2008 Fringe Festival Experience – Part 4, 5 and 6

Subtle as a Brick to the Head: Ball and Chain – Journeymen Theater Ensemble

J and I went to this one last Wednesday night. It had been threatening rain that evening, but I had incorrectly surmised that it probably wouldn’t start until much later. I was terribly wrong – it poured down rain right before the show and I only had a scraggly little cheap umbrella to protect me from the elements. The rainstorm turned out to be the most dramatic part of the evening.

Ball and Chain consisted of five very short one act plays, all focusing on the subjects of love, marriage and relationships. I had high hopes for the evening because I had seen this company’s performance of Bartleby (from the Melville story) during the first Fringe festival and was quite impressed with what the scrappy group could do. Going into this year’s Fringe, they were coming off of a well-regarded season and I was rather excited to get to see them for cheap.

There were only two actors in this evening’s offerings, and after each short play they would move the sparse props around to set up for the next scene. The segments weren’t well written, and they weren’t very deep and so I was very disappointed. Luckily the whole thing lasted less than an hour, but afterwards I wished I had made another performance choice with my scarce dollars.

Written by a Hill Rat for Hill Rats: McSwiggin’s Pub – One Man Show

Mr. Random picked out this show for us to see together on Thursday. The guy who put together this one man show had worked with Second City for a while, but eventually got a job working on Capitol Hill. So most of the show consisted of a lot of Hill in-jokes which were really funny, but unless you knew that world – or watch a lot of C-SPAN – you would have sat there wondering what everyone else was laughing about. For example, you needed to know that a “Senior Legislative Correspondent” for a Congressman means just a step above “intern” and is a lot more gopher and glorified receptionist than anything. You also had to be able to recognize a dead-on Barney Frank impersonation. A lot of insider type stuff.

There actually were some tourists in the audience, which was awesome to see folks doing something so daring – especially since this venue was in a back alley in Dupont Circle, in a tiny artist’s studio. But a lot of the time they seemed confused by what people were laughing at, and I felt kind of bad. The show was really entertaining, but I would only recommend it for hardcore Hill folks and the people who love them.

Subtle as a Brick to the Head - Part 2: One for the Road – written by Harold Pinter

Sunday was the last day of the Fringe Festival, and I ended it by going to see this rendition of Harold Pinter’s One for the Road. This play was supposed to be a commentary on state-sponsored torture. The acting was amazing – the room was freezing, but one actor was able work up a major sweat during an interrogation scene – but all you took away from the play was . . . yes, torture is bad. Evil people are evil. Innocent people get hurt. But, um, we already knew that, and it didn’t have any nuance or complexity. Is all of Pinter’s work like that, I wonder?

2008 Fringe Festival - Final Summary

Thus ended my Fringe experience for this year. So I saw two excellent plays, one “OK, but fun” play and two uninspiring plays. I am glad that I got to see so many, but bummed that I was not able to see more. I didn’t get to see any “train wreck” plays like last year, when one guy didn’t even bother to put on a play but talked to the audience for 20 minutes explaining why the play wouldn’t work. There are also a lot more wacky, weirdo works that it would have been nice to experience, such as cabaret shows and more experimental/experiential plays. I’m just going to have to save up my money to buy an All Access Pass for next year!

Thanks for humoring my amateur theater reviews, everyone! The 2008-2009 theater season starts up in September, when I look forward to seeing a new set of Shakespeare plays. Hope you all are having a wonderful and exciting summer!

2008 Fringe Festival Experience – Part 3

On Friday the 18th, as the DC Fringe Festival continues, J and I saw an amazing staging of the play Marat/Sade by the Forum Theater. I’ve included an experiential summary of the play, because the more explanations, the better.

Wow.

The troupe was one of the most professional I have ever seen during the Fringe. The two hours were intense and powerful. I had neither seen nor read earlier incarnations of the play, which may have been in my favor since I experienced the play as this company had shaped it, and not through a frame from the 60’s or 70’s. I am curious as to what the other versions looked like, but I thought this version was very applicable to the present day on a number of levels. The simple fact that this was set in an asylum after the French Revolution, with the patients speaking about freedom, rights and power . . . it was just . . . wow.

