John Hibey as Chef in banished? productions Tactile Dinner Car. Photo credit: Kristian Whipple.

I’m reviewing seven plays over the course of the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival, in collaboration with DC Theatre Scene. Get your Fringe button and join me!

For a crash course on what to expect from Fringe, you can’t do better than banished? productions mad avant-garde experience, Tactile Dinner Car. It’s a crazy sociological experiment playing by its own rules, smack dab in the middle of the Baldacchino Gypsy Tent. Learning what those rules are is part of the fun, as is the surreal discovery of the “a la car(te) menu” you’ll nibble your way through.

Parts of the world have caught up with these ideas, first presented in Italian Futurist F.T. Marinetti’s 1932 book of culinary mayhem La Cucina Futurista (The Futurist Cookbook), but some have surpassed it. Minibar this isn’t. Don’t go expecting amazing displays of molecular gastronomy, but you and your fellow “diners” will definitely be challenged and delighted by becoming part of the performance. I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun of discovery by describing anything in too much detail, however, so consider this just an amuse bouche.

Served up by “chef” John Hibey and “servertron” Keira Hart, their complete zany dedication pulls you in quickly as you gather round the dinner car (and yes, it’s a car, polished gleaming white). Within minutes, though you may be doing the ordering, they are the ones in command. The initial anarchy then settles down into pop-art clockwork. Continue reading →

”
courtesy of ‘erin m’

Last night I got tied up to two people. We were force fed food through a syringe. Several people ate bugs. A couple needed the Heimlich. It blew all our minds.

Welcome to Fringe!

Judging by the happy crowd buzzing through the heat at the Baldacchino Gypsy Tent last night, the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival is off to a great start. Now through July 24 you can enjoy (or not enjoy, that’s part of the experience too!) 18 days of over 100 risky productions by over 2,000 artists performing genres from theater, music, puppetry and dance. It’s chaotic, and it’s meant to be that way – anarchic challenging fun. Venues are spread out from the core in the Mount Vernon Square, with home base at Fort Fringe, 607 New York Avenue NW. Tickets are available in singles of $17 a show or in packs of 4 ($60), 6 ($80), 110 ($120) or all-access ($300). A Fringe Admission Button is required as well, a one-time purchase of $7 (kids 12 and under don’t need one, and yes, though Fringe can be raunchy there are shows for kids too!). There’s also plenty of free events and crazy people-watching at the Baldacchino Gypsy Tent, which serves as the hub with food and drink throughout the festival.

Last year was my first time really diving into Fringe madness, reviewing eight plays over eight days in collaboration with the fantastic folks at DC Theatre Scene. It was exhilarating, because whether I liked a production or not, every one pushed boundaries in that way only Fringe can. This year I’ve got seven plays over fourteen days to tackle. DCTS has assembled a team of 21 crack reviewers (or, we’re all on crack, depending on your view) to ambitiously cover every show, with reviews going up within 24 hours of opening. Fellow WLDC author Patrick Pho is also in on the game, and you’ll see our reviews both here and at DCTS. We’re ready for a fast and furious immersion into the world of experimental performance. So get your button and join us!

Based on what I experienced last night (the futurist food frenzy of the Tactile Dinner Car), it’s going to be one hell of a wild ride.