DC Theater Arts

Tag: Kristy Simmons

Source Theatre Festival 2015: ‘Love & Botany: 10-Minute Plays’

Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire (later turned into a PBS documentary of the same name) explored the world from the point of view of four plants: apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato. If you ever want to witness the lustiness of marijuana up-close and personal, watch this show: the female literally–but that’s a discussion for another article.

At the Source Theatre Festival the subject is Love and Botany. Desire has been placed on the backburner, on a slow simmer.

So what do you get when you mix love and botany?

You get The Tomato and the Onion (Simon Henriques), Manus Dei (Jeffrey Strausser), Dioecious (Kristen Davis-Coelho), Allergy (Erica Smith), Tree Danglings (Kristy Simmons, and A Bouquet a Day (Madeline Dennis-Yates)–six 10-minute plays that ripple across the dramaturgical spectrum like a meteor shower.

There’s a little something for everyone: a sprig of humor here; a twig of drama there; a limb of sci-fi; a stick of sentiment; a root of fantasy; and a whole wood of new plays germinating under theatre’s multicolored lights.

Lee Gerstenhaber and Tekle Ghebremeschelin in ‘A Bouquet Day.’ Photo by Daniel Corey.

They saved the best for last. A Bouquet a Day tells the story of Laura (Lee Gerstenhaber), whose artist-parents made her at a young age the subject of a performance art piece. Without an admirer giving her flowers each day, she would die. Now, alone in her apartment, she awaits each day the flowers that will save her. Enter the burger delivery man (Tekle Ghebremeschel). Lila Rachel Becker directs the two actors with skill as Gerstenhaber coyly coaxes the realist Ghebremeschel to buy her flowers.

Kendall Helblig (Marie) and Matt Sparacino (George). Photo by Daniel Corey.

The Tomato and the Onion will clearly make you consider metaphorical implications in a whole new light. Directed by Joan Cummins, Kendall Helblig as an emotional metaphorical Marie and Matt Sparacino as shy and literal-minded George engage in a tomato and onion romance: that’s right, together they taste great. The awkward staging, on a difficult to manage alley stage, somewhat undermined the intimacy of the acting.

Matthew Sparacino and Kendall Helblig in ‘Tree Danglings.’ Photo by Daniel Corey.

Tree Danglings had a fabulous premise: a wife and husband collaborate on a theatre script to heal their damaged relationship. Helblig and Sparacino share many tender moments as they physicalize the strange tale of a sky-rooted tree pulled down to earth by a lumberjack. A little better framing of this tale by playwright Simmons would have added a great deal.

Len (Shawn Jain) and Elshe (Chantal Martineau). Photo by Daniel Corey.

Allergy took us to a future earth, inhabited not by humans, though they look human enough, but by galaxy hopping nomads in quest of a new homeland. All that’s left of earth are the appliances: sewing machine, telephone, vegetable steamer. Everyone is happy with earth but Len, played stoically by Shawn Jain. Why? He’s allergic to his new home and must stay secluded or he will die. Fortunately, Elshe, played sympathetically by Chantal Martineau, is there to cheer him up, or at least try. Brandon Butts directs this understated love story.

The final two plays both have Latin names.

Caroline Lucas (She) and Erick Sotomayer (He). Photo by Daniel Corey.

Dioecious takes us to a planet far away where, it seems, two human-like creatures are being creatively manipulated by three experimental scientists. The two human-like creatures cannot reproduce; the three scientists reproduce monoeciously. Yes, I looked up “dioecious” and it means having “distinct male and female individual organisms or colonies, meaning that a colony contains only either male or female individuals,” which for the play means–I think–that the couple has been brought together but cannot reproduce sexually whereas the scientists do not need sex as they can conjure right out of their head using various machines and goggles. But I’m not sure.

Lila Rachel Becker directed the show. Caroline Lucas plays She and Erick Sotomayer plays He. The scientists are played by Liz Dutton, Lee Gerstenhaber, and Tekle Ghebremeschel. The composer and cellist is Melanie Hsu, but she did not make an appearance.