It was uncomfortable. You weren’t sure when to clap or not, because the play-within-the-play conceit made it hard to judge whether you should play along or not. You’d think “wait, that’s not something to applaud, is it?” There was a great deal of activity on the stage and sometimes, you’d be looking to see how an interesting background character was reacting and miss something going on in the front of the stage.

I am very glad that we went. The only thing I would complain about is that the theater was wicked hot that night, but if it was warm for the audience, I can’t imagine what it was like to be on stage for 2 hours.

The play runs though the end of the Fringe Festival this week, so if you are in town and are looking for something challenging to do, definitely check this play out.

My next Fringe outing is on Wednesday . . . I’ll keep you all posted . . .

2008 Fringe Festival Experience – Part 2

Let’s Put On a Show . . . or Not

Last night, my friend J and I went to a Fringe Festival “Fireside Chat” on How to Put on Your Own 60 Minute Show.

It’s been an idea that J has been mulling around for a while, so we went last night to see sow doable the idea is. I’ve always had a hankering to be a producer/do behind-the-scenes stuff, so I thought it would be fun.

The event was a panel discussion among three people who have done shows at the DC Fringe, past and present, and they gave the audience advice from what they learned through the past few years. On the producing side, it didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t really know – that you need to run a production like a small business and think ahead. The main key is to have a quality product – the creative, the actual show –you are supremely proud of and are certain you can sell . . . all you need to do is find an audience.

One of the speakers was kind of swarmy/sleezy, and talked a lot about how successful he is and how he’s able to do a national tour of festivals. Not that his advice wasn’t good, it’s just that the vessel kind of turned off the message.

It was a valuable experience and I’m glad I went, but I don’t think we have the time or energy to start working on something like that anytime soon. The first problem is that we don’t even have a show yet, or even a fully formed idea of one. Then once you do have one, it needs to be developed until it’s something you are ready to show people. THEN, and only then, are you ready to do the work of promotion and logistics and budgets.

It’s slightly disappointing, but when the time is right, it will be right. I did take good notes, so I’ll just file them away until they are needed . . .

2008 Fringe Festival Experience - Part 1

The 2008 Capital Fringe Festival officially started on Thursday, but Saturday was the first day I was able to see any performances.

J and I went to the Rude Mechanicals’ staging of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus . This staging was remarkable in that it packed what was originally a 3 hour play into 75 minutes. (In doing so, they had to cut out a lot of the battle scenes.) The situation was updated to the present day, thus alleviating the need for major costumes. The opening of the play was a bit uneven, and some of the actors in smaller roles were really, really bad – but the actors in the main roles were quite good, especially the actors who played Menenius, Coriolanus and Coriolanus’ mother, Volumnia. In fact, the performances that linger for me were those of Menenius, who had long gray hair in a ponytail and a long, scraggly beard, and of Volumnia, who portrayed her passionate, possessive emotions very convincingly. The fight scene at the end was well staged and definitely left a lasting impression.

So for a scrappy group working with minimal props, sets and a mountain of material, I give that show a definite thumbs up.

Adding to the Fringe experience, before the play we found what can best be described as a “Mozambique-an fast food” restaurant on 7th Street. Yes, really. It was mostly some sort of rotisserie chicken in a flavorful sauce (which you could ask for in varying degrees of heat) and some healthy and tasty sides, such as Butternut Squash with Corn. We’re trying to eat healthier, so this definitely fit the bill until we got to the desserts, which were a very chocolate chocolate cake and a generous scoop of chocolate ice cream with a little spiciness to it. Yummy!

After the play, the Fringe has a patio area where you can get snacks, beverages of many types and bratwurst. Sine it was still rather early in the day, we got sodas and water but definitely tried the bratwurst. The patio seems like it would be a chill place to hang out in during the evenings after a play, mingling with other Fringe-goers and Fringe performers. As it was, we were there so early that we were the only ones occupying the tent for a while, but we could see the potential of the space.

Tonight, I’m going to another Fringe event and I hope to have something fun to report tomorrow. This is going to be a super busy week for me of evenings filled with both Fringe and non-Fringe related activities. There is much for me to look forward to and help keep my mind off of the many other things pressing on my brain. I’m hoping the creative activity nudges me towards thinking of creative solutions to what’s been keeping me stuck . . . we’ll see!