Pug Picks for Capital Fringe 2014!
Overwhelmed by all the theatre you could see during Fringe? Already got your tickets to see TAME. (HERE)? Take a look at the shows we already love and/or think look fantastic!
Picks from Jonelle:
Homeboy Thanksgiving A new play from frequent collaborators Rhiannon Cooper and Jose Zarate. An ex-gang member and his online gamer brother try to make Thanksgiving dinner - what could possibly go wrong? I think that this one will be particularly important, because not only will this play bring the funnies, it will also tune you into the voices of people who don’t always get a loud mic during Fringe.: a playwright of color writing about people of color and a female director/producer. Don’t miss it! The Program Assistant The latest from Fringe darling and honorary Pug, John Krizel! I worked with John on developing his play “Why Do We Fall?” (which will be featured in the 2014 Silver Spring Stage One Act Festival) for our reWORKS Festival back in January and I’ve been a fan ever since. He has tapped directly into the zeitgeist and I am certain “The Program Assistant” will have you laughing while you think about what it means to be young in DC in 2014. Featuring a number of our compatriots from old AU, this one is guaranteed to be a Fringe hit, so be there or be totally uncool around the tent.
Picks from Lauren:
Balloon Plays
Don't let the categorization of "children's theatre" scare you way - this play is a vehicle to transport yourself into an imaginative child's mind. In one of the most delightful and creative plays I have seen at Fringe this year, the audience is exposed to the countless uses of balloons. The theatre will be filled with children, and clowns, so bring your childlike sensibility!
Rock Bottom
Fringe veterans Landless Theatre Company are back with a kick-ass musical, er rock opera (?), Rock Bottom: A Rock Opus. Producing Artistic Director, Andrew Lloyd Baughman crafted the musical's book with Michael Shilling, author of the 2009 novel, Rock Bottom. There is little to love more than a book turned musical. Landless will also be producing a prog-metal Sweeney Todd later this summer, so tune in for details on that! ROCK ON, LANDLESS! ROCK ON!
Picks from Melissa:
Stone Tape Party
Nu Sass's absurdly wonderful production manages to capture the feeling of a song transporting you to a specific place and time. During the pre-show, you are heartily encouraged by the actors to come onstage and party with them- as you should. Stone Tape Party is part ghost story, part love story, and part raucous, over the top all night drinking binge. If you've ever been a slightly lost twenty-something, you'll find a character and a moment that will feel as if it were specifically written about you.
Oh, What Can't a Woman Do?
Hilary Morrow is an incredibly captivating actress. In no small part thanks to the capable direction of Cara Gabriel, Hilary puts in a powerhouse performance as Commedia dell’arte actress Isabella Andreini. Don't miss the chance to see this spellbinding actor onstage at Fringe before the larger DC theaters start snatching her up- especially if you have a soft spot for the classics.
Picks from Mike:
The Tournament
Stepping back into the ring to deliver more laughs, pop culture references, and jaw-dropping stage fights is Kyle Encinas, fellow AU alum and dapper bon vivant playwright! I had the incredible luck and fun to work with Kyle on the early stages of his last Fringe masterpiece, The Continuing Adventures of John Blade: Super Spy, and The Tournament amps up the action and whimsical one-liners 1000%! But in all seriousness, I think what Kyle and Live Action Theatre (a DC-based theater he co-founded with some other stage combat peeps) are doing is not only freaking awesome, but quite cool: why can’t we explore and further develop the various dimensions of theater (plot, character, themes, etc.) through the intricacies of stage violence? Live Action Theatre’s innovative style is definitely a marker of how diverse and thriving the DC theater community is, and like a fine bourbon, they are only getting sexier in their second year.
R+J: Star-Cross’d Deathmatch
And now for something completely different. Our Shakespeare-adapting brethren at LiveArtDC have taken interactive/audience participation-based theater to a whole other level. Shakespeare, set in a bar, with flip-cup battles, all while the bar is fully open to the public and working around their antics? Madness, at least for their stage manager, but I’m sure Willie Shakes is giving them a solid two thumbs-up from his tomb at Holy Trinity Church for bringing his work out of the darkened theaters of DC and to the common folk! Whether you’ve only read Romeo and Juliet once in high school, have it memorized line-for-line, or deign to touch the tragedy, you’re bound to have a ridiculously fun time with this show.