Shawn Jain (Walt Becker) in Manus Dei.’ Photo by Daniel Corey.

Finally, we have Manus Dei or the Hand of God or (in the urban dictionary) the “Huge Nerd.” Alison Daniels plays Margaret Adams, a young woman who for six years has had two week-long torrid love trysts with Walt Becker, played by Shawn Jain. Their affair has been based on the migration of the Monarch Butterfly. Walt has a garden of Milkweed, a favorite of the Monarch. Now, however, his Milkweed is dying and so is the love affair. Unfortunately, Strausser’s play undermines the solid acting with a story that dies on the vine.

Nevertheless, Source’s Love and Botany offers its youthful audience a cornucopia of intellectual tidbits all related to the tenuous connection between plants and love.

Tenuous, however, only if we think that those flowers we give our beloveds once a year aren’t really necessary to the survival of the species.

Running Time: 80 minutes, with a 10-minute intermission.

Love and Botany 10-minute plays plays through June 27, 2015. For exact dates and times check out the calendar. For the complete coverage go to the Source Theatre Festival. The Source Festival performs at Source -1835 14th Street, NW, in Washington, DC. For tickets, call (866) 811-4111, or purchase them online.

RATING:

June 8, 2015
‘Hope Operas’ Week One at the Comedy Spot

Back in the ‘30s they called ‘em Cliffhangers. They were weekly serials that played before a main feature at the movies. They turned into serials, first on the radio and then on television evolving into the prime time episodic programs and daytime soap operas we watch now. This month you can see them live onstage as Hope Operas, DC’s only serialized theatre festival, kicks off its sixth season of “doing good by doing theatre” with the theme “District of the Damned”! Hope Operas consists of five shows that will play out episodically over the four Mondays in October with each show benefitting a local nonprofit. At the end of the night the audience votes for their favorite show and the moneys raised by Hope Operas will be distributed to the nonprofits according to how well their benefactor show did in the vote.

Last Monday was Episode One of all five shows and opening the evening was Hell is on the Red Line, a musical that’s title is not just metaphorical, written and directed by Kathleen Akerley and Seamus Miller (who also appears as a hilarious mashup of Rob Lowe and Che Guevara). The basic story is Donna (Mary Myers) and Beatrice (Caitlin Shea) are returning home from a date on the red line. We are serenaded with a song about the all too relatable woes of the red line which will seem like small potatoes by the end of the episode. Donna Maas accompanies live on keyboard as well as playing a variety of metro passengers. Hell is on the Red Line benefits The Interplay Company Band at the Strathmore who are an orchestra comprised of adults with cognitive disabilities who get the opportunity to play alongside senior high school, college and professional musicians.

(l to r) Caitlin Shea (Beatrice), Seamus Miller (All Souls), and Mary Myers (Donna). Photo by Rob Parrish.

Next up was The Scottish Detective, a murder mystery written by Steve Custer and Devin Gaither and directed by Adam R. Adkins. This show is one big theatrical wink and nudge as Detective ‘Mac’ Beth (Russell Silber) is called out to investigate the murder of the actress playing Ophelia in a local production of Hamlet. The cast has a great time chewing scenery as a collection of superstitious theatre stereotypes. The Scottish Detective benefits Hayden’s Heroes who raise awareness and fund for research to find a cure for Histiocytosis, a rare disease that causes organ damage and tumor formation.

Russel Silber (Det. Mac Beth), and Devin Gaither. Photo by Shelley Shearer.

Magic Cupcakes is written by Andrew Lloyd Baughman and directed by Hope Operas’ new managing artistic director, Amy Baska. Miss Amelia (Ashley Byrd) and Miss Leslie (Laura Fontaine) are a pair of enchantresses who run a cupcake shop in, ahem, Georgetown, where they sell out by 10:30 every morning. As is so often the case, Satan (Patrick Graham) is behind their success and has come to collect a human sacrifice. Luckily for Miss Amelia and Miss Leslie they have a plethora of potentials with lonely widow Mrs. Gill (Mary Suib), smarmy politico Sterling Harrison III (the always hilarious and elastic-faced Matt Baughman) and blackmailing brownie, Bonnie (Angeleaza Anderson). Magic Cupcakes benefits So Others Might Eat, an interfaith, community-based organization that offers a comprehensive and holistic approach to caring for the homeless in DC.

