Crashing Home
Harman Center - Forum

Remaining Performances:
Saturday, July 26 @ 3:00 pm
Sunday, July 27 @ 12:00 Noon

They say: “Voted “Pick of the Fringe 2007,” WEERD SISTERS brings back singer/songwriter Annie Johnstone and choreographer/poet Diana Tokaji in a feast of words, dance, live music, and song. Expect chilling beauty - voice and muscle: Raw, ripe, “funny, intense.” (Takoma Voice) With David Jernigan, jazz bass; and Mattias Rucht, drums.”

Sheffy’s take: With the clock running out on CapFringe ’08, I’ve been combing the blogs to chart a roadmap for my final few hours. Even though the alluring blurb for Crashing Home in the festival guide is right on target, I didn’t know what to expect. But Fringe is about experimenting, and I’m glad the nearly 70 people in the audience ranging in age from 7 to 70 were not deterred by the less-than-stellar review posted elsewhere. The multi-cultural WEERD SISTERS showcase musical and creative talent in a program of four unrelated pieces that feature live instrumental music, original poetry, dance, and vocals.

I must admit I’m usually inside-the-box when it comes to theater: I prefer characters with names, a plot, and at the end of the day, I expect there to be some meaning. But this was no theatre (it’s the Harman Center for the Arts). Crashing Home is more akin to a jazz concert—while I didn’t learn anything, I enjoyed each piece, and the show left me in a relaxed, peaceful mood.

Although Diana Tokaji’s vibrant energy was the glue holding everything together, the show lacked unity and focus. Yet each individual element—from Chinwe Enu’s soaring operatic voice harmonizing with Annie Johnstone’s rich alto to Tokaji’s choreography to a primal drum circle to David Jernigan’s string base—resonated with an innate beauty. The verdant costumes and lighting design and the nature video projected during the last piece imbued all with organic overtones. The silent rainstorm featured in the finale left my spirit feeling cleansed. What this show lacked in coherence, in made up for in Zen. And just like good theater, there’s plenty to discuss afterwards as everyone leaves with a different impression.

See it if: You’ve been heretofore avoiding that “experimental” genre from the festival guide because it conjures images off-beat college kids in turtlenecks and black lipgloss lying on the floor in a circle in total silence interrupted intermittently by shouts in Esperanto (and no, don’t anyone steal that idea for next year).

Skip it if: You can’t call it poetry if it doesn’t rhyme (don’t get me started on Homer’s Iliad “poem”).

Children of Medea
Studio Theatre - Stage 4

Remaining Performances:
Saturday, July 19 @ 5:00 pm
Sunday, July 20 @ 2:00 pm
Wednesday, July 23 @ 9:00 pm
Saturday, July 26 @ Noon

She says: “A story about immigration, alienation, language and meaning, different ways of killing and dying, donuts and ants. Four years after being abandoned by their mother, two Korean-American sisters struggle with growing up. One dreams of being Alice, but Wonderland ain’t no fairy tale. Medea could have told them that.”

Sheffy’s take: When Sue Jin Song is basking in fame and success as a world-famous playwright, I will proudly brag that I remember when CapFringe premiered her virgin play back in aught-eight. Song, a suburban DC-native actress returning from the stages and studios of NYC and LA, finds her voice and makes it sing in a drama about two sisters who have lost their mother and now struggle with their identities while coping with an overbearing, taciturn father. Actually, she finds multiple voices—the perspective of the younger sister who refuses to grow up and accept responsibility, the perspective of the older sister who had responsibility thrust upon her at age 13, as she was expected to be the mother as well as the immaculate daughter. By staging in the round, the effect of multiple perspectives is further magnified by the audience.

In a story pregnant with literary metaphors ranging from Greek drama to the motherless Peter Pan who refuses to grow up, Song builds on the pathos of Medea, a princess, but also an immigrant, forced to take fateful actions when abandoned by her lover. Although the press kit (press kit!?) requested that I not spoil the plot, it was Song’s lyrical narration and dynamic acting that captivated me. As the older sister struggles for balance in her life, we meet her alter-ego who must navigate wonderland when the walls of pressure and responsibility start collapsing in. Sure, everyone needs an alter-ego every now and then, but I have to admit, I wasn’t sure how escaping to a surreal world contributed to the play’s resolution. The blurry line between her reality and fantasy obfuscated some of the plot’s intricacies.

