Theater
Fringe Festival is bigger than ever
137 shows feature plenty of LGBT-related content

Actor Daniel Eichner takes some tips from a real rabbit (Monster) for the upcoming Capital Fringe Production of ‘HORRIBLE CHILD’ in which Eichner plays a gay bunny. ‘HORRIBLE CHILD’ is staged by gay director Jose Carrasquillo. Eichner is straight (Photo courtesy of Eichner)
The Capital Fringe Festival is back and with 137 shows it’s bigger than ever. Like always, the festival is featuring a wide-ranging selection of offbeat art, theater, music by scores of artists (some well- known, others not so much). Below is a small sampling of varied theatrical Fringe offerings of special interest to LGBT audiences.
Rebecca Gingrich-Jones has written a musical. “It didn’t start out that way but as I was writing the egg characters they suddenly started singing so I had to go with it,” she explains. “I teamed up with a friend who wrote the music and continued to work on the book and lyrics. The result is “Singing Eggs and Spermless Babies.”
The musical, says Gingrich-Jones (who is currently pursuing a master’s in playwriting at Catholic University), is without a doubt a comedy, bordering on farce. It’s the story of a lesbian couple who are trying — in oh, so many ways — to have a baby, but can’t. In their quest for mommyhood, the women inadvertently find themselves on a gay and lesbian cruise where they meet a suicidal fertility doctor, drag kings, a gay fundamentalist Christian and the actual eggs with which they’re trying to conceive.
In addition to scribe duties, Gingrich-Jones, 29, is co-producer and responsible for marketing. Her wife, queer activist Candace Gingrich-Jones (Newt’s younger stepsister), is featured in the show as “Erin,” a lesbian considering switching teams.
When casting the title character for “Horrible Child,” gay director Jose Carasquillo almost immediately thought of Daniel Eichner. “He’s a fearless actor, able to lose himself in a part,” Carasquillo explains. “I didn’t want just anyone putting on a bunny suit and hopping on stage.”
In this Fringe production penned by Lawrence Krauser, Eichner plays “Horrible,” a gay bunny rabbit, whose humanoid parents (played by Lee Ordeman and talented lesbian actress Delia Taylor) find their furry offspring so repellent that they hire an exterminator (Greg Twomey) to destroy him. Unexpectedly, the exterminator and Horrible fall in love at first sight.
“Thematically, the play is about parents coming to terms with children who grow up to be different than what they had expected, and the anxiety associated with that,” explains Carasquillo, who splits his time between Puerto Rico and D.C. “The language is inventive and acrobatic. It’s a wonderfully deranged and experimental play. I’ve wanted to do it for some time.”
“The Miss Teen Jesus Pageant” is the musical story of two gay fathers who stage a beauty contest to raise funds to send their daughter to Bible college. For their score, gay playwright Patrick di Battista and his writing partner and best friend Anne Laffoon have cleverly selected six different traditional Christian hymns, mostly from the 1800s.
“The songs have been re-arranged [by composer Ben Camp], but the lyrics remain the same,” explains di Battista. “We use ‘Blessed Assurance,’ a hymn written in 1872 by blind composer Fanny Crosby, into a gay love song. Lyrics like ‘my savior in me,’ and ‘oh what a foretaste of glory divine sound pretty good to us. If someone finds it offensive that’s OK by us.”
By “us,” di Battista refers to Laffoon and the actors and crew who make up LaGoDi, a nonprofessional theatrical group whose core members initially got to know each other while two-stepping at Remington’s on Capitol Hill. “We’re not trained in acting or singing. We think of ourselves as a tribe really,” explains di Battista. “Ours isn’t a polished one-man show. We have a cast of 10 accompanied by a small choir of five. Our productions feature lots of eye candy and rampant cross dressing.”
Written and performed by Manuel Simons, “Queer in the USA” is the tale of Johnny, a New Jersey teen obsessed with Bruce Springsteen. To Johnny, Springsteen is the ultimate man: masculine, successful, talented and compassionate. Johnny longs to be a rock star like his idol, but every time this sexually confused wannabe rocker opens his mouth to sing, out pours a lovely, almost operatic soprano that sounds more like Barbra Streisand.
