More Dispatches from the Fringes

Another day, another batch of shows at the Capital Fringe Festival.  Highlights include:

• Sue Jin Song’s Children of Medea – a stark and powerful one-woman show, this is a repeat offender from last year’s Fringe.  Song intertwines her own tale of loss with that of the mythical Medea as well as contemporary fairy tales like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.
• Headscarf & the Angry Bitch – Zehra Fazal‘s hysterical one-woman musical monologue (I’m sensing a pattern here) about life as a young Pakistani American.  While this show lacks the original tunes of Sex, Dreams & Self-Control, Fazal’s alternately hilarious and deeply personal lyrics grafted over well-known pop songs never fail to entertain.  While she does generally steer clear of the hot-button issues that inflame the most Puritanical of Islamic sentiments, I’m surprised this show doesn’t generate more controversy.  And I never realized that a hijab could be sexy.  The remaining scheduled performances are sold out, but Ms. Fazal indicated that she would be adding shows at the Source next week.  I also have to applaud her for calling out to audience members who were in Fringe shows to give them an opportunity to plug their own productions.
• The Sin Show – a production of SpeakeasyDC, this production features monologues touching on each of the seven deadly sins.  I was unaware prior to seeing this show that all the vignettes were true stories, which upon reflection lends a confessional air to the piece.  I’m not certain that I would have the courage or intestinal fortitude to get on stage and confess such a glaring weakness in front of an audience of strangers (and friends).