Laura Fontaine (Miss Leslie) and Matt Baughman (Sterling Harrison III). Photo by Shelley Shearer.

The InTell Heart is a bit of political intrigue by Kristy Simmons and directed by Catherine Aselford. Senator Vestible (a devious Terence Aselford) has hired a programmer to send a signal through people’s devices to scramble their brains and help him win the election. Pamela Leahigh is spot on as his foil, the all-business Senator Foyer. The InTell Heart benefits The Freedom to Read Foundation who fight censorship and defend the First Amendment in libraries and beyond.

Alexis Graves (Ariana), Karen Elle (Kassie). Photo by Rob Parrish.

The Curious Case of Veronica Pepperpot by Danny Pushkin and directed by Lynn Sharp Spears warns us what could happen should the Cthulhu come to DC. Veronica (Kristin Pilgrim) is having a hard time convincing the police that her place was burglarized by a tentacled alien god and his followers. The Curious Case … benefits The Magnet School and Orphanage in Kenya.

Kristin Pilgrim (Veronica Pepperpot) and Kyle McGruther (Dirk). Photo by Rob Parrish.

Hope Operas is a super fun evening and a great way to check out new theatre works while supporting awesome nonprofits. These folks are truly “doing good by doing theatre.” Don’t worry if you’ve missed an episode, each evening stands on its own as well as there being a “previously on” recap for each show.

Hope Operas plays Monday nights at 8:00 pm through October 27, 2014 at the Comedy Spot in Ballston Commons Mall – 4238 Wilson Boulevard, in Arlington, VA. Tickets are available at the door.

LINK
Hope Operas’ website.

October 10, 2014
Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘The Dish’

If garbage puppets and singing Pears give you heartburn and you hunger for more accessible Fringe fare, then I recommend The Dish by Jenny Splitter. Chock full of DC-insider references and audience interaction, The Dish could give Shear Madness a run for its money as DC’s next fluffy first-date night at the theatre.

In The Dish, four local food experts (Kevin Boggs, Catherine Deadman, Anika Harden and Jonathan Wong) vie for co-host spots on a DC foodie television show. Director Strother Gaines brings an authentic TV studio feel to the venue, and the merriment really kicks into high gear in the second half with lively (and thankfully voluntary) audience participation, featuring a new special guest from the DC food industry each night – on press night, it was the lovely pastry chef Tiffany MacIssac (Buzz Bakery, GBD chicken & doughnuts).

The capable actors do their best with what they have to work with (though Kristy Simmons could stand to raise her voice and take stronger command as the show’s producer), but Deadwood owns this show as adorable, young-Paula Deanish “Rhonda Lee.” Yes, the characters are essentially two-dimensional archetypes of members of the DC community – but the show is pure fun, and it doesn’t really matter.

The Dish is a perfect Fringe palate cleanser.

Running Time : 70 minutes.

The Dish runs through July 27, 2014 and is playing at the Gallery at Goethe Institut-812 7th Street NW, in Washington, DC. For more information on the performance and tickets, please visit the Capital Finge page.

July 14, 2014
Capital Fringe 2014 Preview: ‘The Dish’ by Jenny Splitter

What happens when you mix a saucy new play about food and fame with real players from the DC food scene?

The Dish is an interactive, semi-improvised new play that blends food, scandal and celebrity with true tales from chefs and food writers, and finishes with an epic Iron Chef-style battle.

Who will become the next star and who will be left fighting over the crumbs of fame and celebrity? Clawing their way to the top are scandalized former Food Network star Rhonda Lee (Catherine Deadman), scorned sous chef Phillip (Jonathan Wong), vainglorious food editor Rodger (Kevin Boggs), pretentious blogger Nadia (Anika Harden), and our beleaguered producer Gwen (Kristy Simmons). Like any professional kitchen, profanities abound, but the comedy is as sharp as a knife made from Damascus steel.

