I completely understand the drive to creatively capture the chaotic state of today’s democratic process in the form of a chaotic work, and maybe that’s a good foundation to start with from which to elaborate on other ideas. But simply observing reality isn’t art — that’s journalism.
Yes, the XY Players’ Democracy, starring Geoffrey Brand, Joe Dzikiewicz, Victoria Rose, Damia Torhagen, and Katrina Young, with listed playwright Robert Kittredge, observes through a few sketches and characters the utter chaos of our present political arena. But the core thesis of each sketch, and that of the show as a whole, is unclear. Most of the show’s sketches seem to unpack highly specific phenomena in our political discourse and electoral system, but the characters and storylines consistently don’t explain to us what those issues are. When a sketch’s thesis does begin to reveal itself, it is quickly refuted by a character coming in and adding contradictory nuance. When multiple opinions are conveyed in one sketch, especially with near-equal intensity and detail, the work takes less of a clear stance and becomes more shallowly representational.
For example, in the show’s opening sketch, we see a team of playwrights who represent different archetypes of individuals engaging in political discourse, and unlike in the show’s other sketches, the allegory is clear. At one point there’s even a joke breaking the fourth wall to make sure we got the metaphor. While some of these playwrights push for peace and others push for destroying their opponents in the name of justice, ultimately each character ends up committing an act of murderous violence in a sketch devoid of punchlines, and by the end it’s truly unclear what the sketch’s opinion is about its proceedings.
There are some interesting topics and ideas at play here — unpacking issues like judgmentalism in digital spaces and political tribalism through abstract characters and offbeat jokes is an interesting idea with a lot of potential, and the political comedy field certainly needs more stylistic diversity. But each character in the XY Players’ show would need to more clearly represent a particular idea or force for these sketches to be comprehensible.
I fully admit that I simply didn’t understand what the sketches were trying to say, but I don’t think I missed anything that would have helped. In one sketch, the plot has two sisters of antiquity who agree that the King is unattractive, and both sisters are ultimately killed. Then, a talking anthropomorphic rabbit hops on stage and offers the King a job on a production of The Sound of Music. I want to give the playwright the benefit of the doubt here that there was a point — maybe even one related to the central topic of democracy. So: with more clarity in who each character is and what issue is being illustrated, more polish on the performances, and more jokes, this could be the start of a really interesting comedy show.
But maybe the XY Players shouldn’t force themselves into the “comedy” label. It’s understandable that creators of brief, sometimes lighthearted pieces about political issues would feel pressure to file their work under “comedy,” but the work here is shying away from punchlines and is going for more situational humor and poetic, oddball energy. That’s certainly a valid way to do comedy, but the label “sketch comedy” as listed on the show’s Fringe page sets up an audience with expectations the show doesn’t currently meet. Currently, it reads more like a series of abstract, question-provoking morality tales. If read that way, which was not the creators’ stated intent, the show becomes a little more coherent and creatively interesting.
I am so eager to see what the XY Players do next, and I deeply appreciate their addition to the existing comedy styles currently oversaturating the world of political satire. I can’t wait to see how they continue to bring their original vision to play with genre and inject some much-needed political life into the satirical world during a time with near-unlimited fodder to work with.
Running Time: 60 minutes
Genre: Comedy
Dates and Times: (This show’s run has ended.)
Venue: Cafritz Hall, 1529 16th St NW
Tickets: $15
More Info and Tickets: Democracy
The complete 2024 Capital Fringe Festival schedule is online here.