Personally I never been a huge fan of reality TV shows, but H Street Housewives left me sitting on the edge of my seat eager to see what hilarious joke or backstabbing move one of the actors would make next. A witty script and the cast’s stellar acting made H Street Housewives an impeccable performance I will never forget.
Written by Jenny Splitter and directed by Kristy Simmons, the story is fairly simple: four housewives on H Street decide to join a reality show. Like most reality shows, the wives begin as friends, but over the course of the show, conflict arises. The wives’ vastly different approaches to marriage and parenting come into focus, and each one believes her method is the best. As the differences between the women become better emphasized, they begin to take sides, and it becomes clear that as long as reputation is in question, no one can really be trusted on H Street.
The constant competition between wives makes for a hysterical performance, and Splitter’s clever script pushes the hilarity over the top. She pokes fun at the superficial lifestyle choices of stereotypical rich housewives from their desire for perfect children to the need to run the entire neighborhood. The amusing one-liners and Splitter’s portrayal of these housewives lead to non-stop laughter among audience members, including myself.
Splitter presented the actresses with a difficult task. Conveying these over-the-top characters could be tricky, and an actor could run into the understandable mistake of over acting. However, these performers met the challenge with ease. They played off each other brilliantly and showcased impeccable comedic timing. The four main actors were all fantastic, but Molly Woods Murchie (Suze) and Anika Harden (Francine) in particular caught my attention. Their constant competition and need to bring the other down in order to save her reputation created an entertaining conflict that lasted the entire production.
H Street Housewives is the perfect show for anyone with a liking for comedy. Based on the roar of applause from the full house that met the conclusion of the performance, I would say the audience from opening night would agree.
Running Time: 70 minutes.
H Street Housewives plays at Fort Fringe’s Redrum-612 L Street NW, in Washington, DC through July 26, 2013. For performance information and tickets, go to their Capital Fringe Page.
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2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘H Street Housewives’ by Jenny Splitter.
