PERFORMANCE
CAPITAL FRINGE FESTIVAL HAS ITS ACT TOGETHER
A Few Upcoming Fringe Events:
A Walk in the Woods
American Ensemble Theater at the
Goethe Institut, (Ages 13 and up)
July 15 - 8:30 p.m.; July 17 - 11:30 a.m.
and 9 p.m.; July 18 - 4 p.m.; July 24 -
3 p.m.
H.M.S. Pinafore
G&S Youth Company at The Mountain
July 16 - 5:30 p.m.; July 17 - 12:45 p.m.
and 7:30 p.m.; July 18 - 4:45 p.m.
Macbeth
Push/Pull Theater Company at Redrum
(Ages 13 and up) formance to musicals. There are even a few puppet
July 10 - 8 p.m.; July 11 - 4 p.m.; July 15 -
10:30 p.m.; July 17 - 7 p.m.; July 18 -
9:30 p.m.
No Gentlemen of Verona
The Rude Mechanicals at Warehouse Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award and an Oliver Award
July 11 - 8:30 p.m.; July 14 - 10 p.m.; July
16 - 10:30 p.m.; July 17 - 7:30 p.m.; July 22
- 6 p.m.; July 24 - 8:30 p.m.
A Magical Way of Thinking: Magician
David Morey
At The Point
July 11 - 1:15 p.m.; July 15 - 9 p.m.; July 20 -
6:30 p.m.; July 24 - 12 p.m.
For more events check out:
www.capfringe.org
14 July 14, 2010 GMG, Inc.
By Nicole Zimbelman
W
here can killer robots, remnants of the
1968 riots, a magician and tales of love,
family and valor be found? At the 2010
Capital Fringe Festival of course.
The festival, running July 8 through July 25, will
celebrate its fifth year with 137 different shows to
entertain the city.
Capital Fringe festival provides an opportunity for
lesser-known artists to present their work to the
public, highlighting some of the local DC talent.
Plays range from dramas to comedies to solo per-
shows in the mix.
However, the festival will include some more fa-
mous pieces such as “A Walk in the Woods”, a play
by Lee Blessing, which has been nominated for a
and “H.M.S. Pinafore” by Gilbert & Sullivan, re-
turning to the Fringe Festival for it’s fourth summer
in a row.
Performances will be held in venues found in Penn
Quarter and Mount Vernon Square such as a cigar
shop abandoned since the 1960s, a historic church,
an old restaurant and a German cultural institute.
Tickets are $15 per show or passes can be pur-
chased for a range of prices from $40 for four
shows a $300 all-inclusive pass.
The McLean Drama Company presents “Florida Days” at The Apothecary at 1013 7th St. NW.
The play runs on select dates for July 10 through July 22. Tickets are $15 each.
In Review
By Jenna DeWitt
Florida Days
As part of the Fringe Festival this month, Ra-
chael Bail’s “Florida Days” premiered at The
Apothecary on July 10.
The play, performed by the McLean Drama
Company, follows the journey of Betty, a South-
ern girl living in Brooklyn, New York. Betty,
played by Elise Edwards, transforms from fiery
young journalist to a wife and mother while her
world crashes down around her. The audience
seems transfixed by the depth of Edward’s tal-
ent. Her character’s chemistry with Thomas
Linn’s character, Vincent, is equally apparent.
The onstage couple carries the production with
a truly convincing portrayal of two lovers fac-
ing life’s hardships while seeking the deeper
meaning of it all.
The physical appearance of the production could
be described as minimalist with few costumes,
about 10 props in all and projected images on a
back wall instead of sets. Yet nothing is lacking.
The comparatively few materials only aid the
intensity of the emotions portrayed. Even the
audience’s seating seems to transform from a
few church pews, since the first scene is a wed-
ding, to benches in a blue-lit coffeehouse, when
the action quickly transitions to New York City.
The setting then remains in New York for most
of the play, despite the title. The Apothecary, a
tiny dance studio with exposed brick and un-
painted wood, conveyed the sense of watching
this family in their city home, living off of Vin-
cent’s salary as an opera conductor.
Though the quality of acting from much of the
supporting cast left much to be desired, Ed-
wards and Linn gave performances of which
they should be proud. For a small community
photo by Jeff Malet
theater group, the company showed potential
and will be a group to look forward to in future
festivals.
I would give “Florida Days” three out of five
Fringes.
No Gentlemen of Verona
Elizabethan English flows aplenty with this
renovated Shakespeare play. “No Gentlemen of
Verona,” Joshua Engel’s take on “Two Gentle-
men of Verona,” takes place in the 1940s.
The time period works surprisingly well for
the play, though the explanation of that specific
adaptation is a bit hard to follow. According to
the program, it was successful in Engel’s past
experiment with “Much Ado About Nothing”
and was thus chosen for the time period for this
venture as well. Mobsters, Navy sailors and
bright red lipstick make the setting work, how-
ever, and more relatable to a modern American
audience.
The Rude Mechanicals were as quick and witty
as The Bard himself could have expected. The
cast’s past experience with Shakespearean dia-
logue shows in their skillful delivery. It is obvi-
ous that the members of this all-female troupe
not only know their lines, but they fully under-
stand their meaning. In fact, it is as if they natu-
rally speak Elizabethan English in their daily
lives. The few trips over the complex lines were
quickly remedied and never skipped a beat.
Overall, “No Gentlemen of Verona” is a comic
delight for Shakespeare lovers that enjoy a new
spin on an old favorite.
I would give “No Gentlemen of Verona” four
out of five Fringes.