While the main course is scripted, the sides of this meal are full of improvisational delight. Each performance will feature an interview between the characters and a different person from the DC food scene. Will you see Teddy Folkman, executive chef of Granville Moore’s and Capitol Lounge? Social media publicist and former restaurateur Mykl Wu? Washington Post deputy food editor Bonnie Benwick? Acclaimed food writer David Hagedorn? Click over to our Facebook page or read the Daily Dish here on DCMTA to find out just who we’re serving up and when.

Of course, you can’t have a show about food without an epic food battle. Fired Food Network Star Rhonda Lee and fanatical food blogger Nadia will compete to see who makes the coolest summer salad right before your very eyes. You pick the secret ingredient and you might pick the winner too. We’ll choose two lucky audience members to join us on stage for the taste test.

“It can be a challenge to direct a show where improvisation plays such a crucial role,” shares director Strother Gaines. “As a director there’s always that terror (and relief) when you hand off the show to the actors to say, ‘Ok it’s out of my hands.’ “With a show like “The Dish” I have to do that even earlier in the process. Thankfully, the energy, dedication and comedic skills of the cast have made the hand off a lot easier to handle.”

More real talk from Gaines: “I’ve had a blast working with everyone and look forward to all the free food that restaurants are going to give me in exchange for mentioning them in the show. I love you, Little Serow!”

Get tickets for The Dish now. They’re selling faster than a restaurant can open on 14th Street.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE. OR CALL (866) 811-4111.

Saturday, July 12 @9:30 PM

Sunday, July 20 @2:45 PM

Tuesday, July 22 @6:00 PM

Friday, July 25 @8:30 PM

Sunday, July 27 @2:45 PM

June 28, 2014
‘The Wedding Dress’ at Spooky Action Theater by Justin Schneider

“Mysterious and evocative”: these were the words that Spooky Action Theater’s Artistic Director Richard Henrich used to describe their production of Nelson Rodrigues’ The Wedding Dress. And after racking my brain, I’ve been unable to come up with a better description. The Wedding Dress is a beautiful piece of theater, with striking image after striking image parading across the stage as the plot slowly coalesces over the course of the evening.

Mundy Spears (from left), Randolph Curtis Rand, and Dane Edidi. Photo by Franc Rosario.

Spooky Action’s production is the US premiere of The Wedding Dress, some seventy years after its original premiere in Rio de Janeiro. The basic idea is fairly simple: after being hit by a car, Alaide (Mundy Spears) relives memories from her life as she slowly dies from her injuries. But that’s the last time that the word “simple” can be applied to the play. Rodrigues’s genius is in the way he complicates that basic story. It’s as if Alaide’s life – her memories, her fantasies, her fears – is a length of thread or coil of rope, suddenly twisted and piled up at the moment of impact. Alaide attempts to work through the mess chronologically, and fails again and again. Under the guidance of Madame Clessi (Dane Figueroa Edidi), a famed prostitute murdered years before Alaide’s story even begins, Alaide attempts to make sense of her memories and experiences. These primarily focus on her marriage to Pedro (Randolph Curtis Rand) and their relationship with her sister Lucia (Tuyet Thi Pham). Director Rebecca Holderness has taken Rodrigues’s script and turned it into a vibrant, complex web.

The set, designed by Vicki R. Davis, is the perfect canvas for such a unique piece of theatre. The stage is primarily white and bare, with clusters of detail. In one space, a table and chair. In another, a statue on the wall. The center of the space is dominated by a jagged sculpture of metal pipes. The overall sense is of rooms without walls, a visual representation of Alaide’s failure to structure her memories. The blankness is complemented by impressive lighting and costume work by Maja E. White and Erik Teague. A man in a white suit crosses through a dark room; women in red dresses slash their way through a white room; black figures in a red room. The show produces striking image after striking image, with the actors moving like clockwork through complex shifts in scene and character.

