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KLMNO CAPITAL FRINGE FESTIVAL


Thus spake ‘Lysistrata’: Let’s talk (and sing!) about sex


by Fiona Zublin


“Lysistrata” unfolds thusly: The Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta have been at war for 20 years, so the women of both cities storm the Acropolis in Athens and take control of the state treasury, refusing to fund the fighting and bringing an end to the war. It’s extremely pro- gressive, considering it was writ- ten in the 5th century B.C., and . . . well, yeah, there’s this other part where the women go on a sex strike until their husbands cease fighting. But really, since the men are always out of town anyway and there are probably prostitutes in the army camps, that’s not as important. The sex strike is the lurid part of the story, so that’s what gets the at- tention, no matter how little sense it makes. In Public Seed Theatre Com-


pany’s “Lysistrata . . . the musi- cal!,” the sex takes center stage, with songs like . . . well, we can’t quote the lyrics in a family news- paper, but they’re generally fun- ny and tuneful, performed by a cast of great voices. Katie Nigsch Fairfax and Autumn Seavey in particular are really worth hear- ing.


THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010 In firing scandal, where does Fox fit in? media from C1 PUBLIC SEED THEATRE COMPANY/CAPITAL FRINGE FESTIVAL


MEN ARE FROM MARS:Sex drives the tuneful “Lysistrata.” The piece, which plays at the


Warehouse through Sunday, feels somewhat flat when no one is singing; the dialogue is long on sincere and direct, short on clever. However, authors Ariana Hodes, Jeremy King and Vishal Vaidya are clearly having a lot of fun with a story about every- one’s intense sexual frustration — even that of the Greek gods.


Although anyone who has a passing familiarity with Greek mythology will be puzzled by the goddess Hera’s determination to go on her own sex strike to force celibacy on her husband, Zeus. Yeah, that’ll make him be celi- bate.


style@washpost.com Zublin is a freelance writer.


Galactica’s perfectly in sync in irreverent ‘Irrelevant Acts’


by Stephanie Merry When the pink-haired diva


Galactica makes her entrance onstage in a tulle-lined, shim- mering blue dress to the tune of “Mambo Italiano,” a natural first impression might be that this is the classiest show at the Fringe Festival. Never mind that Galac- tica is a drag queen, played by Ganymede Arts Artistic Director Jeffrey Johnson. “Irrelevant Acts of Entertain-


ment,” playing at the Shop through Saturday, features a slate of lip-synced tunes and monologues complete with cos-


tume changes, backup “singers” and choreographed interludes. Johnson’s talent for lip-sync- ing cannot be overstated, and it should be mentioned that there’s a lot more to this ability than merely learning words. When Galactica hits Dolly Par- ton’s high notes, her squinting eyes reflect the challenge, and the scatted breakdown of “Bye Bye Blackbird” by Rachelle Fer- rell has the diva in a bent pos- ture, shaking her clenched fists. The act looks so convincing, you may need to remind yourself that this is all artifice.


And the more challenging the selection, the more Galactica ex-


celled. The performance of Christine Baranski’s rendition of the “Yma Dream” monologue was especially memorable with its classic tongue-twisters in- volving the fast-paced introduc- tions of Ida Lupino, Abba Eban, Ava Gardner and Yma Sumac, among others. In the end, “Irrelevant Acts of


Entertainment” may not, in fact, be the classiest Fringe show; a costume change into the world’s shortest choir robe would nix it from that list. But the well- chosen song list and the charm- ing, talented star may make it the most enjoyable. stephanie.merry@wpost.com


It’s all about the body: Physical comedy in ‘Imaginary Autopsee’


by Rachel Weiner


The plot of “The Imaginary Autopsee,” playing at the Clinic through Friday, is purposefully convoluted. But here goes: A hardheaded doctor (Jeff Hylden) carelessly promises his daughter Isabella (Leigh Anna Fry) to an odious old man (Dane C. Peter- sen). Her true love is the suitor’s son, Leilo (Arturo Tolentino), who dispatches an adroit ser- vant, Arlecchino (Ryan Sellers), to patch things up. Arlecchino is trapped with his own paramour, Colombina (Aniko Olah), in the surgery room — and forced to


