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A CurtainUp DC 
Feature
FeatureNew and Noteworthy in DC
Updated: June 19, 2009
Summer is festival time. The Capital Fringe Festival, now in its fourth year, runs from July 9 to 26, at Fort Fringe, (607 New York Avenue, NW; 202-737-7230; capfringe.org). The numbers are impressive: 120 companies —- local, national and international — will be in town doing comedy, drama and hip hop. Look out too for puppets, clowns and mimes. Fortunately, in contrast to previous years, many of the 800 performances will be indoors and air conditioned. Some shows are free; others require tickets ($15), call 1-866-811-4111.
As part of the Fringe Festival, Woolly Mammoth (641 D St., NW) is bringing to Washington, July 14 to August 2, BARACK STARS. The show is a compilation of sketches by Chicago's famed improv/comedy troupe, Second City, about the ex-Chicagoan who now lives at the White House. Pay-what-you-can-night is July 14; all other nights tickets are $40. 202-393-3939; woollymammoth.net.
The oldest of Washington's summer festivals is at the Source Theatre, where 10-minute and one-act plays, as well as something called Art & Dance Mashups, runs from June 20 to July 12, at 1835 14th St., NW; www.sourcedc.org; 202-204-7809.
West Virginia ain't DC, but theater folk are happy to take a 90- minute drive to the Shepherdstown Festival, July 8 till August 2. The town may be old and funky but the plays are new and often exciting. For tickets, call 800-999-CATF, or visit www.catf.org.
This year's lineup:
FARRAGUT NORTH, a drama set in Iowa during a tight presidential primary, that pits lust for power against loyalty. Playwright Beau Willimon has already been nominated for two Outer Circle Critics Awards. (For Curtainup's review of the show's NY premiere go here). YANKEE TAVERN by Steven Dietz, in which a man walks into a bar. A thriller with laughs.
FIFTY WORDS by Michael Weller, a domestic drama about modern marriage. (For Curtainup's review of the show's NY premiere go here).
The world premiere of THE HISTORY OF LIGHT, by Eisa Davis, a twist on a father/daughter relationship, triggered by the arrival of love letters Dad wrote to his college girlfriend.
The world premiere of a solo play with songs, DEAR SARA JANE, by Victor Lodato.
On July 4, after the parades and before the fireworks, the JERSEY BOYS head down the Pike to perform (free) at the Capitol Fourth concert on the Mall. Don't like crowds? heat? No prob. The concert is simulcast on PBS. Want to see the whole show, live? It'll be at DC's National Theatre, (www.nationaltheatre.org; 800-447-7400) October 1 to December 12. Tickets are being handled by Telecharge.
Another rite of summer in DC, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, (www.festival.si.edu; during the Festival, 202-633-7484) runs from June 24 to 28 and July 1 to 5. This year's programs celebrate the power of words in African American culture and the music of Las Americas. Hip-hopster Holly Bass, writer/actor Roger Guenveur take center stage as will numerous musical groups from all over Latin America.
Every year the Festival examines the culture of a foreign country. This year it's Wales. Most of the Folklife Festival's performances take place on the Mall, but not all. Studio Theatre, one of Washington's leading venues for new work, welcomes its Welsh equivalent — Sherman Cymru. (Cymru is Welsh for Wales.) Welsh actors will be giving readings (in English) of THE CLOAK ROOM by Tracy Harris, a memory play about one man's childhood, and THE DROWNED WORLD, a somewhat surrealistic play about love and betrayal, by Gary Owen.
Actors/ teachers from Studio Theatre's Acting Conservatory are reading CARDIFF EAST by Peter Gill, author of THE YORK REALIST; INDIAN COUNTRY by Meic Povey, about the "invasion" of Hollywood types in rural Wales in the 1950's, MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE by Ian Rowlands, ab outclass-consciousness in a Welsh village at the time of the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana; HOUSE OF AMERICA by Ed Thomas. Dad goes to America while the kids look after their eccentric mother. ART AND GRUFF about a country bumpkins in the big city by Catherine Tregenna.
Performances are June 27, 289, July 4 and 5, at noon (except for July 4) and 5 p.m, at Studio Theatre, 1501 Fourteenth Street, NW. Free, general admission. 202-332-3300; studiotheatre.org.
The National Theatre of Great Britain is experimenting with not-so-new media, by filming a live performance of Racine's Phèdre, starring the incomparable Helen Mirren that will then be shown on movie screens, not just in Britain but all over the world. Washington is doubly fortunate. The filmed version is to be shown June 29 and July 13 at the Shakespeare Theatre's Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F Street, NW. For tickets ($22), call the box office, 202-547-1122, or visit ShakespeareTheatre.org. And, from September 17 to 26, the production can be seen live, at the Harman Center. Tickets, however, are scarcer than hen's teeth.
Over the river, in Shirlington, Signature Theatre, recipient of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award, and go-to space for cabaret in the DC area, is launching "21/24 Signature Lab for 'The Next Generation' of composers." The musicals, commissioned by Signature (www.sig-online.org) and funded by the Shen Family Foundation, are THE HOLLOW by composer Matt Conner and writer Hunter Foster, directed by Eric Schaeffer, and THE BOY DETECTIVE FAILS by composer Adam Gwon and writer Joe Meno, directed by Joe Calarco.
After three weeks of rehearsals, both shows will be performed (but not reviewed by critics), July 23 and 24. Actors who are participating include Sherri L. Edelen, Channez McQuay, and Stephen Gregory Smith. Tickets, $20 general admission and a pass for both shows costs $30, can be purchased at the box office at 4200 Campbell Avenue, or by calling Ticketmaster at (703) 573-SEAT (7328) or visiting www.signature-theatre.org
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Try onlineseats.com for great seats to
Wicked
Jersey Boys
The Little Mermaid
Lion King
Shrek The Musical
South Pacific
In the Heights