Washington City Paper (July 12, 2019)

CITYPAPER WASHINGTON

FREE VOLUME 39, NO. 28 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM JULY 12-18, 2019

POLITICS: COUNCIL FIGHTS OVER EVANS’ CRUMBS 4 FOOD: THE SECRET TO GREAT INJERA IS THE TEFF 6 ARTS: HELP FOR FAILED PLANT PARENTS 18

Talk of the Nation Mike Daisey gives an 18-part, 32-hour monologue on the worst of American history. P. 10

By Chris Klimek

Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

2 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

INSIDE

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COVER STORY: TALK OF THE NATION

10 Monologuist Mike Daisey returns to D.C. with his most ambitious project yet: an 32-hour tribute to Howard Zinn and American history.

DISTRICT LINE 4 Loose Lips: Jack Evans lost his chairmanship of the Council’s finance committee, but his colleagues are the real losers.

6 Crash Course: The rules to know if a driver hits you while you’re walking or cycling 7 Scene and Heard

SPORTS 8

A Long Courtship: Meet the local man determined to play professional tennis at any cost.

FOOD 16 Teff Love: Ethiopean immigrants make traditional injera in the back of their Alexandria market.

ARTS 18 Plant Parenthood: Artists revive ailing plants at Georgetown’s Very Sad Lab. 20 Summer Jams: Add these artists with local connections to your seasonal playlist ASAP. 22 Short Subjects: Gittell on The Reports on Sarah and Saleem 24 Discography: West on Mark G. Meadows’ Be the Change

CITY LIST 27 Music 31 Theater 32 Film

DIVERSIONS 33 33 34 35

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DARROW MONTGOMERY 1700 BLOCK OF F STREET NW, JULY 9

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: ALEXA MILLS MANAGING EDITOR: CAROLINE JONES ARTS EDITOR: KAYLA RANDALL FOOD EDITOR: LAURA HAYES SPORTS EDITOR: KELYN SOONG LOOSE LIPS REPORTER: MITCH RYALS CITY LIGHTS EDITOR: EMMA SARAPPO STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: DARROW MONTGOMERY MULTIMEDIA AND COPY EDITOR: WILL WARREN CREATIVE DIRECTOR: STEPHANIE RUDIG ONLINE ENGAGEMENT MANAGER: ELIZABETH TUTEN INTERNS: ELLA FELDMAN, AYOMI WOLFF CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: MICHON BOSTON, KRISTON CAPPS, CHAD CLARK, MATT COHEN, RACHEL M. COHEN, RILEY CROGHAN, JEFFRY CUDLIN, EDDIE DEAN, CUNEYT DIL, TIM EBNER, CASEY EMBERT, JONATHAN L. FISCHER, NOAH GITTELL, SRIRAM GOPAL, HAMIL R. HARRIS, LAURA IRENE, LOUIS JACOBSON, JOSHUA KAPLAN, CHRIS KELLY, AMAN KIDWAI, STEVE KIVIAT, CHRIS KLIMEK, PRIYA KONINGS, NEVIN MARTELL, KEITH MATHIAS, BRIAN MCENTEE, CANDACE Y.A. MONTAGUE, BRIAN MURPHY, NENET, TRICIA OLSZEWSKI, EVE OTTENBERG, MIKE PAARLBERG, PAT PADUA, JUSTIN PETERS, REBECCA J. RITZEL, ABID SHAH, TOM SHERWOOD, CHRISTINA STURDIVANT SANI, MATT TERL, IAN THAL, SIDNEY THOMAS, HAYWOOD TURNIPSEED JR., JOE WARMINSKY, ALONA WARTOFSKY, JUSTIN WEBER, MICHAEL J. WEST, DIANA MICHELE YAP, ALAN ZILBERMAN

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DISTRICTLINE

Jack’s Off

Councilmember Jack Evans lost control of his Committee on Finance and Revenue, but his power remains evident.

moved Evans from all committee seats, but it failed 6-6. Evans cast the deciding vote.

Evans said very little throughout the day, but released a statement Monday afternoon acknowledging his colleagues’ decision.

“As the process continues, I want to say that I have enormous respect for the Council of the District of Columbia, and I know that each Councilmember is acting out of a sincere appreciation for her or his responsibility, and that is how it should be,” he wrote in his state-

By Mitch Ryals and Caroline Jones Tuesday’s snippy CounCil marathon started with a simple request.

Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh turned to her embattled Ward 2 colleague, Jack Evans, during the Council’s breakfast meeting and asked him to recuse himself from a vote later that day on the contract to operate D.C.’s lottery and sports gambling program.

Some councilmembers believe that Evans’ relationship with N. William Jarvis, his longtime friend and business associate, presented a conflict of interest for Evans, who championed the legislation underlying the lottery contract.

Jarvis helped Evans set up his private consulting firm, NSE Consulting LLC, and, contrary to Evans’ recent statements, provided legal advice and helped negotiate contracts with the firm, according to the Washington Post. Jarvis also lobbied the Council, including Evans, on behalf of DC09, the local company that ultimately won the $215 million sole-source lottery and sports gambling contract. DC09 is the local partner of Intralot, the Greek company that currently runs D.C.’s lottery.

“It seems pretty obvious,” Cheh said. “We have an issue that presents at a minimum the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

“No, Mary,” Evans said.

But the smelly lottery contract, which was approved by a 7-5 vote (Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White missed the meeting because he was welcoming a new baby), wasn’t the only touchy issue on the agenda. The Council also voted 10-2 to remove Evans as the chairman of the influential Committee on Finance and Revenue. Both items became knotted together when, from the dais, At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman accused Chairman Phil Mendelson of whipping votes for the contract in exchange for scraps of Evans’ gutted finance committee.

As the legislative meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and was actually gaveled at 4:10 p.m., stretched into the early evening,

Darrow Montgomery

LOOSE LIPS

Mendelson became increasingly short-tempered and sighed into the microphone.

“I’m just a little bit tired,” he said.

Loose Lips has summarized the proceedings.

A committee ends, an investigation begins The resolution that removes Evans as chairman of the finance committee also authorizes the law firm O’Melveny & Myers to investigate Evans for any violations of the Council’s rules related to his private consulting firm.

A Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board investigation has already determined that Evans violated ethics rules while he served as the board’s chair. Evans resigned from that position in June. He remains under federal law enforcement investigation.

The Council investigation’s scope will date back to January 1, 2014, and will look into potential conflicts of interest related to Evans’ outside work. The Council gave the law firm subpoena power and permission to conduct investigation activities while the Council is in recess. Mendelson said he expects the probe will cost up to $200,000.

At-Large Councilmember David Grosso introduced an amendment that would have re-

4 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

ment. “I understand my responsibility as an elected official in accepting the review that has been occurring and decisions being made, although with sadness and with humility. I will constantly work to reaffirm with my own constituents that I understand the high calling of being an elected official and that I will devote my time on the Council to the redemptive challenge of their good will.”

The Council formally reprimanded Evans earlier this year for soliciting private business using his Council email account. Grosso has called for Evans to resign from the Council entirely.

Evans’ path forward remains unclear. For the first time in years, he will not join the District representatives traveling to New York this week to meet with bond agencies. The Post reported that many Evans allies, including Mayor Muriel Bowser, have distanced themselves in recent weeks. An effort to recall him is underway, but should Evans voluntarily resign, his seat would be filled in a special election.

Mendelson said Tuesday that he expects to name members to the ad hoc committee that will review the law firm’s investigation in early September.

An odd path to a lottery contract Mendelson divvied up the agencies that Evans’ former finance committee oversaw, assigning many of them to them to Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s Committee on Business and Economic Development and At-Large Councilmember Robert White’s Committee on Facilities and Procurement.

In the process, he drew accusations of trading the scraps for “yes” votes on the lottery contract.

(The yes votes in question came from White and McDuffie.)

Mendelson did not deny the accusation when reporters questioned him, saying he preferred not to talk about his private conversations. “I’ve not had that conversation,” he told Silverman when she asked him a similar question on the dais.

White told the Post a day before the vote that he leaned toward opposing the lottery contract, and he previously voted against legislation bypassing the city’s procurement laws for the contract.

During a roundtable in late June, White expressed incredulity at the original justification given for the no-bid contract—that it would help the District beat Virginia and Maryland to market and therefore capture more revenue— and voiced concern that the contract did not do enough to help small local businesses grow in the gaming industry.

By Tuesday, in response to LL’s questions, White denied that he traded his vote in exchange for Mendelson moving WMATA and the Metrorail Safety Commission into the Commission on Facilities and Procurement.

(Multiple councilmembers questioned why these agencies did not go to the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, which Cheh chairs.) White said his change of heart came from conversations he had with business owners, including DC09 president Emmanuel Bailey, over the Fourth of July weekend.

White said he is convinced that Bailey will help the subcontractors grow in the gaming market.

“If I vote one way and figure out I’m wrong, I’m voting a different way,” White told LL. “That’s what you do if you have integrity.”

As for McDuffie, his Committee on Business and Economic Development scored a big win, gaining control of Destination DC, the DC Lottery, the Multistate Tax Commission, and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

McDuffie previously voted against exempting the lottery contract from competitive bidding but voted in favor of the contract Tuesday.

He did not give any indication of which way he was leaning ahead of the vote.

CP

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DISTRICTLINE Crash Course

Here’s what to do if a driver hits you—or nearly hits you— while you’re riding your bike or walking.

There isn’t just one reason, in Finch’s opinion. Sometimes, he says, a bicyclist needs to make an appointment, or underestimates the severity of the situation. In other circumstances, the adrenaline of the movement may push a bicyclist past any pain that they are experiencing.

“Sometimes people think, ‘What’s the point, this isn’t a big deal, I’m not injured, there’s no damage to the car,’ or they think, ‘I might get blamed, I’m not going to call,’” says Finch.