play both physician and cadaver. Of course, plot is really beside the point. Director Roger Paya- no is working with commedia dell’arte, an Italian Renaissance form of theater that relies on im- provised physical humor. Known for his own physically demanding work with Synetic Theater, Payano here gets to showcase the silly side of acro- batics. Ostensibly set in the 1600s, Raoul Mas’s “Autopsee” invokes “Mission: Impossible,” “Jeopardy!” and “Mortal Kom- bat,” among other classics. Not everyone in the cast has


perfect timing or total control, but so much is thrown into every


scene that at least half the jokes work. Sellers is really a cut above the rest; he contorts his face and body like a cartoon animal. Jill Nienhiser is hilariously stiff as the doctor’s fearsome wife — and equally funny as a ditsy pa- tient. Even for a Fringe show, “The


Imaginary Autopsee” is short — less than an hour. Isabella and Leilo barely get any action at all. It’s a shame that so much of the limited time is devoted to the setup. Just as a mountain of mis- understandings is built and the shenanigans really get going, it’s all neatly tied up. weinerr@washpost.com


played the clip posted by conser- vative activist Andrew Breitbart on his site BigGovernment.com. O’Reilly led his Wednesday pro- gram by criticizing some of Sher- rod’s language but acknowledging his own mistake: “I owe Ms. Sher- rod an apology for not doing my homework . . . and for not putting her remarks into proper context.” While the excerpt showed Sher- rod, an African American, telling the NAACP in a speech that she had discriminated against a white farmer as a nonprofit aid officer 24 years ago, the full speech made clear she was saying she had over- come that racial instinct and learned an important lesson. In his Monday comments, O’Reilly credited Breitbart with posting the excerpt and conclud- ed that her remarks were “simply unacceptable. And Ms. Sherrod must resign immediately.” O’Reil- ly taped the show at 5 p.m., and by the time it aired about 8:50, USDA had announced Sherrod’s resigna- tion (as Fox noted on the screen). Fox executives say O’Reilly’s staff, which is not part of the news divi- sion, sought comment from USDA throughout the day. Breitbart has worked closely


with Fox opinion hosts in the past, most notably when he posted vid- eos of two young activists osten- sibly posing as a pimp and prosti- tute and seeking help from ACORN offices. Breitbart promot- ed those tapes on Sean Hannity’s Fox program and the network gave them heavy play. The administration’s concern about Beck stems in part from his campaign last year that prompted the resignation of White House environmental official Van Jones over divisive remarks — a contro- versy that some news organiza- tions acknowledged they were too slow to cover. Ironically, Beck de- fended Sherrod on Tuesday, say- ing that “context matters” and he would have objected if someone had shown a video of him at an


Blaming Fox is “a comfortable reflex for some


people.” — Michael Clemente, Fox senior vice president


AA meeting saying he used to pass out from drinking but omitting the part where he says he found Jesus and gave up alcohol. Breitbart told “Good Morning America” he had “no second thoughts” about posting the ex- cerpt, which he says he did not ed- it, and sought to justify it by not- ing that the NAACP recently passed a resolution urging the “tea party” to disassociate itself from racism. “The video shows racism, and when the NAACP is going to charge the tea party with racism . . . I’m going to show you it happens on the other side,” Breit- bart said. On the same program, Eric Boehlert of the liberal ad- vocacy group Media Matters told George Stephanopoulos: “Andrew had no idea what the context of the comments were, but that didn’t stop him from launching the smear campaign.” Breitbart did not say how he obtained the tape he posted Mon- day morning, but he told CNN’s John King he got it in March, when Sherrod appeared before the NAACP. He told MSNBC that “I feel sorry that they made this about her” and that the media have “misconstrued the intention behind this.”


