Review: Indulge Your Inner Geek with Capital Fringe's THE GREATEST SCIENCE FICTION SHOW

We all have it: that one cult show, that one guilty pleasure we binge-watch while endlessly trying to hook our friends, family, even pure strangers into watching. That's ultimately the premise of Grain of Sand's production of The Greatest Science Fiction Show (No One's Ever Seen), a goofy, fun valentine to science fiction television shows and movies currently play at Capital Fringe.

The story revolves around Julie's (Jennifer Berry) search for a long-lost television show Live from Cauldron 5. After traveling to multiple comic-cons, she finally stumbles upon it and persuades Ty (Paolo Santayana), the owner of a comic book store, to watch it with her. We suddenly find ourselves joining them, watching 'the greatest science fiction show.'

There's no denying that Pamela Leahigh's play takes its inspiration from the original Star Trek series on NBC, the movies of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and their legions of passionate fans. Even the costumes of Live from Cauldron 5's characters contain Star Trek-inspired communicator pins and the dialogue spoofs some of science fiction's greatest movie quotes.

Only when the play begins to blur the lines of reality and fantasy does the story get a bit confusing. The fault lies with Leahigh, who tries to cram too much character development and drama into the second half of the play. For a satirical, science fiction spoof, it's a bit much. If the play were expanded beyond an hour, and flushed out, then the climax would work better.

The show within a show setup is clever and expertly staged by Director Sara Bickler. She's merged the scenes between Ty and Julie into the audience, while the Live from Cauldron 5 scenes are onstage. It's as if we're in the back room of Ty's comic book shop watching this cult classic from another era.

Berry's determined and passionate Julie is sure to resonant with anyone who has ever been obsessed with a television show, movie, comic book etc. Together with Santayana, they have great chemistry as shown by their ability to match wits.

As for the show within the show, Live from Cauldron 5 is delightfully campy and kitsch. Aubri O'Connor and Christopher Herring are satirically melodramatic as the president and first spouse of the doomed planet. Beth Amann is insightful as the all-knowing hologram HG. Luke Morris provides the comic relief as the panicky security-robot Flores while Christopher Holbert is smarmy and sly as Lance Hardwick. Finally, there's Stephanie Svec's Klingon Worf-esq enforcer Jenkins. Each are characters you could expect to see in early Dr. Who or Lost in Space episodes and the dialogue is wonderfully reminiscent of those series.

Leahigh has given the play a feminist undertone that is both unexpected and welcome. It's nice to see the science fiction/comic book fan stereotype presented with a twist, one that reminds us to not judge situations upon first glance. Additionally, it prevents the play from becoming predictable, keeping us guessing as to the fate of Julie and Cauldron 5.

Having grown up on Nick at Nite and gorging myself on Comedy Central's annual Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Thanksgiving Day marathons, watching The Greatest Science Fiction Show (No One's Ever Seen) was great fun. We all have our inner geeks, so why not indulge them by taking in this delightful show at Capital Fringe.

Runtime: 60 minutes with no intermission.

The Greatest Science Fiction Show (No One's Ever Seen) has five more performances left at the Logan Fringe Arts Space, 1358 Florida Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002. For more information and to purchase tickets, please click here.

Photo: The Greatest Science Fiction Show (No One's Ever Seen). Credit: Grain of Sand Theatre Company.

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