A LIFESTYLE + ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE • JULY // AUGUST 2022
ANGEL OLSEN CROSSES GENRE LINES
S M I T H S O N I A N ’S “ F U T U R E S ”
C O C KTA I L C H E M I S T RY B U R N I N G M A N R E I M AG I N E D THE RISE OF NFTS I M M E R S I V E T H E AT R E
D I P P I N G I N T O DA O CANNABIS INFUSIONS DIGITAL ART TA R O T C A R D R E A D I N G
38 EXPERIMENTS IN COCKTAIL CHEMISTRY
40
ANGEL OLSEN CROSSES GENRE LINES
46 ARTECHOUSE TURNS FIVE
54
GOODBYE “FUTURES”
Sandro Kereselidze + Tatiana (Tati) Pastukhova at ARTECHOUSE’s “Ase: Afro Frequencies.” Photo by Tony Powell.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
RADAR
6 Calendar
20 District Denizens
EAT
22 Cooking Up Connection 28 2022 RAMMYS 32 Impossible Meat
76 NAVIGATING POLYAMORY
34 Food for Thought
DRINK
36 Hemp-Infused Spirits
MUSIC
44 Nü Androids’s Nayef Issa
CULTURE
58 Capital Fringe Returns 60 “The Playhouse” 62 “Unbound” 66 “Beyond King Tut” 68 Cue The Lights
ROBERT KINSLER
Publisher robert@unitedfray.com
MONICA ALFORD
Editor-in-Chief + Director of Media monica@unitedfray.com
BRANDON WETHERBEE
Managing Editor brandon@unitedfray.com
NICOLE SCHALLER
Assistant Editor nicole@unitedfray.com
JAMIE MCCRARY
Senior Editor jamie@unitedfray.com
MICHAEL CLEMENTS
Editorial Consultant michael@unitedfray.com
JULIA GOLDBERG
Editorial Designer julia@unitedfray.com
CLAIRE SMALLEY
Production Designer claire@unitedfray.com
TOM ROTH
Key Account Manager tomroth@unitedfray.com
ANDREW J. WILLIAMS III
86 In Other Words
Media Partnerships Lead andrew@unitedfray.com
LIFE
Senior Director of Events martin@unitedfray.com
MARTIN ESPINOZA
70 “Black Burner Project” 72 A New Kind of Community 74 W3DC: What’s to Come 79 Lucky Chuckie
80 BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO TAROT
FUN
83 Photo Hunt 85 Crossword
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Caroline Cliona Boyle, Kaylee Dugan, Sophie Lucido Johnson, Trent Johnson, Colleen Kennedy, Chad Kinsman, Priya Konings, Nevin Martell, Joe Marshall, Myles Mellor, Abi Newhouse, Bree RodriguesOliveira, Courtney Sexton, Andrew J. Williams III CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS + PHOTOGRAPHERS
Tony Powell, Scott Suchman, Andrew J. Williams III CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Aviva Bechky, Abi Newhouse COVER PHOTOGRAPHER
Cover 1: Tony Powell Cover 2: Alysse Gafkjen ON THE COVER
Cover 1: ARTECHOUSE’s “Ase: Afro Frequencies” Cover 2: Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen + Julien Baker
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BÉLA FLECK & MY BLUEGRASS HEART SAM BUSH THE JERRY DOUGLAS BAND
YACHT ROCK REVUE JUL 10
BOB MARLEY CELEBRATION
JUL 27
MASTERS OF THE MIC
RAKIM & DJ JAZZY JEFF, SLICK RICK, DA BRAT, BIG DADDY KANE, TREACH OF NAUGHTY BY NATURE, & TALIB KWELI
JUL 1
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND LOS LOBOS | GABE DIXON
JUL 19
SILKROAD ENSEMBLE WITH RHIANNON GIDDENS
JUL 24
SHARON VAN ETTEN, ANGEL OLSEN, AND JULIEN BAKER JUL 21
JUL 2
ZIGGY MARLEY & STEPHEN MARLEY
THE WILD HEARTS TOUR
OUTSIDE PROBLEMS TOUR
ANDREW BIRD AND IRON & WINE
FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS ANDY GRAMMER
JUL 28
AUG 3
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK IN CONCERT
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
JUL 29
BRELAND
DAVID GRAY
WHITE LADDER: THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
AUG 14
THE DECEMBERISTS
LITTLE BIG TOWN
AUG 24
AUG 4
SHE & HIM NEKO CASE
KARLEY SCOTT COLLINS
GREENSKY BLUEGRASS THE WOOD BROTHERS
AUG 12
WOLFTRAP.ORG
SEP 9
…and many more!
© 1980 & TM Lucasfilm Ltd. Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts in association with 20th Century Fox Film Corp, Lucasfilm and Warner/Chappell Music. © All rights reserved.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR D.C.’S EXPERIENTIAL ISSUE. July marks the second month in 2022 where we’re debuting a brand-new theme for the magazine, and we’re very excited to introduce readers to our take on all things experiential in the D.C. area. We’ve played with the idea of a tech or innovation issue for quite some time, but both felt limiting in some way. When we started thinking about how experiences across all facets of life, from arts & culture to food and cocktails, are made immersive through technological advances and innovative approaches, we realized we could expand our theme to encompass so much more of what our city has to offer. This began with our cover stories. July is also noteworthy in that we’re introducing our first-ever split cover: half of our print copies feature new age art destination ARTECHOUSE’s latest exhibit, “Ase: Afro Frequencies,” and the other half feature prolific indie artist Angel Olsen, who is playing Wolf Trap on July 21. And both are equally experiential: ARTECHOUSE turns five this year, celebrating a successful run as one of the District’s first locations to invite artists to push boundaries by embracing the latest technology and engaging audiences in new ways. Olsen, on tour with Sharon Van Etten and Julien Baker this summer, is trying her hand at a retro country album, tackling yet another genre as she expands her ever-evolving repertoire. Each cover story feels like a choose-your-own-adventure exercise, where you can deep dive into one art form or another and what makes it tactile, interactive and a form of unique expression. Within this month’s robust pages, we packed in as much experiential content as we could: a look back at Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building’s “FUTURES” exhibit, closing on July 6, a return to Capital Fringe Festival, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at National Building Museum, Burning Man reimagined by a DMV photographer, a deep dive into all things Web3 — including NFTs, DAOs and more complex acronyms — experimental cocktails, hemp-infused liquor, navigating polyamory, and a “how to” on tarot card reading. We also interviewed entrepreneur Chinedu Enekwe, who is pushing digital boundaries and building pathways to prosperity for Black creators; Nayef Issa, the founder of promotion company Nü Androids, marrying digital art with dance music; and Molly Julia Goldberg + Abi Newhouse at ARTECHOUSE’s “Ase: Afro Frequencies.” Photo by Tony Powell.
Smith, the outgoing artistic director of Arena Stage responsible for years of innovation in contemporary theatre. Plus, an afternoon with three powerhouse female food bloggers, behind the scenes with 2022 RAMMY nominees, “Beyond King Tut” at National Geographic Museum and much more. A special thanks to my incredible team for the long hours, intentionality around delving into new subject matter and fresh approach to the visual storytelling in this issue. Please pick up a copy at Whole Foods or one of our retail or partner locations, and join us on July 14 for our next issue launch party at ARTECHOUSE. MONICA ALFORD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
RADAR
Branch out this summer and see the many sides of the District. From a wide range of concerts to baseball games at Nats Park, D.C. is your destination for trying new things and having some classic summer fun. Want to get out in the sun? Try out one of many outdoor fitness courses. Looking for hilarious jokes to tell your friends? Pick up some comedic tips from amazing stand-ups across the city. Whatever adventure your heart desires, break free from the confines of yesteryear and make summer 2022 one to remember. COMPILED BY BREE RODRIGUES-OLIVEIRA 6
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NOTE. All descriptions courtesy of event hosts and edited for clarity.
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ONGOING
APX FITNESS CAMP AT BARCROFT PARK Get in a good Saturday workout. DMV personal trainer Fernando Quintero is hosting a small fitness camp friendly to all levels of fitness. Embrace some fun in the sun. Free. 11:30 a.m. Barcroft Park: 4200 S Four Mile Run Dr. Arlington, VA; apx-fitness.business.site // @apxfitness_
ASE: AFRO FREQUENCIES AT ARTECHOUSE Walk alongside African kings and queens as you explore timeless questions of identity, power and belonging. Inspired by ase: the Yoruba concept relating to our power to produce change, “Ase: Afro Frequencies” celebrates the Black experience through the perspectives of artist Vince Fraser and poet Ursula Rucker. The exhibition is an immersive, interactive and incredible story that everyone should experience. $25. Various times. ARTECHOUSE: 1238 Maryland Ave. SW, DC; artechouse.com // @artechouse
CORONA PREMIER + DC FRAY’S SUMMER LIVE MUSIC SERIES AT THE BORO TYSONS Have yourself an alfresco evening complete with free outdoor music from local performers every Thursday along with an onsite bar to purchase Corona Premier, Corona Extra, Corona Seltzer and/or Corona Limonda. Summer fun awaits the DMV. Free. 5:30 p.m. The Boro Tysons: 8350 Broad St. Tysons, VA; dcfray.com // @dcfray
Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building. Photo by Albert Ting.
GOLDEN TRIANGLE BID TRIFIT 2022 Bring your mat and water bottle and make TriFit your healthy happy hour. At Farragut Square, Golden Triangle BID hosts safe, fun and free outdoor yoga every Tuesday with CorePower, and pilates every Wednesday. Classes are taught by certified fitness instructors. Make the middle of the week your time to get in some great exercise. Registration required. Free. 5:30 p.m. Farragut Square: 912 17th St. NW, DC; goldentriangledc.com // @goldentriangledc
ROCK THE DOCK AT THE WHARF Summer never sounded better. Join The Wharf for free concerts on Transit Pier every Wednesday evening starting at 7 p.m. With R&B, Americana, Motown, jazz, reggae, go-go, country and your favorite pop covers, there is something for everyone at this wonderful concert series. Grab a snack and a Pacifico Beer and enjoy some awesome live music. Free. 7 p.m. Transit Pier at The Wharf: 970 Wharf St. SW, DC; wharfdc.com //@thewharfdc
7.1 + 7.2
SHAYNE SMITH: PRISON FOR WIZARDS TOUR 2022 AT THE COMEDY LOFT OF DC
Through his excellent storytelling and unique style, Shayne Smith is quickly becoming one of the most talked about comedians on the scene. He recently self-released a half-hour special “Alligator Boys” and previously released an hourlong special “Prison for Wizards” on YouTube and Facebook,
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RADAR | CALENDAR which has amassed over 32 million views. A constant guest on renowned podcasts and showcases alike, watch this tattooed comic rise to legendary heights. $30+. Various times. The Comedy Loft Of DC: 1523 22nd St. NW, DC; dccomedyloft.com // @dccomedyloft
7.1-7.12
“RED VELVET” AT SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY London’s Theatre Royal, 1833. History is made when Ira Aldridge becomes the first Black actor to take the stage as Shakespeare’s “Othello.” As a bill promoting the abolition of slavery sends shockwaves through Parliament, how will London react to Aldridge’s groundbreaking performance? Director Jade King Carroll makes her STC debut with Lolita Chakrabarti’s “Red Velvet,” celebrating a pioneering actor who triumphed in his art despite a tempest of social injustice. $35+. 7:30 p.m. Michael R. Klein Theatre at Shakespeare Theatre Company: 450 7th St. NW, DC; shakespearetheatre.org // @shakespeareindc
7.2
CAKE SOCIETY’S TRANS+ REC KICKBALL LEAGUE GAME
Join CAKE Society for team exercises, the chance to make friends and socialize and be a part of their outdoor Trans and Queer community. While this event is centered around CAKE’s “Trans+ Health, Wellness and Fitness” program, feel welcome to just hang. No tryouts, equipment, or experience needed! Game play will be approximately 45 mins followed by team socializing. Bring a snack, drink, blanket, lawn chair. Whatever floats your boat. Free. 5:30 p.m. Quincy Park Baseball Field #3: 995-999 N Nelson St. Arlington, VA; cakesocietyco.org // @cakesocietyco
RED, WHITE + BREW BIG FLIP CUP TOURNAMENT AT HOOK HALL Celebrate your Independence with RED wine specials, WHITE wine specials, BREW specials and a BIG Flip Cup Tournament. Put together a team or just come cheer them on. Because what says 4th of July more than flip cup, competition and drink specials? Register your team, register as a free agent, or just come and enjoy the party. $3.50–$45. 2 p.m. Hook Hall: 3400 Georgia Ave. NW, DC; hookhall.com // @hookhall_dc
GIMME GIMME DISCO: A DANCE PARTY INSPIRED BY ABBA AT 9:30 CLUB Get yourself to the 9:30 Club and show the District who’s really the dancing queen in these parts. “Gimme Gimme Disco” is an ABBA-inspired dance night that calls upon anyone who’s got rhythm in their feet and a love for this iconic Swedish pop group. Join the fun and feel the beat of tambourine. $22.50. 9 p.m. 9:30 Club: 815 V St. NW, DC; 930.com // @930club
ZUMBA AT LA COSECHA Come take a fun and energetic Zumba class taught by Cathy Caminero. Zumba is a fitness program that combines dance and fitness movements with international music rhythms. Open to all fitness and dancing levels, this class takes place outside on Neal Place at La Cosecha. $10. 12 p.m. La Cosecha: 1280 4th St. NE, DC; lacosechadc.com // @lacosechadc 8
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Amari Cheatom in “Red Velvet.” Photo courtesy of Shakespeare Theatre Company.
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7.3
JERRY PAPER AT SONGBYRD
Jerry Paper doesn’t take themselves too seriously…and neither should you. Celebrating the release of their new album “Free Time,” Lucas Nathan is ready to slip into a flowy dress and entertain as their weirdo musical persona: Jerry Paper. “Free Time” is a synth-pop, weird-rock, bizarro-muzak masterpiece and an expression of Jerry’s freedom on their journey to selfdiscovery as a nonbinary artist, groover and most importantly, shaker of ass. $16-$18. 7 p.m. Songbyrd Music House: 540 Penn St. NE, DC; songbyrddc.com // @songbyrddc
VON MYCHAEL SKETCH SHOW AT THE COMEDY LOFT Von Mychael is bringing the jokes. Laugh out loud when you watch the Von Mychael Live Stand-Up Sketch Comedy Show: a show that sets up a hilarious stand-up routine followed by some “that’s really funny” sketch comedy. Get the laughs that you need with this amazing comic force. $20. 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Loft Of DC: 1523 22nd St. NW, DC; dccomedyloft.com // @dccomedyloft
7.6
FUTURES FORWARD: CLOSING CELEBRATION
FUTURES may be closing. But this is not the end, this is the beginning—of the rest of YOUR futures, of building the world you want to live in, and sharing it with those around you. We’ll come together and inspire each other through joy, art, dance, science, performances, and more in a round-the-clock day of constant surprises. Highlights include daytime hands-on activities and giveaways for families, creative curated “happy hour” performances from local favorites and an epic late night dance party with DJ mOma and choreographed robot dancing. Free. 10 a.m. Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building: aib.si.edu // @smithsonianaib
WANDERFUL WOMEN WEDNESDAYS AT HOTEL ZENA New to town and looking for some new sisters? Traveling through and want tips on the best things to see while you're in town? Live here and want to travel the world without leaving your home city? That's what Wanderful local chapters are all about. Join the D.C. chapter's cornerstone Wanderful Women Wednesday events. Learn more about Wanderful as an organization and meet other travel-loving women who live in the D.C. area or are visiting. Free. 6 p.m. Hotel Zena: 1155 14th St. NW, DC; sheswanderful.com // @sheswanderful
7.7–7.9
EMMA WILLMANN AT THE COMEDY LOFT
Regarded by many as a“fast-rising star” and a “mastered chaos under control,” Emma Willmann is a stand-up comedian and actress known for her work as a part of the inaugural season of Netflix’s “The Lineup” and her memorable appearances in CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and Judd Apatow’s “Crashing.” Along with efforts on stage and on screen, Willman is also a renowned podcaster who makes for a wonderful addition to The Comedy Loft’s standup schedule. $25. Various times. The Comedy Loft Of DC: 1523 22nd St. NW, DC; dccomedyloft.com // @dccomedyloft 10 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
Zumba at Union Market. Photo courtesy of EDENS.
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7.8 DEAD & COMPANY AT JIFFY LUBE LIVE You will get by. The legendary Dead & Company are hitting the DMV for an amazing outdoor concert at Jiffy Lube. Join in on an evening of jam band excellence and guitar riffs that take you on a trip. $70+. 7 p.m. Jiffy Lube: 7800 Cellar Door Dr. Bristow, VA; bristowamphitheater.com // @jiffylubelive
EMO NIGHT BROOKLYN AT 9:30 CLUB Breaking down a move is so easy at this dance night for former emos and current scenesters. Emo Night Brooklyn is a nationwide phenomenon that has reignited the Zillennial generation’s love for melodramatic and eyeliner-heavy music. Make Damn Sure that you get a ticket to this wonderful club night. $20. 9 p.m. 9:30 Club: 815 V St. NW, DC; 930.com // @930club
FRIDAY NIGHT DANCING: SWING DANCE The District Wharf is combining the two best Friday night activities this summer: going dancing and enjoying cocktails al fresco. Join this D.C. hotspot for free themed dance nights with live music on Transit Pier on the month’s second Friday. This night will feature swing music while professional dancers help you learn the moves. Free. 7 p.m. Transit Pier at The Wharf: 970 Wharf St. SW, DC; wharfdc.com //@thewharfdc
PHOENIX PRESENTS “SEVEN NATION ARMY: A 2000’S DANCE NIGHT” AT DC9 In the early 2000s, TRL and MTV ruled the airwaves and pop was THE culture. Music videos were king, punk went pop and every single was a certifiable bop. But just because these times
have passed, that doesn’t mean the tunes have to stop. Join DJs Phoenix & Dionysus as they explore the YouTube experience with the 2000’s music videos you love and the turn of the century hits that keep you moving. Free+. 11 p.m. DC9 Nightclub: 1940 9th St. NW, DC; dc9.club // @dc9club
7.9
“THE PRINCESS BRIDE” WITH LIVE SCORE FROM THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AT THE ANTHEM Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles… Experience one of the most beloved films of all time as never before: with the power of the National Symphony Orchestra performing the entire musical score live-to-picture. $40-$70. 8 p.m. The Anthem: 901 Wharf St. SW, DC; theanthemdc.com // @theanthemdc
7.10
ARGENTINE EMPANADA COOKING CLASS AT GALERÍA @ LA COSECHA Join Union Market for an evening in Argentina, where you will learn to make the flaky meets juicy pastry pocket we all know and love: the empanada. These flavorful patties made of dough are traditionally filled with meat, seafood, cheese, vegetables or fruit, and have a variety of adaptations based on the country you enjoy them in. In this class, you will have the pleasure of learning what makes this dish unique in his beloved country directly from an Argentine chef. $59. 5 p.m. Galería at La Cosecha: 1280 4th St. NE, DC; lacosechadc.com // @lacosechadc
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SAWYER AT SONGBYRD Sawyer is the Nashville-based duo of Kel Taylor and Emma Harvey. Originally formed from two solo projects in 2015, these girls have come to encapsulate everything you love about your 20s. Their carefree spirits, enamoring reliability and charming personalities have brought their fans together and created a cult-like following. Join one of music’s most promising culture movements at D.C.’s beloved Songbyrd. $15. 7 p.m. Songbyrd Music House: 540 Penn St. NE, DC; songbyrddc.com // @songbyrddc
7.11
CAPITAL LAUGHS PRESENTS THE COMEDY SHUFFLE AT THE COMEDY LOFT
Unlike every other comedy show you've ever been to, The Comedy Shuffle will always keep you laughing. At this laugh riot, a comic (any comic) tells jokes while a seasoned comic 12 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
(also lit and with a mic) interrupts them. If their joke doesn't initially work, the Shuffler's burns do. The Shuffler can end their set at any time, or let the comic go a little longer to find some brand-new material (in a supportive, accountable atmosphere). It's not mean…okay. It's a little mean, but it's fun and constructive, too. Free. 8 p.m. The Comedy Loft Of DC: 1523 22nd St. NW, DC; dccomedyloft.com // @dccomedyloft
7.15
A TASTE OF EL SALVADOR: PUPUSAS & ELOTE LOCO COOKING CLASS AT GALERÍA @ LA COSECHA
Take to the streets of San Salvador, for an evening of making traditional pupusas from scratch. Pupusas are one of the most iconic dishes of El Salvador: thick flatbreads made from masa that are even better when served along with elote loco, El Salvador’s own fantastic version of corn on the cob. Summer concert. Photo courtesy of The Wharf.
