Author Archive
Hip Shot: “South-Asian American Dance”
South-Asian American Dance
The Apothecary at the Trading Post
Remaining Performances
Friday, July 24th at 7:45 pm and Sunday, July 26th at 11:30 am
They say: “Presenting in its signature classical and contemporary style with original musical scores, TMDC’s dancing is precise, athletic and theatrical. The themes run the gamut of emotions. The message may be personal or political but it’s always relevant to the times.”
Caroline’s take: Who knew presidential politics could be interpreted through traditional Indian dances? I certainly didn’t before seeing this production of the Tehreema Mitha Dance Company, but the combination of traditional choreography with contemporary subject matter landed with surprising resonance.
Hip Shot: “Sari to Skin”
Sari to Skin
The Apothocary at the Trading Post
Remaining Performances:
July 19th at 3 pm
July 23 at 10:15 pm
July 25th at 6:15 pm
They say: “Get intimate. Enjoy an evening of conversation and poetry in this one woman show combining a dancer’s grace with language laced in feminine sensuality. Join in her discovery.”
Caroline’s take: Part monologue, part performance poetry, and part traditional Indian dance, Neelam Patel delivers a deeply personal show that attempts to find some middle ground between her American and Indian heritage. As much as she brings the audience into her stories, the result is most therapeutic for Patel herself: Using the performance as a form of release, she shares her experiences, all of them true, as a way of connecting with her past. Read the rest of this entry »
Hip Shot: “Freak Show”
Freakshow
The Baldacchino Gypsy Tent Bar at Fort Fringe
Remaining Performances:
July 17th at 8:45 pm
July 23 at 6:30 pm
What they say: “Freakshow at a crossroads — the Dog Faced Woman sniffs freedom — the Ringmaster seeks redemption — and what lies in the mind of the Woman With No Arms and No Legs anyway? Step right up…if you dare.”
Caroline’s take: The description makes this show sound like some sort of spectacle that will disturb the audience; really, it’s nothing like that. Burrowing into the minds of the various players involved, the show illuminates what keeps them exploiting themselves (and each other) day after day. It’s a simple enough premise—what goes on in the minds of 1900s “circus freaks,” people who are born with or develop various strange qualities that turns them into spectacles? But to hear their own perceptions changes your assumptions immediately.
Hip Shot: ‘Immoral Combat’
Immoral Combat: A Satire on the News Business
Warehouse – Mainstage
Remaining Performances:
Saturday 7/18 at 11:30 pm, Sunday 7/19 at 7 pm, and Sunday 7/26 at 4:15 pm.
They say: “A satire on the news business, is set in the Worldwide Broadcasting newsroom, where people in charge come and go. As the news ebbs and flows, the play highlights the crises in their lives.”
Caroline’s take: Yes, it’s a satire on the news business, but it’s more of a satire of workplaces in general. Whatever happens in this newsroom could happen anywhere else in the world. The group of characters spend the seventy minutes struggling to report the news, proving that regardless of the final product, not all news organizations run like well-oiled machines. Read the rest of this entry »
Hip Shot: ‘Self-Service’
Self-Service
Warehouse-Next Door
Remaining Performances:
July 12th at 7 pm, July 18th at 9:30 pm, July 22nd at 8 pm, and July 25th at 7 pm
They say: “Like sugar in Carolina iced tea, Sheldon sprinkles a lot of comedy into his tale of a precious rural Southern boy, ’sissified but dignified’ who transforms to an urban man looking for love and settling for sex and sour candy.”
Caroline’s take: A show about coming to terms with one’s sexuality while growing up in the South might be expected to play up the tragedy of being cast aside by friends and relations. But Sheldon Scott does the opposite in his one-man-show. It’s actually less of a show, and more a set of anecdotes relating to Scott’s current life as a performer and the manager of Marvin on U Street. With plenty of humor and good dose of self-reflection, he brings the audience back home with him, to rural South Carolina, where everything begins. Read the rest of this entry »
Fringe Blogger Profile: Jones
Name: Caroline Jones
Hometown: Silver Spring, MD
Years in DC: 20 years (my entire life!) living less than a mile from the District line.
First CapFringe? No, my friend brought me to a show last summer.
Shows I’m Seeing: So far, Self Service and Immoral Combat. Maybe Slow News Day, The A Cappella Party, and This Is NOT My Life.
Random Thing You Might Find Interesting About My Sensibilities: I go to a college where the majority of student-produced plays resemble Fringe productions, only a lot more serious and with less planning. I’ll probably never audition for one because watching the “art” happen is far too entertaining.