If there’s a weakness to the production it’s in the characterization, itself a perverse consequence of the fact that the actors meet the demands of the script so well. Ensemble members are listed in the program with a role or two to their credit, but that doesn’t even begin to get at the amount of work they do over the course of the night. Characters are drawn in broad strokes because there isn’t time to do anything else before the actors are needed elsewhere. Alaide’s father (Frank Britton) is charmingly frustrated with the practical difficulties caused by family drama; her mother (Sue Struve) is in the thick of that drama but does little but announce her own impatience with the mess. Rafael Sebastian Medina makes a particular impression as Madame Clessi’s lover, a schoolboy with tragically romantic notions of love. But we know much less about the schoolboy than we do about the situation he exists in. Like the set, costumes, and lighting, the cast is there to illustrate Alaide’s story instead of telling their own. The rest of the ensemble (Michael Kevin Darnall, Stefanie Garcia, Aniko Olah) also have their moments of impact, but they’re painting scenes, not building characters.

The main cast aren’t immune to the issue. Rand’s Pedro is the hardest hit, constantly shifting between the various versions of the man that inhabit Alaide’s memories. It’s a schizophrenic performance and the obvious skill with which it’s done doesn’t make it any easier to understand Pedro. Alaide herself shifts from scared to seductive to dismissive in the space of a single line, while her sister remains an image more than she does a person. By the end of the night I still wasn’t sure if I felt sympathy for any of the three lovers. It’s a frustrating experience at times, where so much talent and effort is clearly being placed into making sure that the characters remain elusive. The plot untangles, but the characters never quite do.

Dane Figueroa Edidi (Madame Clessi) and Mundy Spears (Alaide). Photo by Franc Rosario.

There’s a shining star in The Wedding Dress‘s firmament, and that’s Dane Figueroa Edidi as Madame Clessi. Orson Welles had some insights about roles like this: when someone else on stage spends that much time building you up before you even appear, half the work is done for you. Edidi could simply coast on Alaide’s adulation, but she gives us much more than that. Clessi is dead before the rest of the characters are born, thanks to Edidi’s performance she feels the most alive. Clessi is a no-nonsense guide when Alaide’s attention wanders; she’s charmingly vulnerable when her own story becomes too painful to bear. And without the inconsistencies of Alaide’s memories affecting her portrayal, Clessi is also a much deeper and more consistent character than the rest. Her turns seem to be the result of a complex personality rather than the vagaries of recollection.

With The Wedding Dress, Spooky Action have taken a challenging piece and used it to make a bold, impressionistic statement about memory, identity, and desire. The piece can be challenging – even frustrating – at times, but it’s a fantastic demonstration of a company choosing their priorities and pursuing them to the utmost. The characters may fade from your memory, but the images will stick with you for a long time.

Running Time: 90 minutes, with no intermission.

The Wedding Dress plays through March 9, 2014 at Universalist National Memorial Church – 1810 16^th St. NW in Washington, D.C. For tickets, call the box office at 202-248-0301, or purchase them online.

LINKS

Meet The Cast and Director of Spooky Action Theater’s ‘The Wedding Dress’: Part 1: Meet Playwright Nelson Rodrigues by Luís Artur Nunes.

Meet The Cast and Director of Spooky Action Theater’s ‘The Wedding Dress’: Part 2: Meet Director Rebecca Holderness by Joel Markowitz.

Meet The Cast and Director of Spooky Action Theater’s ‘The Wedding Dress’: Part 3: Meet Dane Edidi by Joel Markowitz.

February 16, 2014
Meet The Cast and Director of Spooky Action Theater’s ‘The Wedding Dress’: Part 3: Meet Dane Edidi by Joel Markowitz

In Part 3 of our series with the director and cast of Spooky Action Theater’s The Wedding Dress, meet Dane Edidi.

Dane Adidi. Photo by Franc Rosario.

Why did you want to become a member of the cast of The Wedding Dress?

How could I not? It gave me a chance to work with Rebeccca Holderness and Kristy Simmons; both of which I have become great friends of mine and were the director and AD of Kafka. Rebecca is amazing at translating the grounding of movement in emotional life. I was thrilled. Later when I learned I would be playing opposite Mundy Spears and the cast incorporates some of my favorite actors, it added icing to the cake.

Who do you play in the show and how do you relate to her?