EMBRACE VICTORIAN CURIOSITY WITH “KURIOS” CIRQUE DU SOLEIL RETURNS TO THE DMV WORDS BY BREE RODRIGUES-OLIVEIRA
With their incredible use of the human form and movement-based approach to communication, Montreal-born acrobat company Cirque Du Soleil has become a cultural phenomenon. But even after hitting the road for almost 40 years, this growing troupe of contortionists still manages to keep audience curiosity alive and well. Especially with their latest spectacle, “Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities.” Centered on the time-bending adventures of a determined Victorian-era inventor, “Kurios” showcases a world where reality is never stationary and above all: anything is possible. “The sum of what you create is greater than anything imagined,” artistic director Rachel Lancaster says. Although “Kurios” rips through the fabric of time and subverts the constraints of what’s considered real, the entire show’s acrobatic and artistic message is based on the incredibly real desire for audiences to feel capable of anything. With the show’s drive for humor and clowning, Lancaster reveals that instead of Victorian-era quips, this body-forward show utilizes humorous movements that invoke a modern youthfulness. “[Our humor] resembles that of teenagers in a skate park. Comedy is a factor in every moment,” Lancaster explains. Having already established themselves as masters of the human form, much of the “Kurios” production is dedicated to design authenticity. A display of steampunk wonder, Lancaster focuses on staying true to real Victorian fashions, elaborating on the Industrial Revolution’s influence on performance mentality and moral context. Intentionality is an essential part of the “Kurios” appeal. While speaking with Lancaster, it was clear that every rock was turned, and all efforts were exhausted in making “Kurios” not just a grand display, but a grand return to the DMV. After a 3-year hiatus, Cirque Du Soleil makes a triumphant homecoming to Under the Big Top Tysons on July 29th. Hopes are high and spirits are higher. The only thing reaching greater heights are the artists.
“Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities” runs from July 29 to September 25. Under the Big Top (Lerner Town Square at Tysons II): 8025 Galleria Dr. Tysons, VA; tysonspartnership.org // @tysonspartnership Cirque Du Soleil: cirquedusoleil.com // @cirquedusoleil “Kurios.” Photo by Mathew Tsang.
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Washington Mystics. Photo by Krystina Brown.
CALENDAR | RADAR In this fun class, you will prepare your very own pupusas with authentic toppings while a chef instructor demonstrates how to make corn masa dough with two different fillings: Chicharrón and a vegetarian refried bean and mozzarella. Each guest will be provided with elote loco on a stick and given toppings to flavor the corn as it’s done in El Salvador. $59. 6:30 p.m. Galería at La Cosecha: 1280 4th St. NE, DC; lacosechadc.com // @lacosechadc
7.16
NATS VS. BRAVES
Batter up. Get out to Nationals Parks and watch America’s ball team square off against one of their National League rivals. Nothing beats a Saturday ball game. And here’s hoping the Braves don’t beat the Nats. $24+. 4:05 p.m. Nationals Park: 1500 South Capitol St. SE, DC; mlb.com/nationals // @nationals
7.17
KIKI SUNDAYS AT WUNDER GARTEN
Wunder Garten celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community with Monthly Sunday Kikis. Kiki is a monthly drag party featuring hosts Crystal Edge and Katrina Colby. Join them for drag bingo, games and music provided by a live DJ. And don't be surprised if you see a special guest or two. Free. 6 p.m. Wunder Garten: 1101 First St. NE, DC; wundergartendc.com // @wundergartendc
WASHINGTON MYSTICS VS. MINNESOTA LYNX Cheer on the Washington Mystics and show off your District sports pride. The women on this team are some of the hardest working athletes to grace the paint. Show them love as they take on the Minnesota Lynx and represent the District. $17+. 3 p.m. Entertainment & Sports Arena: 1100 Oak Dr. SE, DC; mystics.wnba.com // @washmystics
7.19
’80S & ’90S HAPPY HOUR + TRIVIA AT CLOAK & DAGGER DC Fray and ’80s Babies have teamed up to bring you a special happy hour dedicated to the ’80s and ’90s. Rewind to a time when the music, mood, fashion, culture and sense of community were undeniably strong. Test your knowledge of ’80s and ’90s trivia, connect with others over a drink and sing and dance to your heart’s content. Enjoy a complimentary cocktail upon arrival and have a chance at winning a gift card raffle prize. $12. 5:30 p.m. Cloak & Dagger: 1359 U St. NW, DC; cloakonu.com // @cloakdaggerdc
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RADAR | CALENDAR JIMMY BUFFETT AT MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION At a moment like this, can you help wondering “What would Jimmy Buffett do?” Well, if he wasn’t playing the got dang show, he’d be joining you at the Merriweather Post Pavilion for a night of good vibes and great music. Whether you’re already a parrothead or new to the flock, join the DMV in turning Columbia into your very own Margaritaville. $49.50+. 8 p.m. Merriweather Post Pavilion: 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy. Columbia, MD; merriweathermusic.com // @merriweatherpp
7.20
BABYJAKE AT SONGBYRD
BabyJake promises he’s “bringing back rock ‘n’ roll.” However, this isn’t your parents’ rock ‘n’ roll. It’s got all the style, swagger and spirit of the seventies, but it’s lit up by a fresh fire. See for yourself the flare and showmanship of this amazing artist. $18-$22. 7 p.m. Songbyrd Music House: 540 Penn St. NE, DC; songbyrddc.com // @songbyrddc
HOST BATTLE AT THE COMEDY LOFT OF DC Hosts Chris Alan and Winston Hodges invite some of the best comics they know to try out new material/stories/general weirdness while they chime in and try to workshop, all while getting the crowd involved. $10. 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Loft Of DC: 1523 22nd St. NW, DC; dccomedyloft.com // @dccomedyloft
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7.22
SHELTER’S SUMMER OF STUDS
Join D.C. jewelry space SHELTER for an elevated piercing party and ear curation experience. Throughout the summer, come through to get pierced and shop jewelry from beloved luxury piercing brands like Maria Tash and Porter Lyons. Free. 4 p.m. SHELTER: 1258 5th St. NE, DC; shopshelter.com // @shopshelter
7.23
HANSON AT THE FILLMORE
Don’t lie. You’ve sung along to “MMMBop” countless times. Still playing fun-loving pop rock since their 1992 inception, join the Hanson brothers at The Fillmore for a night that 10-year-old you would kill for. $37+. 8 p.m. The Fillmore Silver Spring: 8656 Colesville Rd. Silver Spring, MD; @fillmoresilverspring
7.24
PUNK ROCK MOVIE NIGHT AT BLACK CAT
Enjoy a double feature of “Nightclubbing: The Birth of Punk Rock in NYC” and “Sid: The Final Curtain” on 14th Street. $20. 7 p.m. Black Cat: 1811 14th St. NW, DC; blackcat.com // @blackcatdc
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7.26
SUMMERFEST CORNHOLE AT TYSONS CORNER
DC Fray and Tysons Corner Center welcome you to experience an evening of fun with friends and family while competing in a game of doubles cornhole. The tournament is open to all ages and skill levels. Don’t have a teammate? No worries. Still register and we’ll pair you up with someone. But we are limited to 16 teams, so don’t delay. And remember: You play for fun, but you compete to win. Free. 6 p.m. Tysons Corner Center Plaza: 1961 Chain Bridge Rd. Tysons, VA; tysonscornercenter.com // @shoptysons
7.27
LIZ MIELE AT DC IMPROV
A stellar comedian that tours internationally and has three amazing albums out on Spotify and iTunes, Liz Miele is an extraordinary comic, novelist and viral internet star who always gets the laugh. Whether it's her book “Why Cats Are Assholes” or hit jokes like “Feminist Sex Positions,” Miele has proven herself as a comedic force. $20+. 7:30 p.m. DC Improv: 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC; dcimprov.com // @dcimprov
PERFECT LIARS CLUB AT THE COMEDY LOFT OF DC Four people tell a story. Three are true but one is a lie. Listen. Laugh. Interrogate. Vote. Can you spot the liar? Lauded as "Delightful" by DC Metro Theater Arts, Perfect Liars Club is the
DMV comedy night that’ll keep young guessing who you trust. $15-$20. 7 p.m. The Comedy Loft Of DC: 1523 22nd St. NW, DC; dccomedyloft.com // @dccomedyloft
7.29-9.25
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL PRESENTS “KURIOS: CABINET OF CURIOSITIES” AT UNDER THE BIG TOP
Step into the curio cabinet of an ambitious inventor who defies the laws of time, space and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him. Suddenly, the visible becomes invisible, perspectives are transformed and the world is literally turned upside down. Yet another riveting display from the team at Cirque Du Soleil, join them as they transform Tysons. $60+. 7:30 p.m. Under The Big Top: 8025 Galleria Dr. McLean, VA; cirquedusoleil.com/kurios // @cirquedusoleil
7.30
TIM HEIDECKER AT CAPITAL TURNAROUND
Tim Heidecker (from “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” and beyond) is taking his “No More Bullshit” stand-up character on the road, as well as his Very Good Band to present the first two-act evening of Tim Heidecker comedy and music. Capital Turnaround: 700 M St SE, DC; capitalturnaround.com // @capturnaround
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RADAR | CALENDAR
7.31
8.5 + 8.6
A sardonic humorist and amazing musician rolled into one, Christian Lee Hutson is the perfect artist for anyone who loves an alt-folksy sound but is still a realist in an absurdist world. Or vice versa. $15-$17. 7 p.m. Songbyrd Music House: 540 Penn St. NE, DC; songbyrddc.com // @songbyrddc
Margaret Cho could be called the “Queen of all Media” given how she’s conquered the worlds of film, television, books, music and theatre. $35+. Various times. DC Improv: 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC; dcimprov.com // @dcimprov
CHRISTIAN LEE HUTSON AT SONGBYRD
8.2
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE & RUN THE JEWELS AT CAPITAL ONE ARENA
Stampede toward Capital One Arena like a bull on parade. Join Rage Against the Machine and Run the Jewels for a night of powerful raps, hardcore beats and the greatest in-your-face lyrics to grace anti-authoritarian rap. $125+. 8 p.m. Capital One Arena: 601 F St. NW, DC; capitalonearena.com // @capitalonearena
8.3
AND THEN WE HAD SEX…LIVE AT THE COMEDY LOFT
Married couple and show hosts Kristen Sivills and J-Rod Tanner guide you into their unconventional world of sex, comedy and uninhibited truth refereed by producer Taylor Abreu. Their takes on relationships, uncensored interviews, open sex talk and willingness to spotlight the most personal parts of their marriage will leave you laughing, blushing and looking to binge every episode. $25. 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Loft Of DC: 1523 22nd St. NW, DC; dccomedyloft.com // @dccomedyloft
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MARGARET CHO AT DC IMPROV
8.7
“KEHLANI: BLUE WATER ROAD TRIP” AT THE ANTHEM Considered one of R&B’s most heartfelt and sensual artists, Kehlani is set to pack The Anthem with special guests Rico Nasty and Destin Conrad. Watch as this soulful dynamo carries the torch of bluesy vibes and broken hearts toward new heights. $59.50-$99.50. 8 p.m. The Anthem: 901 Wharf St. SW, DC; theanthemdc.com // @theanthemdc
8.12 + 8.13 MS. PAT AT DC IMPROV
Dealing drugs and having two children before she was 16, she spent her 20s raising six kids (including four of her sister’s) and scraping to get by. But those experiences became the foundation for her honest and fantastic stand-up — and now her hit show on BET Plus. $30+. Various times. DC Improv: 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC; dcimprov.com // @dcimprov
THE INTERSECTION OF VENTURE CAPITALISM + SOCIAL JUSTICE: A CONVERSATION WITH ENTREPRENEUR
CHINEDU ENEKWE
WORDS BY TRENT JOHNSON
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Since childhood, Chinedu Enekwe has sought community. From moving school to school or town to town, Enekwe always returns to building belonging with like-minded people, who themselves are in search of opportunity, creativity and financial independence. “As I grew up with my mom, I had to build that sense of belongingness because I wasn’t naturally from the U.S.,” he says. “As a member of these different communities, I still felt like an outsider, so I had this need to build bonds, and that shapes everything for me.” Enekwe moved seven times before he was 14-years-old. A Nigerian immigrant, his father and mother were from two different subcultures, Igbo and Yoruba respectively, which constantly caused Enekwe to feel both connected and disconnected from his culture. Add American schooling, and you begin to understand why he wanted to bridge gaps. Chinedu Enekwe. Photo courtesy of subject.
DISTRICT DENIZENS | RADAR “For people who have this experience of being from another country, and then having the bifurcation or challenge that you’re not from one culture within that, you feel like you have this duality of thought,” Enekwe says. “These are some of the reasons I’ve been drawn in my career to things that impact others, so I can help them hopefully feel whole, because I missed out on opportunities and ways in doing that.”
Searching for Purpose Upon graduating high school in Baltimore — a full-circle moment, as he had actually begun schooling in the city — Enekwe went on to study engineering at the University of Maryland, with the intent to focus on solar energy. While in school, his priorities shifted to law, and his yearning to fight social injustices led him to Howard University. “I was reading a lot about social justice and social justice warriors, and when you look at Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, they all had legal training,” Enekwe says. “I thought to myself, ‘Look at this one profession, it seems to be more honorable than what I’m doing as an environmental engineer.’ To make a decent amount of money in engineering, you can’t really openly fight for social justice.” Things turned again during his first year in law school. Interviewing with a law firm dealing in private equity lit his interst in finance. “He asked me what I knew about private equity, and I just said, ‘Private equity?’ I had never heard the phrase. I should have probably researched his background,” Enekwe laughs. Private equity involves gathering funds from savers and investing them toward potential entrepreneurs. While this wasn’t why he initially went to law school, Enekwe thought about his experiences in Nigeria, where everyone was constantly and creatively inventing new services for their communities via business. “They just didn’t have the resources or funding to do all the things they had dreamt of,” Enekwe says. “If you’re the allocator, you could really change someone’s life. And that could mean hiring people, giving others a job.”
Belonging in Business After finishing his law degree, Enekwe shifted his focus to the business sector. Whether an investor at a larger bank or with his own eventual private firm, he believed he could change outcomes for individuals by enabling their dreams to come to fruition. “I’d be able to change outcomes in tons of people’s lives, for those employed and others affected by larger issues,” Enekwe says. “Business is social justice. My experience being raised as an immigrant, I recognized the social justice within business trickles down to the everyday employee and that’s what drives me.” In 2006, Enekwe moved to New York City to do investment banking at Merrill Lynch before changing jobs to work at smaller firm Dinosaur Securities, which focused on Africa and international trading. “There was a return to Africa moment for young professionals, and I felt like I wanted to contribute my own talents,” Enekwe says. “That offered me an opportunity to live and work in Nigeria, and at 26, I was able to be around my family for an extended period. It really changed how I looked at the world.”
After witnessing the entrepreneurial spirit in Nigeria, Enekwe built his own venture capitalist firm, Passbook Ventures, that invests in entrepreneurs with creative ideas and kickstarts his own start-ups. “It’s crazy to do this in D.C.,” he says. “It’s not the sort of space where you see a lot of people pulling together really interesting pieces around entrepreneurship. You see a lot of creatives in the political, policy and other capacities, but there aren’t a lot of us venture capitalists.” One project Enekwe is particularly excited about is Nandi Labs, a market using blockchain intended to help Black creators sell their art and create like-minded communities. With cryptocurrency and NFTs, Enekwe says creators could earn more than they would in traditional marketplaces. “It allows creators in the Black community to be compensated in a way that will enable them to live thriving and prosperous lifestyles,” Enekwe says. That’s just the marketplace, he says. Enekwe says the possibilities of Nandi Labs is limitless for the people who interact with the service. “I get to now create a pathway for a creative to create a career in a space that will allow my younger self or even a future me to be a successful entrepreneur with a clear path to building a life.”
Building Trust For his projects to thrive, Enekwe says they require degrees of trust. “What I’ve experienced in the Black community on the U.S. side, is that a lot of time the most successful opportunities are not highly publicized for people within the community,” he says. “What I mean is: Black people aren’t publicizing to their community, ‘Hey, come and invest in my opportunity.’” He continues, “On the pernicious side, when you think back historically to the Black community within the United States, when there are successful people of color, the institutional and systemic racism has created this way where any successful people are taken down. When you think of it from a larger standpoint, and you have a country that didn’t reward wellknown Black businesses, or the successful people within them, it became a habit that if you’re successful in the community you shouldn’t share it.” Though money and resources are paramount in venture capitalist and finance ventures, Enekwe hasn’t lost sight of his mission to continue his fight for social justice. “There’s a social justice element to everything I do that I want people to know,” he says. “I want people to know how immigrants bring an economic engine to the society. By supporting immigrants and Black creators, and supporting those businesses that they create, you’re strengthening yourself, the world and those communities.”
To follow along with Chinedu Enekwe and his projects, check him out on Instagram @cope_ii, and on Twitter @Cope84.
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EAT COOKING UP CONNECTION Three local food bloggers share their stories WORDS + PHOTOS BY ANDREW J. WILLIAMS III
On a warm summer afternoon, we gathered with food bloggers Britney BrownChamberlain of “Britney Breaks Bread,” Shani Whisonant of “Begin with Butter” and Anina Belle Giannini of “Le Chef’s Wife.” Brown-Chamberlain, her husband and adorable baby boy graciously hosted us at their Maryland home. Brown-Chamberlain made a mouthwatering chocolate pound cake with a peanut butter glaze, Whisonant brought a beautiful lemon blueberry Bundt cake and Giannini constructed a colorful French Riviera-inspired salade niçoise and a homemade baguette. Over two hours, Brown-Chamberlain, Whisonant and Giannini described the genesis of their love affair with food and baking, traded kitchen horror stories and recalled cherished childhood memories connected to cooking.
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Shani Whisonant + Anina Belle Giannini.
Britney Brown-Chamberlain + son.
District Fray: What is your first memory of falling in love with food? Anina Belle Giannini: I remember this very vividly because I grew up on an organic farm in British Columbia, Canada. My dad had 20,000 peach trees. And I’ll never forget taking a peach off the tree and biting into it. The juice ran down my neck and my arms and it was the most incredible, wonderful experience; I think I was about six years old at the time and I’ve never forgotten that. Britney Brown-Chamberlain: We were on a family vacation, and we were stuck stranded at Charlotte airport. My mother bought me a piece of key lime pie and it was delicious; it’s been my favorite food ever since. It was so good, and I’d never had anything like that. I was about eight years old and was like, “I want to make this. How can we bring this home?” Shani Whisonant: It was Thanksgiving and my mother made collard greens. And to this day, collard greens are one of my favorite foods in the whole wide world. I remember sitting there with all of this food on my plate; she made my plate with this little thing of collards on it, and I ate around it because I didn’t really know what it was. I’ve always eaten vegetables, but I just hadn’t had it before. It had collard 24 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
greens and a little bit of ham hock in it. And then I finally made my way to those greens. It was the biggest taste sensation — I don’t know why it sticks with me. I was maybe four or five years old, but it was incredible.
it into a blog, there was not one exact moment that I can pinpoint. I’ve always loved to travel. I’ve always loved to bake. I’ve always loved to eat. And one day I was sitting there bored and said, “Why not give it a go and see what happens?”
