DC Playwrights

Take a simple sentence. A typing drill. Nine words. 37 letters. What do the words mean? How are they related? How is meaning conveyed? Inspired by the texts of Lewis Carroll, Donald Rumsfeld, and George Bush and concluding with the inspirational metaphorical tropes of Barack Obama, the work presents five characters in search of meaning at an absurdist linguistic tea party.

When:
- Saturday July 18 @ 2:45pm
- Sunday July 19 @ Noon
- Friday July 24 @ 9:30pm
- Saturday July 25 @ 9:30pm
- Sunday July 26 @ Noon

Where:
Redrum - at Fort Fringe
612 L Street NW, Washington DC

Tickets can be purchased at:
607 New York Avenue, Washington, DC
or online at http://shows.capfringe.org/shows/26-Michael-Merino-The-Quick-Brown-Fox-J...
This production presented as a part of the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival.

Synopsis:
The play addresses how words convey meaning and how information is manipulated. The play builds from an initial scene where just two words, “Yes” and “No,” are exchanged and evolves to explore an interrogation and a foreign language lesson. By the middle of the play, the difficulty of communicating clearly, understanding intention, and the “truth” is demonstrated in a customer support vignette, a congressional hearing, and a change management presentation. By the end of the play, language and meaning have devolved into clinical analysis of grammar and a syntactically inverted radio program, climaxing with the ultimate expression of obfuscation: the presidential address.

Throughout the play, the character called Stage Directions provides parenthetical asides and literally controls the entrances, exits, and interpretations of the other actors. Placed between scenes as transitions are meta-textual jokes about “copyright,” “disclaimer,” “errata,” “afterward,” and "epilogue."

Developmental History:
Playwright’s Center’s PlayLabs Festival, Minneapolis – Semi-finalist
Kennedy Center, Page-to-Stage New Play Festival
Woolly Mammoth Playwrights’ PlayGround
Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans