CAPITAL-FRINGE_logoGot to see nearly a dozen productions at this year’s Capital Fringe Festival. Which sounds like a lot but is only a fraction of the 130 shows produced.

At any rate, here are the reviews of what I saw over the last three weeks that I wrote for The Washington Post.

  • A history of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and a look inside the writers room of a soap in Kabul.
  • A terrific portrait of Richard Nixon, imported from England.
  • A standup comic talks about his Indian-American roots and racism.
  • A musical look at Duke Ellington’s mercurial saxophonist on a bad day.
  • Two women in the South commiserate over martinis at a funeral.
  • A surprisingly faithful version of Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” though it had seven actors performing 40 roles.
  • A strong one-man show saluting the suicidal godfather of improv.
  • Two musicals, one with the last Imperial family of Russia, out on a pop tour to sing about their demise; the other a glam punk dance explosion.
  • Finally, an experimental performance troupe methodically calls it quits.