What inspired you to transform your love of food into blogging? Whisonant: For me, cooking and sharing food is almost primal. It’s something that connects. It can connect two diverse cultures. Also sharing food is a way of showing someone you care for them — that you really love them. I started my blog because, for a long time, I couldn’t bake. When I started to develop some proficiency with baking, I started to hear people giving me the same excuses that I used to make: “Oh, baking is too hard.” “There’s too much science involved.” “Oh, I’m a cook and not a baker.” “I can’t do that. It’s not in my wheelhouse.” That’s what encouraged me to start my blog. I wanted to be a blogger who showed people recipes but also encouraged them.
Giannini: In 2016, I was director of sales and marketing of the Ritz-Carlton Montreal and realized I had a unique perspective — being married to a French chef and living in Montreal together. I started sharing what we ate at home, where we went shopping and which restaurants we went to. It was really after the birth of my daughter and when we were living in Washington, D.C. that “Le Chef’s Wife” became a food blog. I realized that I had this wealth of recipes I was learning from my husband every single day. He would never sit me down in the kitchen and say, “This is how you make mayonnaise.” But I would watch him and the order in which he would make a sauce and how he would season his salad greens before he put on the toppings. I fell in love with learning to be a better cook.
Brown-Chamberlain: I’ve always baked. Whether [my recipes] came out good or not is up for debate. I’ve always enjoyed it. I can remember being in my kitchen and my mom yelling at me to stop using up all the food, because I was just putting stuff together and seeing how it came out. As far as transforming
You’ve talked a lot about what your cooking gives to others. What does it give back to you? Whisonant: It’s this thing that steals time. I can be in the middle of something creative in the kitchen and look up and hours have gone by. It’s the experience
EAT of being lost in a creative space — that’s how it feeds me. It’s this incredible experience of being able to look at raw ingredients and figure out, “Okay, I’m gonna make something with this.” Brown-Chamberlain: It’s a creative outlet. I’ve always been super creative. I’ve played piano since I was six. When we came to Maryland originally, we didn’t have a piano, so I felt stifled. [When] I started cooking, that [stifling] began to subside. It felt good. It’s a really good form of self-expression. It is therapeutic. When I’m sad, I cook. When I’m happy, I cook. When the world’s crazy — especially during Covid-19 — I cook. Giannini: The secret to cooking for me is home. I have lived in five countries. And whenever I’m cooking, I feel connected to home. My mom logs on to every one of my cooking demonstrations and it feels like I’m cooking with her. The first thing that I do when I get into a new place is make a big pot of soup. Because for me, this feels comfortable, because you can’t cook when you’re not at home. It’s the one constant. No matter what country, no matter what language — there’s cooking. What inspires your culinary creativity? Brown-Chamberlain: Everything from a TV show, to going out to restaurants, to traveling, to different smells, to photographs — even colors inspire me. There’s so much inspiration everywhere. Whisonant: That’s a great way of describing it. When your creativity is piqued, your senses are heightened. Giannini: For me, the eight years we lived together on the French Riviera left such an indelible mark on my food memories and how I loved to eat and how I enjoyed living every day. Whisonant: Everything outside of the kitchen inspires me. I was out on a walk and I saw these yellow flowers and they reminded me of lemons. It made me think I want to create something lemony. But spring also reminds me of something that’s light and airy. And that became this limoncello layer cake that I posted a few weeks ago. Those
strange connections you make, that’s the thing that I love so much about being able to create food. Do you have any kitchen horror stories? Brown-Chamberlain: I was developing a recipe for a brand. It was just before Thanksgiving, and I had a bunch of sage leaves. My husband was at jujitsu and the baby’s crying and I’m trying to rush through this recipe. I’m chopping, chopping, chopping, and suddenly, I feel a tug on my finger. I look down and a piece of my finger’s gone. It was a bloody mess. Giannini: I was doing one of my first live cooking shows on Instagram and was really nervous about it. I was supposed to make French onion soup and had everything ready. I went to put the onions on the burner and my induction oven wouldn’t work. I tried all the different burners, and nothing was working. I thought, “How is this possible?” One of the people watching said “You need to try flipping the breaker.” In the middle of the Instagram Live I called my husband, who went down and flipped the breaker and it worked. The kind of stress when you’re cooking live and your oven doesn’t turn on was scary. Whisonant: I started baking in 2014 and was pretty terrible for about the first year, but I was determined because I wanted to be the mom whose kid would come home to fresh baked cookies. The first time I tried to make a lemon pound cake, I had this Nordic Ware pan and I didn’t grease it properly. And when I turned it over, the whole thing stopped. I did everything I could and finally ended up banging it on the counter and it eventually crumbled out. That made me so sad.
Britney Brown-Chamberlain britneybreaksbread.com @britneybreaksbread Anina Belle Giannini lechefswife.com @lechefswife Shani Whisonant beginwithbutter.com @beginwithbutter
Signature Dish BROWN-CHAMBERLAIN I have a butter chicken recipe on my blog that everyone has loved. I’ve made it for my family and my sister. And I love to make cupcakes. They’re so fun and cute. GIANNINI That’s easy. Roast chicken, because it’s the easiest thing in the whole world. It takes less time to put together than a sandwich, and it’s the most amazing meal. Then you can make soup stock afterwards. Or pasta. I love pasta — anything with tomato sauce and cheese. WHISONANT That is like asking which is your favorite child. I love making pasta. I like garlic, onions and all that stuff. But the reason I like making pasta is because my kids and my husband really love eating it. I like making it because I know every time I make it, it’s gonna be a big hit.
Favorite Childhood Meal BROWN-CHAMBERLAIN My mom makes a stew chicken and it’s so simple. It’s so good. She puts it over rice and it’s amazing. Warm it up, eat it throughout the week. It’s the perfect meal. GIANNINI Lasagna. I requested it for every birthday. My mom’s lasagna is still my favorite. WHISONANT My mother’s spaghetti and her greens.
Must-Watch Foodie Show BROWN-CHAMBERLAIN “4 Levels” by Epicurious and “The Great Soul Food Cook-Off” on Hulu GIANNINI “The Julia Child Challenge” on Hulu and “BBQ Brawl” on The Food Network WHISONANT “Nailed It!” on Netflix
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L TO R. Shani Whisonant, Britney Brown-Chamberlain + Anina Belle Giannini.
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26 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
Lemon blueberry Bundt cake.
Salade niçoise.
Albi. Photos by Hawkeye.
EAT If you utilize RAMMY nominations like Michelin Guide/Bib Gourmand writeups, you’ll eat well throughout the year in D.C. For their annual awards, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) nominates the best restaurants, bars, chefs, bartenders, hospitality groups, etc. throughout the DMV. But unless you’re working for one of those restaurants, bars, chefs, bartenders, hospitality groups, etc., it doesn’t really matter who wins. You win. Simply by following who they consider worthy of a nomination, you have a leg up on making dinner reservations.
2022’S RAMMY
-NOMINATED
UPSCALE RESTAURANTS TALK RESILIENCE + CASUAL CUISINE WORDS BY BRANDON WETHERBEE
The RAMMY Awards return to their pre-pandemic glory this July 24. This year’s finalists for Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year are Albi, Anju, Nama, Rooster and Owl, and Shilling Canning Company. The five restaurants are different in cuisine, style and location. The only commonality is reservation ability (they’re fully booked almost every weekend). We spoke with each restaurant about how they survived the last two years and what they enjoy at a not-as-upscale spots.
Albi Albi, which serves Levantine cooking, is the newest nominated restaurant. Opening just three weeks before Covid shut down everything, they didn’t exactly need to pivot their business model. It was kinda done for them. Chef and owner Michael Rafidi told us, “We only know Covid in this restaurant.” When it comes to less upscale spots, Rafadi recommends Copycat Company. “The tiny little spicy chili wontons are incredible.” Albi: 1346 4th St. SE, DC; albidc.com // @albiwashdc Copycat Company: 1110 H St. NE, DC; copycatcompany.com // @copycatco
Anju Unlike Albi, Korean restaurant Anju had to dramatically pivot. “Covid caused us to reevaluate every facet of our operations,” Chef Danny Lee told us. “We had to adjust from not offering any takeout, to only offering takeout, and now doing both. We’ve had to learn to be very flexible with staff schedules and availability and adjust our capacity at the same time.” When it comes to more lowbrow restaurants, Lee recommends my favorite Adams Morgan takeout spot. “Eastern Carry Out, located on the southern end of Adams Morgan. They make the best wings in the city. I take every outof-town chef who visits D.C. there and they are always amazed.” Anju: 1805 18th St. NW, DC; anjurestaurant.com // @anjufrc Eastern Carry Out: 1784 Florida Ave. NW, DC; easterncarryout.net
Nama Once it’s long gone, is it possible Covid could be a silver lining for Nama? Based on what Schlow Restaurant Group’s Alex Levin told us, maybe? “As Covid evolved, so did Nama — turning the restaurant into something for everyone depending on one’s comfort level. The takeout and delivery business never stopped or slowed down.” DISTRICT FRAY | 29
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EAT Levin continues, “Nama never adjusted the menu. In fact, our sushi chefs continued to enhance the offerings, having fun with introducing mouthwatering additions and delicacies from local and global sources. The restaurant’s reputation went from being the best kept sushi secret in the city to something that quickly became a staple in the hearts of so many in the Washington, D.C. area.” Levin recommends another beloved staple of D.C.: Big Bear Cafe. “I love the pizzas and daily additions. It’s also a great spot in the spring and summer to hang out and catch up with all of my friends in Bloomingdale, most of whom also frequent the restaurant and cafe.” Nama: 465 K St. NW, DC; namadc.com // @nama_dc Big Bear Cafe: 1700 1st St. NW, DC; bigbearcafe-dc.com // @bigbearcafe
Rooster & Owl Enjoying a meal from a restaurant on 14th Street Northwest is typically made better by actually eating on 14th Street. But for a large swath of the pandemic, that wasn’t possible. So, Rooster and Owl, like so many others, had to pivot. “We focused on creating the best cuisine,” according to Chef Yuan Tang. “However the delivery method, whether it be minutes away, to a table in our dining room or patio or over an hour away to someone’s door.” The restaurant’s recommended go-to food is quite a different cuisine from their American tasting menus. “We love getting pho from our neighbor Pho 54 Noodle Bar on 14th Street.”
Rooster & Owl: 2436 14th St. NW, DC; roosterowl.com // @roosterandowl Pho 54 Noodle Bar: 2424 14th St. NW, DC; pho54dc.com // @pho54noodlebar
Shilling Canning Company Reid Shilling, chef and owner of Shilling Canning Company, is still facing challenges from the pandemic. In other words, it’s not exactly over. “It’s changed everything. You’ve heard it everywhere, but staffing has been an enormous challenge. We are currently running with half the staff we had from when we opened.” Shilling Canning Company specializes in high quality, locally sourced ingredients. They offer excellent seafood options (a crispy soft-shell crab is currently on their tasting menu). So, it’s not surprising Shilling gravitates towards fresh seafood for their restaurant recommendation. “We love Torai Sushi on 8th Street. The rice is always freshly made, and the fish is high quality.” Shilling Canning Company: 360 Water St. SE, DC; shillingcanning.com // @shillingcanningcompany Torai Sushi: 751 8th St. SE, DC; toraisushi.com // @toraisushi The RAMMYS are July 24 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Tickets start at $325. Learn more at therammys.org and follow them on Instagram @ramwdc. Walter E. Washington Convention Center: 801 Mt. Vernon Pl. NW, DC
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7 R E S TA U R A N T S T H AT M A K E
IMPOSSIBLE MEAT I M P O S S I B LY G O O D WORDS BY PRIYA KONINGS As Impossible meat gains more attention and appreciation countrywide, restaurants of all types are serving it, from fine dining to diners. Even Burger King has jumped on the Impossible train with their Impossible Whopper, which is actually pretty tasty. But it’s not just burgers — now chefs are using Impossible meat in a myriad of creative ways, from Impossible dumplings to Impossible meatloaf. We found seven D.C. restaurants working with Impossible meat in innovative, delicious ways.
Yache Mandu at Anju There are few things I love as much as the meaty Impossible dumplings at Anju. Supersized and stuffed generously with seasoned Impossible meat, these dumplings are beautifully crafted, super hearty and just the right amount of savory. The dumplings arrive in a pool of soy sauce, adding a salty, umami effect to the dish, and they are capped with a spoonful of house-made chili crunch, adding a textural contrast to the soft, succulent filling. 1805 18th St. NW, DC; anjurestuarant.com // @anjufrc
Veggie Tantanmen at Bantam King Bantam King’s Impossible meat-topped ramen is one of the most exciting bowls of ramen in the city. Gorgeous springy noodles come swimming in a heady broth infused with soy sauce, sesame oil and a chili-spice powder, with a heap of Impossible meat and tempeh resting on top like a crown. Bright emerald green bok choy lends a slightly bitter flavor to the dish, and peanuts bring a nutty bite. The overall result is a ramen dish that is dense, filling and the ultimate in satisfaction. Spicy and meaty, you will hardly believe this bowl of ramen is vegetarian. 501 G St. NW, DC; bantamking.com // @bantamkingdc
Bubb’s Burger Salad at Bubbie’s Plant Burgers At Bubbie’s Plant Burgers, you can get a variety of different vegetarian burgers: Impossible burgers, house made beet burgers, vegan fried chicken burgers and jackfruit burgers. Traditional sides like fries, milkshakes and onion rings are also available. For a more interesting use of Impossible meat, try the Impossible meat burger salad where greens, tomatoes and onions are tossed together and topped with a sliced Impossible burger smothered in cheese. 1829 M St. NW, DC; bubbiesburgers.com // @bubbiesplantburgers
Impossible “Meat” Loaf at Farmers & Distillers When someone decides to eat a plant-based diet, they can occasionally miss certain nostalgic dishes traditionally made with meat, like meatloaf. If you’re one who sometimes reminisces about grandma’s meatloaf but can no longer eat it for whatever reason, the wait is over. Farmers & Distillers Vegetarian mandu at Anju. Photo by Rey Lopez.
introduced an Impossible meatloaf that should satisfy your craving for this homestyle dish. Juicy, rich and baked to have just the right crispy exterior, this meatloaf, served with velvety, buttery mashed potatoes and bright lemony green beans, is a veggie diner’s dinner dream. 600 Massachusetts Ave. NW, DC; farmersanddistillers.com // @farmdistilldc
Impossible Tacos at Jinya Ramen Bar The city’s best use of Impossible meat in a Mexican dish is found at a Japanese restaurant. Jinya focuses on ramen, but also serves Izakaya-style small plates and tacos. The Impossible mini tacos feature a small, crunchy shell stuffed with creamy guacamole and a generous portion of Impossible meat, adorned with cilantro for freshness. Simple but delicious, these tacos showcase the perfect union of crunchy, creamy and chewy. 1336 14th St. NW, DC; jinyaramenbar.com // @jinyaramenbar
Impossible Sausage Croissant at Sticky Fingers Diner Your vegan breakfast dreams have been realized. The Impossible croissant at Sticky Fingers Diner (formerly Fare Well) includes a tofu “egg”, melted non-dairy Violife cheddar cheese and an Impossible sausage patty. It’s served on a house made croissant — as buttery and flakey as its non-vegan counterpart — to create the ultimate breakfast sandwich. The savory pastry is melt-in-your mouth, the egg is delicious, the cheese is gooey and the Impossible patty is meaty. 406 H St. NE, DC; stickyfingersdiner.com // @stickyfingersdiner
“Impossible!!” Pasta at Tonari Tonari, which serves wafu Italian — Italian food made with Japanese influences — has concocted one of the best dishes utilizing Impossible meat. The divine Impossible pasta dish features chewy tagliatelle swirled in an Impossible meat Bolognese sauce, sprinkled with fresh tarragon and parmesan cheese. Made by simmering Impossible meat with tomatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, celery and dried herbs, this Bolognese is truly something to write home about. Enjoy with a glass of red wine. 707 6th St. NW, DC; tonaridc.com // @tonaridc
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EAT | FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Summer of Love Apples WORDS BY NEVIN MARTELL | PHOTO BY SCOTT SUCHMAN
Rob Rubba isn’t completely happy with the tomato dish we’re discussing. “It’s at 80 percent; we’re still working on it,” says the chef, sitting at a window seat in Oyster Oyster, his plantforward, seasonally slanted, locally powered tasting menu restaurant in Shaw, which just earned a Michelin star and was a nominee for Best New Restaurant at this year’s James Beard Awards. Presented in a flint gray, black speckled bowl, there’s a lot going on. Cherry tomatoes mingle with slices of pickled green tomatoes. There’s a pair of small savory cookies sandwiching slightly spicy tomato jam. Everything sits in tomato water infused with nasturtium flowers for peppery pep. The idea is to let the tomatoes take the lead and be “the umami magic they are,” says Rubba, who also included a quenelle of pumpkin seed ricotta and a flurry of edible flowers. It’s late May, still spring, and Rubba is recipe testing with out-of-town tomatoes, but the dish tastes like a rush of peak July: a little sweet, a little savory and oh-so-breezy. Creative and refreshing, a version of it will star on the restaurant’s forthcoming summer menu. “It’s important as a plant-based restaurant we celebrate this fruit that everyone associates with summer,” he says. “So, let’s do the best version of them we can.” Though he likes the various components of the dish, Rubba might split them up: the cookie on a side plate, the tomatoes in a bowl, the broth in a cup. Nothing is certain except changes will happen. Even out of season, tomatoes are always present at Oyster Oyster, subtly woven into the menu, serving as a secret backbone to Rubba’s cooking. They’re dried and preserved, slipped into broths, sauces and spice blends to amp them up with MSG-adjacent vibes. Though there are an estimated 10,000 tomato varieties in the world, he only works with those he can source from local farm partners in the mid-Atlantic. Since originating in Central and South America and being cultivated in Mexico by 500 B.C., tomatoes have garnered a devoted following with each cultural cohort trying to outdo the other when naming them. Tomato comes from the ancient Aztec word meaning “swelling fruit,” while the French call them pommes d’amour (love apples). Not edgy enough for 34 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
you? The scientific name for the tomato is Lycopersicon lycopersicum. Translation: “wolf peach,” which sounds like a band you’d see on a side stage at Coachella. Rubba has loved wolf peaches, erm, tomatoes, since his earliest days. He grew up eating the ones his mother grew in their backyard garden every summer at his childhood home in Northfield, New Jersey (where the tomato is the official state vegetable, even though it’s a fruit). She slipped them into BLTs, cooked them down for pomodoro sauce, and tossed handfuls of cherry tomatoes into classic suburban salads, mixing crunchy iceberg lettuce with generous cucumber chunks. However, his passion blossomed on a deeper level in the early aughts when he became a chef and tried his first heirloom tomatoes. He was working at Todd English’s Tuscany at Mohegan Sun in Montville, Connecticut. One of his favorite dishes was a simple burrata and tomato salad drizzled with aged balsamic. “I remember the chef saying, ‘You work smarter, not harder,’” Rubba says. “In other words, buy really good product and you don’t have to work as hard. That’s when I really began to understand what a tomato can be.” These days, Rubba grows his own tomatoes in a 250-squarefoot plot in Arlington Community Garden. His vines are filling up with ruby red, oblong San Marzano tomatoes and a few different heirloom varietals. “I forget their names,” he admits sheepishly. “There’s a lot going on.” That’s an understatement. As well as overseeing his garden and his buzzy restaurant, he’s got two luminous daughters at home, Harper, 8, and Quinn, 5. Burgeoning gourmands, they are all in for tomatoes. “They love cherry tomatoes; they crush them,” says Rubba. “And they love tomato sandwiches. They really appreciate them.” And that is something he can be 100 percent happy about. Follow Rob Rubba on Instagram @robrubba to learn more. Oyster Oyster: 1440 8th St. NW, DC; oysteroysterdc.com // @oysteroysterdc
LIFE
DISTRICT FRAY | 35
DRINK
Maurice Morton.
