Do you have a theater date for this weekend? Just as “Gone Fishin'” signs start popping up in box office windows of DC’s bigger theater houses for the summer, audiences are queuing up for at least three different experimental festivals. What stroke of genius assembled this bill of fare? Is Source the appetizer whetting the community's appetite for Fringe? Would you like some Hip-Hop on the side? Or do some folks fill up on Source and then take a doggy bag for Fringe? I see this as drama tapas, small helpings for everyone at the table to share (and to discuss on the Fringe and Purge blog).

While Fringe and Source are both experimental laboratories and incubators of new talent, they differ in that Fringe is uncurated, whereas Source hand-picks talent from around town to create new, exciting projects. For this final week, Source commissioned one-acts from standout playwrights behind last year’s 10-minute plays. OK, I’ll admit I went to see Group F last night because I’m a huge fan of HBO’s “The Wire” and I wanted to see Delaney Williams (the artist formerly known as Bill Delaney) in Her Love Was Vertigo.

Read More "Festival Frenzy Hits D.C.: Source Festival One-Acts (Group F)" »

Combining artists of different mediums is a tricky business, as evidenced in the first group of mash-ups at the Source Festival this week.

The point of the mash-ups is to set local artists up on “creative blind dates” for nine months, during which they create a performance, utilizing their preferred mediums, that is presented during the festival. Dancers, playwrights, visual artists, and musicians are among the seven creators performing in Group D and their mashing techniques vary, whether all mediums are involved at once or each element is presented separately. Read More "Ping Pong and Potato Chips at the Source Festival" »