Teased by his peers about his perceived sexuality and gender identity, Johnny runs away to New York City where through a series of chance encounters with a gay rocker, a gypsy woman, and others (all played by Simons) he is set on a path toward self-discovery and acceptance.
Simons’ show is heavily autobiographical: “Growing up in Philadelphia, I was on the receiving end of a lot of taunting and bullying in school. The boys considered me a girl and refused to allow me be a part of their teams,” recalls Simons, who now lives in New York. “My character Johnny seeks solace through music; I found my identity and learned to embrace myself through theater. Like him, the arts have been my sanctuary and salvation.”
Suzanne Knapik’s Fringe entry “Mother-In-Law: The Musical” is also drawn from real life. About three months after Obama was sworn into office, her partner’s mother moaned that our then freshly minted president was exclusively responsible for the country’s tanking economy. More than mildly disgusted with her mother-in-law’s absurd assessment, Knapik decided to vent her frustration by writing a musical.
“My show is basically a true story about my relationship with my partner and her mother,” explains Knapik. “It’s made up of five scenes spread out over Thanksgiving Day. Typically the three of us spend holidays and some vacation time together, and differences come up. Song titles include: ‘God Bless America Only,’ ‘Obama is a Muslim,’ and ‘Mother-In-Law Blues.’”
Will the mother-in-law be at opening night? “Oh no,” Knapik replies matter-of-factly, “She won’t be seeing the show. It’s been very tricky keeping it from her — she’s quite spry and alert. My partner will be there. I’m hoping she’ll like it.”
Capital Fringe Festival
Through July 25
capfringe.org
Theater
A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan stars as Duke Orsino

‘Twelfth Night’
Through June 22
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan (they/them)loves tapping into the multitudes within.
Currently Keegan plays the melancholic Duke Orsino in Folger Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.” Director Mei Ann Teo describes the production as “sexy, hilarious, and devastating” and full of “elegant kink.”
Washington-based, Keegan enjoys a busy and celebrated career. Her vast biography includes Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Helen Hayes Award, Best Actress) and Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, both at Round House Theatre; Diana Son’s Stop Kiss directedby Holly Twyford for No Rules Theatre Company; and Contractions at Studio Theatre, to name just a few.
In addition to acting, Keegan works as a polyamory and ethical non-monogamy life and relationship coach, an area of interest that grew out of personal exploration. For them, coaching seems to work hand in hand with acting.
WASHINGTON BLADE: You’re playing the lovesick Orsino in Twelfth Night. How did that come about?
ALYSSA KEEGAN: The director was looking to cast a group of actors with diverse identities; throughout auditions, there were no constraints regarding anyone’s assigned sex at birth. It was really a free for all.
BLADE: What’s your approach to the fetching, cod-piece clad nobleman?
KEEGAN: Offstage I identify as completely nonbinary; I love riding in this neutral middle space. But I also love cosplay. The ability to do that in the play gives me permission to dive completely into maleness.
So, when I made that decision to play Orsino as a bio male, suddenly the part really cracked open for me. I began looking for clues about his thoughts and opinions about things like his past relationships and his decision not to date older women.
Underneath his mask of bravura and sexuality, and his firmness of feelings, he’s quite lonely and has never really felt loved. It makes sense to me why his love for Olivia is so misguided and why he might fall in love with the Cesario/Viola character.
BLADE: As an actor, do you ever risk taking on the feelings of your characters?
KEEGAN: Prior to my mental health education, yes, and that could be toxic for me. I’ve since learned that the nervous system can’t tell the difference between real emotional distress and a that of a fully embodied character.
So, I created and share the Empowered Performer Project. [a holistic approach to performance that emphasizes the mental and emotional well-being of performing artists]. It utilizes somatic tools that help enormously when stepping into a character.
BLADE: Has changing the way you work affected your performances?
KEEGAN: I think I’m much better now. I used to have nearly debilitating stage fright. I’d spend all day dreading going onstage. I thought that was just part of the job. Now, I’ve learned to talk to my body. Prior to a performance, I can now spend my offstage time calmly gardening, working with my mental health clients, or playing with my kid. I’m just present in my life in a different way.
BLADE: Is Orsino your first time playing a male role?