HEMPINFUSED SPIRITS THE STORY OF TUSK
WORDS + PHOTO BY ANDREW J. WILLIAMS III
DRINK Maurice Morton and his family are building an empire. With the Tusk brand serving as the MOR-Hemp corporation’s flagship, Morton introduces the DMV region and beyond to a variety of hemp-infused goods, including a line of hempflavored liquors. The unique flavor profile of Tusk’s rum and the complexity of Tusk’s vodka — part savory, part sweet — is overshadowed only by the origins of the family’s growing enterprise. The Mortons are descendants of former slaves and sharecroppers, who, with blood, sweat and tenacity, made an investment that 116 years later is altering the course of their progeny’s fate. Morton’s great-great-great grandparents, former slaves, married the year slavery was abolished, and then entered the sharecropping industry. In 1906, they purchased five acres of land in Halifax, Virginia — the foundational piece to a now 65acre holding — after which they became tobacco farmers. Today, Tusk, a name Morton credits to his wife, is helping to redefine Black entrepreneurs’ place in the beverage industry and the narrative around generational wealth. Rarely do we hear stories of Black families reaping the financial benefits of inherited assets. Instead, our nation’s history is riddled with tales of Black enterprises struggling to carve out their place alongside mainstream brands. Too often, Black business communities fell victim to violent expulsion. “[Our company] is about closing the gap in generational wealth,” Morton says. “It’s not just about creating for the Morton family, but for other Black families as well. I see that it’s possible, but we all have to change our mindsets. Mindset can control how you project your emotions, how you treat other people and how you view yourself.” Tusk means to honor their ancestors’ legacy and pass on an enduring gift to future generations and aspiring Black entrepreneurs.
Clothes and shoes can be fashioned from the plant. It can even be used to fortify concrete, making it 1,000 times stronger once its properties are broken down. It’s the perfect ingredient for shaking up the spirit industry.
Loyalty, Togetherness + Wealth In 2019, the MOR-Hemp company was launched, which also produces shoes, socks and coconut oils, followed in 2020 by the Tusk subsidiary. In September 2021, they launched their vodka and rum products (the first of their kind in the state), in partnership with Edwin Wright of Whiskey Wright distillery. The Tusk brand is not conventional, especially the taste. The vodka is very smooth,” says Morton. “It’s very flavorful. You can taste the hemp grain on the back end, after your first sip. It’s very unique.” Courtesy of the hemp seed, the spirits are also infused with vitamin D and Omega-3 oils, which diminish the intensity of hangovers, should you choose to overindulge. Though Morton emphasizes deeply entrenching MOR-hemp and Tusk in the DMV, the brand is beginning to stockpile an impressive list of national and international accolades. “In the London Spirits Competition, we placed silver with the vodka and bronze with the rum; [in] the Sunset International Spirits Competition in California, we placed silver with the rum and bronze with the vodka; and in the Las Vegas Global Spirit Awards, we placed silver with the vodka and bronze with the rum. We’ve placed in every competition that we’ve entered in the seven short months that we’ve been in business.” Morton goes on to explain that many brands enter competitions year after year and are never acknowledged. It’s a testament to the family’s entrepreneurial spirit and creativity, and a powerful reminder of how far they’ve come. In a recent trip to Detroit, Morton discovered there are more than 180 Black-owned alcohol brands around the country. The revelation reiterated for Morton that stewarding a successful Black-owned business is bigger than a singular destiny. “If you’re not bringing your people up with you, or inspiring people to come along for the journey, then I feel it’s a waste of time, because then we’re not helping each other get to where we all should be.” The elephant emblazoned on each bottle of vodka and rum is more than an eye-catching logo: It symbolizes the family’s past, present and future. The elephant embodies loyalty, togetherness and wealth, and pays homage to their grandmother, who collected elephant-themed novelties. As the sons and daughters of slaves, everything promotes healing, harmony and remembrance. “This is not just for the moment,” Morton proclaims. “One hundred years from now, when I’m not on this earth anymore, my kids and grandkids will be able to represent us.”
“MINDSET CAN CONTROL HOW YOU PROJECT YOUR EMOTIONS, HOW YOU TREAT OTHER PEOPLE AND HOW YOU VIEW YOURSELF.”
We’re Not Drug Dealers “Oh no, we’re not going to be a cartel family,” Morton says of his aunt’s reaction to transforming the five acres the family inherited into a hemp farm in 2017. “We’re not drug dealers.” Even today, as the hemp industry blossoms, there’s a need to demystify the stigma that follows the botanical class of Cannabis. Morton explains, “There’s a difference between hemp and marijuana. Though they both are derivatives of the hemp plant and they are grown the same way, they have different uses.” According to Morton’s quick and dirty crash course, hemp is grown in three different ways: marijuana, CBD and grain and fiber plants, which are distinctive classifications with multiple applications. “The plant, the seeds, the stock [from the grain and fiber plant] can be used to create sustainable products,” Morton shares.
Learn more about Tusk by visiting tuskspirits.com and follow them on Instagram @tusk_the_brand. DISTRICT FRAY | 37
EXPERIMENTS in Cocktail Chemistry WORDS BY KAYLEE DUGAN
D.C.’s cocktails are only getting more complicated, and we mean that in the best way possible. From glasses coated in smoke and fire to drinks mixed with a precision rivaling a laboratory, there’s plenty out there for everyone, no matter what kind of drinker you are. While you could enjoy a cocktail in any corner of this city, these are the dimly lit rooms and sunlit patios that we recommend if you’re looking to try something completely new. After all, there’s always something new to drink — it’s just a matter of what deserves your utmost attention, and these spots all hit that high mark.
Bar Amazonia If you’re looking to surprise your drinking palate with something that’s a mix of new and old, Bar Amazonia, the cocktail space above the Peruvian restaurant Causa, has a menu filled with classics reimagined. Take the Anticucheria, a drink that riffs off the skewered meat street food staple anticuchos. “It’s traditionally done with beef heart marinated in ají panca, which is this dry herby and smoky chili with cumin, oregano, red wine vinegar, onions and garlic that’s turned into a paste, marinated on the meat, and grilled over charcoal,” explains owner Chad Spangler. “What we do is take the same application and do it to pineapple, but leave out the garlic and onions.” The herby pineapple marinade is paired with fresh pineapple, lime juice and Pisco to create what Spangler describes as, “One of the 38 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
more unique, fun, and interesting drinks we have on the menu.” 920 Blagden Alley NW, DC; causadc.com // @causadc_
L’Annexe L’Annexe, Georgetown’s library-esque cocktail bar, likes to play with perception. “If I have a unique opportunity to do something really different with a not-so-familiar ingredient, those are welcome challenges,” says beverage director Hakim Hamid. Cocktails on L’Annexe’s curated list include unusual ingredients like the activated charcoal and smoke in the Le Smoking cocktail, as well as more conventional flavors presented in an unusual way, like The Invisible Garden, a martini-style drink made with a bevy of green ingredients including fennel, green apple, parsley and celery that comes out L’Annexe wild margarita. Photo by Moe Thajib.
DRINK crystal clear. While drinking at L’Annexe is undoubtedly fun, Hamid’s goal is always to educate. “We need to be learning and we have to give the client the opportunity to learn something as well,” says Hamid. “That’s why we try to use rare, unique ingredients, transfusions…we work a lot with shrubs, just so we can take it that one step further.” 2917 M St. NW, DC; lannexe-bar.com // @lannexedc
Serenata Speaking of unique ingredients, the sleek bar Serenata inside La Cosecha market is also serving up some unusual combos. There’s the Leche de Tigre, a drink that riffs off the leche de tigre marinade found in an order of ceviche — served with a garnish of actual ceviche. Then there’s La Cura, a cocktail that doubles as a delicious fruity summer drink and a history lesson. “Every single ingredient in the cocktail has some sort of antioxidant, prebiotic or probiotic component to it,” says beverage director and partner Andra “AJ” Johnson. “It was an ode to María Teresa Ferrari, who was the first Argentinian female professor. I really wanted to pay homage to her and her story.” 1280 4th St. NE, DC; serenatadc.com // @serenatadc
The Green Zone At The Green Zone in Adams Morgan, you’ll find a cocktail list packed with drinks inspired by Middle Eastern flavors. If you’re craving some classic summer flavors, owner Chris Hassaan Francke always recommends the frozen Mint Lemonade & More, a customizable cocktail that just got a summer-y upgrade.
“It’s what everyone gets, but we just made rum an option as the base spirit when ordering it, so now it really can be like a frozen mojito,” says Francke. If you’re looking for a second round, The Green Zone’s Faloodeh Swizzle is a cocktail inspired by the Persian frozen dessert, Faloodeh. As Francke explains, “It has the same flavors of lime and rose and cardamom, spiked with vodka, and served on crushed ice to replicate the crunch of the frozen rice noodles that go in a traditional Faloodeh.” 2226 18th St. NW, DC; thegreenzonedc.com // @thegreenzonedc
McClellan’s Retreat And if you’re craving a solid rotation of new and unusual, it’s hard to beat McClellan’s Retreat with its frequent theme-based menu changes. For owner Brian Nixon, experimenting with recipes and ingredient combinations is king. “That’s the fun part of the job and why we change the menu as often as we do, because it’s interesting to us,” explains Nixon. “We’re lucky; people stop by to drop off delicious new products for us to try and we start fiddling with them.” And to make the most of all these delicious cocktails you’ll spend the summer drinking, whether at McClellan’s Retreat or somewhere else in D.C., Nixon only has one recommendation, “The biggest thing I would recommend to anyone is just taste. Taste lots of things.” 2031 Florida Ave. NW, DC; mcclellansretreat.com // @mccretreat
WEDNESDAYS
Rooftop BINGO 7 P.M.-8 P.M. AT HI-L AWN
SIGN UP TODAY DISTRICT FRAY | 39
GETTING THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE WITH
ANGEL OLSEN WORDS BY COLLEEN KENNEDY
40 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
MUSIC “Love and loss, and getting through to the other side,” singer-songwriter Angel Olsen shares about the unifying thread of her latest and sixth studio album “Big Time” and accompanying short film of the same name. The new album and film, both released in early June, are not just confessional, intimate looks into Olsen’s heartache and recovery, but they may also be her most incandescent and wondrous work to date. Considering the caliber of Olsen’s recordings during her decadelong career, this is especially impressive. “This was one of my favorite records to make,” Olsen states. “I was like, I have nothing to lose, and I don’t have anything else to prove.” Stylistically, “Big Time” is a seismic shift for Olsen. On earlier albums, she was a Lynchian torchbearer for 1980s downbeat dreamers, blending gothic romance, synth and beats, occasionally jagged hooks and vintage vocal stylings for a cross-generic sound that shifted on and across albums from folk to indie rock to darkwave. But there was often a twang in her voice, with vocal references ranging from Emmylou Harris to Patsy Cline, Lucinda Williams to Judy Collins. She had flirted with alt-country before in other albums, most notably 2016’s “My Woman,” but with “Big Time” she has fully embraced a country western sound — the great American genre of heartbreak. With Olsen’s melancholic vibrato over a twangy slide guitar in the title track, she’s “losing, living and loving” in equal measure throughout most of the song “Big Time.” But it’s love that wins out in the closing chorus. The lyrics mirror Olsen’s mantra: Last year, she came out to both her family and publicly, announcing her relationship to Beau Thibodeaux. Soon after, she lost both of her parents in quick succession. As she recounts in her film, the chorus comes from the refrain she shared with her parents, “I’m loving you big time, I’m loving you more.” The sepia-toned video for the title track, set in a queer honky-tonk, perfectly captures Olsen’s vintage altcountry vibe. The video is one of three (alongside “Through the Fires” and “All the Good Times”) released from the album’s 28-minute film, with limited screenings across the country and in the United Kingdom. In a series of dreamlike vignettes — sundrenched, lyrically shot Angel Olsen. Photo by Angela Ricciardi.
and punctuated by voicemails from her late mother — Olsen packs her bags and flees from her seedy motel to hit the open country roads. During her journey, she time travels, drowns and carries a lightbox filled with grief or hopes. It’s not escaping the past but understanding it to move on. In the surreal film, after an Ophelia-like Olsen drowns but recovers again, she splits into two personae, one saying a watery goodbye to her former, depressed self. Her partner Thibodeaux, who also cowrote the title track, frames the film and filters into emotional flashbacks. It is a fitting tribute to Olsen’s mother, to her grief and to her supportive relationship. Directed by Kimberly Stuckwisch, Olsen says it was a collaborative vision: “Some of that stuff was drawing from Kim’s life and we combined our own tragedies together to make something new. It was an interesting experiment.” “I never write lyrics or songs hoping there will be a story. It’s just like, whatever happens happens. And then when we put it all together, it creates its own story. Looking back, [the story] will probably change for me over time. But right now, it’s just about getting through hardships and making it through the other side and feeling lighter because I think that’s the centerpiece statement.”
Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken On July 21, Olsen kicks off the Wild Hearts tour at Wolf Trap in support of her latest record. Traveling across the U.S. and Canada with fellow singersongwriters Sharon Van Etten and Julien Baker, most of the venues for the summer tour will be outside, and partial proceeds will go to a nonprofit that helps people who were formerly incarcerated rebuild their lives. “I’m looking forward to being in the sunshine with people and hanging out with Sharon and Julien,” Olsen shares. “Sharon and I have known each other for years, and we were trying to find a way to make touring fun again, to put together something really special that fans would freak out about.” Van Etten and Olsen joined forces for last year’s scorcher “Like I Used To,” and while Olsen doesn’t know Baker as well, she looks forward to the time they’ll spend together: “I’m excited to get to know them more. They’re such a sweetie.” DISTRICT FRAY | 41
MUSIC Each artist will play their own set each evening, with the smoky-voiced powerhouse Van Etten (2022’s “We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong”) and angelic sounding folkrocker Baker (2021’s “Little Oblivions”), each also playing new material from Pitchfork-approved releases. Olsen will join both onstage each evening for several songs. “The three of us have very different records. But we’re gonna sing together every night,” Olsen promises, sharing that they’ve been working on a dream cover song with a three-part harmony that she hopes they’ll be able to debut during the tour.
Walking Through the Fires And what’s next for Olsen? In “Through the Fires,” another single from “Big Time,” Olsen sings: “To remember the ghost Who exists in the past But be freed from the longing For one moment to last.” It’s another song of recouping after insurmountable pain, a purification by walking through the flames, embracing the hurt and emerging anew. Over a spare piano and stirring strings,
42 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
Olsen sings in a plaintive contralto. As the song reaches its crescendo, and the percussion finally kicks in, Olsen’s voice soars, reflecting the refrains, “higher, higher,” and “lighter, lighter.” In a year of twists and turns, love, loss and rebirth, Olsen is finding that moment of lightness. She will embark on a European tour this fall, with a new EP to be released at a future date. “More touring, honestly,” she shares of her future plans. “If the world allows for that, then I’m gonna be touring a lot in 2023. And hopefully I can spend some time at home… eventually.”
Follow Angel Olsen on Instagram @angelolsenmusic, Twitter at @ AngelOlsen, and online at angelolsen.com. The tour begins at Wolf Trap on July 21, and follow the full Wild Hearts tour schedule here: thewildheartstour.com. Wolf Trap: 1551 Wolf Trap Rd. Vienna, VA; wolftrap.org // @wolf_trap
Sharon Van Etten, Julien Baker + Angel Olsen. Photo by Alysse Gafkjen.
LIFE
PRESENTS
FRIDAYS
A CONCERT
Fort Totten
AT
SERIES 6-8 P.M.
Join us every week for some music, food, games + more. Food trucks will be available. Don’t forget to bring your lawn chair. See you there!
BA ND LINEUP July 1 // N Tyme Jazz Ensemble
August 5 // DANDY August 12 // The Junior Bryce Band
July 8 // Pebble to Pearl July 15 // DWQ Jazz Band July 22 // Groovalicious July 29 // Shake the Room
So
ut
h
D
ak
ot
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Galloway St. NE
August 19 // JWX: The Jarreau Williams Experience August 26 // Dave Keller
A
ve
Gallatin St. NE
1 | APRIL 2021 bit.ly/forttotten
Corner of South Dakota Ave. NE and Galloway St. NE
NAYEF ISSA FOSTERS THE GROWTH OF D.C.’S CULTURAL LANDSCAPE The artistic director of Nü Androids has been shaking up D.C.’s music scene since 2014. WORDS BY COURTNEY SEXTON Nayef Issa, founder and creative force behind party music collective Nü Androids and subprojects A.i and Dimensions, has been making a name — and an impact — fostering the growth of the lesser-seen side of D.C.’s cultural landscape since 2014. Issa emigrated with his family from Beirut, Lebanon to Northern Virginia when he was 7-years-old. He watched as his family members found success in small businesses and was no stranger to the value in a self-guided journey. He attended school at Northern Virginia Community College and worked for a time with T-Mobile. But that wasn’t a career path Issa was interested in continuing down. “I knew at a young age that I wanted to be an entrepreneur,” Issa says. “All my family members, they own some restaurants, gas stations and cigar shops and the like. So, I was kind of just always around that entrepreneur mentality. I never vibed with the corporate structure. I work on passion.” That passion initially led him to DJing Top 40 hits at parties and finding footing in the early aughts’ club culture. But Issa knew this wasn’t his calling, either. He continued to seek out what he describes as forward-thinking music, and to expand both his knowledge base of musical talent and his already wide local network. It wasn’t long, Issa says, before he got bored of bottle popping. He needed to “activate his creativity.” Issa and a friend decided to shake up the scene’s status quo. They used their experience and extensive community ties to hone in on up-and44 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
coming talent who blurred the boundaries of DJing and party music genres. Around the same time, D.C.’s now iconic nightclub, Flash, had opened its U Street Corridor doors as an intimate and edgy space for music lovers looking for something a little different than the offerings at nearby concert venues. Issa and his partner approached the management team at Flash with an idea to pilot a Wednesday night 21+ music and dance party. Issa and Co. became Nü Androids, an arts and entertainment collective putting avant-garde artists on the bill. Nü Androids booked rising talent Wax Motif for their first show, in hopes of appealing to a broad audience. “He was a very good blend between the electronic scene and hip hop,” says Issa. The event sold out, and Nü Androids knew they were on to something. That’s when Wednesday became the new Friday at Flash, with the midweek shows regularly reaching capacity. At Nü Androids, Issa casts a wide net in scouting and cold-calling artists. Early shows included acts that wouldn’t normally have found a home in the D.C. market: Mura Masa, Purple Disco Machine, Nora En Pure, Matoma, Ekali and Yaeji, to name a few. “We never really focused on a specific genre, you know?” Issa says. “There are a lot of really cool collectives here that are doing techno or 140-BPM pop dance music or dubstep or what have you. I was like, no. I want to book a plethora of stuff, and I don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves. And so, we were booking Photo by Tuan.