But by skipping this crucial step, a bicyclist risks losing the opportunity to file a timely police report and be examined by a medical professional who can evaluate any injuries.

Sherri Joyner, 58, survived a collision with an SUV while on her bike. She spoke at a rally at the Wilson Building on April 26.

By Bridget Reed Morawski Aimee Custis CAn’t count the number of times that she’s been almost struck by a vehicle. But the number of times that she has definitely been struck by a vehicle? Three.

Custis, a cycling advocate who now works at a local think tank, was bicycling on two of those occasions and walking during the third.

Most recently, on May 25, after watching the Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 5-0, Custis was nearly hit again as she cycled home from Navy Yard. While passing near McPherson Square, a motorist driving a black minivan with Lyft’s signature pink light-up sign in its windshield attempted a right turn in her direction. She says that she was wearing bright red clothing for the game, and crossing the intersection when she had the right-of-way.

Fortunately for Custis, both she and the driver hit their brakes before a collision could occur. She says that she came off her seat, her pelvis slamming into her handlebars and leaving 6 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

“quite a colorful” bruise along her lower abdomen. The driver honked at Custis, who was doubled over in pain, and then drove away.

A few days after the accident, she’s still limping. As she’s been in crashes before, she felt that medically she was fine and didn’t require hospitalization. She didn’t file a police report or seek medical attention.

“Even I, who have been working in bicycle advocacy for almost a decade, in the moment, chose not to seek [police or] medical followup, because it can be that jarring that you don’t think to, even when you’ve been trained better,” says Custis.

In fact, Custis says that this wasn’t the first time that she had been involved in a collision and didn’t follow the guidelines that she hopes others would. Even for the most ardent bicycling devotees, it’s challenging to recall what to do during a road emergency.

If you’re going to ride in D.C., the evidence— namely that pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities make up about one-fifth of all traffic fatalities

Darrow Montgomery/File

Don’t assume the best in people

in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, while the number of commuting bicyclists in D.C. has doubled in the past decade—suggests that you ought to have an emergency plan in place.

Here are basic tips to try to come out of a bad bicycling situation with the best potential outcome. Pedestrians should also keep most of these suggestions in mind.

First: Call 911 and stay put If you’re struck by a vehicle, it may seem obvious to call 911. However, it isn’t uncommon for injured people to leave the scene without doing so, according to Timmy Finch, a bicycle attorney and a member of the Bike Law network, a group of lawyers across the country who advocate for cyclists.

Finch handles a few dozen bicyclist-involved collisions every year, and he says that “a surprising number” of his bicycling clients, friends, and acquaintances skip this step.

Considering that most Americans don’t have $1,000 in savings, it’s no surprise that few are eager to be on the hook for the medical bills or the cost of replacing damaged cycling equipment. That’s more than enough reason to make sure that you have the driver’s accurate contact information and insurance information. “[Bicyclists] take on good faith, like many of us do, that the person who hit them who says, ‘Oh, I’ll pay for the damages to your bicycle,’ [bicyclists] take it on good faith that that will happen,” says Jonathan Stafford, a Washington Area Bicyclist Association Vision Zero campaign coordinator. “It’s not until they get dismissed that they then start to seek other options.”

Take photos of the person’s license, business card, and insurance paperwork at the scene, or have a witness or responding officer take the photos for you if you’re too shaky to take a steady shot. Try to confirm the contact information right there: Text or call the provided number to confirm that it’s accurate.

Don’t make any remarks about your condition until a professional has assessed you and says whether you are uninjured or need follow-up tests. Stick with short, factual replies.

In a tense moment, you don’t want to make assumptions or opine in a manner that could be used to redraw the lines of responsibility.

Seek out witnesses and other corroborating evidence Was the collision on a busy street, with half a dozen rubberneckers still checking out the scene?

Even if the incident was in a relatively quiet area, seek out those who saw the most and hail them over. Get their contact information as well, but ask them to stay on the scene until a responding officer has arrived and can take their statement.

While it’s equally important that the struck cyclist stays at the scene to provide their perspective on the collision, depending on the severity of one’s injuries, that might not be realistic. If you need immediate medical attention, try to confirm that some witnesses will provide a statement to responding officers.

“The police can only take one version of that

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story if there’s only one person there,” says Finch, explaining how it is not uncommon for a hospitalized or otherwise medically evaluated victim to be served a citation by an officer who has not received both sides of the story.

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Keep a card on hand to remind you of all of this and update your information Being struck by a vehicle could fairly be considered one of the most high-stress situations that could happen to most of us, bicyclist or otherwise. Before getting on the road, cyclists should have something to remind themselves of all of the information they will need. WABA currently has a downloadable, printable crash form for bicyclists to tuck into their wallets, which reminds bicyclists of the steps to take after a crash.

Be sure to keep your information accurate across services and platforms. Confirm that your emergency contact information in your phone or in your wallet is current (and won’t send responders into a conversation with your ex-romantic partner from three years ago).

Make sure it’s actually someone who could assist you or first responders—preferably someone local, reliable, and level-headed.

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Why should you bother going through the trouble? It may be easier to just want to get bandaged, get a new bike, and move on. But now that the District has formalized a comparative negligence standard for transportation crashes, Finch says, bicyclists now are more likely to receive compensation for related damages.

In the past, it wasn’t so straightforward. Under the former contributory negligence standard, any potential compensation for a victim could be voided even if they were found to be just 1 percent negligent in a given situation. That could come down to the fact that they were wearing dark clothes or were looking in a different direction, despite having the right-of-way or the condition of the motorist.

Now, according to the relevant statute, a bicyclist’s negligence is unable to prevent that individual from pursuing compensation unless the bicyclist was the “proximate cause” of their own injury and that unless that negligence is “greater than the aggregated total amount of negligence of all of the defendants that proximately caused the plaintiff ’s injury.”

Essentially, so long as you were not the main cause of your own injuries, you are now able to seek compensation. However, you should always consult an attorney regarding the specific details of your case and the most relevant case law.

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Independence Day, 2019 The apocalypTic boom of fireworks echoes through side streets and alleys. Farther south, the main event is coming to a close, the president long done with his speech celebrating the U.S. military and our shared history.

“To every citizen throughout our land: Have a glorious Independence Day,” he said.

Away from the mall, Washingtonians—regardless of citizenship status—are doing just that. A young man struggles for minutes to set off fireworks in an alley, having trouble getting the pyrotechnics to light. When they finally begin to spark he sprints away.

Later, a couple in their mid-20s makes their way back from the bars, obviously drunk.

They stop to pet, and eventually pose for selfies with, a dog who is sitting in the middle of the alley. One doesn’t speak much English, and the other translates for him. They circle each other in conversation, asking the same questions and telling the same stories. They both want to know what product the dog uses for her hair, and they seem proud that they’ve come from far away—“two hours and 45 minutes”—to celebrate in D.C. They laugh and smile and aren’t in a hurry. It seems unlikely that they’ll be heading home tonight.

A man happens on the scene as he bikes through the alley. “Do you have a cigarette?” he asks the men sitting on the ground. They do not. “Do you smoke weed?” He asks. They do, and the three begin to work out a deal, trying to settle on a price. Distant pops of fireworks reverberate through the city. Have a glorious Independence Day. —Will Warren Will Warren writes Scene and Heard. If you know of a location worthy of being seen or heard, email him at wwarren@washingtoncitypaper.com.

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SPORTS

Washington Spirit’s Rose Lavelle will return to D.C. as the unexpected World Cup hero. washingtoncitypaper.com/sports

A Long Courtship Age, trophies, and results be damned. Rico Gore will be playing professional tennis.

By Kelyn Soong

In a number of ways, Rico Gore is just like any other professional tennis player. The Prince George’s County resident has an International Tennis Federation (ITF) page listing his tournament results.

He practices on the court for several hours a day. And throughout the year, Gore competes in tournaments around the United States and over the world in attempts to pick up ranking points.

But a quick glance at his ITF biography reveals that Gore is anything but typical. He is often the oldest player at any given tournament—his opponents, decades younger.

Sometimes he struggles to win a single game against elite junior and collegiate players or pros who make a living through tennis. Gore started playing the sport at 24 and considers himself self-taught. In June, he turned 50.

For the past two decades, tennis at a professional level has consumed his life. Gore competes in the open division at United States Tennis Association tournaments, facing off against nationally ranked players and promising juniors, and at ITF Futures events, which is the lowest rung of men’s professional tennis. He has only nine wins spread over more than 80 ITF tournaments, all of them coming in the qualifying rounds. Gore knows he doesn’t have to subject himself to these loses. He chooses to anyway.

“The drive behind me doing it is I want the highest level of competition,” Gore says. “If I play in my age division, can I beat some guys?

Sure, but it’s bigger than me getting some trophies … I love the game, [and] I want the highest level of competition.”

Tennis, Gore remembers thinking, looked easy. Growing up in the Atlanta area, he ran track, played basketball and football, and raced BMX dirt bikes. From 1987 to 1991, he was active duty in the Marine Corps. It wasn’t until 1993 that he decided to give tennis a try.

After seeing a TV commercial featuring tennis champion Andre Agassi, Gore, then 24, turned to his girlfriend at the time and told her he wanted to play professional tennis.

She didn’t laugh him off the couch, Gore says, but instead encouraged his bold dream.

Darrow Montgomery

TENNIS

She bought him his first tennis book and they flipped through the Yellow Pages for information on the sport.

“I’m one of those types of people who feel anything is possible if your mind can conceive it,” Gore says. “Now don’t get me wrong, there are physical limitations, but I never felt like there was a physical limitation, knock on wood. I had the use of both arms, both legs, was pretty healthy. Because I knew I had the physical ability, then my mind was like, if we learn this game, we can play it.”

Around this time, Gore met Devin McMickens and Avery Harwell, two local tennis players who were regular competitors at USTA tournaments. At first, Harwell didn’t know what to make of Gore. There would be occasions where Harwell wanted to hit with McMickens so he sent Gore to practice on another court. “We were already playing tournaments, and he was just getting his feet wet,” Harwell explains.

