Capital Fringe '09

The Capital Fringe Festival begins on July ninth and although we live downtown, we have only gone to a couple of shows over the years. Besides the Shakespeare Theater, we really have never gotten into the Washington performance art scene. I don't know why the Indie art scene and the Indie food scene does not crossover as much as it should–many of the same issues are at play–like Not being over run by large machines churning out crap, be it Hollywood or McDonald's. Maybe its because performance seems more open to experimentation/creativity and food seems more concerned with authenticity/purity. Whatever the difference it seems a shame that we view experimentation as a negation of authenticity and not a continuation of a tension that is 'always already' in play. What's at stake is really an issue of consumption and whether we are OK with ingesting factory generated art or food. Hollywood understands the connection, in that product placement and happy meals are a part of the content of big budget production as much as anything. It is just a fact that many food people don't support local art the way they support local farms and it really is a question of nutrition, be it mental or physical.

One person I know of who has been active in both arenas and has tried to close the gap is Paul Ruppert of Warehouse Theater and Room 11. We asked Paul to give us ten things not to miss at this years fringe festival:

5 at the Warehouse

TITUS X

THE LOST ONES, by SAMUEL BECKETT

HERBIE: POET OF THE WILD WEST

THE TERRORISM OF EVERY DAY LIFE

THE COMIC ROACH

5 at other venues:

4:48 PSYCHOSIS

A TACTILE DINNER

CABARET COO COO

PEPE! The Mail Order Monkey Musical

VINCENT

We would like to also add we have one friend acting in a play another friend wrote: Cover Me In Humanness