(images from the awesome people at capfringe.org)
The Capital Fringe Festival is a pretty cool idea. The event, which has run since 2006, focuses on serving up a selection of contemporary performing arts and music acts with a heavy focus on artistic freedom, low ticket prices, and original material. Fort Fringe, the epicenter of this annual performing arts festival, squats quietly on a side street merely two blocks away from the Mt Vernon Square/ 7th Street Convention Center Metro station, within spitting distance of K Street and all the associated money that involves.
Some forewarning for those inclined to make an evening out of a Capital Fringe show: Most of the dining options in the area are not cheap. Most restaurants nearby cater to the three-martini lunch crowd inhabiting the nearby offices. However, the folks running the festival have done attendees the favor of hosting a pleasant little tent bar in a parking lot near Fort Fringe with cheap and serviceable food and drinks – a good choice for those less inclined to spend $50 a head on dinner before a show. Comers may avail themselves of three-dollar cans of Stella Artois at their own risk.
The venue for the show I attended, the Redrum, is pretty much a typical shared art space. It is arty and spacious. Features include a slightly raised platform for your stagey needs, chairs for your sitting convenience, and not much else. Festival performances tend to be minimalist in design. The play itself was put on by a skeleton crew of six players (audio and lighting guru included), and contained all the heart and love you would imagine from true believers in the idea of live theatre.
Captain Freedom is a biographical journey through the life and times of its titular protagonist – a professional superhero more concerned with the celebrity and wealth that a heroing career can bring than petty morality. Those familiar with the movie The Specials will quickly understand the play's approach towards superheroes as beings that are not just super-powerful, but super-flawed. Our fearless Captain highlights the hitches, bumps, finagling, and dirty deals that made him the hero he was.
The show manages to be highly topical with plenty quips on politics, references to current events, and the usual old saws about inside-the-beltway life that seem to be sure-fire crowd-pleasers. Yes, some of the jokes are old hat, but overall, the performance was thoughtful and entertaining, and boasted a plethora of special touches that made the night a memorable experience for magnanimous humor lovers as well as nasty-minded cynics like myself.
The Capital Fringe Festival will continue to host performances until this coming Sunday. Captain Freedom's last festival performance will be on Friday, July 22 at 10:45PM. Kindly visit the festival website for information on shows and tickets.
No comments:
Post a Comment