KEEGAN: No. In fact, the very first time I played a male role was at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va. I played Hipolito in Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy.
As Hipolito, I felt utterly male in the moment, so much so that I had audience members see me later after the show and they were surprised that I was female. They thought I was a young guy in the role. There’s something very powerful in that.
BLADE: Do you have a favorite part? Male or female?
KEEGAN: That’s tough but I think it’s Maggie the Cat. I played the hyper-female Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House. In the first act she didn’t stop talking for 51 minutes opposite Gregory Wooddell as Brick who barely had to speak. That lift was probably the heaviest I’ve ever been asked to do in acting.
BLADE: What about Folger’s Twelfth Night might be especially appealing to queer audiences?
KEEGAN: First and foremost is presentation. 99% of the cast identify as queer in some way.
The approach to Shakespeare’s text is one of the most bold and playful that I have ever seen. It’s unabashedly queer. The actors are here to celebrate and be loud and colorful and to advocate. It’s a powerful production, especially to do so close to the Capitol building, and that’s not lost on any of us.
Theater
‘We Are Gathered’ a powerful contemplation of queer equality
Arena production dives fearlessly into many facets of same-sex connection

‘We Are Gathered’
Through June 15
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
$70-$110
Arenastage.org
Aptly billed as a queer love story, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s terrific new play “We Are Gathered” (now at Arena Stage) dives deeply and fearlessly into the many facets of a same-sex connection and all that goes with it.
McCraney’s tale of two gay men’s romance unfolds entertainingly over two acts. Wallace Tre (Kyle Beltran), a tense architect, and his younger partner Free (Nic Ashe), a campy and fun-loving musician with a deep sense of quiet and peace are contemplating marriage after five years together, but one of the two isn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of imminent matrimony.
At 14, Wallace Tre (nicknamed Dubs) first learned about gay cruising via renowned British playwright Caryl Churchill’s seminal work “Cloud Nine.” It was an intoxicating introduction that led Dubs to an exciting world of sex and risk.
Soon after, a nearby park became a thrilling constant in his life. It remains a source of excitement, fun, danger, and fulfillment. The local cruising zone is also a constant in McCraney’s play.
One memorable evening, Dubs experienced a special night in the woods, a shadowy hour filled with exhilaration and surprise. That’s when Dubs unpredictably learned something he’d never felt before. That night in the park, he met and fell madly in love with Free.
In addition to being a talented playwright, McCraney is the Academy Award-winning Black and queer screenwriter of “Moonlight,” the 2016 film. He’s happy to be a part of WorldPride 2025, and grateful to Arena for making space for his play on its stage. McCraney says he wrote “We Are Gathered” as a contemplation of queer marriage and the right for same-sex couples, like opposite-sex couples, to marry anywhere in the United States.
For Dubs, it’s important that Free speak openly about how they met in the park. He’d like Free to share the details of their coming together with his supportive grandparents, Pop Pop (Craig Wallace) and Mama Jae (out actor Jade Jones). As far as they know, their grandson met Dubs at a lovely gathering with a nice crowd assembled under a swanky canopy. When in truth it was a park busy with horny guys cruising beneath a canopy of leafy verdure.
Understandably, Free is more than a tad embarrassed to reveal that he enjoyed al fresco sex with Dubs prior to knowing his boyfriend’s name. Clearly, in retrospect, both feel that their initial meeting is a source of discomfort, tinged with awkwardness.
There is a lot more to “We Are Gathered” than cruising. Dubs and Free are ardently liked by friends and family. Both are attractive and smart. Yet, they’re different. Free is quite easy going while Dubs is, at times, pricklier.
While Free is part of a happy family, Dubs’s people aren’t entirely easy. He grew up with a strung-out mother and a cold father (Kevin Mambo). Yet, his sister Punkin (Nikolle Salter), an astronaut, is very caring and close to him. While she doesn’t necessarily like “the gay stuff,” she very much wants to live in a world where there’s room for her gay brother.
Adeptly directed by Kent Gash, the production is memorable, and it’s not his first collaboration with McCraney. Ten years ago, Gash, who’s Black and queer, staged McCraney’s “Choir Boys” at Studio Theatre, another well-written and finely staged work.
