More to come soon from the delinquent blogger…but in meantime, two quick recs from the Fringe and Over the Line festivals. The first is Forum Theatre’s Church at Round House in Silver Spring is an immersive experience of an evangelical service, acted with sensitivity and conviction by a quartet (and the musical metaphor seems apt) of young and thoroughly engaging actors.  There are only six more performances of Church (http://forum-theatre.org/church).   The second, Dog and Pony DC’s Beertown, is an interactive town meeting for the twentieth “Quinquennial” (five year) opening of and debate about the town time capsule. The title of this post refers to the items placed in the time capsule, four of which are declared “the Eternals” and are never to be removed, while the nine remaining “Ephemerals” are fair game for removal and replacement with alternative items, which is the primary purpose of the play’s town meeting.  The play engages the audience in the debates and decisions about the proposals and the items, punctuated by pageant-style presentations of episodes in the the history of Beertown.  Beertown is on this Tuesday through Sunday at Woolly Mammoth Rehearsal Space [http://www.dogandponydc.com/current_show ] and is well worth the baking time (a dessert potluck is part of the interactive fun of the show)!  Both shows prompt their audiences to consider what matters most to them, and how their personal experiences and memories might connect to something larger than themselves – whether the collective history of their town or a spiritual realm they may or may not believe in. Both plays feature testimonials by individuals and acts of faith expressed through rituals. Seeing them in the space of three days, as I did, might have brought home more sharply the parallels in their themes and structure.  I plan to explore these connections more deeply, but for now just want to urge you to go see Church and Beertown and share your thoughts on them with me!