But it didn’t take long before Harwell wanted Gore on his side. The two played each other in a match that both remember lasting over three hours in 90-plus degree weather. Harwell won, but afterward the two ended up becoming practice partners.

8 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

“He had the motivation and the drive to get where he wanted to go,” says Harwell. “He wanted to turn pro. He wanted to travel. He was saying all of this stuff when he was coming up, just the sheer determination being around him. I mean, his life, I can say this, is separated by two things: tennis and all that other stuff.

That’s it. That’s his passion. And he’s been playing the open [division] for so long. I said, ‘When are you going to be playing senior division?’ He said, ‘I’m not ready for that.’”

Just two years after picking up the sport, Gore played in the qualifying round of the local professional tennis tournament, then known as the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. He had written a letter to the tournament director saying that he wanted to “represent D.C. and keep the trophy in D.C.” Upon reflection, Gore calls the letter “kind of cheesy” and says he didn’t expect to get in, but he ended up receiving a wild card into the tournament. When he saw his name on the draw sheet, Gore says he almost passed out.

He had a bye in the first round but faced touring professional Kenny Thorne, once ranked as high as No. 121 in the world, in the second and final round of qualifying. Gore lost 6-0, 6-0 in under an hour. The defeat only

strengthened his professional aspirations.

“It just made me hungrier,” Gore says. “I was like, ‘Gosh man, how did this guy beat me so bad? … It just fueled me even more, because it felt good to be out there, see my name in the lights. It was a feeling I wanted more of.”

From 2000 until earlier this year, Gore worked at the American Chemical Society, a nonprofit in D.C., most recently as a project manager. (Gore says he resigned in April to deal with ongoing family issues but declined to elaborate further.) Alicia Harris, Gore’s friend and former colleague, remembers him as being reserved at work and very “meticulous about his leave” and vacation days.

“We have two national meetings a year,” Harris says. “Most people take off when they get home from travel. He was always in the office, because he had to save his leave for tennis.”

Gore says that he spent “98 percent of his leave days” for tennis and envisioned that one day he would advance so far into a tournament that he would be forced to take more time away from work. While that never happened, Gore has had the opportunity to visit over a dozen countries through tennis. This September, he plans to play in Nigeria.

McMickens, who now serves as Gore’s hitting partner and coach, doesn’t believe many people his age could handle Gore’s lifestyle.

Few local tennis players in their 50s are traveling thousands of miles to another country only to be sent home by an opponent more than half their age.

“It’s very rare, because at this point in our age, we’re either married or focused on career,” says McMickens, who is 57. “Not saying he’s not, but his dream is to get a [national] ranking, and so a lot of other people, they’ve stopped playing tennis, or are playing more recreationally. It’s very rare.”

Gore, currently ranked second in the USTA Mid-Atlantic’s open division, has no intention to stop or to play in age group tournaments any time soon. At ITF events, he says, opponents have come up to tell him they admire what he’s doing.

“I’m all in on tennis,” Gore says. “As far as the job stuff, because of [family issues] I’m dealing with, I’m not even thinking about that.

Tennis is my out. It keeps me calm. I go [there] to relieve stress … and now with a little more time to play, I can dedicate more time to the game, which is a good thing.”

CP

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Talk of the Nation

Monologuist Mike Daisey delivers an epic history lesson, informed by a classic lefty text and his own past, to local audiences.

By Chris Klimek

Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

10 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

In If You See Something Say Something, a monologue that Mike Daisey performed in the Capital Fringe Festival 11 years ago, he described a visit to the Trinity test site in New Mexico.

The U.S. tested a nuclear weapon there on July 6, 1945—the first-ever detonation of an atomic bomb.

Daisey returns to Trinity in his current show, A People’s History, which began its run last Friday and features the seated agitator occupying Arena Stage’s Kogod Cradle space through July 21. Or rather, he will be going back to that irradiated plot of desert—his new show comes in 18 chapters. On Saturday he’ll be performing Chapter 10 of a A People’s History, “The American Kryptonite.” That will likely be your only chance, for the foreseeable future, to hear it.

That’s because A People’s History is a serialized epic covering 527 years in the land now known as the United States of America. Each chapter is structured to work as a standalone piece, because even Daisey’s most devout followers are unlikely to clear their calendars for two-and-a-half weeks to catch the entire run.

He’s recording the shows on high-def video; earlier this week he posted last Friday’s performance of Chapter 1, “The Gold Earring,” on YouTube. He hasn’t yet decided when or if he’ll release the others.

Anyway, Chapter 10 covers World War II, the subject of less hand-wringing and more celebration than almost any other era of American history. In a prior performance of this chapter, Daisey congratulated his audience for having opted to show up on the night he would discuss “The Good War.” After 165 years of hard-to-defend behavior, the U.S. got to muster its growing might in the service of unambiguous good against a clear and present evil … … sort of.

Well. If you’re craving uncomplicated stories of American heroism, they are readily available. But Daisey, the most prodigiously gifted stage storyteller left standing since Spalding Gray took his own life 15 years ago, does not make uncomplicated stories. “There are no reliable narrators,” he once said. More recently, he has taken to observing from the stage that because America was founded by Puritans, it “fundamentally does not understand performance.” And that is how—to use one of the memorably horrific revelations that Professor Daisey returns to periodically throughout his marathon lecture session— the comforting fiction that George Washington had false teeth made of wood overtook the fact that his dentures were made of ivory, metal, and real teeth, likely pulled from the mouths of the people he enslaved.

Daisey extrapolated the show from two books: The one from which it borrows its title is, obviously, Howard Zinn’s landmark 1980 bestseller A People’s History of the United States—a critical re-examination of the way American history is usually taught in public school, written by a man who volunteered for service in World War II and flew bombers, went to college on the G.I. Bill, and became a professor of political science and a socialist.

The other book is An American Pageant, the rather less inquisitive text that Daisey received as a high school student in Maine in the early 1990s. The two books are in dialogue with one another throughout his epic oration, the ommissions of the latter remedied by pointed material from the former. But the sensibility is pure Daisey.

Even if you’ve read Zinn’s book, which was updated and republished several times before the historian’s death in 2010, and even if you know Daisey’s work, the show feels more confrontational than what he’s done in the past.

“The way that he looks at the world around him is very particular to Mike,” says Jeffrey Meanza, associate artistic director of the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, where A People’s History was “birthed”—Daisey’s preferred verb for presenting new work for the very first time—in March of 2018. “And then he’s able to balance that skill and intelligence with this really charming and acerbic—which is so weird to have those two words together— personality.”

That return to the Trinity test site in Chapter 10 isn’t the only opportunity the show gives veteran Daiseyites for trainspotting: Those who remember his political monologues The Trump Card or The Story of the Gun (performed at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in 2016 and 2018, respectively) will recognize A People’s History as an opus to which the 43-year-old yarn-spinner has been building for a long time.

Meanza says he and Guthrie honcho Joseph Haj, who first worked with Daisey when they were running PlayMakers Repertory Company in North Carolina about a decade ago, didn’t flinch when he pitched them his 18-parter. They booked the show in the Guthrie’s 200-seat Dowling Studio, where tickets cost just $9. One patron, Meanza says, attended every performance. “There was an exciting energy in the space because he was just leaping off the cliff.”

Daisey has performed A People’s History in one other city between then and now: Seattle, the town where he started his career as a monologuist about 20 years ago. A few weeks ago, he sent me recordings of his run of the show at Seattle Rep last November. Sequenced into an iTunes playlist, they add up to some 32 hours of talking—a pursuit at which Daisey is one of the very best practitioners in the world.

“Mike is, simply put, a great storyteller,” writes Maria Manuela Goyanes, Woolly Mammoth’s artistic director, in an email. She worked with Daisey on a number of shows during her 14-year tenure at The Public Theatre in New York City before coming to Woolly last year. “He understands the structure and form—how to rope us in, when to move to the personal, when to take a bird’s eye view, how to create suspense, how to deliver a punch line, and on and on.”

Indeed, a vanishingly small percentage of specimens from our swollen human herd excel at speech the way Daisey does; certainly no one else with whom I’ve ever had a faceto-face conversation. I strongly suspect that no one I’ve ever seen perform is as good at it

as he is, either. He credits his ability to speak extemporaneously and fluidly—and also, not to belabor this point, at exhausting length—to his participation in speech and debate competitions as a student, but also to his years as a Dungeons & Dragons gamemaster. In this capacity, he would conjure up vivid imaginary worlds with elaborate histories, and keep his fellow gamers anchored within them.

But history class was deathly boring. The authors of An American Pageant tended to breeze past or elide entirely the broken treaties and the genocide that made it possible for the young United States to prosper and to have swelled up into its decadent phase so rapidly.

But if the textbook, and Mr. Harville, his teacher, had been more forthcoming about the betrayals and the blood and the suffering?

“I would’ve loooooved history,” Daisey told his sold-out opening-night audience last Friday.

Two days before that, Daisey and I sit sweating on the terrace of his hotel, moving our chairs every so often to try to dodge the still-withering rays of early-evening sunlight.

Perhaps this is the kind of confluence of occasion that he is so gifted at turning into scenes in his stories: Independence Day Eve with angry left-wing truth-teller Mike Daisey, newly arrived to Our Nation’s Capital to spend a few weeks talking about the horrors in our national basement—a metaphor he returns to throughout his tale.

He points out a sign in the elevator inviting guests and visitors to watch tomorrow night’s fireworks display from the roof deck for a cover charge of $250. But neither one of us have any grand plans for counterprogramming President Trump’s self-aggrandizing “Salute to America,” which has brought an atmosphere of mild unease and more pronounced depression to the city. Daisey has noticed an uptick in MAGA hats in the hotel in the two days since he arrived from New York, but that’s to be expected.