After sweltering in other cramped, uncomfortable Fringe venues, it’s refreshing to enjoy a dedicated theater space. However, access to an arsenal of colored lights and a light board is not license to make the show feel like a rock concert. With accents, tone, and mannerisms, Song is clearly talented enough to embody each character without the help of personalized light motifs.

See it if: You love your mother.

Skip it if: You’re a budding female playwright and dramatic solo performer but you can’t handle new competition in town.

Black Jew Dialogues
Warehouse - Main Stage

Remaining Performances:
Thursday, July 17 @ 5:00 PM; Friday, July 18 @ MIDNIGHT
Saturday, July 19 @ 9:30 PM; Sunday, July 20 @ 2:30 PM

They say: “Who knew that rednecks, slavery, bar mitzvahs, and chicken livers were so funny! Hilarious multimedia romp of sketches, improv, theatre, and video, which reveal the absurdity of prejudice and hate. Has toured the US and UK to rave reviews.”

Sheffy’s take: No, Sammy Davis Jr. is not talking to another black Jew. This show (whose title is missing a “/” between “Black” and “Jew”) stars improv comedians Ron Jones (the black guy) and Larry Jay Tish (the Jewish guy) in an abbreviated version of their Dialogues. This must-see Fringe treat puts “PC” back into ethnic stereotype.

I hate to admit it, but I usually force myself to laugh at stand-up comedians because I can’t actually figure out what everyone else thinks is so funny. Not here—I didn’t have to fake a single snigger in what was easily the most entertaining Fringe show I’ve seen to date. The personalities portrayed by the talented Jones and Tish, their hand puppet alter egos, their racist-but-adorable-granny costumes, and even pre-recorded video projections of themselves that join the conversation fill the stage with enough racists to populate a grand jury in Louisiana. The key to comedy is timing and every movement has been carefully engineered to allow the actors to zip through a myriad of characters—to squeeze it all in, they talk right over their incessant costume changes. As they try to catch their breath between sketches, pre-recorded street interviews illustrate the cultural gulf they are trying to bridge.

As a well-traveled touring show, the performance is almost rote, yet at times they seamlessly switch to improvisation. Aside from an outdated Barry Bonds quip, the references are not yet stale, but there’s room for new material. A word to the wise: the theater was close to full, and it may sell out as word spreads. If you come early to claim a seat, a slideshow of witty aphorisms and black/Jew trivia whets your appetite.

Despite starting the show by telling audiences to “Turn off your cell phones; turn off your prejudices,” making comedy about racism without offending anyone (besides rednecks) takes chutzpah. They succeed because they earnestly want to engage the community in a dialogue about race and culture, and their commitment shines through.

See it if: You liked Avenue Q but didn’t understand that the “monsters” were people of color… or if you want to learn how to wear a yarmulke on a Fro.

Skip it if: You’ve got something else so important that you can’t take an hour from your busy schedule…I’m not your mother so I can’t tell you what to do, but you’re only hurting yourself (and you’ll be haunted by Jewish guilt for the rest of your life).

Eugenio
Universalist Church, 1810 16^th St. NW @ S St.

Remaining Performances:
Saturday, July 19 @ 7:00 pm
Sunday, July 20 @ 5:00 pm

They say: “Rome’s aloof and scholarly Chief Rabbi Zolli receives asylum in the Vatican and converts to Roman Catholicism in 1944. A Nazi and a priest also convert to new religions. Why did these three men convert? Does forgiveness play a role? Why do they clash both before and after the conversions?”

Sheffy’s take: One of the fun parts of the Fringe Festival is witnessing the gestation of new plays. After seven years of workshops and staged readings, CapFringe midwifes the production premiere of Eugenio. Creator Tony Gallo actively solicits feedback as patrons leave the show (note: his photo is in the program; if you chose to avoid him, you can always post your comments on this blog). This historically based play tries to imagine the dynamic psyche of Rome’s Chief Rabbi who ultimately rejected Judaism and embraced Catholicism. Unfortunately, Rabbi Zolli (Mark Lee Adams) lacks the compassion to make his emotional transformation authentic; although he emits a God-hating tantrum when he first learns of his brothers’ death, his later impassive reaction is marked by an emotional pitch I would equate with forgetting to send my sister a birthday card.

