Capital Fringe is back and better than ever — or, at least, we’re assuming it’s going to be better than ever (it’s a safe assumption). The annual festival kicks off tomorrow and runs through the 27th, sprinkling D.C. with comedy, music, drama and dance. The entire 9-page schedule exists online and is full of fun and crazy shows you need to see, but we compiled some highlights of the awesomeness. This is the last year Capital Fringe will be headquartered at Fort Fringe, so get out there while you still can…
TICKET INFO:
First, everyone attending needs a Fringe Admission Button to get in to the shows. They are $5 if you get them before July 10th, and then $7 after that. DO NOT LOSE YOUR BUTTON. You need it for every show. You will need to buy another if you don’t have it. So just DON’T LOSE IT. After the general admission button, you can buy single tickets for $17. Then there are multi-show Festival Passes (details below):
- Foh-ty Pass: $60 for 4 tickets (save $15)
- 6 Pack Pass: $80 for 6 tickets (save $31)
- 110 Proof Pass: $120 for 10 tickets (save $57)
- Magic Pass: $220 for 20 tickets (save $127)
- All-Access Pass: $300 for 1 advance or door ticket to any and all shows. See 20 shows and it pays for itself, see more and you start saving!
Alright, time to get down to business. GO SEE SOME OF THESE BECAUSE THEY SOUND ahhhh-mazing.
Location: Union Stylus, 629 New York Ave NW
Running Time: 55 minutes
Dates: Thursday 7/10 (9 p.m.), Friday 7/11 (7:30 p.m., 8:45 p.m., 10 p.m.), Sunday 7/13 (1 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 3:30 p.m.), Wednesday 7/16 (8 p.m., 9:15 p.m.), Saturday 7/19 (7:30 p.m., 8:45pm, 10:00pm), Sunday 7/20 (5 p.m., 6:15 p.m., 7:30 p.m.), Saturday 7/26 (1 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 3:30 p.m.)
For fans of the morbid, macabre, and all things Edgar Allen Poe, A Dream Within A Dream should peak your twisted interest. This site-specific, interactive drama with just the right amount of chills should please Poe fans of any age – though the immersive nature of the performance is best suited for audience members ages 13 and up.
Location: Gearbox, 1021 7th Street NW
Running Time: 60 minutes
Dates: Saturday 7/12 (8:15 p.m.), Friday 7/18 (11 p.m.), Sunday 7/20 (6:45 p.m.), Saturday 7/26 (6 p.m.), Sunday 7/27 (2:15 p.m.)
Part improvised comedy, part time-traveling extravaganza, Decades aims to take the audience on a wild exploratory journey through the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Audience suggestion plays a role, apparently, so brush up on your retro pop culture references and head over to Gearbox.
Twitter: @4and9
Location: Lab II – Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE
Running Time: 90 minutes
Dates: Thursday 7/10 (8 p.m.), Saturday 7/12 (8:30 p.m.), Saturday 7/19 (4:30 p.m.), Thursday 7/24 (6:15 p.m.), Sunday 7/27 (6:15 p.m.)
It’s a classic formula – gay villain tries to swindle aged lesbian bar owners out of their wild west dance bar in the hopes of turning it into a hip dance boutique. Okay, maybe not a classic formula (yet), but don’t act like that doesn’t sound compelling. It’s funny, it’s choreographed, and it’s for adults only. So hire a sitter and hang with LaGoDi for their self-proclaimed “John Wayne movie, but with gay people”. Checkmate.
Location: Gearbox, 1021 7th Street NW
Running Time: 75 minutes
Dates: Thursday 7/10 (9 p.m.), Saturday 7/12 (12:45 p.m.), Sunday 7/13 (2 p.m.), Thursday 7/17 (9:45 p.m.), Saturday 7/19 (8:45 p.m.), Friday 7/25 (8:15 p.m.)
A girl kicked out of college, a young priest enlisted to address her ‘self-destructive’ behavior — this scandal circa-1960 sounds a lot like Taming of the Shrew, right? Hell yeah it is. Shakespeare goes southern Gothic in Tame, and the result looks oh-so promising. Part classic drama, part contemporary theater – that’s so hot right now.
Brownie and Lolli Go To Hollywood
Location: Warehouse, 645 New York Ave NW
Running Time: 75 minutes
Dates: Friday 7/18 (8:45 p.m.), Saturday 7/19 (11 p.m.), Sunday 7/20 (6:45 p.m.), Thursday 7/24 (7:45 p.m.), Friday 7/25 (10 p.m.)
Sexy clowns, musical theatre, a shot at fame (albeit, D-list fame) and a cross-country road trip are all thrown together in this musical cabaret. It’s like Monty Python, but also more absurd and more jazzy. Just look at the spandex.
Twitter: @brownieandlolli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFCnQf3CByo
Location: Warehouse, 645 New York Ave NW
Running Time: 80 minutes
Dates: Friday 7/18 (6:30 p.m.), Sunday 7/20 (4:30 p.m.), Tuesday 7/22 (6:45 p.m.), Thursday 7/24 (9:45 p.m.), Saturday 7/26 (1:30 p.m.)