Sherrod ripped Fox in an inter-


view Wednesday with Media Mat- ters, saying the network would “love to take us back to where we were many years ago. Back to where black people were looking down, not looking white folks in the face, not being able to com- pete for a job out there and not be a whole person.” Clemente, the Fox executive, said in an interview that Sherrod “certainly could be forgiven for


being confused.” As for other crit- ics, he said that blaming Fox is “a comfortable reflex for some peo- ple.” Even the NAACP, which had initially criticized Sherrod, beat an embarrassing retreat, after viewing the full tape — and com- plaining that it had been “snoo- kered” by Fox and Breitbart. Clemente said he never heard from the group’s president, Benja- min Jealous, despite a recent lunch in which he says they agreed to get in touch when dis- putes arise. Fox says the NAACP did not respond to messages left by Clemente on Tuesday. Once Sherrod’s resignation was


confirmed, it was obviously a sig- nificant news story that media outlets were entitled to chase. But they did so on the basis of one misleading clip before the NAACP made the full video available Tuesday. There were signs of enterpris- ing hustle, however. On Tuesday, CNN snagged interviews with Sherrod, Breitbart and Eloise Spooner, wife of the Georgia farm- er whom Sherrod had aided and was the subject of her anecdote. “She gave enough that it helped save our farm,” Spooner said. With Vilsack now offering Sherrod a job and the media look- ing like they abetted the insta- tragedy, even many on the right were siding with the previously vilified Sherrod. “Her full speech is heartfelt and moving,” wrote National Review Editor Rich Lowry. “It’s the tale of someone overcoming hatred and rancor when she had every reason not to. Her saga over the last couple of days is a lesson in how the culture of offense often works in contem- porary America — chewing peo- ple up and spitting them out be- fore they even have a chance to defend themselves.” kurtzh@washpost.com


Howard Kurtz also works for CNN and hosts its weekly media program, “Reliable Sources.”


Adapted from a recent online discussion:


Dear Carolyn: I know you are supposed to


make peace with and grow past things that are unfair, like parents who favor someone else, bad exes who seem to sail through unscathed, etc. But I’m so tired of being told some variation of “life isn’t fair” and that it’s my choice to be angry or upset. I know life isn’t fair. I’m trying like hell to not be bitter at holding the perpetual short end of the stick. But. I am angry. I am resentful.


Life hasn’t been fair? Focus on giving more. CAROLYN HAX


life: The one who recognized you were getting shorted, and who makes it up to you. You can make it up to those who got an even shorter end of the stick. Try it, at least. Even if it


doesn’t wipe out your bitterness entirely, it will leave however many people better for your having suffered. That’s got to be something.


Dear Carolyn: How do I deal with a feeling of


I am in therapy as well, but I need some concrete advice on how not to feel a burning pit in my stomach on occasion.


Anonymous All you can do is force yourself


—and it really will take force sometimes — to work on removing “perpetual” from the equation. It’s normal and


understandable for people who feel they’ve been shorted to put their hands out — to reach for what they think is their due. Usually, though, that only heightens the bitterness and sense of injustice, because good things don’t just come to people who have their hands out. One alternative is to make


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concerted efforts to go out and earn the things you want most. That’s a little more productive, but it’s not perfect; the things so many people want most require others to come through for them. To be loved, someone has to love you; to be rich, someone has to pay you, etc. Hard work can be its own reward, sure, but


total humiliation? I’ve found out that a secret crush was not as secret as I thought. Even though I’ve gotten over the feelings, I feel really, really foolish — not to mention clueless about how to act now around said former crush.


Georgia There isn’t much you can do NICK GALIFIANAKIS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST


when you’re looking for cosmic payoff, it often doesn’t feel like enough. It can even contribute to a sense that you’re working twice as hard as everyone else for only half the payout. That’s why a counterintuitive


alternative is often the best one: Putting your hand out to give. There’s something about being generous with your time, your love, your expertise, your money —whatever you’ve got to spare —that acts like anti-venom on the bitterness of not receiving. In a way, it puts you in the position of being the person you always wanted to have in your


except embrace the law of dissipation: Your sense of humiliation is worse today than it will be tomorrow, and it’ll be worse tomorrow than it’ll be the day after, and so on. In time, it’ll fade entirely, except to pop up and make you wince occasionally (unless it ripens into a funny story). As for dealing with said former crush, just go about your business. Repetition will defeat any lingering awkwardness, as only repetition can.


Read the whole transcript or join the discussion live at


noon Fridays on www.washingtonpost. com/discussions.


Write to Tell Me About It, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or tellme@washpost.com.


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