The play’s strength lies in its well-researched script and the emotional and moral questions it poses, although preachy at times about faith and forgiveness (for whom is the act of forgiveness, the forgiver or the forgiven?) Many provocative nuggets were tucked in the dialogue: “A uniform announces who you are; a costume conceals you.” Fittingly, the costumes were a highlight, from the terrorizing Nazi uniforms to the brilliant Cardinal vestments.

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Jack & Jill; In to the Out Side
the Shop at Fort Fringe, entrance on L street @ 6^th, NW

Remaining Performances:
Sunday, July 13 @ 4:00 pm
Thursday, July 17 @ 6:30 pm
Saturday, July 19 @ 3:30 pm
Sunday, July 20 @ 12:00 noon

They say: “Jack & Jill: A happy, successful young couple questions the meaning of love in the wake of personal tragedy. In to the Out Side: An absurd comedy, a wordplay play which examines our frames of reference. Not for the faint of art!”

Sheffy’s take: It’s been said that comedy is harder to pull off than drama. Fringe is all about turning theater conventions upside down, and that axiom certainly crumbles in this pair of one acts. Jack and Jill tosses a bunch of catastrophes into a script and hopes to end up with some drama. Alas spotty acting (pathological afflictions: convincing; emotional colloquies: ugh), clichéd plot devices (accidentally hypnotized by a swinging necklace, c’mon!), and over-the-top dialogue (OK, we get it, he has amnesia) force the audience to imagine the drama. Maybe the tension was also rocked by the jams of Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s heavy metal band blasting just outside the theater.

Despite some shortcomings, the sound effects, staging and sets far exceeded my expectations for a Fringe show. The height of drama was the 12 minute scene change between shows (I don’t think the power tools were there for the effect). I entertained myself by reading through the dissertation qua program notes (does the nursery rhyme “Jack and Jill” really have a “denouement”), which was actually rather insightful.

The comedy that followed was really quite clever, echoing of Waiting for Godot, but cheerier. One character (David Crowley) finds himself alone in a cell, when he discovers an impish and lovable tinkerbell (Amal Saade) sharing his small universe. Through playful banter, he coaxes her out of her protective womb and opens her eyes to the world. It’s hard to believe these two shows share a common writer/director, John Sowalsky, since the snappy lines and brilliant acting engaged me from start to finish.

See it if: You still laugh at your dad’s corny puns.

Skip it if: You don’t have time to stay for the second act.

For Tomorrow: Story & Poetry of Hilda Stern Cohen
Goethe-Institut- Gallery

Remaining Performances:
Sunday, July 13 @ 5 pm
Wednesday, July 16 @ 7pm

They say: “Theatre, storytelling, music, and prayer come together in this uniquely moving program portraying the life and poetry of German-born Holocaust survivor Hilda Stern Cohen. Performed by storyteller Gail Rosen, based on her interviews with Cohen, and singer and Rabbi Elizabeth Bolton. Recently performed in Poland, Austria, Germany and Israel.”

Sheffy says: Maybe it was the Holocaust theme that attracted a slightly older than average Fringe audience, but Fringe is blessed to be the home for such a powerful show. Storyteller Gail Rosen did not choose this topic, it was Hilda Stern Cohen that chose Gail to make sure her story got told. Gail takes that charge seriously in a project that’s been 13 years in the making and will be released this fall on DVD.

It bears witness to the story of a human life—one in which humanity itself was challenged, but prevailed. The lights in the house are left on, allowing the audience to share their collective reactions (but I also had to fight the urge to interrupt with questions, since it felt like a classroom). As people around me were moved to tears, I heard them unconsciously joining in the prayers as they were chanted on stage.

Gail’s performance is flawless, but almost unnoticed, for it is Hilda’s voice that transports us to Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz. Only after Hilda’s death in 1997 did her husband discover a trove of her poetry on scraps of paper written over 50 years ago. English translations are provided, but I found the all the paper distracting. To temper the dramatic angst, stories are interspersed with prayers and Hilda’s poetry set to live music, beautifully composed for the show by William Gilcher of the Goethe-Institut. I never thought German could sound so, well, poetic.

See it if: You wonder if religious faith really has the power to keep someone alive.

Skip it if: You think a Fringe show must be lewd, crude, skewed, or nude.