Our conversation returns, as it often has in the decade I’ve been reviewing his work, to his methods. He listens patiently as I tell him about an episode of Jesse David Fox’s podcast Good One wherein comedian Gary Gulman spoke for more than an hour, in granular detail, about the process of refining a 20-minute story that he told on stage for years before finally releasing it on one of his albums. The story was about how Gulman reacted when a woman cut in line in front of him at Trader Joe’s.

Gulman was forthcoming and specific about how he made his tale of an extremely petty infraction feel enveloping; how he would adjust, over the course of countless performances, the length of a pause, or swap one adjective for another. He did all of this by listening to his audiences, of course, but also by making notes about how they responded. By writing.

But Daisey, whose caffeinated gab-a-thons run from 90 to 150 minutes and usually address more consequential topics—terrorism, the corrupting influence of money, the origins of America’s torrid love affair with firearms, how theater failed America (in a show called

washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 11

How Theater Failed America)—doesn’t do that.

Although he’s released some of his work via his irregular podcast, All Stories Are Fiction, he isn’t trying to shape his pieces toward some ultimate expression that can be preserved forever. To him, the live performance, each live performance, is its ultimate expression.

It’s a notion that even audiences who are extremely receptive to and admiring of his work can have trouble getting their heads around.

“If you don’t make a habit of offloading your thoughts into writing, you’ll find that you can retain them,” he tells me.

He also has a philosophical reason for embracing the shaggy quality of improvisation.

One of the things he talks about in his show is the way “the default narrative” of American history—the one presented in books like An American Pageant—avoids assigning blame by taking cover in minutiae: Why, for example, could it possibly be important for children to learn about The Stamp Act or Pickett’s Charge? “It’s possible to value aesthetics so highly that you escape your responsibilities,” he says.

In hIs early twenties Daisey moved from Maine to Seattle, where he got involved in underground theater and temped before finding a job with a fast-growing startup. That part of his life became the monologue 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com, which opened in Seattle at the long-gone Speakeasy Backroom in February of 2001 and got an off-Broadway production at the Cherry Lane Theatre 15 months later.

“I leveraged that really hard to try to create a

career,” he says. “There are not a lot of people who come up through the American theater who have a background of garage theater. Traditionally someone like me, a fat person who wanted to go make garage theater, would not end up performing at Arena Stage.”

He adapted 21 Dog Years into a prose memoir, published in 2002. But since then, he’s remained fully committed to the oral tradition.

Although he performs seated behind a desk, with a handwritten outline in front of him, each monologue is unique and extemporaneous. It’s rare to see him glance down at his paper for more than a few seconds; he refers to his notes more often than is typical in A People’s History because he will occasionally quote a passage from Zinn’s book, or from a primary source document Zinn used in his reporting. He’s been preparing to perform A People’s History for the first time in eight months largely the same way I’ve been preparing to write about it: by playing back the recordings.

He surprises me by saying that he has, in the last few years, “come out as fat.” Daisey has had a rotund frame for as long as I’ve been seeing him perform, but it’s not something I can remember ever hearing him talk about before (though he will later point out to me that I have heard him talk about it). His body has influenced his career, he reflects, because had he opted to pursue acting or comedy—two potentially far more lucrative ways of using his very specific intellectual and expressive gifts—he would likely have been consigned to facile material, where his body was the joke. He chose a more solitary path, one in which he effectively has no peers.

12 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

“I knew that if I was going to do anything that meant anything, I would have to create that work myself,” he says.

A People’s History was “birthed” in Minneapolis 16 months ago, but it was conceived in 2014, at Besant Hill School, a prep school in the prosperous hippie enclave of Ojai, California. Besant Hill hosts the Ojai Playwright’s Conference each August, and Daisey had come to work on a monologue about his visit to Cuba—another thing we hear about in A People’s History.

He found himself nosing around a classroom that had a shelf richly stocked with Zinn’s book. He marveled that this school was so progressive that their standard U.S. history text was by Howard Zinn. He tried to imagine what it would be like if anyone from the high school he had attended in rural Maine, where no one considered it unusual when his classmates brought their hunting rifles to school with them, had proposed teaching from this book. He took a copy from the shelf and thumbed through it, though he’d read it before. Then he stole it. (That he obtained it via theft must be important to him, because he repeats this anecdote in a note in the show’s program.) It’s on his desk in front of him at each performance of the show it inspired.

For many years, Daisey’s former spouse, Jean-Michele Gregory, was credited as his director. Now, he says, he more or less directs himself, sending recordings to a circle of confederates and soliciting their feedback.

One of those is his friend Isaac Butler, who had a directing credit on Daisey’s monologue The Trump Card, birthed before a small audi-

ence in Woolly Mammoth’s rehearsal room three summers ago. (Yes, he’s the same Isaac Butler who writes about theater and other things for Slate.) Butler, who has known Daisey since 2004, has directed many traditional stage plays, with multiple actors and blocking and scene changes and all of the things the phrase “theater director” conjures in your mind. I asked him what a director does on a show where there’s a single performer, who is also the playwright, but who is also improvising, and who spends the entire show seated behind a table.

“Mike is a very smart and rigorous critic of himself and of his own work,” Butler says.

His role on The Trump Card took the form of regular meetings for coffee or lunch through 2015 and 2016, watching much more footage of candidate Trump than he wanted to, and texting with Daisey through each of the Republican primary debates and into the general election. As Trump became a more credible threat, that demanded calibration to the show.

“When we started doing The Trump Card, he was just sort of a fringe, wacky candidate,” Butler says. “The show had a different meaning when it ended, which was a week before election night.” Butler was busy with his own projects during this period, but he caught performances in several cities, and responded to recordings on the many occasions he couldn’t attend in person. But there would be little point in trying to repeat that procedure for this show, because Daisey is performing each of its chapters only once.

“The hugeness of A People’s History as a stage project is something that has not been reckoned with by the public at large,” Butler says. “It’s an undertaking that very few people would, could, or should do.”

The significance of doing the show in the nation’s capital is self-evident, but D.C. is also a friendly laboratory for Daisey. Since If You See Something Say Something, about our national paranoia in the seven years after 9/11, he’s become a regular here.

Capital Fringe Festival founding director Julianne Brienza says that even though Daisey lives in New York, she considers him a part of the D.C. theater community—which was one reason she invited him to return to the festival this year, after she saw a Facebook post from him last fall expressing an interest in touring the show. She was drawn both to the subject of A People’s History and to its form. “It’s sort of an endurance project,” Brienza says by phone on the morning the show will open. “Which is akin to the energy of a festival.”

Although Arena Stage is the building, Capital Fringe is the organization paying his fee.

“From our line of credit,” Brienza volunteers.

“So we have a lot of faith in him.” (Unlike the regional theaters where he frequently performs, Capital Fringe does not have a subscriber base, so for them to book a headliner like Daisey is a bit of a gamble.) She says that if the run plays to at least 40 percent capacity in the 200-seat theater, the nonprofit festival will recoup its investment. While the initial ticket costs $35, patrons can return for any per-

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But the deeper longing to present work that wrestled with America’s foundational sins had been buzzing in Brienza’s mind since the day she brought her staff to the National Museum of African American History and Culture a few months after it opened in September 2016. “We were there for six or seven hours, and I was honestly just kind of flabbergasted about the number of things I’d been taught completely incorrectly in school.”

In the 11 years since his first Capital Fringe appearance, Daisey has made Woolly Mammoth his local home. It was there, in 2010, that he birthed The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, his account of the life of the Apple founder, his own journey as an Apple obsessive, and of the cruel working conditions in the Shenzhen, China, factories that manufacture Apple products.

It was the most acclaimed work of his career, at least until This American Life compressed the latter part of it into an hour-long radio piece in January 2012. The show subsequently discovered that Daisey had invented several of its most powerful scenes, taking the

linked America’s love of firearms to its twin pillars of genocide and slavery—in Daisey’s diagnosis, the unfathomable sins that have made denial a defining characteristic of the United States.

In his recent work, he has taken to reminding his audiences that they are theater people, predominantly white, liberal, and prosperous, albeit loath to say so. That they are spending their evening the way they are indicates that they are almost certainly among the winners in a country that has given itself schizophrenia through refusal to own that it was built on genocide and slavery, and one that it retains its commitment, albeit unspoken, to the ethos of white supremacy that spurred its Puritan occupiers to exterminate one race and enslave another.

He goes further, repeating variations on: “You are racist and sexist, and I am too,” again and again. He does not spare himself, observing that only an artist drunk on his (probably not her) white privilege would opt to put on a show where he speaks for a day-and-a-third.

Another document he refers to throughout A People’s History is one even more alarming than Zinn’s book: It’s the Intergovernmental

“Traditionally someone like me, a fat person who wanted to go make garage theater, would not end up performing at Arena Stage.” extraordinary step of building an entire second episode around their retraction of the first.

Daisey maintained, then and now, that nothing he said about conditions in the factories is untrue, as has been documented by a 2012 New York Times series for which the NYT staff was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. (I compiled an account of Daisey’s exaggerations and inventions in a July 2012 Washington City Paper story.)

Plenty of people wrote him off after that, but those of us who didn’t have watched his gifts of synthesis and oral expression continue to flower. American Utopias, another show “birthed” at Woolly and addressing, in part, the Occupy Movement (and also Disneyland and Burning Man), returned to that theater for a full run in 2013. Daisey has continued to present more overtly political pieces there, including The Trump Card and The Story of the Gun, the two that seem most to have informed A People’s History. The Story of the Gun

Panel on Climate Change’s report suggesting we have, give or take, 20 years before the damage to our planet becomes dire and irreversible.

“The sun is setting” is a theme to which Daisey frequently returns, one surely chosen for its allusions of empire but also for its encapsulation of a threat that will reshape our world: As the equatorial countries become too hot for habitation, their populations will flee toward the poles, creating a refugee crisis. This mass migration, Daisey predicts, will drive the people of the United States to surrender to our government a degree of power that will dwarf what we allowed them to take in the aftermath of 9/11.

