I took buses, cars, Metro trains, streetcars, and even walked to the H Street corridor where most of this year’s Capital Fringe Festival took place in Northeast D.C.
As part of the team reviewing shows for The Washington Post, I saw quite a range from good to bad this year.
Here’s what I saw:
- A fascinating, tuneful and sometimes poetic look at one man’s life through folks songs, devised in the N.W.A. — Northwest Arkansas.
- A well-wrought portrait of the acerbic writer Dorothy Parker.
- A riveting report from the front lines of the Israeli Occupation, crafted from the words of disillusioned soldiers.
- A less-successful reading of postings following the last Presidential Election.
- Staying with the political theme, a one man show about a comedian’s run for town commissioner.
- A musical approach to political commentary from a company that predates the Capitol Steps.
- And finally, a sketch comedy show about the internet that didn’t work out so well.
Update: It was announced on Sunday that that “It’s What We Do: A Play About the Occupation” won the Fringe Festival Audience Award for Best Best Drama. But Hexagon’s “2017: Let Freedom Zing!” won the best overall show. Accordingly, both have been extended another week, as has “Wit & Wrath: The Life & Times of Dorothy Parker” (and several other plays I didn’t review).