Remaining Performances: Wednesday, July 22nd at 10 p.m.; Friday, July 24th at 8 p.m. [SOLD OUT]; Sunday, July 26th at 2 p.m.

They say:  “Riding on the sold-out success of last year’s Chocolate Jesus and Revenge of the Cat-Headed Baby, SpeakeasyDC presents yet another sure-to-be-Fringe-fave, THE SIN SHOW featuring true stories about pride, greed, envy, sloth, gluttony, lust, and wrath.”

Glen’s take:  Look, the SpeakeasyDC guys don’t need our help — they’ve a proven record at Fringe as both vets and all-stars, they’re selling out shows, they got a rave in the paper blog of record.  So they really don’t need us to tell you the show’s pretty great, but they’re getting it anyway, because, turns out? The show’s pretty great.

It’s great for the reasons their previous Fringe outings were:  With seeming effortlessness, these stories, and these storytellers, provoke precisely what they mean to — gasps, laughter (raucous and rueful, in turn),  along with quieter, more introspective reactions.

That seeming effortlessness is part of the game, because it’s clear that all seven performers — though they may evince varying degrees of comfort in front of an audience, or at least an audience this size — have worked over their stories,  shaped them, honed them into the versions they present to us.

This is particulalry true of the two tales that bookend the evening:  John Kevin “Gluttony” Boggs’ sardonic account of quitting cigarettes, and the emporkening that ensued; and Seaton “Envy”  Smith’s blisteringly funny screed against an old college classmate, which is nothing less than a master class in comic timing.

So, yeah, it’s great.  But let’s just note that their previous Fringe outings featured fewer performers (Chocolate Jesus: Four, Revenge of the Cat-Headed Baby: Five) in more intimate spaces, so those evenings felt satisfyingly cohesive.

The Sin Show is looser, and considerably longer, and more uneven.  With seven performers, it’s easier to discern those who still need to work on their confidence, and those — like Saurabh “Lust” Tak, whose spin on the line “a warm TICKLE ran through my body” reduced the dude in front of me to boar-like snorting  — who’ve got it going on.

See it if: That Spalding-Gray-shaped hole in your heart? Yeah, it’s still there.

Skip it if:  “Shaped? Crafted?  That’s bullshit — Fringe means fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants!  First-thought-best-thought!  Boy, I’m angry about how unfair that is, but I will use this anger to inform my blowetry.”

Remaining Performances:
Thursday, July 23 @ 8 p.m.

They say: “Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into Narnia, a frozen land enslaved by the White Witch. When almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change and sacrifice.”

Hilary’s take: I haven’t the patience for children’s productions.

Looking at the Fringe guide, I wondered how C.S. Lewis’ best known work could be condensed into 42 minutes. Well, the production was actually 30 minutes. And it felt long. But I’m about 15 years older than the target audience and I left my stunt children at home. With no ability to gauge the play’s success on my own, I inferred from the sporadic giggles behind me that the Adventure Theater production had achieved its goal: to entertain the kiddies.

All that said, the performance was technically perfect. Peter and Lucy, firmly in the present, recount the siblings’ past discovery of Narnia, subsequent revolutionary crowning, and 30-year reign. Staging is minimal—just a small wardrobe on wheels and three wintry tapestries speckled with firs, glitter, and Christmas lights—and so is the cast. Kristen Egermeier and Danny Pushkin field the ten or so characters—Susan, the White Witch, and various stone statues and Edmond, Mr. Tumnus, and Aslan, respectively. Egermeier and Pushkin hop around the stage and ramble like authentic children with admirable abandon, taking the antics offstage to whip up some more giggles from the pint-sized patrons. I guess Pushkin sensed the parents and I needed a jolt of enthusiasm, and high-fiving Aslan’s giant plush paw—that which had just slain the wicked witch—was the highlight of my experience.

See it if: You have kids and/or have already seen The Pirates of Penzance.

Skip it if: You don’t have kids.