You know you watch Dateline and you know that it’s one of the best real-life crime shows around. Okay, maybe that’s an overstatement. Maybe not. This re-imagination of Shakespeare’s finest doesn’t feature a dramatic Lester Holt entrance, but it is told in the Dateline style and that should be enough to tickle the fancy of any Shakespeare lover out there (or really any theatre lover).
Twitter: @DatelineMacbeth
Location: Warehouse, 645 New York Ave NW
Running Time: 75 minutes
Dates: Friday 7/11 (10:15 p.m.), Tuesday 7/15 (6 p.m.), Saturday 7/19 12:30 p.m.), Friday 7/25 (8 p.m.), Sunday 7/27 (2:15 p.m.)
It’s the Greek play that you DIDN’T get to read in high school. Medea is back and finally telling her uncensored account in this one-woman (adult-only recommended) show. Medea talks murder, she talks romance, she talks women’s portrayal in the media in Rihanna and JLaw’s shadow. And Lisa Hodsoll, the actress bringing the entire tragedy-turned-comedy to life, plays seven different characters throughout the show.
Twitter: @NoRulesTheatre
Location: Redrum – Fort Fringe, 610 L Street NW
Running Time: 95 minutes
Dates: Friday 7/11 (8:15 p.m.), Saturday 7/12 (3:15 p.m.), Friday 7/18 (11:45 p.m.), Wednesday 7/23 (6:45 p.m.), Saturday 7/26 (8:15 p.m.)
Produced by the Naked Theatre Company (what a name, I know), Bitch reinvigorates Socrates’ famed story of Antigone with a modern twist. The poster and the name are really enough to get me excited about this show.
Twitter: @NakedTheatreCo
Location: The Bedroom – Fort Fringe, 612 L Street NW
Running Time: 45 minutes
Dates: Saturday 7/12 (2:45 p.m.), Tuesday 7/15 8 p.m.), Thursday 7/17 (10:15 p.m.), Tuesday 7/22 (8 p.m.), Sunday 7/27 (3:45 p.m.)
Love can be shitty. Friendships can be shitty. Families can be shitty. Explore the shittiness of all things relationship-related in this sketch comedy show. All relationships have ups and downs, so it’s time to look the downs in the face and laugh about them, at least a little bit (or a lot because this is going to be super funny).
Twitter: @blanchecomedy
Location: Capitol Reflecting Pool, 3rd St NW Side, 3rd Street NW (between Pennsylvania and Maryland Ave)
Running Time: 90 minutes
Dates: Thursday 7/10 (7 p.m.), Friday 7/11 (7 p.m.), Saturday 7/12 (1 p.m., 4 p.m.), Sunday 7/13 (1 p.m., 4 p.m.), Tuesday 7/15 (7 p.m.), Wednesday 7/16 (7 p.m.), Thursday 7/17 (7 p.m.), Friday 7/18 (7 p.m.), Saturday 7/19 (1 p.m., 4 p.m.), Sunday 7/20 (1 p.m., 4 p.m.), Tuesday 7/22 (7 p.m.), Wednesday 7/23 (7 p.m.), Thursday 7/24 (7 p.m.), Friday 7/25 (7 p.m.), Saturday 7/26 (1 p.m., 4 p.m.), Sunday 7/27 (1 p.m., 4 p.m.)
This is the National Treasure tour we’ve all been waiting for. Learn about the Freemasons, that secretive ancient group of men (that still exists today!) who designed the National Mall. Maybe there are some symbols hidden in the way the gravel paths intersect or the locations of the monuments. This is a walking tour, so you will be out and about in the city and learning STUFF that’s super cool.
Location: Gearbox, 1021 7th Street NW 3rd Floor
Running Time: 45 minutes
Dates: Saturday 7/12 (3 p.m.), Tuesday 7/15 (8 p.m.), Sunday 7/20 (10:15 p.m.), Wednesday 7/23 (9:45 p.m.), Sunday 7/27 (6 p.m.)
This show is full of songs about things that go bump in the night and your typical Scooby-Doo villains like mummies, zombies and giant lizards. Plus there’s a 10-string guitar (like, that’s a LOT of strings). And other string instruments will be present as well. So for all you string and monster fans, this one’s for you.
Location: Gearbox, 1021 7th Street NW 3rd Floor
Running Time: 60 minutes
Dates: Friday 7/11 (11 p.m.), Sunday 7/13 (12:15 p.m.), Saturday 7/19 (5:15 p.m.), Thursday 7/24 (10 p.m.), Saturday 7/26 (6:30 p.m.)
Feminism is at its finest with That Kind of Girl, produced by Pussy REP. It’s a celebration of girls and women and society’s weird standards and combines literally everything: dance, drama, music, poetry and comedy. So basically it’s going to be awesome and empowering and a MUST SEE.
Location: Goethe Institute, 812 7th St., NW
Running Time: 70 minutes
Dates: Saturday 7/12 (9:30pm), Sunday 7/20 (2:45pm), Tuesday 7/22 (6:00pm), Friday 7/25 (8:30pm), Sunday 7/27 (2:45pm)
Using a talk-show format, The Dish is a mock-reality show making fun of D.C.’s growing “foodie scene.” Real D.C. food and restaurant scene stars will be guest starring at each show, including the Washington Post’s deputy food editor and a local contestant on “The Next Food Network Star.”
Twitter: @mamaliciousdc
All images from capitalfringe.org