MUSIC kind of all over the spectrum.” Issa continued to expand his creative endeavors, using the recognition he’d built with Nü Androids to launch sub-projects A.i and Dimensions. Issa’s idea was to move outside of the club — to use the model but change the players to expand the scene so it could appeal to a more diverse set of people looking for a multi-faceted entertainment experience. Issa eventually shifted the spaces for his artistic happenings to the “other side of town,” and beyond, including Art Basal in 2019. With the custom brand A.i., Issa has hosted music and visual artists together for multi- and meta-sensory pop-up events in underutilized spaces and unexpected venues including warehouses, commercial kitchens and what Issa calls “blank canvases.” Now, with roughly 180 events a year, Nü Androids / A.i. shows range from 500 - 2,500+ people per show, and they have featured chart-topping artists such as FKJ, the late Virgil Abloh (in his performance in D.C.), Black Coffee, the late Sophie, Gorgon City, Malaa, Dom Dolla, The Knocks, Tchami and Snakehips. “My favorite parties are the ones that blend the culture, the colors, the special effects, everything,” says Issa. As Issa approaches his 40th birthday later this year, he reflects on what he has learned about the business side of creative entrepreneurship, while looking forward to future creations and collaborations. He knows that many in the D.C. industry have laid extensive groundwork to draw talent into what is still described by many as a “Tier
B” entertainment market, and he acknowledges his own role in continuing to move the dial. Issa intentionally leaves set times off show invites and listings, and actively encourages people to support all of the talent — even offering reduced ticket prices for those who arrive earlier in the evening. “In D.C., you feel like you’re actually building something; the market is not oversaturated. It’s cool to put on shows for your city and to feel like you are really helping to expand the culture,” Issa says. Still, pop-ups become political and red tape restricts rented space. Infrastructure issues stalled the opening of the Nü Androids permanent space, forthcoming this fall. A self-proclaimed hater of politics, Issa is nevertheless committed to getting the systems in place to support the city’s cultural growth. “I’m always open and down to work with anybody in D.C. from the grassroots, because I firmly believe we have a lot of cool creative people in the city. D.C. gets overlooked just because people think of D.C. as just a lobbying and government bullshit town,” Issa says. “But no, it’s a creative scene here, and I want to do right and vocalize my issues to hopefully push the envelope forward.” Learn more about Nü Androids at nuandroids.com and follow the collective on Instagram at @nuandroids. Follow Issa on Instagram at @nayeftissa.
DISTRICT FRAY | 45
A RTECHOUSE TUR NS FIVE A look back at how one innovative art destination paved the way for immersive experiences in the District.
WORDS BY NICOLE SCHALLER | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL
CULTURE Drumbeats reverberate throughout the room. Animated gold chains snake their way across the floor, ceiling and walls before encircling the words “Black Lives Matter” on the front wall. The room’s imagery shifts to African tribal art dancing across a futuristic gold cityscape. A woman chants over the drums: “Live. Breathe. Create. Be. Your own songs of freedom. Our own songs of freedom. Our own victories. Our own legacies. See it clearly.” This is what visitors witness when they enter the “Ase: Afro Frequencies” exhibit at ARTECHOUSE in Southwest DC. The exhibit, which opened in the District on June 11, is an immersive experience incorporating the many facets of the Black experience with surrealist art by Vince Fraser and spoken word poetry from Ursula Rucker. In 2022, immersive experiences are ubiquitous. Rewind several years though, and the landscape looked much different. Artists at the forefront of immersive experiences were beginning to interweave interactive artificial intelligence and art, but spaces to showcase their work were limited. “We wanted to help artists who were creating in this new medium to have a home, and that’s what ARTECHOUSE became over the past five years,” says ARTECHOUSE CoFounder Tatiana (Tati) Pastukhova. ARTECHOUSE Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Sandro Kereselidze agrees, adding, “We are probably the original platform to give these artists the opportunity to produce their exhibits.” Since ARTECHOUSE’s first physical location in D.C. in 2017, the gallery has, and continues to, lead the way for immersive experiences, allowing artists to explore and push boundaries by using the latest technology to share their work and engage audiences. When Pastukhova and her husband Kereselidze established ARTECHOUSE, they knew the space’s potential. Kereselidze likens ARTECHOUSE’s exhibits to when film first got its start. “I grew up in a family of movie directors,” Kereselidze says. “During the 20th century, film created a new art form for storytelling. It was the beginning of a new era using new tools to tell stories. In a few years, it developed and became what we now know as Hollywood. The same thing is happening right now [with ARTECHOUSE]. History repeats itself.” Within ARTECHOUSE’s first five years, growth development is evident. Adding locations in Miami and New York City, ARTECHOUSE has worked with roughly 40 creatives, produced 36 exhibits and last year, reached 1.5 million visitors — even with Covid-19 setbacks.
A Love Story ARTECHOUSE’s origins stem from the love story of its cofounders: Kereselidze, originally from Georgia, and Pastukhova, originally from Crimea. While both living in D.C., the pair met on Facebook in 2008 and quickly stumbled into conversations about jazz and a shared interest in art. Their first date was a theatre performance, leading to a series of dates centered around different art shows in the District. “We were seeing a lot of different eclectic art and unique things happening, but there were not a lot of people around to really be a part of them,” Pastukhova recalls. “And that’s what really inspired us: ‘How can we bring art to people?’” After a year of dating, Kereselidze and Pastukhova, started their first business venture, Art Soiree, to bridge the gap 48 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
between artists and audiences. Under Art Soiree, the duo produced 400 exhibits and experiential events throughout D.C., including partnerships with Art All Night: Nuit Blanche DC and Fête des Lumières, later renamed GLOW DC. Over nine years, Art Soiree worked with 500 contemporary artists and attracted over 170,000 attendees. Their success with generating audience interest in experiential art pushed Kereselidze and Pastukhova to find a permanent home for their next phase. They landed on a location just blocks from the National Mall. Inspired by artists utilizing technology from Art Soiree shows, they decided ARTECHOUSE would be the hub where technology and art converge. While many art museums in the nation’s capital focus on well-established and often deceased artists, ARTECHOUSE carved a space for current innovative art. “We created ARTECHOUSE for living artists — artists of today,” Kereselidze confirms.
21st-Century Storytelling Whether entering a room covered floor to ceiling in luminescent giant cherry blossoms or learning about the cellular level of the human brain through a magnified view of neurons, ARTECHOUSE exhibits garner an outpouring of fanfare, with visitors eager to post images of the exhibit’s stunning visuals on Instagram. But aside from their social media presence, ARTECHOUSE exhibits take a step further by constantly finding ways to create a multisensory experience. “This is not just a slideshow or projection,” Kereselidze explains. “We’ve created the largest canvases for interaction. At one point, we [designed a] whole immersive room so 60 people could stand and move things and interact simultaneously.” The current exhibit, “Ase: Afro Frequencies,” adds immersive educational components nodding to Black culture’s past, present and future. One of the exhibit’s hallways encourages visitors to stand in front of different screens and try on digital masks inspired by African royalty, tribes and mythology. In another room, a camera scans your body and superimposes your silhouette onto artwork. “With experiential art, you are part of the art,” Kereselidze says. “You are participating in the storytelling. It depends on you: how you step into this world that’s been created for you.” And while “Ase: Afro Frequencies” was first presented at their Miami location, D.C.’s space recently upgraded their immersion system, allowing audiences to experience more interactive features and elements than the previous version of the exhibit. “Every time we tour an exhibit, we further innovate and adjust it,” Kereselidze says. “So ‘Ase: Afro Frequencies’ in D.C. goes deeper and takes a grander dive than what was presented in Miami.” Other innovative experiential components include their cocktail bar, which changes menus to complement the current exhibit. They were one of the first adopters of QR code menus in D.C. before the pandemic, and their XR cocktails incorporate augmented reality. Using a smart phone and the ARTECHOUSE app, you can scan over your cocktail to see images and art related to the exhibit emerge. “The cocktail bar is a great example and probably one of the first examples of our team trying to stay innovative and ask, ‘How do we further the guest and visitor experience?’” Pastukhova says.
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Keeping visitors in mind, a more recent innovation is the introduction of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. In D.C.’s spring 2022 exhibit “PIXELBLOOM,” ARTECHOUSE unveiled a new feature allowing visitors to purchase an NFT of cherry blossom digital art as a souvenir and potential investment. Looking forward, both Kereselidze and Pastukhova share the dream of bringing ARTECHOUSE to every major city, continuing to see how they can reach new levels in the medium of immersive art. “We always try to challenge and push limits,” Kereselidze says, “and figure out how can we do even better each time.” Visit “Ase: Afro Frequencies” at ARTECHOUSE DC through August 31. To learn more about the exhibit and purchase tickets, visit the gallery’s website. ARTECHOUSE: 1238 Maryland Ave. SW, DC; artechouse.com // @artechouse
FIRST SPREAD. Julia Goldberg + Abi Newhouse. FOURTH PAGE. Goldberg. THIS SPREAD. Tatiana (Tati) Pastukhova + Sandro Kereselidze. FINAL PAGE. Mask. All photos taken at ARTECHOUSE’s “Ase: Afro Frequencies” exhibit.
CULTURE
2015 Pastukhova and Kereselidze launch ARTECHOUSE, an innovative, firstof-its-kind new age art destination dedicated to the experiential arts created through technology.
2017 ARTECHOUSE DC opens as the first innovative digital art space entirely dedicated to art, science and technology.
2009 Tatiana (Tati) Pastukhova and Sandro Kereselidze found Art Soiree, an entrepreneurial concept aiming to support local artists and businesses through multifaceted experiential programming. Over its nine-year run, Art Soiree produces over 400 unique exhibitions, festivals, concerts and culturally driven experiences, features over 500 contemporary artists, and attracts over 170,000 attendees in D.C.
2011
Pastukhova and Kereselidze also launch the first Augmented Reality (AR) app and bar, offering exhibitioninspired AR cocktails activated through a free mobile app.
2018
Art Soiree brings a true Nuit Blanche | Art All Night DC experience to the Wonder Bread Factory, featuring projection and light artists with over 15,000 attendees each night.
2013 Art Soiree brought the very first Fête des Lumières, or Festival of Lights, to Georgetown. Inspired by the world-renowned Fête des Lumières, the light festival is now known as GLOW DC. Art Soiree was also among the first to represent D.C. artists at Art Basel Miami in 2012 and SXSW in 2013. 52 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
2020 While ARTECHOUSE locations closed due to the Covid-19 shutdowns, the creative team brings art to audiences through the revamp of its XR mobile app and interactive activations. ARTECHOUSE partners with UN Foundation and releases “Voice Our Future,” an unprecedented, extended reality (XR) experience. ARTECHOUSE collaborates with London-based digital artist Vince Fraser to bring his Afro-Surrealist art to life in solidarity with the March on Washington and Black Lives Matter movement.
ARTECHOUSE Miami opens as the first innovative digital art space in Florida.
As locations reopen, ARTECHOUSE Studio is officially established. ARTECHOUSE welcomes 1M visitors.
2021 ARTECHOUSE launches its first experiential NFTs. “Life of a Neuron” becomes the major premiere of the year in D.C., in partnership with Society for Neuroscience.
2012
2012-2013
ARTECHOUSE partners with the Pantone Color Institute for the annual launch of the Color of the Year.
ARTECHOUSE launches key partnerships with the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Optical Society of America for themed exhibits.
Art Soiree becomes the founding partner of Art All Night: Nuit Blanche DC, an all-night exploration and celebration of contemporary art attracting 7,000 attendees throughout the night. Art Metamorphosis by Art Soiree transforms the Washington Harbor at the Georgetown Waterfront with a onenight experiential exhibit, during which 26 artists paint murals live on wooden construction site panels while 4,000 guests watch.
The ARTECHOUSE Live performance series is launched in the District, intersecting music and digital arts.
2019 ARTECHOUSE hits over 500K visitors, expands partnerships with Coachella and NYC, and presents the first AI datadriven exhibition featuring the work of Refik Anadol. ARTECHOUSE NYC opens as the first innovative digital art space in New York City with commissioned work “Machine Hallucination: NYC” by Anadol. The NYC location becomes the world’s first space with the largest, seamless megapixel count projection canvas, bringing art and digital environments vividly to life through Barco technology, and is also the first art space to integrate L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology with 32 separate channels for a truly immersive, multidimensional audio experience.
ARTECHOUSE partners with Harpa to bring the innovative Circuleight installation to Iceland. Partnerships are formed with MGM in Las Vegas and Produkt in Montreal, giving ARTECHOUSE a global audience. ARTECHOUSE reaches 1.5M visitors.
L TO R. Art Soiree. Photo by Reggie Bell. NYC opening and “Life of a Neuron” exhibit. Photos courtesy of venues.
World’s Fairs no longer captivate the public’s interest in the future. People from across the globe have stopped making pilgrimages to one city to admire newfound technology like electric lights, the Ferris wheel and the telephone. But people from across the globe still flock to the National Mall to visit Smithsonian institutions. It’s something the director of the Arts and Industries Building Rachel Goslins is keenly aware of. She says, “These days, nobody trusts anybody. People don’t trust the government. People don’t trust the media, they don’t 54 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
trust public intellectuals. The place people still really trust is museums. And in particular, the Smithsonian. The ability to take that civic trust and use it in a way that is meaningful and important is the greatest gift of working here.” With that public trust, Goslins and the AIB team were able to present their version of the future at “FUTURES,” which closes July 6. “We set out to do an exhibition on an impossible subject in an unrenovated, historic building on a super tight timeline, during a pandemic,” Goslins explains. “And I am just so astonished
Saying Goodbye to
“FUTURES” WORDS BY BRANDON WETHERBEE
and delighted by what has resulted and how people have reacted to it, and that we actually managed to pull it off at all.” Their team saw over a half million people visit the history building (built in 1881) over the course of nearly 9 months. Visitors were able to pursue potential “FUTURES” in a variety of fields. The uniting theme, other than the future, was hope. Goslins tells us, “It was important this exhibition didn’t feel like it had a particular political agenda, or it came from a particular policy place, but that it was able to accommodate the hopes and dreams of everybody who walked in.”
Folks had the opportunity to peruse the exhibit with freedom, finding what piqued their interests and further exploration. “You don’t lose sight of the forest through the trees, it has to be holistic,” AIB curator Ashley Molese says. “The intersectionality of the show means there’s certain snippets of so many deep dives that you could do. And that was a very conscious curatorial decision to sort of pull together some of the most dynamic things from our checklist.” The “FUTURES” exhibit featured potentially world-changing technology alongside artistic interpretations of the present day. DISTRICT FRAY | 55
Memorials to the Black Lives Matter movement shared a space with Richard Branson’s hyperloop. A biodegradable burial method replacing graves with trees is in the same exhibit as a Meta, fka Facebook, trip to the moon. A coin-operated wetland washing machine that uses a closed wastewater system with a sign proclaiming “ATTENTION: NO DYEING, NO BLEACH, NO BILLIONAIRES, NO TECH FIXES, NO SPACE COLONIES…” is in a building sponsored by Amazon Web Services. “What you have to do is sort of look at the whole and that’s what the work is: It’s looking at the whole and trying to strike that balance,” Molese says. The push and pull of what society wants (justice, social harmony, a sustainable planet, etc.) is on display with the potential future of tech. In that way, it’s quite similar to World’s Fairs of the early 1900s. Before you get to any of the future in “FUTURES,” you walk through a small section devoted to past World’s Fairs. Goslins points out, “We had the first steam locomotive, something which made people billions of dollars on the backs of millions of other people, which brought in huge changes to our country.” Quite like what some of us think about tech giants, we’re able to question the then-new technologies of the 1800s. “Was it good? Was it bad? How do we lean into the best versions of what these ideas can bring us and solve for the unintended negative consequences? And otherwise, the real question is about solving the future, about figuring out the future.” We’re asking the same questions the first visitors of the AIB were asking. The balance is tricky. Should we focus more on individuals or technology? Is the way out eliminating known problems or 56 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
developing new solutions? Goslins expounds, “Our exhibition is doing its job, asking you which of those “FUTURES” you want to live in. Do you want to live in a future with no technology and no flying space machines, or do you want to live in a future with no billionaires, or do you want to live in a future that has the best billionaires and the best inventions and technology? This is the fundamental premise of “FUTURES.” We can’t tell you what the future is going to be or what it should be. What we can do is be curious with you about what kind of future you want to live in, what kind of future collectively we want to live in and try to get smarter about how we have that conversation.” Unfortunately, this specific conversation is about to wrap up. Regardless of the demand for more, “FUTURES” has to end. “We’re frequently asked why this isn’t a permanent exhibition. Part of it is logistics of the building and timing of other projects and things like that,” Goslins explains. And maybe most importantly, “You can’t have an exhibition on the future open for too long before it becomes an exhibition on the present.”
“FUTURES” is on display at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building through July 6. The “FUTURES Forward: Closing Celebration” is July 6 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. This daylong, free community party is for visitors of all ages with a round-the-clock lineup of DJ mOma, dancing robots, immersive performances and more. Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building: 900 Jefferson Dr. SW, DC; aib.si.edu // @smithsonianaib
FIRST SPREAD. “FUTURES” installation view. THIS PAGE. ”Futures that Unite.” Photos by Ron Blunt.
TAILGATING, GAMES, SIGNATURE COCKTAILS + MORE!
2022
FUN BRELLA SUNDAY, JULY 17
GET TICKETS TODAY AT: BIT.LY/DCPOLO2022
NEW THEATRE IN DYSTOPIA CAPITAL FRINGE 2022 WORDS BY BRANDON WETHERBEE
Live theatre isn’t live theatre over Zoom. Virtual theatre has potential to transport an audience, but the likelihood of success is minimal. Connections between a cast and crowd sorta need to be in the flesh. No theatre festival connects cast and crowd quite like the Capital Fringe Festival. And after two years of delays, Capital Fringe is finally back, live, in person, in a brandnew neighborhood. The annual festival returns to multiple stages over two weekends in the middle of July. For the first time in its 17-year history, Capital Fringe will occur in Georgetown. According to Joe Sternlieb, CEO and President of the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID), “We’re all craving a return to live performances and are eager to welcome artists and attendees to our historic and unique spaces.” Capital Fringe founding director Julianne Brienza told us this partnership was a long time coming. “We’ve talked with the Georgetown BID for probably seven or eight years about having the festival there. They really wanted to work with us and have a real partnership. And when you get that type of support, that’s awesome.” Theatregoers will enjoy shows in a former gym, a former shoe store, a former store that marketed clothes to people under the age of 21 and more businesses that used to be other businesses. “I think it’s a little interesting and kind of dystopian, that we are literally in retail shops like Forever 21, Washington Sports Club, DSW, CrossFit, that all have closed because of the pandemic,” Brienza says. “It honestly feels kind of appropriate. Especially since when Fringe first started, we were able to use more unique venues because they actually existed in the District. But where we are today with the way the city has developed over the past two decades, it’s really boring. Just architecture that kind of all looks the same with a lot of glass and various shades of gray.” More than 250 artists will take over these former retail spaces, staging original works in custom-built houses. Each theater will seat 51 theatergoers, in a nod to D.C.’s path to statehood and due to Covid safety. “I have been thinking about how to bring the festival back 58 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
in a way that feels comfortable for people. So, every theater is 51 seats. And the schedule is very much pared down, with shows only Thursday through Sunday. The pacing is not as intense as it was pre-Covid. I know that most theaters are experiencing houses of 40% to 50% sold. I know music venues are experiencing high turnouts like they’ve never known. I don’t know what people are going to do. But what the audience does will let us know if we should continue.” The diversity of the rooms mirrors the diversity of the productions. Capital Fringe is the only area theatre festival that allows creatives to do whatever they want in their original works. “Literally no one else does what Capitol Fringe does, which provides a platform to primarily local DMV artists to do whatever the f--k they want, with no one telling them no, besides parameter issues with what we can accommodate,” Brienza explains. The diversity of productions is evident in show descriptions alone. “We have a show a 17-year-old wrote, ‘Static: Noise of a New Musical,’ about a family in Appalachia going through trials and tribulations and the songs sound pretty good,” Brienza says. “We have a show called ‘Higher,’ about people trying to escape the pandemic in a hot air balloon. We’ve got silly cabaret shows. We’ve got shows about Sheboygan. We’ve got shows about what it is to be a mixed race. Shows about cloning. It just runs the gamut.” Exploring many topics and types of theatre is one of the festival’s goals. According to Brienza, it’s also the GOAT of the art form. “If theatre is going to do its job, we have to be able to show the full range of human emotions. And that is what is in the festival, it’s literally people sharing, creating shows, creating musicals, based on emotions or trips they’ve gone on in the last two years.” The diversity of Capital Fringe has set the annual festival apart for years — and so has Brienza’s ability to learn on the job.
