Champagne Sundays
Flashpoint Mead Theatre Lab – 916 G Street, NW

Remaining Performances:
Saturday, July 19 @ 12:00 PM
Saturday, July 19 @ 9:00 PM
Sunday, July 20 @ 4:30 PM

They say: “Roy and Mary Jane, freshly retired to Florida, become best old friends with Byron and Buddy in a “dramedy” that juxtaposes the present, the past, and the imagined. The play examines a late-life longing for personal change, charting too the various risks and rewards of building new relationships.”

Mike’s take: To start, let me reveal a bit of personal information. I’m in my early 30s, which probably accounts for why much of the humor of this performance was lost on me and not on the rest of an older audience. It simply appeals to a different generation of Fringe theater attendees.

That being said, there is an interesting component to the performance that is both very necessary but – at the same time – extremely puzzling, which is the “[juxtaposition] of the present, the past and the imagined.” Writer and director Thomas Stephens uses this technique to quickly give the audience the history of the shared experiences between the characters, but the performance moves so rapidly between these moments that being able to intensely focus is a necessity for making it through the first five of the seven acts. However, realizing that this potentially is an issue, the lights quickly dim to alert you to the transitions.

Once the groundwork was laid and the climax of the play arrived, I found myself really enjoying the last two scenes, in which the interaction between the characters seems most genuine and the acting most fluid. Unfortunately, getting to that point took a lot of effort in trying to piece together the addition of some weird elements to the story line, as well as sitting through some prolonged dialogue with a lot of profanity that seemed a bit out of place with an older generation (this is Fringe after all, so maybe that is why it was included).

The characters share a good chemistry, especially between Byron (played by Robert Gray) and Mary Jane (played by Carol Ann Fuller). However, as I said earlier, much of the humor is based on corny stories and “laugh at your own joke” moments that are reminiscent of when older relatives have a bit too much wine during the holidays.

See it if: You have an AARP membership or look forward to hearing the same old stories told over and over again by aging relatives.

Skip it if: You have ADHD and haven’t taken your Ritalin.

Three Times a Lady
Warehouse Beyond – 1017 7th Street, NW

Remaining Performances:
Friday, July 18 @ 7:00 PM
Wednesday, July 23 @ 9:00 PM
Saturday, July 26 @ 9:00 PM
Sunday, July 27 @ 1:00 PM

They say: “Award-winning comedy: She has multiple personalities; he loves all of them! He doesn’t want her cured. He likes having three wives while still being monogamous. Now she wants a divorce because she thinks he’s cheating. But he’s only cheating on her with her. Their marriage counselor is confused.”

Mike’s take: It’s the age-old story of the stereotypes that men search for in a woman, and, in this performance, each stereotype gets its own personality: Rebecca (Becky) is the whore, Leah is the madonna (sweet, southern belle who caters to her man’s every wish), and Rachel is the dominating businesswoman. Once you meet all three personalities, however, the ending of the play becomes all too apparent.

Daniel Lavanga, as Jake (the husband), tries a bit too hard in attempting to convince the audience that he is desperate to save his marriage, falling short in conveying the emotion that you would think a man about to lose the “perfect woman” would project. His delivery seems a bit forced, and the only time he seems comfortable is when he’s interacting with Becky, the over-sexed and fun-loving wife #2. Stephanie Roswell, as the three Mrs. Crenshaws, does a good job performing the roles of very different personalities and adds delightful quirks peculiar to each wife. However, the star of the show is Gale Nemee, as marriage counselor Dr. Greenway. Her new-age personality, her ability to interact seamlessly with all the characters, and her observant and witty asides keeps the performance moving along—just as a good counselor should during a therapy session.

See it if: You’re in therapy and don’t like your therapist.

Skip it if: You put too much stock in the show descriptions in the Fringe program or on the website.

McSwiggin’s Pub
Cole Studio – 1714 15th Street NW (Rear)

Remaining Performances:
Wednesday, July 16 @ 9:00 PM
Sunday, July 20 @ 2:00 PM
Thursday, July 24 @ 7:00 PM
Saturday, July 26 @ 3:00 PM

They say: McSwiggin’s Pub is a one man comedy show featuring DC resident Sean O’Brien, a former performer at Chicago’s Second City, ImprovOlympic and Noble Fool theaters, now working at the comic theater known as Congress. This show features three characters engaging in night of hard drinking, political blarney and keno.

Mike’s take: Ralph Nader, Barack Obama and Barry Manilow all walk into an Irish bar…

McSwiggin’s Pub is an entertaining comedy that blends fresh, contemporary political humor with local DC stereotypes. Sean O’Brien effortlessly switches between three main characters: Joe, an on-the-wagon Irish bartender; Howard, a disgruntled veteran Capitol Hill staffer originally from New York; and Roy, a young, passionate, slightly alcoholic, senior legislative “something-or-other” Capitol Hill flunkie (complete with Blackberry). While his accents could use a bit of work, O’Brien manages to give each personality its fair share of the spotlight—so we can gain a bit of insight as to why they frequent the pub night after night.

O’Brien’s jokes get chuckles and genuine belly laughs from the audience throughout the 45 minutes (I even heard a few snorts). There are also a few instances of audience-participation as well, which sets the tone from the beginning that we are actually spectators to the drunken conversations in an actual bar.

I received an omen before the show that it was going to be a good performance when the couple behind me popped open a bottle of wine. I guess they figured that the subject matter made it appropriate. And who know—maybe it accounts for the raucous standing ovation Sean received at the end.

See it if: You watch American Idol only during the first few episodes (for the auditions).

Skip it if: You work on the Hill and are easily offended.

A Report of Gunfire
All performances at Warehouse Theater – Next Door (1021 7^th Street NW)

Remaining Performances:
Saturday, July 12 @ 5:00 PM
Sunday, July 13 @ 12:00 PM
Thursday, July 17 @ 8:30 PM
Thursday, July 24 @ 9:30 PM
Saturday, July 26 @ 5:30 PM

They say: “A journalist covering the war in Iraq is haunted by the sights and sounds of daily life in a war zone. As the conflict increases, the stories get harder to tell and the truth gets harder still to report.”

Mike’s take: With a sparse stage and bare black walls, this one-man show relies on a simple camera prop and a great performance by Dan Crane to pull the audience into a world where a disillusioned journalist tries to remain sane by any way possible, such as reviewing camera footage after an explosion and making macabre bets on how many steps a person will take before falling down dead. The camera sees all and he hopes to expose the ugly truth of living in a war zone. Read the rest of this entry »