It is easy for Americans not to think about how our planet may be getting ready to shrug us off as a species, in Daisey’s estimation, because we are well practiced at avoiding things we do not wish to think about.

One of the new monologues he’s begun thinking about concerns the end of the world.

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Laura Hayes

DCFEED

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Teff Love

By Laura Hayes

YOUNG & HUNGRY

The injera locals crave comes from the back of a market in an Alexandria strip mall.

Laura Hayes

Tigest Mekonnen

16 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

Read any pRofessional or amateur review of a taqueria and you’d be hard-pressed to find analysis that doesn’t touch on the quality of the tortillas. Are they corn or flour? Is the restaurant making them in house?

If so, do cooks start out with whole corn kernels or a vat of masa someone else ground?

The same could be said about crust at a pizzeria. While selecting toppings and sprinkling cheese is easy, making the dough and consistently baking it to perfection is a pizzaiolo’s feat of strength.

Injera, the spongy, fermented flatbread served with every Ethiopian meal, merits similar consideration. The D.C. metro area is home to the largest concentration of Ethiopian people outside Ethiopia, and the region is rich with restaurants and markets serving generous portions of injera alongside vibrant mounds of berbere-spiced red lentils and comforting stews like chicken doro wat. The flatbread acts as a stand-in for utensils—diners rip off swatches and dip their way through meals.

A search for the region’s top injera led City Paper to a shadeless strip mall surrounded by car dealerships on Pickett Street in Alexandria. That’s where World Food opened in 2016. The many Ethiopian families who swing by on their way home to pick up fresh injera— much like the French pop into bakeries for still-warm baguettes—call the market “Alem Gebeya,” which roughly translates to “world market,” according to co-owner Genene Fikru. The store’s injera is known around town as Alem injera.

Fikru, a licensed Realtor, moved to the U.S. from Addis Ababa in the 1980s, when Ethiopia was in the middle of a civil war. “We had to run away from a dictator,” he explains. “That’s the reason I left home. After I got here, it’s been a blessing. Now it’s my home.” He met his wife, Tigest Mekonnen, in the D.C. area about 15 years ago. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1996.

“My wife stayed home and raised our kids,” Fikru says. “They’re now 15 and 13 years old.

When [she] came back to the workforce, we decided to do this together three years ago. It was really difficult initially. The space was big and we had to introduce this new product.”

World Food sells everything from bags of Ethiopian spices, sacks of green coffee beans, beer, and fresh cuts of beef to cooking equipment and suitcases. “Most Ethiopians travel back home,” Fikru says. “While they are here to get their injera or their meat, they also get their luggage. It’s convenient and it sells, so

DCFEED why not? But our main product is injera. That’s what brings people into our store.”

The “new product” Fikru refers to is 100 percent teff injera, made fresh in the store every day. Teff is a gluten-free ancient grain most commonly grown in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

When pulverized into flour, it is the main ingredient in injera. Mekonnen believes she’s the only person in the D.C. region making injera without incorporating another grain such as barley. “In Washington, D.C., I’m the only one so far,” she says.

To make the injera, Mekonnen combines water and teff flour grown and ground in either Idaho or Wisconsin in giant buckets where the mixture forms natural yeast and ferments for three days. Next she ladles the funky batter onto a circular, electric grill called a mitad. For the first couple of seconds the injera resembles a smooth crêpe. Then the bubbles start forming as a result of the fermentation.

“The bubbles are an important part of the injera,” Mekonnen says. “We call it ‘beautiful eyes.’ I like to say the eyes are beautiful just like mine. If there are no eyes, no one wants it.”

The injera cooks for two minutes before Mekonnen removes it from the mitad using a flat, woven basket called a sefed.

A quick survey of restaurants in the area reveals many that serve 100 percent teff injera, but import it from Ethiopia. Such is the case at Zenebech in Adams Morgan and Dukem on U Street NW. Habesha Market And Carry-out, located around the corner from Dukem, makes its own injera but it’s not 100 percent teff.

Das Ethiopian in Georgetown sources its injera, which consists of teff, barley, sorghum, and whole wheat, from Hiwot on Georgia Avenue NW. “The real teff is hard to come by,” says Das owner Sileshi Alifom. “After many try-outs, we opted to go with Hiwot’s injera due to its constantly fresh soft product and daily on-time delivery.”

What makes pure teff so desirable? According to Mekonnen, it’s gluten-free, low in sugar, and easier to digest than injera made from multiple grains, which can leave diners feeling bloated. “When you add barley or wheat you consume extra carbs and you get that bulge all day,” she explains.

“People like to have teff injera because injera as we know it is teff,” Fikru says. “Later on, people mixed it with different things. Using only teff is very expensive, and also very hard to make. Everyone is having difficulty. My wife too. The altitude, the water, the kind of grain, everything is factored in. It took a while to get it to where it is now, but now people like it.”

Mekonnen makes injera in the back of World Food from early in the morning until demand diminishes in the afternoon. She makes two types of all-teff injera. One’s made from ivory teff giving it a lighter hue compared to

the one she makes using brown teff. She also cooks one with barley folded in to give customers a more affordable option. They’re all sold, moments after they are made, in plastic packets of five to seven sheets.

The ivory teff injera is both the most expensive (five sheets for $6) and the most popular.

It’s thinner than most injera and tastes more tart than even the most aggressive Greek yogurt or San Francisco sourdough. It’s an acquired taste, especially if eaten alone, but once paired with a breadth of Ethiopian dishes, the injera exceeds its competitors.

“It’s so authentic it looks like it’s from back home,” a customer named Gabriel tells City Paper on a recent Wednesday morning. “It’s better than all of the other injeras. I come here as often as I eat injera.”

While most of World Food’s injera customers are individuals like Gabriel or Ethiopian families, there is one restaurant in D.C. that only serves Alem injera—newcomer Tsehay Ethiopian Restaurant, which opened on Georgia Avenue NW in May. “They tried it before they opened and said, ‘This is what we like, this is what we’ll serve,’” Fikru says. “It’s nice of them. They’re honest. It’s expensive for them to serve our injera.”

Tsehay owner Selam Gossa named her restaurant after her late mother, who was one of 14 children and ran her own cafe in Addis Ababa. Because the restaurant is an homage to a beloved family member, only the best will do. “When you have really tasty food, you need good injera,” Gossa says. She was looking for locally made, 100 percent teff injera and found World Food’s Alem injera through her sister Sara, who would buy it for her own consumption. “It’s expensive, but we want quality. This is my mom’s legacy. We can spare to pay 50 cents more.”

While City Paper was visiting World Food, Gossa’s business partner, Daniel Seifu, came by to pick up injera for the restaurant. “I come here every day,” he says. It’s about a 40 minute drive from the restaurant in Park View. He knows Tsehay is the only restaurant to exclusively carry Alem injera. “I hope it stays like that too,” he jokes. “It has more flavor like back home. It’s not thick or hard to digest. That’s what we like about it.”

Unfortunately for the Tsehay team, Fikru says he’s working hard to increase capacity and introduce online sales so more restaurants will be able to serve Alem injera. Two other local restaurants already carry it from time to time.

“We consume injera every day,” Fikru says.

“Everything we eat is with injera. That’s what brings people here. That’s our priority. We survive because of it. Our main focus is for them to come and get injera every day, fresh.

We make it right, they smell it, and they take it.”

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Twanna Hines talks about We’re All Going to Fucking Die!—her onewoman show about joy. washingtoncitypaper.com/arts

Plant Parenthood

Forlorn and dying flora heal and grow at the Very Sad Lab houseplant recovery and rehabilitation center.

The paTienT inTake form for a lifeless Christmas cactus reads like a semi-neglectful parent’s guilty defense. Yes, the environment was humid and not very sunny, but it was loving.

Perhaps the cactus was exposed to too much cold air, but it was wanted, purchased either in Colorado or at a Baltimore hardware store—the plant parent doesn’t remember.

The cactus was admitted to Very Sad Lab in Georgetown on May 18, when D.C. multi-disciplinary artists Naoko Wowsugi and Valerie Wiseman, the lab’s creators, had an open house. It’s already showing signs of improvement. “Too much water, too little water, too much sun, too little sun, something ate it, the air conditioner is blowing on it, it’s next to the radiator—those are the common plant problems in urban dwellings,” says Wiseman.

Very Sad Lab is a safe space for serial houseplant killers. It takes in ailing houseplants for short-or long-term stays, where Wowsugi and Wiseman examine, diagnose, and create treatment plans. “We’ll work with both the plant and the plant caregiver to develop that relationship and give them the tools they need to bring that plant back into their home,” Wiseman says.

“The point is to rehab the plant caregivers, too. We’re interested in home visits; we’ll offer a concierge service because a big part of it is needing to know the environment.”

“This snake plant, its diagnosis is that it was told it wasn’t wanted,” she says. “The person who brought it in said, ‘I hate the pot it’s in, I hate the plant, I don’t want it.’ It’s going to stay here indefinitely, it was a surrender case. Its care plan is more sun, more love.”

Wiseman started the first Sad Lab in January of 2018 as part of a show at Montgomery College in Germantown, Maryland.

“It was a group show, and I rehabbed houseplants in the gallery.

I was living in a basement apartment in D.C., as one does, and needed to get those plants out of there,” Wiseman recalls. The two artists and amateur botanists turned Wiseman’s Sad Lab into Very Sad Lab, which will have more community engagement, while collaborating on Wowsugi’s March 2019 mushroom-themed project The Fungus Among Us, for which Wiseman drew illustrations.