CULTURE “Most of the artists haven’t ever been responsible for doing a whole show,” Brienza told us. “They learn to rely on themselves, they have to communicate to other people, they have to learn to trust people. It could be great, or it could be really bad. The idea of trusting themselves, trusting other people, learning how to communicate to groups, and all that kind of stuff.” It’s not just a lot of work for each artist, it’s a lot of work for Brienza. The festival doesn’t exist without her, and for 17 years, it’s been her calling card. Coming out (fingers crossed) of the pandemic, Capital Fringe occupies an even more important part of the D.C. theatre scene. “It is a lot of work. And it is something I cannot do in perpetuity. But especially, as I think the art scene emerges from the pandemic, and we are so heavily weighted with federally funded and city-funded organizations that are very highly curated, that there is a little bit of the wild voice here in the DMV area that needs to have its place.” Another first for this year’s Fringe is the ticketing process. Gone are the well-received multi-show passes. Instead, tickets cost only $15 per show. “This is an earning opportunity for the artists so we’re only selling single tickets. The artists get 70% of the ticket revenue. And so, when you’re attending the festival, you’re actually giving to the artists.” (Related, an adult ticket at the nearby AMC Georgetown is $17.26 after taxes and a convenience fee.) If you’re at all interested in attending any of the shows, you’ll want to move quickly. Once again, each room only seats 51 theatergoers and once the originally scheduled run is over, it’s over. “And we’re not extending, we’re not adding shows. That is not an option in any schedule that I have created or will create in the future.” If you’re looking for something a little more DIY in a location that’s maybe a tad dystopian and needs a bit of hope, you’ll want to consult the full 2022 Capital Fringe Festival schedule. “If you’re having trouble figuring out how you’re feeling like the rest of the humans on the planet, it might be a good time to check into live theater that isn’t super f--king expensive,” Brienza says. “And just sitting in the theater, watching humans do some stuff for a little bit and be like, ‘I kind of relate to that.’ That’s the goal.”
Capital Fringe Festival runs July 14-17 and 21-24 at various locations throughout Georgetown. Visit capitalfringe.org for the complete schedule and follow on Instagram @capitalfringe. Julianne Brienza. Photo by Elaine Li.
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THOSE
“MIDSUMMER” NIGHTS WORDS BY NICOLE SCHALLER
National Building Museum’s Summer Block Party Series returns with “The Playhouse.”
From July 1 to August 28, the National Building Museum and Folger Theatre will transport guests to the enchanted forest of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Set in the main halls of the National Building Museum, guests will travel back in time to ancient Greece and enter the immersive Shakespearean world of fairy mayhem, lovers’ mix-ups and magic aplenty. “We have this big, crazy bombastic space, but it's usually empty when our visitors are here because we don't use it for exhibitions except for the summer,” National Building Museum Vice President for Exhibitions and Collections Cathy Frankel says about the upcoming installation. “So, building something new and creative makes people look at this space differently and sort of takes you out of yourself.” Titled “The Playhouse,” the “Midsummer” takeover will mark the return to the NBM Summer Block Party series inside the building after a two-year pandemic hiatus. Prior to Covid-19 measures, the museum dedicated to architecture, engineering and design built installations every summer based on a theme, like BIG Maze (2014) and Fun House (2018). With people desperately wanting to shake off the pandemic confinement, “Midsummer’s” whimsical theme is all the more fitting. “‘Midsummer’ was chosen pre-Covid, but I'm thrilled that it's what we're doing, because it is the best [Shakespeare] play for a younger audience. It’s delightful,” Frankel says. “People are looking for some escapism.” 60 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
The Main Stage Originally built by University of South Carolina, a massive stage for outside theatre shows will be the exhibit’s focal point. Set in the center of the Corinthian order main room, the stage will host a large part of the exhibit’s programming, including learning how to sword fight (don’t panic, foam weapons only), Shakespeare hip-hop performances, poetry workshops — and of course multiple shows of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Known as Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, “Midsummer” has a slew of characters caught in multiple entangled love stories that only grow more complicated when a love spell is thrown into the mix. “The Playhouse” production of “Midsummer” will roughly cut the run time of the play in half, to a 90-minute, no intermission show as a way to adjust to modern time’s shorter attention spans. “We wanted to find the moments in the play that welcomed the audience in,” Folger Theatre Associate Director of Programming and Director of Producing Beth Emelson says. “The emotions on stage need to match the size of the space, so we found the moments that would resonate the most with an audience, and if I hadn't told you that we took parts away, you would not know.” Additional updates to the production involve casting. “We live in the era of the one race play,” actor Jacob Ming-Trent
CULTURE says, who plays the comically ego-driven Nick Bottom in the production. “The cast is a completely diverse group. It's wonderful. People are cast in roles that maybe they wouldn't traditionally play.” Since Folger Theatre is undergoing major renovations through 2024, they partnered with multiple venues and locations like Round House Theatre and Theater J to host their productions in the interim. Their unique partnership with the National Building Museum allows participants to explore aspects of a production and the story beyond the show itself.
Immerse Yourself The installation in the West court of the museum will be a 20-foot, three-dimensional diorama of the pop-up book, “A Knavish Lad” by Joanna Robson come to life, which depicts scenes from “Midsummer.” Attendees can travel through the magical forest for Instagram photo ops, or to act out scenes from the play. There will also be a scavenger hunt where visitors select a character from the play and explore the main exhibit and neighboring exhibits in the museum as they fulfill the quest. On the opposite end of the main floor, patrons will be able to peak behind the curtain. “There'll be groups that are going on behind-the-scenes tours,” Frankel notes. “So going to the East court, it will essentially be the backstage of the stage. Visitors will go back there with all the costumes. They can learn more from the tour guides about how the stage is made, how things happen backstage and learn a little bit more about ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream.’”
Scene from “A Knavish Lad” by Joanna Robson. Photo courtesy of artist.
Learning from the costume and production designers was crucial component for the National Building Museum when creating the exhibit and working with Folger. “I think there’s an expectation from our visitors to talk about the built world,” Frankel says. “[In past Summer Block parties] it’s really amazing how much our visitors love the process.” Which is why through all of June visitors of NBM will witness the installation and stage being built. “It’s really important for people to understand that these things don’t just appear overnight,” Frankel says. “There are lots of people, lots of partners involved. So much of what we’re trying to do at the museum is trying to educate people about the built environment and build their vocabulary so they can be a participant in it. Buildings are alive. They change over time.” So, whether it is the play itself, the myriad of activities, the installations or how it all comes together that piques your interest, “The Playhouse” covers a range of interests and educational opportunities. As Emelson notes, “I know this is such a trite thing to say, but I honestly think that there's something for everyone.”
“The Playhouse” at the National Building Museum can be explored July 1 to August 28. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” opens on July 12. To see show times and learn more about Folger Theatres’ upcoming season, visit folger.edu or follow them @folgerlibrary. National Building Museum: 401 F St. NW, DC; nbm.org // @nationalbuildingmuseum
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“Unbound” The NFT Installation Making Waves in Washington’s Creative Community WORDS BY CAROLINE CLIONA BOYLE
CULTURE The fast, yet somehow covert, rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology has entered Washington’s art scene. As artists come to grasp the full potential of creating in the Web3 space [Ed. note: for more about Web3, turn to page 72], a new exhibition is capturing artists’ real-time experimentation with NFTs, unveiling new (and potentially lucrative) possibilities for creators. “Unbound” features the work of four local, independent artists of color making waves in the local arts and entertainment industry. With mediums ranging from textile design to graffiti art, the exhibition’s fusion of physical artwork with Web3 technology offers viewers a unique opportunity to become fully immersed in a variety of artistic expressions.
Justin Victoria Graphic Designer + Visual Artist Justin Victoria is a mixed media artist who’s always had an eye on the digital realm. The German-born, New York-raised graphic designer, abstract painter and photographer pushes the boundary of traditional image-making. Victoria merges his hyper-saturated and occasionally pastel, abstract acrylic work with digital graphics to create a seamless, mesmerizing effect. Well versed in photo manipulation, Victoria is unabashed to meld traditional artistic mediums with technology, now culminating in the artist’s participation in “Unbound.” The challenge is welcome. “I feel like I kind of found a voice with abstract-on-canvas. But how do I make it sing in this other medium?” Victoria questions. Projection-mapping software is the tool to create NFTs, a “visual coding” of sorts, Victoria explains. However, he isn’t wholly unfamiliar to the world of crypto art, having created a token reminiscent of a fluid resin painting for the popular NFT marketplace ZORA in 2021. “Let’s just kick down the door and see what’s possible,” Victoria says. The artist hopes to “bring as many people through [to “Unbound”] and just keep expanding on these new techniques.” For Victoria, “Unbound” is an opportunity to continue exploring the possibilities of NFTs, and to bring exposure for artists of color in Washington creating with Web3 technology. “People of color are the backbone of so much of pop culture and just everything — rock and roll, you name it,” he says. “We’re all worthy of our shine.” Follow Justin Victoria on Instagram @ber_lem.
Kyla Hill Textile Artist Kyla Hill is a textile artist whose practice centers around the incorporation of hemp-based materials. Hill’s background is in fine art painting, but over the last decade, learning about the benefits of hemp and its multifaceted use piqued her interest in creating textiles. The artist’s work explores themes of sustainability, and naturally, all things hemp. In recent years, hemp has surged in popularity among communities that harness the plant’s benefits for everyday usage. For example, “hempcrete” is a non-toxic, energy efficient alternative to concrete, Hill explained. It’s the very material that the artist found inspiration in to create her installation for “Unbound.” Of her soon-to-be revealed project, Hill says, “It’s kind of post-apocalyptic, but also futuristic.” Using a digital recreation of hempcrete textiles as a canvas for projection-mapping, Hill’s installation will mirror the consequences of today’s ongoing climate crisis. “Golden Eye” by Sonia Jones.
In her practice, Hill also recognizes the NFT-sustainability predicament. NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain are known to consume large amounts of energy due to the nature of their storage. In her installation for “Unbound,” Hill’s work will explore this quandary through the lens of what the world will look like 50 years from now. Follow Kyla Hill on Instagram @hempresshill.
Sonia Jones UX Designer + Figurative Artist In her paintings, mixed media artist and muralist Sonia Jones captures the beauty of everyday moments, people of color and women and children. Jones layers oil and acrylic paint with more pronounced textures, such as fabric, to explore identity, self-perception and the essence of life. With a background in UX design, the artist is also familiar in creating with new media technology. Jones explains that what’s unique about creating for Web3, in contrast to designing for mobile and website, is the creative liberty attached to crafting a digital aesthetic. Jones’ art is primarily figurative — capturing both faces and people. For the artist, finding a middle ground between her medium and using Web3 technology to create art is trying to “marry the two in a very interesting way — in a way that’s authentic to who I am as an artist, but also as a Black woman.” She says, “It’s not necessarily [recreating] painting into a digital medium, but how to use the best of what I can do in the digital world.” Learn more about Sonia Jones on her website soniajonestheartist.com and follow on Instagram @soniajonestheartist.
David Zambrano Graffiti Artist + Apparel Designer David Zambrano is a graffiti artist and clothing designer whose label DEZ Customz primarily specializes in custom footwear. For Zambrano, “Unbound” is an opportunity to step outside of his comfort zone as a creator. Initially, the artist’s interest in creating for Web3 emerged from a desire to understand how an artist can take a 2D painting and manipulate its dimensionality. Zambrano’s work for “Unbound” will be his first experience creating an NFT. Zambrano’s draw to Web3 is motivated by the “possibilities to see the examples of what could be,” he says. “There’s this magic that’s going to happen, and I’m excited about that.” His contribution to “Unbound” will be a “three-dimensional exaggeration of graffiti” that balances color, shadow and light, he says. DISTRICT FRAY | 63
CULTURE “We really want to bring the user into the fold and have them be able to manipulate [the artistry to] see the depth that’s really contained within it.” Follow David Zambrano on Instagram @deztheartist76 and @dezcustomz.
The Making of “Unbound” “Unbound” started with a question. “How do we take advantage of this new technology and how do we introduce artists and artists of color to this technology?” asked Levi Robinson, program director and curator of Hue2 Foundation. Noticing the frenzy around NFTs and crypto art, Robinson envisioned a multi-layered project that promoted education around using Web3 technology for art that would uplift local artists of color in Washington. Robinson says the project couldn’t have been realized without the help of the ILLUMINUS team, a Boston-based collective promoting the intersection of art and technology. The group assisted the artists in learning the NFT program-mapping technology to incorporate their respective mediums. Diane Dwyer of ILLUMINUS says the group’s role in assisting “Unbound” is all in the exhibition’s name. “These artists are pushing their own personal and artistic boundaries, as well as sort of the boundaries of how we know the art scene to function,” she says.
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High Caliber Events Co-Founder Mollie Q. Coleman praised the four creatives participating in the exhibition for their talent and the doors they are opening for other artists of color in Washington interested in creating for the Web3 space. “Creating the opportunities and accessibility for BIPOC artists in general is a huge part of our mission,” says Coleman. On a larger scale, she says, the exhibition represents “connecting community and culture so that we’re not left behind in the midst of everything that’s happening.”
“Unbound” will be open July 14-16. It is curated and produced by the nonprofit Hue2 Foundation, art consulting company Art Vibez, PR strategists High Caliber Events and the Boston-based group ILLUMINUS, which hosts an annual festival dedicated to art, design, technology and science. Art Vibez: artvibez.com // @artvibez.co High Caliber Events: highcaliberevents.com // @highcaliberevents Hue2 Foundation: hue2foundation.org/unbound // @hue2foundation ILLUMINUS: illuminusboston.org // @illuminusboston
LIFE + AFTERLIFE AT NAT GEO’S
“BEYOND KING TUT: THE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE” WORDS BY ABI NEWHOUSE Almost exactly 100 years ago, British archeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Known widely as “King Tut,” and arguably the most well-known pharaoh of the past century, the young king has turned into something of a pop culture icon. Over the years, people speculated on everything King Tut — his relationships, his cause of death, his tomb’s hidden contents. The National Geographic Museum is here to set the record straight in their new exhibit “Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience.” “There were more famous pharaohs, like Ramsses the Great and Seti the First and Cleopatra,” Kathryn Keane, vice president of public experiences for the National Geographic Society says. “King Tut was, in life, sort of a minor pharaoh. He only ruled for 9 years and was relatively unknown. But because his tomb was the only intact tomb that had been discovered in the Valley of the Kings, he’s the most famous pharaoh. In many ways, he’s had quite the afterlife.” The museum plans to showcase that afterlife as part of King Tut’s story. The exhibit is an immersive experience — visitors will be surrounded by images, video and sound, covering the whole floor of the museum. After an introduction video, visitors will walk into King Tut’s tomb, the walls covered in hieroglyphics depicting ancient Egyptian’s preparation for the afterlife. On the other side of the museum will be a projection similar to those at ARTECHOUSE, where visitors are surrounded by image and sound. In this version, National Geographic adds a storytelling component, voices narrating King Tut’s
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afterlife experience based on ancient texts. The National Geographic Museum aims to add a new perspective in this storytelling. During the time of Carter’s discovery, Western and European archeologists had the corner on these types of excavations. Over the past few decades, National Geographic has worked to make sure people who live near the discoveries get to help tell the stories. In this case, two Egyptian explorers will be highlighted in the exhibit — Sahar Saleem, radiologist from Cairo University, and Nora Shawki, Egyptian archaeologist. “In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Egyptians were extremely cognizant of the Westerner’s presence, and they were very deliberate about protecting their heritage during that process,” Keane says. “I’m not suggesting there wasn’t looting while this was happening, but Egyptians were early leaders in understanding the impacts of looting, and they put guardrails and rules in place for some of these Western excavations.” Since Egypt is one of the American school system’s main focuses in world history classes, museum visitors might have at least a basic knowledge of this expansive culture. But that focus can run the risk of turning people into artifacts, and National Geographic Museum wants to turn that around. They draw from ancient spiritual texts and scholarship to create a rendition of royal Egyptians’ life and views of the afterlife. “Our goal is to always be talking about how the past can help us better prepare for the future,” Keane says. It’s difficult to talk about the future without
“Beyond King Tut.” Photos courtesy of National Geographic Museum.
CULTURE considering the threat of climate change. The King Tut exhibit should help visitors understand the need for conserving stories, and also conserving these ancient cultures threatened by our ever-changing world. While Egypt is definitely getting hotter, it’s also threatened by rising sea levels affecting the Nile’s delta, agriculture issues and general water issues. “Our ability to highlight ancient cultural sites is not to generate tourism, but to elevate the need for conservation in those places,” Keane says. “We have seen, in our lifetime, ancient areas of the world — places that are in the Bible — that have been threatened by climate change and human conflict. It shows a dramatic need for protection and conservation. By elevating these stories, we’re also elevating the audience’s consciousness.” The goal of any great museum is to have visitors leave with the ability to think about the world differently than they did when they first entered. The King Tut exhibit offers plenty to think about — stories of our ancient world, our present world and our researched renditions of the world after. “For us, it’s really about experiencing [King Tut’s] story in a different way,” Keane says. “And being able to travel to Egypt without actually having to get on a plane. A great exhibit is like a time machine — through the power of great visual storytelling, we can transport you back in time and allow you to understand history a little bit better.”
For a little preview, enjoy these King Tut fun facts from Fred Hiebert, archeologist-in-residence for the National Geographic Society. Inside King Tut’s tomb, there were 5,398 objects, including the most famous funerary mask and 22 pounds of solid gold. Aside from the mummy and sarcophagus, there were: 8 shields
28 gloves
6 chariots
24 shawls
130 walking sticks
15 sashes
35 boat models
25 head coverings
40 boxes of food
4 socks (what was Tut’s mom thinking?)
11 life-size sacred boat oars 5 composite bows 14 self-bows
42 pairs of sandals and one single 6 beds
2 quivers
29 chairs (including 4 thrones)
200+ arrows
11 footstools
145 pairs of underwear “King Tut: The Immersive Experience” continues through February 2023. To reserve tickets, visit nationalgeographic.org. Follow @natgeomuseum to learn more about the exhibit and the National Geographic Museum.
