Review of the Capital Fringe 2024: “Art Is Dead” by Morgan Burris (2 1/2 stars)

Mmy favorite joke from the sitcom 30 rocks is when the cleaning actress Jenna Maroney explains: “I know the Tony rules because I filed a petition to have a category for living theatrical in normal life.” Here is a woman so dedicated to her art that vanity, applause and presumption are synonymous with life.

Sylvia Fletcher is one such diva. She is the protagonist of Morgan Burris’ new play Art is dead now at the Capital Fringe Festival in DC – and played by Emmy Harvey, she opens the show gasping in admiration at a blank canvas she has “painted,” a “turbulent nothingness,” as she puts it. Her husband Mark (Eli Okun), a successful arts journalist, looks on skeptically. Their creative differences come to a head in an accidental act of silly violence. But instead of destroying Sylvia’s career, the violence invigorates it. She soon gains the support of an agent, Georgina, and her career takes off, even as it haunts her actions.

Burris and many of the cast are part of the Washington Improv Theater, and their deft work at honing comedy scenarios is evident. There are delightful twists, flashbacks and satirical one-liners. The best scene basically functions as a sketch comedy number, with Sylvia talking about rough paintings in lovingly intellectual language.

But comedic scenarios are meant to give the actors the opportunity to relax, and Art is dead often lacks that real-time action. Events that would make for great physical comedy mostly take place offstage, like the moving of unconscious bodies or Sylvia’s escape from responsibility for her actions. The pacing of the show could also use some polish. The jokes are humorous, but could be better delivered with faster, snappier dialogue between the actors. Scene transitions would be smoother with music, and the abrupt ending suggests that work is still in progress.

Still, Burris has created a star character in Sylvia Fletcher. Sylvia is a tangle of contradictions, someone sincerely devoted to her work but unsure of her talent and behavior. Unfortunately, toward the end of the show, she becomes a nervous, tragic figure. Yet Sylvia is at her most compelling to audiences when, as with Jenna Maroney, we feel her self-delusion fueling grandiose and absurd plans. If Burris were to dramatize these plans with more camp and drama onstage, she could get the blood pumping in both actors and audiences. Just like Sylvia, Burris could get the blood flowing to create even greater art.

Duration: 50 minutes
Genre: comedy
Dates and times:

• July 14 at 1:30 p.m.
• July 19 at 18:35
• July 20 at 11:35 am
• July 21 at 2:00 p.m.

Venue: Delirium, 1120 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 103
Tickets: $15
Further information and tickets: Art is dead

The full schedule of the Capital Fringe Festival 2024 is online here.