Review: GOD IS DEAD AND APRIL'S GETTING MARRIED and A TWO WOMAN HAMLET Don't Fully Execute their Visions at Capital Fringe

Capital Fringe productions tend to have a lot of ambition. No matter the quality of the show, there is a clear underlining of a message the playwright wants to get across to their audience. When this message is unclear, however, the work can begin to falter. Unfortunately, this is the kind of scenario that befalls two promising productions at the Festival: God is Dead and April's Getting Married and A Two Woman Hamlet. Neither is bad, per se, but each show fails at living up to the promise of their premises.

Playing in the Violet venue at Arena Stage, God is Dead and April's Getting Married's plot doesn't feel fully formed. Following the relationship between high school friends Elliot, El and April, the story is told through fractured flashbacks. Elliot and El have had a falling out, though the reasons behind this estrangement is unclear. The only information that is clear is that whatever spat they had was caused in part by their mutual friend, April, who has sent them invitations to her wedding.

Without giving away the plot, the story focuses on relationships, queerness, and religion. While all of these are good topics to explore, A.A. Brenner's script never manages to address these issues in a palatable way. Instead, most of the discussion turns into a full-on attack on Mormonism (April's religion) and multiple curse-filled tirades that don't feel necessary for advancing the show's plot or arguments. Additionally, Elliot never once comes off as likable (through no fault of actor Colton Needles, who does what he can to make the character endearing) because of his constantly prickly interactions with those around him. At one point he shoves April to the floor and never apologizes for the act. He admits he owes her and El an apology for such an act but an apology that does not make. Even in the show's most tender scenes, there appears to be a wall between the characters, erected by the stiff dialogue that fails to reveal anything beyond their thin stereotypes.

On a positive note, the show has one of the best soundtracks of the Fringe Festival, with multiple montages underscored by songs expertly selected by Sound Designer Tosin Olufolabi. Their sound design was also highly entertaining when multiple occasions featured authentic sounds of Super Smash Bros. games played between the characters. Micah Chelen's set is also commendable, providing many creative solutions to make the most of their intimate playing space.

Playing just a block away is A Two Woman Hamlet in the Silver venue at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church. The play is most definitely the thing for this 80-minute adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most revered works. There's no new surprises as the plot is followed truly: Hamlet believes his uncle killed his father for the throne, Hamlet goes to great lengths to prove this to be true, everybody dies. It is quintessential Shakespeare.

As far as executing the play, Hannah Sweet and Nicola Collett do a commendable job. Being able to even get through a whole Shakespearean work with just two people is a difficult task. Unfortunately, Mara Sherman's direction isn't dynamic enough to make up for the pitfalls of a two-person production. Most notably, it became difficult to follow the characters and plot at many points during the show. If you've read Hamlet (as most have) or saw a production recently (like the Michael Urie production earlier this year) then you won't have any problems at all. If, like the couple I was sitting next to on Saturday, it has been a while since you've visited Shakespeare's Hamlet, you will likely find yourself asking who various characters are during the performance.

For their part, Ms. Sweet and Ms. Collett do all they can to make sure you know who is playing what character in a specific scene. There are just so many characters, however, that it becomes difficult to distinguish between them all even as they shuffle around their glasses, ties and vests to physically represent these shifts. If the actresses had doubled down on changing mannerisms and vocal qualities throughout the production, it would have likely been easier to follow the character progressions. That isn't to say that the performance isn't still entertaining (it often is) but it will likely only be appreciated by those with greater familiarity with the source material.

There's plenty of ambition present in both of these productions. In both cases, there is an effort of trying to cram too much content and commentary into too little time. Such is the constant struggle for many Fringe productions. Unfortunately for these productions, this hinders them from reaching their full potential.

God is Dead and April's Getting Married and A Two Woman Hamlet are both part of the 2018 Capital Fringe Festival. For information and tickets to God is Dead and April's Getting Married click here. For information and tickets to A Two Woman Hamlet click here.

---

Sam Abney is a Washington, D.C. based arts professional. A native of Arizona, he has happily made D.C. his new home. Sam is a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Communication and currently works for Arena Stage as a member of their Development team. He is a life-long lover of theater and is excited about sharing his passion with as many people as possible.

To stay up-to-date on reviews from Sam, click here and subscribe to alerts.

To post a comment, you must register and login.