Wowsugi is known for community-based art projects—she led gong baths, in which she plays a gong while nearby listeners recline and relax, at this June’s By The People arts festival—and she had been working with superfood plants. She is interested in how plants and nature impact human culture and activity. “There’s not much nature in D.C., so instead people do houseplants, in-house farming,” she says. In 2016, her show Permacounterculture brought local punk acts and a wheatgrass greenhouse to Hamiltonian Gallery for a series of concerts. The idea was that the sound waves of the music 18 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

Naoko Wowsugi and Valerie Wiseman

Elizabeth Tuten

By Elizabeth Tuten

and the CO2 of the crowd nourished the wheatgrass, which in turn nourished the participants when it was juiced. “The wheatgrass gushed after every show,” Wowsugi says. “It grew so much.”

In the absence of live punk music, the plants at the lab are treated to Wowsugi’s gong practice and a playlist Wiseman found on Spotify called “music for plants,” on which The Mystic Moods Orchestra and composer Alexandre Desplat feature heavily. “When plants are growing in nature, they’re getting all sorts of vibrations from the ground,” Wowsugi says. “There have been many studies on the healing of sound waves.”

The Very Sad Lab studio is part of Wowsugi’s Halcyon Arts Lab fellowship—a nine-month residency that culminated in the

By The People festival. D.C.-based fellows can use the Halcyon Arts Lab studio space in Georgetown for an additional year

beyond the festival.

“This studio is perfect for plants,” Wiseman says of the cavernous room in the former school house, where seedlings propagate in glass bottles along the window sills, a compost bin in the corner turns dead plants into soil, and shelves of convalescing plants glow under magenta light. “With the high ceilings, they can breathe.”

“Magenta is the opposite of green, so they grow better,” Wowsugi explains. “They grow six times faster with the magenta light.”

Very Sad Lab itself will grow much faster thanks to a onetime grant from the D.C. chapter of the Awesome Foundation, which funds a spectrum of creative ideas. “They microfund, it’s a ‘seed’ grant, so it’s perfect,” Wowsugi jokes. The pair recently received the money and are attempting to officially

CPARTS oration with the library is a chance to promote, to get the word out,” Wiseman says. “Let us help you take care of your plants, you don’t have to just throw it out in the alley and buy a new one.”

The Georgetown studio will continue to be Very Sad Lab’s main location, and those who want to get a plant diagnosis can reach out through Instagram or email to set up a time to visit. There will also be public events in the space throughout the next year. Between the public events and the library collaboration, Wowsugi and Wiseman hope to make plant parenthood more accessible.

“There are so many great plant places in D.C., but it’s hard because everything in D.C. is so expensive, plants are expensive—it’s an extraneous expense,” Wiseman says. “It’s a little bit of a privilege to be able to buy one, so we’re hoping to make some of these plant adoptions accessible to people who might not normally buy plants. We’re propagating these spider plants to give away,” she says, gesturing to the window of mineral water bottles overflowing with foliage.

While the project has a scientific core encompassing botany, Very Sad Lab is still about art. “The whole thing is a living art project,” Wiseman says, adding that the team is creating artsy educational plant care booklets. “We’re calling them ‘LEAFlets,’” Wowsugi interjects gleefully. “If you’ve made a plant sad, join this art project. Be an artist.”

CP

Naoko Wowsugi and her gong

Elizabeth Tuten

launch in a few weeks.

They had originally applied for a standard Awesome Foundation grant in April, but were not selected. Then, they were invited to an Awesome Foundation live pitch event.

Chris Mihm, a trustee for the foundation’s D.C. chapter, saw another opportunity for Very Sad Lab to win funding when a collaboration with the Awesome Libraries Chapter led to a library-themed live pitch night. “It just so happens that in their initial grant proposal, they had some ideas where they could take their combining art and plants and social movement with libraries,” he says. “They were talking about doing curated, art-driven pamphlets on how to take care of plants, as well as plant-lending libraries, and they’d already identified a D.C. library.”

Wowsugi says she and Wiseman asked everyone at the Awesome Foundation pitch, “Have you ever had a plant?” Everyone raised their hands. The next question was “Have you ever made them sad?” Everyone kept their hands up. It’s a common failure, she says, and she likes channeling that human failure into something positive.

With their sad plants and coveralls, Wowsugi and Wiseman took home the $788 fan favorite (and fan-funded) award. The library through which the pair is proposing to run a pop-up Very Sad Lab is Woodridge Library, which has a rooftop garden and is next to a park.

The two are currently working with the library’s schedule, still in conversation about the details of the program.

They’ve proposed a pop-up clinic, plant adoption days, a curated book section on plant care, and easy-to-follow takeaway materials so that people have good, accessible information.

“We want to get more sad plants into the lab, so this collab-

LUCE UNPLUGGED COMMUNITY SHOWCASE

FRIDAY, JULY 12TH, 6–8 P.M. | FREE Featuring Model Home and Daniel Bachman.

Free tastings by Right Proper Brewing Company.

Presented with the Washington City Paper.

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washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 19

ARTS DESK

Courtesy of Reaction Band

CPARTS

The go-go community mourns local rapper Choppa Black. washingtoncitypaper.com/arts

Summer Jams

The Mid-Atlantic is home to a bevy of talented musicmakers. We present just a few regional artists—some live here while others are from the area but now live elsewhere—making waves in 2019. You should bop to their music this summer and beyond.

—Kayla Randall

GoldLink Since the 2016 release of his masterful single “Crew,” which featured fellow local artists Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy, this rapper’s star has continued to rise.

In June, he released Diaspora, an album that merges Afrobeats, hip-hop, and R&B. It’s perfect for summer, and some of GoldLink’s best work.

Big Bop: “Maniac” is a catchy contemporary hip-hop stunner.

Ari Lennox The Duke Ellington School of Arts alum’s debut full-length album Shea Butter Baby is a honey-dripping R&B confection about relationships, self-love, and pleasure. The album is buttery and lush, and the funky soul instrumentals combined with her lyrical honesty makes the work feel distinct.

Big Bop: “New Apartment” is a joyous declaration of independence and one of the best songs to come out this year.

20 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

Maggie Rogers Easton, Maryland, native Maggie Rogers has recently sold out show after show in D.C., from 9:30 Club to The Anthem. The singer’s major label debut, January’s Heard It In A Past Life, is a shining pop offering that cannot be refused.

Big Bop: “Fallingwater” is a sweet hymn, and its late beat change will have you lifting your hands in praise.

Rico Nasty On her aptly titled new album Anger Management, Rico Nasty brings the kind of energy that you need to get through the day. She’ll have you feeling like you can stomp your problems into dust and knock out anyone who questions you—it’s cathartic. Her rage rap tunes are the definition of hype, and listeners can’t help but feed off her flames.

Bonus Bop: Though it isn’t on the album, the single “Sandy” is a bouncy banger that can give you an instant boost.

Brent Faiyaz Brent Faiyaz’s own music is as endlessly listenable as his enduring hook on GoldLink’s hit “Crew.” His latest is Lost, a six-song EP full of his airy, smooth ’90s Golden Age R&B vocals and excellent harmonizing with himself.

Big Bop: The short, infectious midtempo track “Why’z it so hard” is so, so good.

july 5 to 28 / capitalfringe.org Buy Your Tickets Today

washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 21

FILMSHORT SUBJECTS

STATE OF AFFAIRS The Reports on Sarah and Saleem

©Disney

Directed by Muayad Alayan

July 18–September 7 Opera House Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600 Theater at the Kennedy Center is made possible by

Major support for Musical Theater at the Kennedy Center is provided by

22 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

Groups call (202) 416-8400 For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540 Kennedy Center Theater Season Sponsor

Certain phrases, when uttered early on in a film, clearly telegraph the film’s subsequent events—forcing a collective groan from the audience. “Trust me, everything will be fine” fits the bill, as does the infamous “I’ll be right back.” Rarely is such dialogue as on the nose as the phrase heard early in The Reports on Sarah and Saleem, a mostly compelling, occasionally draining political drama from Palestine. “Life is not that complicated,” one character tells another. You can be sure it’s about to get more complicated.

Saleem (Adeeb Safadi) directs that ominous line at his lover Sarah (Sivane Kretchner). She’s Israeli. He’s Palestinian. Both are married to other people, and on this particular evening, their tryst is happening in the Palestinian village of Bethlehem. Not complicated at all. He convinces her to go get a drink together in public, where an altercation with a random, drunken patron starts a chain reaction that leads to a dramatic unraveling of their lives. The patron reports Saleem to the Palestinian authorities for transporting an Israeli prostitute across the border, and soon each character is faced with difficult choices, torn between protecting each other or themselves.

Many films have charted how a marital transgression can ripple outward, but director Muayad Alayan, working from his brother Rami Musa Alayan’s script, crafts a rich set of

details that are both relatable to Western audiences but also deeply specific to modern-day Jerusalem. Economic desperation drives Saleem to take a job delivering packages to Palestinians who cannot travel across the border. Meanwhile, Sarah has opened a cafe, and her husband’s military career threatens her burgeoning success, which may force them to move out of the city. These details, along with superb acting by the two leads, provide a richness of character that ensures we never see Sarah or Saleem as mere political icons.

They are real, earthbound adults with relatable flaws, something that Hollywood films have all but abandoned.

Strong character work carries the film through its overdone middle section, in which each plot turn seems to diminish in impact. The Reports on Sarah and Saleem is tightly plotted. Every decision Sarah and Saleem make to save themselves, most involving testimony given in poorly lit offices, ends up harming them. The betrayals cut deeper with every turn, but at some point they lose their power.

At an unnecessarily long 130 minutes, Alayan could have easily cut out a couple of plot points without too much disruption. The result would have been a powerful cascade of brutal developments, instead of a bureaucratic nightmare that becomes less scary the longer it lasts.

Still, it’s a confident and promising work from a young director, who manages to sidestep the inherent dangers of his subject matter. The Reports on Sarah and Saleem easily passes the test we unconsciously apply to films about the Israel-Palestine crisis: It succeeds so well as human drama that you stop trying to parse it for its political meaning.

