Sub-Total
2026 Audience Reviews
Member Reviews
The following reviews were submitted by Fringe Member: Daniel Pinkerton
Company: Mosaic Productions
Show: ANNA
Venue: Theatre in the Round
Best drama in this Fringe (or the last few)
First of all, this is a masterful adaptation that modernizes the original O'Neill tragedy while reducing it from four acts to under an hour. Wow. The decision to switch Chris Christopherson (yep, real name of 1922 character) from a man to a woman plays out in some interesting ways, though I miss the parent being Swedish—it makes you understand why Anna was sent to a Minnesota farm. Still, the negative mother-daughter energy is not explored often enough. Second, the direction and performances are simply outstanding. Every single performance seems grounded and the relationships authentic. The white-hot intensity of Caitlin Sparks in the title role is something not to be missed, and is tremendously moving. Kudos to everyone involved in this show! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Company: TROMPE L'OEIL
Show: Foshay! You Know The Tower - Now Hear The Story
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre
Interesting tale is well worth checking outg
FOSHAY is well-written, both the songs and the dialogue, and informative, in the way a History Theatre play often is. The actor playing Foshay was terrific -- good actor, strong voice. But the rest of the cast was uneven. Most importantly, a couple of them had voices that were fine but not strong, so that I could not hear them over the piano (and occasionally missed dialogue. It's still an interesting story and musical, and worth your while.
Company: Special When Lit
Show: Bury The Leads
Venue: Mixed Blood
Great improv
By its nature, improv is a little more hit-and-miss than a pre-written script. How much of it is hit and how much of it is miss, is exactly how you separate good improv from mediocre improv. Sam and Nissa created many great, loopy scenes that had me laughing out loud -- hit after hit, folks. So I highly recommend it! Added bonus: Sam tends to get typecast a lot, and in this show, you'll see him really stretch and create a wide variety of comic types.
Company: The Winding Sheet Outfit
Show: A Confluence of Magical Arseholes
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre
I think there's an award for this
Oh, this has GOTTA win the award for the Fringiest show of 2026. Take a fairly mundane bit of history that involves two poets (one brilliant, one crappy), and then put it through a blender and create a show full of brilliant and delightfully vulgar comedy. WSO even found a way to make metatheatrical devices (yawn) truly funny! This is the show that EVERYBODY NEEDS TO SEE.
Company: Theatre Engine
Show: Chum!
Venue: Rarig Kilburn Theatre
Great show, no previous JAWS experience needed!
I don't think I have seen JAWS, and yet this daffy, 50-minute parody thoroughly entertained me. It moves QUICKLY through the story, and that helps a lot. The material is well-written, the songs are often both lovely and a hoot, and boy howdy, can these performers sing. Great comic timing abounds as well, and this show is clearly a loving parody created by hugely talented artists. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT, and I urge more music theatre nerds to go see it, because I was the ONLY audience member who laughed at the Sondheim joke.
Company: Levani
Show: A Magician
Venue: Open Eye Theatre
Combo of magic and memoir really worked
Jordan had the kind of genial charisma that a good magician needs, and his personal history was woven into the show very well. I found it quite moving, and I loved the ending. The magic was "simple": no disappearing leopards or anything like that are possible at a Fringe show at the Open Eye. But the sleight-of-hand was very deft, and, as with all good magic, looked easier than it was. Highly recommended!
Company: Dawn Bentley
Show: The Quiet Piggy
Venue: Strike Theater
Fiercest show in the Fringe
Dawn lets us know how she REALLY feels (and how we all feel) about the current regime in Washington, DC. She's deadly serious, and yet it's funny -- hard-hitting political humor. Brava!
Company: Zabel Weinhagen
Show: Empty Nest
Venue: Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre
warm and witty (and maybe just a little silly)
Levi and Laura's rapport and chemistry is so good, you'd almost think they were an actual married couple. OK, they actually are married, so maybe it's that they're both insightful enough to make a delightfully honest and funny show about being longtime spouses and parents. As a bonus, you might be lucky enough to see an audience volunteer as game and as in the spirit as the one I saw on Saturday. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -- you'll be glad you went!
Company: Octoberdandy Productions
Show: Sound and Noise and Bodies
Venue: Theatre in the Round
honest, entertaining
Jen is a treasure -- honest, full of energy and joy, and wit. This one-woman memoir is sometimes hilarious and sometimes tragic, but the tragic is never maudlin. Jen knows how to give sadness its due, embrace it and move on, and that rich acceptance of all life has to offer is what makes this show so special. I highly recommend it!
Company: Mermaid Productions
Show: The Importance of Living
Venue: Open Eye Theatre
Deliciously grim, wonderfully performed
Southern Gothic meets British Penny Dreadful in this mesmerizing story about two murderers who meet and share their complex and fascinating life stories. Each is what you'd call an "untrustworthy narrator," and Uren's script keeps the audience on its toes. The two performers are outstanding, and I can't say enough good things about Duck Washington's direction. There is a point at the end of the play that I found the script a bit confusing, but direction and acting pull us through it and the play says what it has to say and is thoroughly entertaining in its own dark way. So I definitely recommend it.
Company: SassEpants Productions
Show: So You Want to Date a Bisexual?
Venue: Open Eye Theatre
Imaginative, daffy, kinda sweet improv
Erika Sasseville has a unique comic sensibility -- her wit is simultaneously dry and sweet. In this show, five talented improv performers, a musician who creates a gentle soundtrack, and an audience volunteer create a new story about the perils of dating with every show. The subject may not be new, but trust me -- the approach is fresh and this talented ensemble will definitely make you laugh. See it!