The Capital Fringe Festival is back in action across D.C. giving area artists a chance to shine.
If you’re looking for some fun events, what are some of the best things to do in week 2?
“Capital Fringe is 19 years old this year — this is our last teenage year,” festival director Julianne Brienza told WTOP.
“It is one of the only opportunities we have in the nation’s capital for anybody to do a show about anything that they want, with no gatekeeping. You can apply to do a show at the Fringe Festival; the caveat is that it needs to be between 50 to 75 minutes. … It’s not curated, it’s not juried, it’s freedom for the artists to do what they want.”
This year’s festival features 36 productions with 134 individual performances, including 59 in its second week.
This year’s theme is “happiness,” with three new theaters called “Laughter,” “Bliss” and “Delirium,” respectively transformed out of vacant T-Mobile, Talbots and Gap stores near Dupont Circle and Farragut Square.
“We’ve been exploring what it’s like to be happy in the nation’s capital,” Brienza said.
“It’s a hard time to be a human on the planet. There was recently that survey that came out that D.C. was one of the loneliness cities in the United States of America. D.C. gets a bad rap all the time in the press for some legitimate reasons and some not-so-legitimate reasons, so I said, ‘Let’s explore if people are happy here.'”
For starters, check out the magic show “Seven Wonders” at the Laughter venue.
“If you’re just looking for a good time and you don’t want to think, it sounds like you might want to go to a magic show,” Brienza said. “The artist’s name is Ryan Phillips. They have shows running through the closing day of the festival, but it’s a small theater, so if you’re into it, he actually already has a sold-out show, so get on that one.”
You can also break out your detective skills for “Who Did It?” at Theater J.
“An improvised murder mystery … another feel-good time, maybe using your brain a little bit,” Brienza said. “That space has 236 seats and this group was in the festival last year and they did sell out, so get on it if you want to.”
Fans of classic plays can see new performance of “Medea” at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center (EDCJCC).
“If you’re looking for something a little more intellectual or thinking about our time, we do have a showing of ‘Medea’ by Songs of the Goat,” Brienza said. “‘Madea’ is an ancient Greek play by Euripides. It has a really solid cast and it should be a great show if you’re into that. There’s a lot of murder, so take that with a grain of salt.”
Last but not least, dance enthusiasts don’t want to miss Flamencodanza at the EDCJCC.
“If you’re into flamenco dancing, we have an entire show from a group from Spain that is just here for the Capital Fringe Festival,” Brienza said. “They’re the only show in the festival that has ‘flamenco’ in their name, so look that up if you’re into flamenco dancing. If you’re into it, it’s going to be a real treat for you, and if you’re not, it’s going to be something different for you.”
Artists receive 70% of the ticket revenue. Brienza said the festival has given back $2.5 million to creatives since its inception.
“D.C. is a town that is known for theater,” Brienza said.
“Eighty-three percent of our participants live right here in the DMV and they’re theater artists and this is their outlet to do their shows at a low cost in a venue that sort of makes sense for them. We have lost so many black box theaters, so having this type of opportunity only enriches the full ecosystem, not just of the theater community but of the entire arts community here in the nation’s capital.”
See the full Fringe Fest lineup here.
Listen to our full conversation here.
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