—Noah Gittell The Reports on Sarah and Saleem opens Friday at Landmark E Street Cinema.

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washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 23

MUSICDISCOGRAPHY

Photo: Gene Schiavone

™ & © Universal Studios.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

THRU SATURDAY!

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE SWAN LAKE JUL 11: SEO/STEARNS JUL 12: COPELAND/CORNEJO JUL 13: TEUSCHER/BELL

WHEELS OF SOUL 2019 TOUR

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND BLACKBERRY SMOKE SHOVELS & ROPE

“WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC THE STRINGS ATTACHED TOUR

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

JUL 16

SHERYL CROW

WONDER FULL

JUL 18

Be the Change

PATRICK DRONEY

JUL 17

SOJA SUBLIME WITH ROME COMMON KINGS JUL 20

BRUCE HORNSBY & THE NOISEMAKERS AMOS LEE JUL 24

NOSEDA CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY & BEETHOVEN

STEVE MILLER BAND MARTY STUART

AND HIS FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES MATT ANDERSEN

JUL 31

LYLE LOVETT & HIS LARGE BAND WITH SPECIAL GUEST MAVIS STAPLES AUG 1

E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL IN CONCERT

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AUG 2

JUL 26

SARAH McLACHLAN

A KAY SHOUSE GREAT PERFORMANCE

DISNEY PIXAR’S COCO: IN CONCERT LIVE TO FILM

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AUG 3

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA JUL 27

ABBA THE CONCERT

REBA McENTIRE

ROSSINI’S THE BARBER OF SEVILLE

JUL 28

HERBIE HANCOCK AND KAMASI WASHINGTON JUL 30

AUG 4

WOLF TRAP OPERA LIDIYA YANKOVSKAYA, CONDUCTOR AUG 9

24 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

Mark G. Meadows Self-released

Featuring two Stevie wonder songs on a full-length album is a hat tip. Featuring two Stevie Wonder songs on a five-song EP is a pledge of allegiance. Jazz pianist Mark G. Meadows makes no bones about considering Wonder the all-time greatest songwriter. Be the Change lives up to evoking Wonder’s passion for glorious melody on “Superstition,” and emulates his ability to communicate the personal on “Overjoyed.”

It also includes two Meadows originals, continuing the pianist’s transition from largely instrumental composer to lyrical singer-songwriter. The distinction is a fairly nitpicky one, especially when the songwriting takes such intricate paths as “Go.” A statement about moving forward in one’s life regardless of anxieties, the tune has a sophisticated melodic structure and complex emotions (“I don’t know which way to go/ Do I care to even know?”), without shying away from a pop sensibility. There’s even a rap verse, courtesy of Deacon Izzy. But it doesn’t shy away from jazz, either: There are gorgeous, layered harmonies from Meadows’ piano, John Lee’s electric guitar, and Eliot Seppa’s bass, and exquisite vocal harmonies by Meadows himself and Christie Dashiell, who takes a scat solo.

Meadows’ title track adds Deborah Bond, Lena Seikaly, Nicole Saphos, Shacara West, Danteˈ Pope, and Jus Paul to the backing vo-

cals, creating a gospel-jazz feel that the lyrics reinforce. “We’ll change the world, just you and me/ Just be the change that you wanna see,” they sing. Meadows’ hymn-charged organ line and a down-home solo from guest tenor saxophonist Elijah Balbed don’t hurt, either. Meadows may be concerned with matters both personal and political, but he also makes it a priority not to let his message overwhelm the nuances of his music.

Meadows is a gifted arranger of pop-rock standards—see his work on Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” from 2014’s Somethin’ Good, or Steely Dan’s “Reelin’ in the Years” from 2016’s To the People. He honors that same attribute in his hero Stevie Wonder even as he makes the songs his own. The transformation of “Superstition” is astonishing, a soulful reharmonization that is barely recognizable even as it keeps Wonder’s famous vamp, played by Meadows and Lee together. Meadows’ piano solo is the finishing touch to his indelible stamp. The album-opening “Overjoyed” doubles down on the song’s inherent delicacy, with Meadows playing Fender Rhodes tones that float away as he touches them. The pace picks up halfway through as Seppa and drummer C.V. Dashiell enter, and though Lee’s solo is intense, it’s also remarkably tender.

Be the Change’s remaining tune, Charlie Chaplin’s immortal “Smile,” which Wonder popularly covered, employs the same vibe as “Overjoyed,” tenderness that cuts through a gauzy, ethereal backdrop. That is, until Meadows’ earthy, bluesinformed piano solo, which the pianist deploys with a series of masterful climaxes for piano, guitar, and his own layered vocals. Meadows is careful to keep his evolution anchored in jazz, but even if he weighs that anchor, the journey is one worth following.

—Michael J. West

Merriweather Post Pavilion • Columbia, MD THIS THURSDAY!

PITBULL

THIS WEEK’S SHOWS

Randy Rogers Band ........................................................................... Th JUL 11 Yeasayer w/ Steady Holiday ........................................................................... F 12 BENT: Back with a Bang

featuring Lemz, WESSTHEDJ, DJ Rosie, Dvonne, DDM, Zam Quartz, Ricky Rosé, Strap Haus • Hosted by Pussy Noir • Visuals by Ben Carver and more! .......... Sa 13

Yuna w/ Skylar Stecker .................................................................................. Tu 16 JULY

AUGUST (cont.)

Beyoncé vs Rihanna Summer Dance Party ...............F 19 Hot In Herre: 2000s Dance Party

White Ford Bronco: DC’s All ‘90s Band ...................Sa 10 Sonic Youth: 30 Years of

with DJs Will Eastman and Ozker • Visuals by Kylos ......................Sa 20

Daydream Nation Screening

with panel discussion featuring Steve Shelley, Brendan Canty (Fugazi/The Messthetics), and SY Archivist Aaron Mullan

STEEZ PROMO PRESENTS

G Jones w/ Ivy Lab & tiedye ky .................F 26

This is a seated show. .......................F 16

THE CIRCUS LIFE PODCAST 6TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT FEAT.

DC Music Rocks Festival feat.

The Eli Lev Collective with special

FeelFree, Justin Trawick and The Common Good, The Dirty Grass Players and more! .......Sa 27 AUGUST

guest Jarreau Williams, More AM Than FM, Sub-Radio, Iza Flo, Los Empresarios ......Sa 17

REV909: Daft Punk/French House

SURPRISE! AT THE CLUB!

Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes ......F 23 & Sa 24

Tribute & Indie Dance Classics with DJs Ozker and Keenan Orr • Visuals by Robin Bell ...................F 2

No Scrubs: ‘90s Dance Party

The Faint w/ Ritual Howls & Closeness .......Sa 3 Tuxedo U STREET MUSIC HALL WELCOMES

Amon Tobin presents Two Fingers ............................Th 8 Neurosis w/ Bell Witch & DEAFKIDS .............F 9

SEPTEMBER D NIGHT ADDED!

FIRST NIGHT SOLD OUT! SECON

dodie .............................................F 6 Deerhunter + Dirty Projectors .....................Su 8

MANY MORE SHOWS ON SALE!

9:30 CUPCAKES

CHRYSALIS AT MERRIWEATHER PARK

LORD HURON w/ Bully ....................................................................JULY 23 311 & Dirty Heads w/ The Interrupters • Dreamers • Bikini Trill .......... JULY 27 CDE PRESENTS : 2019 SUMMER SPIRIT FESTIVAL FEATURING

Anthony Hamilton • Jhené Aiko • Raphael Saadiq • DVSN • PJ Morton and more! .....................................................................AUGUST 3

Train/Goo Goo Dolls * w/ Allen Stone ...........................................AUGUST 9 Chris Stapleton * w/ Margo Price & The Marcus King Band ................ AUGUST 11 Heart* w/ Joan Jett and The Blackhearts & Elle King........................... AUGUST 13 The Smashing Pumpkins & Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds* w/ AFI ......... AUGUST 17 Beck & Cage the Elephant * w/ Spoon & Sunflower Bean . AUGUST 22 Lauren Daigle w/ AHI ........................................................................ AUGUST 23 Gary Clark Jr. and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats .................... AUGUST 25 Pentatonix * w/ Rachel Platten ........................................................... AUGUST 26 Vampire Weekend * w/ Christone “Kingfish” Ingram ..................... AUGUST 29 Morrissey w/ Interpol ..............................................................................SEPT 5 O.A.R. w/ Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness & American Authors ..............SEPT 7 WPOC SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY FEATURING

Old Dominion • Michael Ray • Jordan Davis • Lauren Alaina • Dylan Scott • Jimmie Allen • Brandon Lay • Filmore .....................SEPT 29

Ticketmaster • For full lineup & more info, visit merriweathermusic.com • impconcerts.com * Presented by Live Nation

with DJs Will Eastman and Ozker • Visuals by Kylos ........................F 30

(Mayer Hawthorne & Jake One) .Su 4

930.com

...................................................................................... JULY 11

Third Eye Blind & Jimmy Eat World * w/ Ra Ra Riot..... JULY 19 blink-182 (performing Enema of the State in its entirety) & Lil Wayne * w/ Neck Deep ........................................................................................................... JULY 21

Lincoln Theatre • 1215 U Street, NW Washington, D.C. JUST ANNOUNCED!