12 tunics
National Geographic Museum: 1145 17th St. NW, DC
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Y WORDS B
Led by Broadway director Steve H. Broadnax III, Studio Theatre’s production of Katori Hall’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning play “The Hot Wing King,” explores themes that correlate with the director’s personal journey towards redefining what it means to be a man. “This play is about love — unconditional love prevails all,” says Broadnax, who made his Broadway directorial debut in 2021 directing Keenan Scott II’s “Thoughts of a Colored Man,” which, like “The Hot Wing King,” depicts portions of the Black male experience in America. “Even though many Black men have not been taught how to love outside of the restraints of masculinity, in this play, we get to see these men surrender to the power of love and witness its healing effects.” “The Hot Wing King” is a portrait of the modern, but often underrepresented, American family. The play follows a team of Black, predominantly gay Memphis men, whose quest for a local hot wing competition championship gets interrupted by the arrival of a nephew in need of care. In 2016, while directing Katori Hall’s Olivier-Award-winning drama, “Mountaintop,” at People’s Light in Pennsylvania, Broadnax and Hall shared an intimate conversation that would later birth “The Hot Wing King.” Over a quick McDonald’s breakfast before rehearsal, Hall shared a story of her brother and his same-gender partner. She explained that the couple had recently taken in their teenage nephew, despite doubts from the boy’s incarcerated father of whether a heterosexual boy could be guided into manhood by two gay men. “I said, ‘Katori — that’s your next play,’” Broadnax says, who also serves as an associate professor of theatre and professor in charge of MFA acting at Penn State University. “I’ve never seen that dynamic onstage before, but we need that in our community to understand this new sense of family.” Hall agreed, but the play took about three years and countless check-ins by Broadnax to be produced. Hall’s career took off, as Starz tapped her to executive produce their new series “P-Valley,” adapted from Hall’s original play “Pussy Valley,” which chronicled the happenings at a Mississippi strip club. After auditioning for a role in “P-Valley,” Broadnax received a call from his old friend. “Hall called me and said, ‘You didn’t get the role for “P-Valley,” but I have a consolation prize: I finally wrote “The Hot Wing King” and I want you to direct it.’” 68 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
JOE MAR
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The play’s ability to challenge the composition of the traditional nuclear family and expose audiences to a wider spectrum of masculinity and male intimacy was a major selling point for Broadnax. “There’s a very narrow definition of masculinity, so, as men, we’re often left trying to desperately hold onto our identity, even if that means denying parts of ourselves in order to satisfy our gender performance,” Broadnax says, a Little Rock, Arkansas native who is a proud member of the queer community. “A lot of what I grew up understanding masculinity to be, was foreign to me because I didn’t always fit inside that definition. I was told to be male was to be tough, hard and attracted to the opposite sex, so I learned to adapt to this definition simply for survival. I still have an image of my momma dragging me out the house to fight folks in the neighborhood because she wasn’t going to let me be a sissy or a punk.” On the first day of rehearsal for “The Hot Wing King,” Broadnax entered the room wearing a smile that fit him almost as well as his tailored suit and suede loafers. He spoke with the encouraging cadence of a Southern Baptist preacher, as Broadnax emphasized his mission to put “people before plays,” inviting the cast to collaborate on the work ahead. Yet even with the confidence and self-awareness it takes to direct a PulitzerPrize winning play, Broadnax’s personal journey toward defining what it means to be a man is still a work in progress, which has been aided by 22 years of therapy and a strong sense of faith. “Faith was and still is my foundation,” Broadnax says. He was raised in the church by his grandmother, who, at 94, still calls to check in on him before rehearsals. Although sexuality and spirituality have often been viewed as antithetical in the church, Broadnax’s personal journey of self-acceptance led him to find a harmonious balance between the two, which is explored in the play. “When I do work, it’s a sense of ministry. I’m on assignment to expand Black men beyond the stereotypes presented in mass media, designed to keep us oppressed and enslaved.” Broadnax’s ministry work extends to audience and cast members alike. What started off as a first rehearsal ended up Steve H. Broadnax III. Photo by Lelund Thompson.
CUE THE LIGHTS | CULTURE
th i w n o i t a s r A Conve ctor e r i d y a w d a Bro III x a n d a o r B . Steve H
resembling an uplifting group therapy session, as cast members shared their perspectives on the possibilities and restraints of masculinity. “Beyond the play, the brotherhood and fellowship I’ve been able to establish with the men of this cast has been the most rewarding,” Broadnax says. “If we could all leave as newfound brothers, return to our communities and continue these conversations — I know it will only lead to a greater freedom of expression and vulnerability amongst our Black men.” Tickets for “The Hot Wing King,” which closes on July 31, are available at studiotheatre.org. Check out @studiotheatre on Instagram for play updates and visit Steve H. Broadnax III’s website stevebroadnax.com to stay up-to-date on all his work. Studio Theatre: 1501 14th St. NW, DC DISTRICT FRAY | 69
LIFE
Rising High in Black Rock Desert WORDS BY COLLEEN KENNEDY In 2017, Baltimore-born and Maryland-based photographer and documentarian Erin Douglas was gifted a Burning Man ticket by a friend. “I wasn’t excited. I was terrified. And I couldn’t pinpoint why,” she says. As a solo world traveler, she acquiesced to sometimes being the only person of color during her journeys to parts unknown, but she wasn’t comfortable with that in the unfamiliar landscape of Burning Man, an annual pilgrimage by creatives to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for a week of self-expression and community building.
LIFE Though the Burning Man Project explicitly states one of its 10 principles is “radical inclusion,” Douglas noticed a contrast between her experience — which was seeing more BIPOC Burners (dedicated attendees) than she had expected — and the underrepresentation in media depictions of the festival. After returning home, she posted the photos she took of Black Burners she met during the weeklong creative celebration. The responses she received were revealing. “People were saying, ‘I didn’t know we were invited. I didn’t know this was for us.’” Since then, Douglas has been challenging that whitewashed notion through her “Black Burner Project” — a series of interviews and portraits of BIPOC festivalgoers. At this year’s festival, her original installation piece — “Black! Asé” — will ascend over 30 feet high in the desert and make Black Burners impossible to overlook.
“The Black Burner Project” Douglas returned to Black Rock City in summer 2018 (and the next and the next), knowing that she could intervene through awareness and representation. “And that was scary for me because I knew I wanted it to be bigger than just my Instagram page, I just didn’t know what that meant yet,” Douglas admits. “I tried to let go of this idea, but it wouldn’t let go of me.” The Burning Man Project, which has a meticulously curated public image, then granted Douglas approval for her nascent project: photographing and interviewing Black and Brown Burners for her Instagram and website for her series “The Black Burner Project.” “I wanted people to see themselves, and to share their stories,” Douglas states. “Let’s change the perspective of what people think Burning Man is, and what us, as Black and brown people, experience out there.” Evolving over the last five years, her multimedia project is impressive in scope, clarity and connection. The 350+ portraits she has captured are beautiful and bold, inspiring and empowering, capturing moments of unabashed joy, unique style, artistic expression and community. Douglas pairs her powerful photos with short personal essays reflecting upon Black Lives Matter. During the 2020 Festival, she conducted over 80 Instagram interviews and stories. Likewise, the 70 “Stories from the Dust” interviews she has hosted — often stretching to an hour long — tell diverse experiences and memories, tips for newbies heading to the playa for the first time and opportunities for reflection among dedicated Black Burners. Yomi Ayeni, a Black British Burner who heads the Burnerrelated public arts nonprofit We Are From Dust, approached Douglas to be on his board in support of Black artists. The proposal brought Douglas to the realization of a large-scale project, a culmination and expansion of her work so far.
let it, and so it is’” — was central to Douglas’ message, as was affirming Blackness through the power of the people through the word “Black.” Burners can climb the scaffolding connecting the portraits, lounge on seating and during the day find respite from the sun, or at night have a lighted nighttime playground. There will be audio clips from her many interviews looping, and “music you wouldn’t otherwise hear on the playa.” Douglas is creating a site to connect, relax, listen and reflect, but with this ascension, she is also activating a brave space for fellow Black Burners while elevating her role as an artist about to be known internationally and on a scale as epic as her installation piece. “It was so important for the pictures to be seen, and for it to take up space, to be representative of the opposite of what we’re allowed to do as a people: take up space,” Douglas shares of this monumental project. “We’re always overlooked. So, I wanted it to be seen and to show the beauty of us.” For this installation, she teamed up with architect Francesca Xavier — “She’s amazing and has been working her butt off!” — who has worked on several of the most famous Burning Man art installations, and now serves as the co-designer and creator of all the renders for “Black! Asé.” In June, the prefabrication process will occur in Petaluma, California, at the studio of sculptor Marco Cochrane, who generously offered his space. Douglas plans to travel to California and Nevada several times during the next few months during the construction and installation. To fund the project, Douglas thanks her supportive community: she received an honorarium grant from the Burning Man Project, and through crowdfunding, courting generous donors and other fundraising events, Douglas is finalizing the funding for the project. But, with the creation of “Black! Asé,” Douglas intends an extended life for this occasional piece. “There are options,” Douglas says. Touring installations in the Bay Area, the UK (where the nonprofit We Are From Dust is located), Oakland, the DMV and Baltimore (Douglas’ hometown) are being considered. Dream locations for Douglas also include, Art Basel and international locales TBD, fitting for the artist who is a world traveler and photographer. Burning Man 2022 will take place from August 28-September 5. Revelers will be expected to practice another core principle “leave no trace.” There should be no waste left behind, no signs that an entire city took over the playa for a week. With the creation of “Black! Asé” and its future home, the installation ensures the visibility of all BIPOC Burners after this summer’s festival, and there will be lasting traces: Spiritual and metaphysical imprints that will be seen and felt by generations of future BIPOC Burners.
“Black! Asé” Douglas’ intimate, joyful portraits of Black Burners will soon tower as tall the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in the vast golden dust and azure sky of the playa. The first Black artist-created photographic installation at Burning Man, the three 30-feet-high structures (representing the past, present and future) that comprise “Black! Asé” will be immersive, participatory and multisensory. Ase — “a Yoruba word of affirmation, the power to do things, ‘So shall it be, so Erin Douglas. Photo by Karston Tannis.
Check out the Black Burner Project and support this project at blackburnerproject.com and on Instagram @blackburnerproject. Visit Erin Douglas at erin-sha.com and on Instagram @aphotochick. And if you are attending this year’s Burning Man Festival, make sure to visit “Black! Asé.”
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Let’s see if I can explain DAOs — decentralized autonomous organizations — within Web3 like we’re all 10 years old. First off, Web3 is the next version of the internet — Web1 was text-only web pages with a few hyperlinks to other text-only web pages, and Web2 is what we know as the internet now. Web3 will be run by blockchain, permanent and encrypted information that gives users the ability to own and control their data across the internet. Here’s where DAOs come in. DAOs are groups of users who have come together for a common purpose within Web3. Instead of a traditional structure of company owners and board members who control all the money, DAOs give that responsibility to the collective membership. In a general sense, DAOs’ goals are utopian: Each member has a say in the direction the DAO takes and what the DAO might purchase. Web3 is currently very cerebral, a lot of planning and imagining for its possible emergence as a new normal. It’s the beginning of something, so of course, it’ll look a little chaotic. To get a clearer picture, we interviewed a few people in the DMV involved with DAOs.
A NEW KIND OF WORDS BY ABI NEWHOUSE
CULTURE OF COFFEE WITH METI YOSEPH “The whole world is drinking coffee, but we don’t really know much about it,” Meti Yoseph, author and creative director of Culture of Coffee says. “So, I wanted to put that at the core of the project.” To start, Yoseph wrote a book in 2013, also titled “A Culture of Coffee,” that captures the origin of coffee, the Ethiopian coffee ceremony and the rituals that accompany this common drink. Now, as Yoseph starts up the Culture of Coffee DAO, she is rebooting the book, selling it to prospective members as an non-fungible tokens (NFT) and a subsequent buy-in into the DAO. “We as the community should dictate how we want to purchase our coffee,” Yoseph says. “How much we pay, who we pay, how the people who grow coffee can benefit…anything we can think about and innovate.” The DAO will make those decisions together. Each group member earns tokens within the group by participating, and those tokens count as votes in group decisions. Culture of Coffee is a newer DAO, but it’s already building ideas on how to make a more equitable coffee system — for instance, paying coffee farmers instead of middle-men suppliers. “It’s more just about trying some experiments. What’s possible?” Yoseph says. “With blockchain you’re literally putting ideas out and freezing them. And then whoever gravitates to the idea would be welcome.”
PHLOTE WITH AJ WASHINGTON AJ Washington, founder of Phlote, launched the DAO in February and already has international contributors due to its mission to make the music industry more transparent. “Music is discovered right now by influencers and tastemakers, but those people are not getting paid,” Washington says. “We enable people to financially benefit from discovering independent artists.”
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LIFE Members of Phlote can share independent artist’s music to the DAO, and if other members like the music, they can upvote it, which gives the original discoverer tokens. From there, the community would create an NFT of the music, and then sell that NFT to help get the artist’s name out. The more you share, the more tokens you can potentially get, which will benefit members down the line. Like shares in a company, tokens will also give them a piece of what the DAO earns. “This is a way for us to meet a lot of people who are aligned with our interests,” Washington says. “We get to build community with them and do cool things together.” Everyone gets a say, and no one person is fully in charge of any decision making. “What’s super exciting is that the next generation of dominant internet startups that disrupt the current ecosystem will be built this way,” Washington says.
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS WITH ALEX PURDY An artist and music producer, Alex Purdy was looking for the next step in her career when she found the Friends with Benefits DAO. A global DAO, Friends with Benefits conducts virtual and in-person events for members to discuss music, fashion, social justice, 3D modeling…the list goes on. “There’s something for everyone,” Purdy says. She was recently given a contributor role within the community, which means she helps facilitate conversations in different Discord channels. Members earn tokens through participation, which allows them to access different tiers within the DAO. “You gain access to tons of people and resources you may not otherwise have had,” Purdy says. “There’s a town hall where we all hear about all the different projects happening, because there’s so many different groups and people doing different things.” Being a part of Friends with Benefits helped Purdy gain more exposure for her music, garnering the sales of a few NFTs. But she emphasized that she’s still learning within this world, and that everyone is still learning. “What’s really helped me the most is having an open mind,” she says. “There’s a lot to learn. Don’t be discouraged by how much new information there is.”
CAMP SOCIAL WITH ZVI BAND Walk into any unfamiliar space alone, and you might leave even lonelier. Zvi Band, a member of several DAOs, including Friends with Benefits, saw how that loneliness translates online and wanted to do something about it. “Discord is like walking into a crowded bar of 2,000 people shouting at each other,” Band says. “People are joining these communities, excited about the mission and the goals, but then they’re just walking into a crowded room, and they make a couple laps and walk back out.” Band created Camp Social to help members of these huge communities find smaller subsets within to build trust and feel like their voice is important to the mass, too. The DAO “plug-in” allows members to meet each other through small group social activities — like a coffee meetup or a simple conversation. This helps DAOs build healthy incentives, as members can earn more tokens when they participate and build deeper relationships with other members. “I believe that the two big problems we have to solve in our lifetime are climate change and loneliness,” Band says. “And both of those problems require completely new types of coordination. When it comes to loneliness, I very much believe that we need new ways to organize ourselves, to learn together, to share and make decisions together.” What we’re seeing right now in the Web3/DAO space is mostly toys, according to Band. Experiments. It’s easy to look at this new world and only see the chaos and the questions. And we should question it. But there’s something to be said about a group of people hoping for a better, brighter and more equitable future. What’s out of our hands? And what’s in them?
To learn more about DAOs and different aspects of Web3 in D.C., follow the W3DC event series on Instagram @web3dc. Follow Culture of Coffee, Friends with Benefits and Phlote on Instagram at @cultureofcoffee, @fwbcollection and @teamphlote, respectively. Follow Camp Social at @campsocial_ on Twitter.
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LIFE
WORDS BY CAROLINE CLIONA BOYLE
The buzz around Web3 is undeniable. In Washington, one group is leading the way to introduce local creatives to the possibilities of Web3. W3DC is a monthly event series that equips Washington’s art community with the knowledge to understand and explore the untapped power of blockchain technology. The series is an opportunity for like-minded creatives interested in developing crypto projects, such as immersive 3D art or music NFTs, to connect and grow a community around the rapidly expanding platforms that make up the Web3 movement. The team behind W3DC spoke with District Fray about the inspiration behind their new event series. In a new discussion of what’s to come for W3DC, Warren Weixler, co-founder of SWATCHROOM and co-organizer of W3DC, observed that the collective’s inaugural meetup strengthened ties between more than 100 local creatives interested in learning about Web3 and NFTs.
W3DC:
WHAT’S TO
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Warren Weixler speaks at W3DC’s June meetup. Photo courtesy of W3DC team.
