprisingly modern tale of faith – particularly between husband and wife. This is their biggest production ever and one of the...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #14: ‘Dark Times at Grimesville High’ by Rebecca Wahls

Dark Times at Grimesville High: A Darkly Funny Take on the High School Musical Everybody loves high school! Well, at least Olivia Hope (Tess Higgins) does. As a hard-hitting school journalist,...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #13: ‘Confederates’ by James F. Bruns

Part of the 11th Annual Capital Fringe Festival July 7 – 31, 2016 Was there one day the South could have won the War? Looking back through the fog of history, Civil War “buffs” endlessly debate this...