“We Are Gathered” is performed in the round in Arena’s cavernous Fichandler Stage. The space is both a forest and various rooms created by designer Jason Sherwood and lighting designer Adam Honoré. It’s a world created by elevating a circular platform surrounded by charming street lamps both hanging overhead and lining the perimeter.
Ultimately, what takes place in “We Are Gathered” is a party, and something even more; it’s a paean to marriage, and a call to a sacrament.
Theater
Trans performer, juggler premiering one-woman show

Circus of the Self
May 29-June 6
Spooky Action Theater
1810 16th St., N.W.
Pay-What-You-Can: May 2
All other performances: $35
Spookyaction.org
For Lucy Eden, tricks have proved a way into theater.
The Oakland, Calif.-based trans performer and juggler is premiering her one-woman show “Circus of the Self” at Spooky Action Theater in conjunction with WorldPride.
Directed by Spooky Action’s artistic director Elizabeth Dinkova, the autobiographical busking show is a unique blend of circus and serious storytelling.
Juggler first met director several years ago in Atlanta. Eden explains, “She was working at a theater down the street from the juggling club where I spent a lot of time. She needed people for a street fair. I agreed. Another collaboration soon followed.”
Previously, Eden had worked mostly as a roaming performer at Atlanta corporate events and street style pre-game shows for the Braves: “Those environments were a good way to work on material, to learn what tricks make people stop their talking and turn their attention to me,” she says.
Now based in Oakland, Calif., Eden, 40, has created a 77-minute-long one-woman show infused with burlesque, expert juggling, and a personal, sometimes difficult, story.
While she hesitates to say it’s the obligation of all trans people to tell their stories, she says, “In these times, if you get the opportunity, I believe you ought to take it.”
Recently, she took a break from preparations, to talk life and showbiz.
BLADE: How exactly did you learn circus tricks?
EDEN: I’m autodidactic. I taught myself to juggle in the last semester of college. Things had gone wrong and I was looking for distraction. So, when I found a “three ball learn to juggle” kit, I never looked back. That lead to advanced juggling, unicycling, and balancing objects on my face.
Things began to look up. Today, I try to resist everything in my life going back to circus tricks, it almost always does.
BLADE: It sounds almost preordained.
EDEN: For sure. It changed everything. Circus skills force you to face your own failure. When you drop a ball, you can’t convince yourself or the audience that it didn’t happen. Performing, like life, forces you to develop capacities to deal with internal and external failures.
It teaches us not take ourselves, societal rules, or the idea of what’s success too seriously.
BLADE: Juggling at a cocktail party to baring your past before a rapt audience must be quite a stretch.
EDEN: It is, but rather than making a dramatic leap, I leveraged the fun and draw of circus to engage people in a more difficult conversation.
BLADE: Spooky Action’s website warns about “frank discussions of transphobia and mental health.”
EDEN: Well yeah, I grew up in rural Georgia in the 1990s. You can only imagine. Trans is integral to my identity, and a hot button term right now. I think everyone sees and hears a lot of things about trans people that don’t in fact come from actual trans people.
A big part of why I wrote this show and brought it to D.C. is because I really want audiences to have as intimate and revealing look at me as a trans persona as I can give them. I think it’s only through knowing that we can get beyond all the noise, misinformation, and fear mongering.
BLADE: Lately I hear a lot of artists bandying about the term “queer joy.” Woolly’s website uses the term in describing aspects of your show. What does it mean to you?
EDEN: It’s an important thingfor us all to be focused on right now, but we’re in a place where joy is hard to access. So, to me, it’s complex; it’s an important yet nuanced pursuit.
BLADE: As a part of the vast and promising WorldPride (through June 8) entertainment lineup, what makes your show stand out?
EDEN: It’s fun. I wrote “Circus of the Self” with a queer audience in mind. I spend a lot of time and creative energy performing for a general audience. I want this to be different. As far as I know, there’s nothing quite like my show out there.
There are a lot of shows that are a combination of storytelling and circus parts but they tend to be surface level entertainment. I think of this as more standup with circus layered on; it’s modeled after queer comedians like Hannah Gadsby and Tig Notaro whose work is driven more by personality than jokes.
I have tried to write a show for a queer audience. It has all the things I need to see for myself but never have.
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