LIFE received over $60 million in crypto donations as the country’s war with Russia persists. Weixler looks ahead to future panel discussions that operate along a similar vein, inspiring Washington’s art community to pursue the possibilities of Web3 technology for future projects. While discussions around blockchain technology have circulated since 1991, the Bitcoin server was first introduced in 2009. Awareness around the blockchain, cryptocurrency and NFTs have grown over the last decade, but the real catalyst for the present crypto frenzy was the pandemic, Weixler suggests. At least, that’s when Weixler’s interest in Web3 piqued. “All of us that were extroverts, social, went to events.” Weixler says. “And then all [of us] turned introverted and had to stay home, right? So, we turned our attention to the web [and] what was happening online.” Contributions to W3DC’s next meetup, which is expected to take place in mid- to late July, are rolling in. Suggestions to include the work of local NFT musicians and ideas for future panel discussions are tokens of valuable feedback for W3DC’s future events. Ultimately, Weixler observes the exchange of ideas between established and emerging Web3 creators is the collaborative environment the co-host envisioned for W3DC. “We really want to make sure that there’s four things that are present in this,” Weixler says. “We want to build community, but we want to build connection. We want to make sure there’s some educational piece, and we want to make sure there’s social responsibility.” Weixler explains that art is the lens that will bring this mission to life. While the event primarily supports onboarding and facilitating education in the Web3 space, art for him is the vehicle to do that. “Everything that we want to do, the Web3 piece is the common thread. So, if we have a musician, they’re a Web3 musician, if we have an artist talk, they’re a Web3 artist.” “What’s cool about the W3DC community is that you can have rookies to experts and everybody’s kind of willing to help and willing to learn,” Weixler says. “That’s where you get the multidisciplinary kind of approach.” At the June meetup, attendees enjoyed an immersive art installation and panel discussion led by two local creators: Matt Corrado and a generative artist who designs under the moniker Ixnayokay. Corrado is the artist and creator behind Hypees, a project that designs NFT pop art, and Ixnayokay’s work explores the mathematics of nature by way of digital landscapes. The organization also incorporates a giveback strategy into their event series. At W3DC’s previous event, both PayPal and crypto donations were made to the anti-gun violence organization Sandy Hook Promise. Crypto donations have become increasingly attractive as of recent, in part because of their immediacy. According to Bloomberg, as of April 5, Ukraine
COME
District Fray is a media partner of W3DC. The event series was created by SWATCHROOM, OVRT, LBloq by Gil Nazario, PH3LPS by Josh Phelps and Scott Parker Brands. The meetups are also supported by their sponsors: Republic Crypto, Arkive DAO, Matt Corrado, Artblocks, Bronson Bierhall and The Giving Block. Arkive DAO: arkive.net // @arkivedao Art Blocks: artblocks.io // @artblocks_io Bronson Bierhall: bronsonbierhall.com // @bronsonbierhall Matt Corrado: @mattcorradoart The Giving Block: thegivingblock.com // @thegivingblock Ixnayokay: ixnayokay.art // @ixnayokay Republic Crypto: republic.com/crypto // @joinrepublic SWATCHROOM: swatchroom.com // @swatchroom
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I AM READY TO SEE
MY RELATIONSHIP
ON TV ALREADY
MY POLYAMOROUS RELATIONSHIPS ARE LONG-TERM, ALIVE AND WELL. THIS ISN’T A PHASE. WORDS + ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIE LUCIDO JOHNSON
In March, I attended my girlfriend’s wedding. It was elegant, with many of the elements you’d expect: a flowing white gown, a photo booth with a table of props, “Shout” by the Isley Brothers played at 10 p.m. At first blush, it didn’t necessarily scream “queer wedding.” But, of course, that’s what it was. My girlfriend Kat married her now-husband in front of friends and family (given and chosen), some of whom they are respectively or collectively also dating. I started dating the bride in 2016, so our relationship was still newer when I got married in New Orleans in 2018, wearing yellow and eating tacos in a public park. Kat and I were each invited to the other’s small ceremonies preceding larger receptions. I kissed her at my wedding, she kissed me at her wedding. Both weddings were occasions to celebrate not only partnership being bound into law, but the community that those partnerships lean on and engender. I’ve been practicing polyamorous relationships for roughly the last decade. (There was a period at the beginning of this exploration where I would have described myself as “dating around,” before I had cemented what my relationship structure would mean to me and the people I loved.) Let me get this out of the way first: I don’t think polyamorous relationships are for everyone, nor do I think they’re “better.” There are certainly unhealthy polyamorous relationships, just as there are certainly unhealthy monogamous relationships. The relationship structure is not the thing that makes the relationship meaningful, valuable or nurturing. That said, I have lost count of the number of times I have been watching a TV show or a movie and have said out loud, “This would all just be solved if these people considered polyamory.” It may be an oversimplification to say that all romantic-comedy-style conflicts are rooted in mononormativity, but not by much. 76 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
What I don’t see on TV or in movies, meanwhile, are relationships that look like mine. There is a show for polygamist fundamentalist Mormons in Utah. There are a few shows that feature protagonists who are painted as afraid of commitment, and therefore in multiple open relationships. Sometimes throuples crop up on the sidelines of storylines, painted as wacky novelties who might wedge themselves into the main character’s quarter-life-crisis or something. None of these relationships are anything like mine. I have three partners: my husband Luke, Kat, and my partner Bob, who lives in Atlanta. I have been dating all three of them for longer than five years. These are easily the lowest-drama relationships I’ve ever been in. There are no fiery arguments or hysterical meltdowns. Instead, there are long conversations, a lot of truth-telling and a heaping dose of “I feel” statements. That sounds like a nightmare to a lot of people, and I get it. Spending hours “processing” is not everyone’s idea of a fun time. But that doesn’t mean it categorically isn’t a fun time! I love to sit and connect with a person I love for hours, trying to figure out what happened, how it made us feel, how it drew upon experiences from our pasts and what it means for our futures. As I write that, I can physically feel a tiny, ironic, sunglasses-wearing voice in my head rolling her eyes. Earnestness is categorically uncool, and to be in polyamorous relationships that really work, earnestness is required. Here’s the thing: There is no such thing as love without sacrifice. If you are in a monogamous relationship, you sacrifice having sex with anyone else ever again, and if you are in a polyamorous relationship, you sacrifice the emotional comfort that comes with knowing you will always be the winner in someone else’s heart. It’s precisely this discomfort that is a lot of the draw towards polyamory for me. Jealousy is an interesting emotion. It gives
LIFE
you a roadmap; it tells you about areas of need in your life. One of the “rules” I practice in my relationships is that if there is a person in the relationship who is feeling hurt or jealous or angry, everyone else drops what they’re doing and shows up to hear out and nurture that person. We treat hurt pretty seriously in my polycule (a word describing the group of people who constitute the many connections in a polyamorous relationship configuration), and the result is healing. Sometimes, through all that processing, a person ends up healing from a childhood hurt — something they didn’t even know they were holding on to. What I really want to make clear is that this relationship structure really works for me. It works for the people in my polycule. This isn’t a phase; this isn’t the horrifying result
of commitment-phobic youth wanting to f--k with reckless abandon. I am in my late thirties, and I have a baby. This is still my relationship structure. In fact, having a baby has made all three of my romantic partnerships stronger than ever. Why isn’t this something that is on TV already? Where is the love story that looks like mine? Sophie Lucido Johnson is an artist and author of the books “Many Love,” (Simon & Schuster) “Love Without Sex” (Audible) and “Dear Sophie, Love Sophie” (Harper Collins). Read more of her work at sophielucidojohnson.com and follow her on Instagram @sophielucidojohnson. DISTRICT FRAY | 77
What's
the
Occasion? Your Guide to Treats, Strains + Tours at Lucky Chuckie WORDS BY BREE RODRIGUES-OLIVEIRA Weed. Pot. Grass. Flower. No matter what you call it, marijuana is by no means a monolith. Depending on the strain and how you use it, each bud can achieve a different vibe — it could turn your wild night out to a chill night in and vice versa. But with some help from the cannabis gurus at D.C. tour company and weed delivery service Lucky Chuckie, enjoy our guide to strains and treats for every occasion. From barbecue smoke sessions to movie night edibles, get the know-how on all your 420 options: A backyard BBQ with best buds Mac & Jelly indica 23-30% THC and Tiramisu Sativa dominate Hybrid 24-30% THC. A night out on the town [One of the flavored] tinctures. It’s easy to go in your pocket or purse and you only need a couple of drops on your tongue, in your drink or even on your food. It’s light and easy with a nice kick. A movie night at home with your S.O. The high tolerance gummies make for a nice movie night snack with a long lasting high.
Along with their products in Lucky Chuckie’s inventory and their 24/7 delivery service, this well-stocked team also hosts a guided D.C. tour for those with a can-do cannabis attitude. A chance to sit back, relax and see the most legendary landmarks around Washington, D.C., join a tour that’s infamous for good times and flowered fun. Offering birthday tours, spa tours, casino tours and tours for any other occasion, Lucky Chuckie tours also entail a menu featuring even more of their amazing options and a donate-andreceive-one-free tour. Couples tours are $70 per person. Small groups ranging from three to four people are $70 per person, and larger groups of five people or more are $60 per person. Custom tours are $100 each, and if they involve a birthday, tours will feature balloons and wine. Romantic tours include rose petals and wine. A tour company and cannabis service that makes the effort to be unique and accommodating, level up your next 420-friendly outing with a terrific Lucky Chuckie tour.
The person with a sweet tooth Grab a pack of our delicious red velvet cookies. The person who doesn’t like smoke or ash Our infused Honey goes great on bread, bagels or even tea. A first-timer Our THC drink is nice and easy. Not too overpowering. Photo by Mary Benitez.
To learn more about Lucky Chuckie products visit luckychuckie.com or follow them on Instagram @luckychuckiedc. And to schedule a tour, visit luckychuckietours.com or follow them on Instagram @luckychuckietours. DISTRICT FRAY | 79
PLAY
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO
TAROT CARD READING WORDS BY CHAD KINSMAN | PHOTOS BY ANDREW WILLIAMS III
BEGINNER’S GUIDE | PLAY I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I became interested in tarot, but I know when I finally allowed myself to take a first step. Just after the New Year, I began exploring this form of cartomancy, from reading articles to reading the cards to recently getting a professional reading. Discovering how tarot — a 15th-century Italian card game turned divination tool in late 18th-century France — fits into the modern world of therapy and selfcare has been a beguiling process. Here’s a beginner’s guide to tarot, written by a true novice.
Decked Out After several intro to tarot podcasts and articles, I decided to get a tarot deck. I heard tarot cards should be gifted, not purchased (to avoid any appearance of “arrogance”). Not wanting to ask someone, nor wait until my birthday or a holiday, I settled on purchasing the cards as ethically as possible from an independent online store. Finding a deck I connected with was important. I chose Neo Tarot by the writer and healer Jerico Mandybur. The deck is paired with a helpful guide that combines tarot and self-care activities. Its Matisse-inflected artwork by Daiana Ruiz includes a variety of skin tones, body sizes and gender expressions, a far cry from the medieval Christian imagery of the iconic Rider Waite cards. A tarot deck is 78 cards. The 56 Minor Arcana cards deal with day-to-day concerns. They are divided into four suits with individual associations: pentacles (finances, material possessions); wands (motivations, passions); cups (emotions, intuitions); and swords (thoughts, actions). The 22 Major Arcana cards are the biggies, speaking to major life events: The Fool, The Lovers, Death and The World. Each card also has astrological, numerological, and elemental meanings, too, adding multiple paths for interpretation. As much as I love language, getting comfortable with tarot’s vocabulary, which evokes something ancient and magical for me, took weeks. Now I love it. I pull one card each morning and journal about how its meaning might be showing up in my life. Recently, the Queen of Wands — signifying optimism, focus and collaboration — made me reflect on how I’ve historically navigated some of my busiest days. Still, I am a long
way from doing a full reading myself.
Getting Carded I had never been to a psychic before. Even after starting to learn tarot myself, I was skeptical. Or maybe just uninitiated. Naive. I grew up in a practical, Protestant household, though metaphysics were subtly supplied by my parent’s Gregorian chant and New Age CDs. Not knowing where to start, I turned to a more familiar incorporeal support — Google. That’s how I found Charley, founder and owner of Psychic Shop, located in Dupont Circle. A seventh-generation spiritualist, Charley has performed tarot, palm and aura readings, as well as reiki healing, for over 30 years. “Look into the shops in your area. Gotta love Google,” Charley advises. “Call and talk with the person who does the reading and try to pick up a vibe. You have to feel comfortable with that person, like you can connect with them. If you’re not, that’s going to change the energy of the reading.” I agree. Charley’s warm, present energy, as well as her keen sense of humor, was obvious even over the phone; any lingering hesitation quickly evaporated while we spoke. Her bright, second floor shop further erased my preconceived notions of a candle-lit room swathed in dark, heavy fabrics. Psychic Shop — where Charley also sells crystals, tarot decks and more — is full of plants and colors. A bubbling fountain and classical music gently score the room. The reading takes place in a small, inviting room. Charley emphasizes that all readings are private and confidential. I opt for a half-deck reading, which takes about 15 minutes. Unlike my cards, Charley’s are beautifully broken in after decades of use. “I let [the participant] know that positive or negative, I will only speak the truth. If they have questions as I go along, please feel free to ask,” Charley explains. “The cards will always give a little bit of insight into each aspect of your life, but they will always stick to whatever’s most significant. The energy from the cards is not always what you want to hear. This is not under your control, or the reader’s control, for that matter. It’s what the cards want to reveal, what they feel is important to you.” Charley asks me to focus on a question DISTRICT FRAY | 81
PLAY | BEGINNER’S GUIDE
— I choose an upcoming creative project — and begins. The cards, through Charley, tell me to expect some chaos, but I will flourish through it if prepared, among more personal observations. It’s surprisingly specific, even without my interpretations. The experience is therapeutic. Charley understands. Many people, she says, find the card’s messages both validating and fortifying. Her clients, representative of D.C.’s melting pot, come to her for readings about “a mighty range of questions. Through the cards, we can talk about yourself, your personal life, your career path, finances and also significant people in your life, like lovers, coworkers and family.” She also reminds me that tarot is not just fun and entertaining. For many, it’s a place for real answers to hard situations. Charley recommends getting a reading every three weeks to three months, so the reading has time to manifest. 82 | JULY // AUGUST 2022
Keeping My Cards Close A friend and longtime tarot reader recently asked me my goals with tarot. I couldn’t honestly answer her question, because so far, I’ve been enjoying the process of exploring its rich world without a thought of an end. For now, I appreciate having one aspect of my life that’s simply about rewarding practice, intuition and curiosity. Botánica y Tarot: 5200 N Capitol St. NW, DC; botanicaytarot.com // @botanicaytarot The Chakra Room: 1669 Wisconsin Ave. NW, DC; mrswhiteofgeorgetown.com Mystic Shop: 609 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, DC; mysticshopdc.com Psychic Shop: 1215 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC; pyschicshopdc.com // @psychicshopdc
PHOTO HUNT | FUN CAN YOU SPOT THE SEVEN DIFFERENCES? If you read Nevin Martell’s piece on Oyster Oyster Chef Rob Rubba, “Summer of Love Apples” on page 34, you might be craving a certain vegetable that’s actually a fruit. Keep that craving coming by playing this month’s photo hunt. Do your best to spot the differences and visit districtfray.com/articles/july-photo-hunt-answer/ for the answer.
Tomatoes. Photo by Scott Suchman.
DISTRICT FRAY | 83
CROSSWORD | FUN
THE EXPERIENTIAL
CROSSWORD
CREATED BY MYLES MELLOR
This month, we’re going experimental with our crossword. Take a walk on the wild side with exotic foods, tech mysteries and some popular D.C. spots, too. Bon appétit! NOTE: Check districtfray.com for the answer key.
ACROSS 1. Not “real” meat 6. Computer science branch responsible for many innovations, abbr. 8. Ketchikan’s state, abbr. 9. Carvings and such 10. Dover’s state, shortened 11. What you’ll explode every July 13. Part of a dean’s email address 14. British Invasion drummer 15. Thai-style burger 17. Steelers state 19. Campaigned for election 20. Copacabana city, familiarly 21. It may “tell your future,” 2 words 23. A fraternity chapter 25. French for sea 26. Sweet potato
DOWN 1. Smithsonian’s second oldest building: Arts and _____ 2. Loving more than one 3. Former “60 Minutes” correspondent 4. Slide on ice
21. Ford of fashion 22. Celebratory poem 24. “Very funny!” 27. Avoid conformity 28. Indefinite article
27. Bring back to former glory
5. The United States Innovation and Competition Act, for example
30. “Dancing Queen” pop group
29. Salvation Army, abbr.
6. Flood ship
32. Experimental chef, Nicholas ____
31. They can be bought in bulk at MOM’s Organic Market
7. “___ in his kiss”
34. Surreal perception? abbr.
9. Pioneering Dadaist artist
35. Fad? Bubble? Future?
12. It’s a foot long
37. Debussy’s “La ___”
16. Insect eaten in Zambia and the Congo
39. City known for its cherry blossoms
17. Remove the peel
41. Big name in appliances
33. Coffee fruit seed 36. Coffee & Wine at the Viceroy 38. British thanks 39. Classic Aston Martins 40. “Brokeback Mountain” director Lee
18. Chef with a passion for innovative foods, José _____
42. D.C.’s theatre festival, 2 words
19. Interesting looking fruit from Southeast Asia DISTRICT FRAY | 85
IN OTHER WORDS
M O L LY S M I T H
REFLEC TS ON 25 YEARS WITH ARENA STAGE WORDS BY COLLEEN KENNEDY | PHOTOS BY ANDREW J. WILLIAMS III Molly Smith, the artistic director of Arena Stage — one of the first companies to be awarded the Regional Theatre Tony Award for its contributions to American performing arts — will complete her tenure after 25 years at the end of this season. But rather than looking back and resting on her laurels, Smith shares what she’s learned and how she’s kept her vision fresh. From streaming plays and film-live theatre hybrid works, Smith has remained focused on the next generation of performing artists and future classics of American theatre. District Fray: Happy 25th season to you! At this point, you are the longest serving artistic director in the DMV. How do you keep the ideas fresh? Molly Smith: Thanks, it’s a big celebration. I am surrounded by a really creative artistic team led by [Associate Artistic Director] Teresa Sapien. We meet on a weekly basis, and have lively discussions about ideas, about projects that are interesting to us. And I have conversations with friends and colleagues all across the country: What are they engaged in? What’s keeping them up at night? What artists do we really need to be looking at? The world premiere of “American Prophet” was supposed to open two years ago. How does the play, which finally opens July 15, reflect the current moment? During the Covid-19 pandemic, the composer Marcus Hummon and the director Charles Randolph-Wright continued to rewrite and go more deeply into the material. Charles and Marcus have written this play, but the credit also goes to Frederick Douglass, because a lot of the lyrics come directly from Douglass. This is about Douglass as a young, vital man in the process of becoming a prophet, a real revolutionary; it’s about racial injustice and how an enslaved man was able to free his people. It’s an ideal time to be opening this show. You are ending your final season with one worldpremiere, and you have another one in the middle of next season. What should we look forward to in “Sanctuary City”? We have all heard a lot about immigration, but not many plays look beneath the covers to allow us into the lives of people struggling to be Americans. The two characters in “Sanctuary City” speak in the poetry of everyday language. We follow their lives as they fight to establish a place for themselves and each other in America. It offers a realistic view of our country’s promise of safety and responsibility, through humor and heartbreak. I’d love to hear more about next season’s “power plays,” these newly commissioned works about power, politics and representation that are now coming to fruition after years of development. Well, interestingly enough, “The High Ground” was commissioned five years ago. This was at a time where not very many people knew what happened during the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. Playwright Nathan Alan Davis’s piece actually has evolved into a
very elegant meditation on what happens with trauma in the body and in the spirit over time. “Exclusion” is one of the most wickedly funny new plays that I’ve ever read, because playwright Ken Lin knows Hollywood inside out and understands what happens when the story that you’re writing as a serious writer becomes Hollywood-ized. What about this revival of a 1920s rom com “Holiday”? “Holiday” is a true page turner, the story of a young man who wants to reverse engineer his life. So instead of retiring at the end of his life, he’s retiring right before the 1929 stock market crash. And for people who love to see great costume designs, that’s going to be in full force at Arena Stage. And then there’s “Riding the Cyclone,” which seems like a wild ride. We’re doing this co-production with the McCarter Theatre Center. It has a crazy plot, darkly subversive: A group of kids from a Canadian choir all die in a roller coaster. Karnac the Magician tells them that the one who tells the best story will live. It’s like the “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” or the “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” It’s one of those shows that develops a cult following. You are staging one of the great contemporary American epics: “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches.” What’s new in this production? It’s 30 years old, but when you read the play, it feels like it was written yesterday, and it’s time for somebody from an entirely different culture to come in and reexamine it. And that’s János Szász, a Hungarian director, whose work I first saw over 20 years ago. He is deep, he’s dangerous in his work. I think audiences are going to be provoked by it, the kind of thing that’s going to send shivers up your arms. During the pandemic, it was pivot, pivot, pivot. Arena did a great job with that, moving from a live theatre to a film production company. What was the takeaway from the pandemic for theatres as far as experimenting and innovating? The pandemic was a real game changer for us at Arena. Finding a meaningful way of connecting with our audience meant we produced five different films — films created around the “51st State” or created through our community engagement program. I think we’re going to see more innovations on stage that combine film and theatre, because more people received DISTRICT FRAY | 87
IN OTHER WORDS
training in filmmaking during the pandemic, so they bring that technical sophistication and those ideas with them. We’ve developed and evolved “Arena Riffs” by commissioning artists to do five- to six-minute pieces from different storytelling angles about the plays we are doing this season. It’s a way to continue using the creativity that we were fostering with filmmaking and keep feeding it into the main season.
Finally, what’s your parting advice for anybody who dreams of being an artistic director for theater? Hold on. You’re going for a ride. I’ve been fortunate to do this for 25 years, and it is absolutely joyful. But it is also challenging. Every single part of me is used up every day from my brain to my heart to my soul. And it’s a total thrill. Arena Stage: 1101 Sixth St. SW, DC; arenastage.org // @arenastage
What was the last play you saw in D.C.? “Our Town” at Shakespeare Theatre Company. What’s your favorite restaurant in the DMV? Rasika. I love the flash-fried spinach served with chutney. It’s delicious. What’s your go-to coffee order? Three shots of decaf espresso over ice with light water. Anybody who can tell you the difference between decaf and caffeinated is crazy. If you weren’t Arena’s AD, what would you be? A potter throwing pots. I just began about seven months ago at Hinckley Pottery in Georgetown. I love it. Do you have an opening night tradition or ritual? I have a night-before-opening ritual if I’m directing something: I completely give the play away. I don’t give anybody notes on opening night. I just let the show go. What’s a dream play that you haven’t yet directed? I’ve been really lucky. I’ve directed most of what I want to direct. What are you most excited for in the upcoming season of D.C. theatre? I’m most excited about “Angels in America.” And I really am curious to see “Clyde’s” over at Studio Theatre. 88 | JULY // AUGUST 2022