I play Madame Clessi: cabaret singer by night; Madame… by night, and I guess the day too. I am like Madame Clessi in the fact that she is passionate about living, love, and entertainment. All things sensual are her province and she navigates them without hesitation, this too makes me like her.

What is the play about from the point of view of Madame Clessi?

From moment to moment what the play is about for Clessi changes; sometimes it is about her using the memories of Alaide (the main character) to live again, sometimes it is about controlling the story, and other times there is a genuine desire to discover what is going on.

I admire the thing that makes her most like me: Passionate feeling married to compassionate heart.

What did you learn about the Playwright Nelson Rodrigues after you were cast in the show that you didn’t know before you were cast?

I learned he was called ‘Brazil’s Pornographic Angel’ for all the sensuality and overt sexuality in his works. What I find so amazing is how the times have changed and much of Rodrigues works wouldn’t be categorized as such. Perhaps psychological comedic/dramas but not pornographic.

What advice and suggestions did Director Rebecca Holderness give you that helped you prepare for your role?

Rebecca is always pushing us to go deeper emotionally. One of her most amazing gifts is an allowance for the actor to find their own voice and bringing that voice into the life of the play. She is like a fabulous conductor blending the sounds of several different instruments.

What have been some of the challenges you have faced in rehearsals and/or preparing for your role?

Just trying to stay present; both my character and Aliade are often in places of being in the moment or existing in places of memory and the present. So when Clessi is attempting to remember; I have to really choose an action that is still directed towards my scene partner.

What character is so much like you and why?

After a lot of work and discussion on each character, Clessi is probably the most like me. She is passionate, fun, the life of the party but there is a lot of depth and compassion to her. She is very intelligent and a great reader of people. On the surface she appears as one thing but she holds a lot of pain, and love. When you learn her story she has a Romanticized idea of love that despite her profession and history never goes away. Ultimately, she believes in the good of people.

What line that someone else says is your favorite?

I love Clessi’s line “I hate Hypocrites.” This is my favorite because it simplest clearest and most true about how I feel. It comes at a time when someone, who is causing great pain to someone Clessi loves, reprimands her about her profession. On a personal level, I often find those who hate Trans people are hypocrites and the same laws and rules they attempt to keep us from our very own rights to be alive are the same laws they break for their own happiness to exist.

Mundy Spears (from left), Randolph Curtis Rand, and Dane Edidi. Photo by Franc Rosario.

What themes and issues does the play address that current audiences will be able to relate to?

Deceit, love, passion, sexuality (repressed and not), infidelity, and madness: Rodrigues uses themes that are universal and have been a part of the human psychological lexicon for ages.

What are you doing next on the stage after The Wedding Dress closes?

I wrote a book called Yemaya’s Daughters, so I will be on a lot of stages in the coming months and years discussing themes there. I am doing a fundraiser for Force Collision in Feb, organizing and performing on Trans Night at La Ti Do in March (the first ever- please come and support it) and my own cabaret Love Goddess Rebellion in April.

What do you want audiences to take with them after watching The Wedding Dress?

To be who you are. Repression is an illusion that eventually leads to so many years of unhappiness and sometimes an early death. You are beautifully worthy of love, sensuality, joy, money, and the reality of your dreams coming true. Don’t hide who you are; be who you are. Look at me! My authenticity landed me a job working at a fabulous theatre, and with an amazing artistic crew. Learn to Love you.

The Wedding Dress plays through March 9, 2014 at Spooky Action Theater-1810 16th Street, NW, in Washington, DC. For tickets, purchase them online.

LINKS
Meet The Cast and Director of Spooky Action Theater’s ‘The Wedding Dress’: Part 1: Meet Playwright Nelson Rodrigues by Luís Artur Nunes.

Meet The Cast and Director of Spooky Action Theater’s ‘The Wedding Dress’: Part 2: Meet Director Rebecca Holderness by Joel Markowitz.

February 15, 2014
Capital Fringe Review: ‘H Street Housewives’ by Lauren Katz

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.

LINK
2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘H Street Housewives’ by Jenny Splitter.

July 17, 2013