A ntoni

in the

K itchen

................................................. SEPTEMBER 10 On Sale Friday, July 12 at 10am

POLITICS AND PROSE PRESENTS

TA-NEHISI COATES - The Water Dancer Book Tour .. SEPTEMBER 26 On Sale Now

Mandolin Orange

w/ Sunny War .....................................NOVEMBER 14

On Sale Friday, July 12 at 10am

The best thing you could possibly put in your mouth Cupcakes by BUZZ... your neighborhood bakery in Alexandria, VA. | www.buzzonslaters.com

STORY DISTRICT’S

Breaking Bread: True Stories by

9:30 CLUB PRESENTS AT U STREET MUSIC HALL

Celebrity Chefs & Industry Insiders . JUL 27

Tinariwen w/ Lonnie Holley ........ SEP 19 AN EVENING WITH

The Waterboys ..................... SEP 22

AN EVENING WITH

Koe Wetzel w/ Chris Colston ....F JUL 12 Operators w/ Doomsquad .............Sa 13 Mystery Skulls w/ Phangs & Snowblood ..................Su 14 Amyl and The Sniffers w/ Heavy Breathing .......................Tu 16

Cayucas ..................................Th 18 Summer Salt w/ Dante Elephant & Motel Radio .......Su 21 Nilüfer Yanya w/ Pixx & Lucy Lu .....W 24 Ibibio Sound Machine ................F 26

Dawes ............................................AUG 6 Adam Ant: Friend or Foe .... SEP 23 Joey Coco Diaz ..........................AUG 9 Cat Power w/ Arsun ................... SEP 25 Criminal Podcast Emeli Sandé (Acoustic) .............. OCT 3 - Live Show .................................... SEP 11

• thelincolndc.com • U Street (Green/Yellow) stop across the street!

• Buy advance tickets at the 9:30 Club box office • 930.com

TICKETS for 9:30 Club shows are available through TicketFly.com, by phone at 1-877-4FLY-TIX, and at the 9:30 Club box office.

9:30 CLUB BOX OFFICE HOURS are 12-7pm on weekdays & until 11pm on show nights, 6-11pm on Sat, and 6-10:30pm on Sun on show nights.

HAPPY HOUR DRINK PRICES impconcerts.com AFTER THE SHOW AT THE BACK BAR!

PARKING: THE OFFICIAL 9:30 parking lot entrance is on 9th Street, directly behind the 9:30 Club. Buy your advance parking tickets at the same time as your concert tickets!

930.com washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 25

26 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

CITYLIST

LEFT LANE CRUISER

Music 27 Theater 31 Film 32

Music

ALBUM RELEASE SHOW!

CITY LIGHTS: FRIDAY

FRIDAY

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2

BLUES

9:30PM | $15

CITY WINERY 1350 Okie St. NE. (202) 250-2531. A Southern Soul Tribute. 6 p.m. $20–$30. citywinery.com.

H

COUNTRY

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Koe Wetzel. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

ELECTRONIC

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Monxx. 10:30 p.m. $17–$22. ustreetmusichall.com.

FOLK

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Wylder. 6:30 p.m. $14.75–$19.75. thehamiltondc.com.

HIP-HOP

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Brecreation. 8:30 p.m.

Free. songbyrddc.com.

JAZZ

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART SCULPTURE GARDEN 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. (202) 7374215. Elikeh. 5 p.m. Free. nga.gov.

POP

CAPITAL ONE ARENA 601 F St. NW. (202) 628-3200.

Backstreet Boys. 8 p.m. $180–$1,200. capitalonearena.monumentalsportsnetwork.com.

ROCK

9:30 CLUB 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Yeasayer. 8 p.m. $30. 930.com.

CITY WINERY 1350 Okie St. NE. (202) 250-2531. The Weeklings. 6:30 p.m. $20–$22. citywinery.com.

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Diamante Eléctrico. 7 p.m. $15. dcnine.com.

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Swell. 10:30 p.m. Free. thehamiltondc.com.

HILL COUNTRY LIVE 410 7th St. NW. (202) 556-2050.

Chestnut Grove. 9:30 p.m. $5. hillcountry.com.

SWAN LAKE

Place a pair of scissors on a flat surface, point down like a compass. Keeping one blade still, open the scissors into a V and close them again. At the same time, turn the instrument 360 degrees.

Open and close, around and around, and—roughly—you have the contours of a fouetté, considered one of the most demanding turns in ballet. Swan Lake, choreographed in 1895 by Marius Petipa to a Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky score, traditionally features 32 of those whipped turns in a row. The haunting classical ballet is the story of Odette, a princess cursed to be a sparkling white swan in the daylight hours and a woman only at night, and Odile, her rival for the affections of a beguiled prince. Odile, in a sequined black tutu, performs the 32 fouettés, her own kind of seductive magic. On Friday night, the legendary Misty Copeland will dance the dual role. The ballet begins at 8:30 p.m. at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. $25–$80. (703) 2551900. wolftrap.org.

—Mary Scott Manning THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000. Kiss & Ride. 10:30 p.m. Free. thehamiltondc.com.

SUNDAY

POP

ELECTRONIC

ROCK & ROLL HOTEL 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.

Heart Bones. 7 p.m. $15–$18. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

FLASH 645 Florida Ave. NW. (202) 827-8791. Matthew Dekay. 3 p.m. $8–$15. flashdc.com.

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Operators. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Mystery Skulls. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

ROCK

FUNK & R&B

SATURDAY

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000. Max Weinberg’s Jukebox. 6:30 p.m. $34.75–$54.75. thehamiltondc.com.

CITY WINERY 1350 Okie St. NE. (202) 250-2531. Carolyn Malachi. 6 p.m. $30–$35. citywinery.com.

JIFFY LUBE LIVE 7800 Cellar Door Drive, Bristow.

(703) 754-6400. Dierks Bentley. 7 p.m. $35–$285.75. livenation.com.

HILL COUNTRY LIVE 410 7th St. NW. (202) 556-2050.

Skydog. 9:30 p.m. $12–$15. hillcountry.com.

ROCK & ROLL HOTEL 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.

BOAYT. 8 p.m. $12–$15. rockandrollhoteldc.com.

WORLD

BOSSA BISTRO 2463 18th St NW. 202-667-0088.

Alfredo Mojica Group. 10:30 p.m. $5–$10. bossadc.com.

HOWARD THEATRE 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Fally Ipupa. 7 p.m. $70. thehowardtheatre.com.

COUNTRY

CITY WINERY 1350 Okie St. NE. (202) 250-2531. Vivian Green. 7 p.m.; 10:15 p.m. $40–$52. citywinery.com.

WARNER THEATRE 513 13th St. NW. (202) 783-4000.

Dru Hill. 8 p.m. $27.50–$140. warnertheatredc.com.

HIP-HOP

BOSSA BISTRO 2463 18th St NW. 202-667-0088.

Uasuf Gueye. 7:30 p.m. $10. bossadc.com.

TWINS JAZZ 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Sami Stevens. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $10. twinsjazz.com.

HIP-HOP

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Pinky Pinky. 7 p.m. $13– $15. songbyrddc.com.

WOLF TRAP FILENE CENTER 1551 Trap Road, Vienna.

(703) 255-1900. Nas. 8 p.m. $50—$115. wolftrap.org.

WORLD

CITY WINERY 1350 Okie St. NE. (202) 250-2531. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. 5 p.m.; 8:30 p.m. $28–$38. citywinery.com.

BOSSA BISTRO 2463 18th St NW. 202-667-0088.

Tumbao y Raul Morel. 10:30 p.m. $5–$10. bossadc.com.

JAZZ

H

7/11 THU CHRIS WILCOX & THE BOYS, HUMAN RESOURCE $5 7/12 FRI CHESTNUT GROVE $5 7/13 SAT SKYDOG: A TRIBUTE TO THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND $12/$15 7/18 THU ARKANSAUCE $8/$10 7/19 FRI PRÓXIMA PARADA & THE CHORDAES $12/$20 7/20 SAT QUIET HOLLERS $12/$15 7/21 SUN JOE ROBINSON $12/$15 7/25 THU THE BOTTOM RUNG $10/$12 7/26 FRI CRAWFORD & POWER $5 7/27 SAT JONNY GRAVE (W/BAND) $5 8/1 THU JAMES STEINLE & JULIET MCCONKEY $12 8/2 FRI LEFT LANE CRUISER ALBUM RELEASE SHOW! $15 8/3 SAT HEATHER GILLIS BAND + JASON MORTON & THE CHESAPEAKE SONS $12 8/8 THU UNSPOKEN TRADITION $10 8/9 FRI DIRTY STREETS $10 8/10 SAT READ SOUTHALL BAND $12+ 8/15 THU CALEB CAUDLE *ALL SEATED* $15 8/16 FRI GILES MCCONKEY + ORANGE CONSTANT $12+ 8/22 THU GRIEFCAT FT. LOUSIA HALL & NARDOLILLY W/ JASMINE GILLISON $10 HILL COUNTRY BARBECUE MARKET 410 Seventh St, NW • 202.556.2050 HillCountry.com/DC • Twitter @hillcountrylive

Near Archives/Navy Memorial [G, Y] and Gallery PI/Chinatown [R] Metro

washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 27

CITY LIGHTS: SATURDAY

LOTUS AND WATER LILY FESTIVAL Summer in the District is in full bloom—and so are the lotus and water lily plants at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens. The National Park Service’s annual Lotus and Water Lily Festival is back in 2019 to showcase the floating blooms and arts and entertainment from cultures around the world. The gardens are the last remaining tidal wetlands in the city and the only national park focused on aquatic plants. They’re also home to water lilies that were cultivated and sold worldwide more than 100 years ago by Civil War veteran Walter Shaw. But the unique plants aren’t the only attraction: The weekend festival’s opening day will showcase Afro-Brazilian drumming, Indian dance, Buddhist chants, and African fashion. The event begins at 10 a.m. at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens, 1550 Anacostia Ave. NE. Free.

—Lia Assimakopoulos

CITY LIGHTS: SUNDAY

THE JULIET LETTERS

Now thru August 4 Eisenhower Theater Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600 Theater at the Kennedy Center is made possible by

Major support for Musical Theater at the Kennedy Center is provided by

Elvis Costello’s 1993 collaboration with the Brodsky Quartet could be called the mother of all concept albums. The Juliet Letters is a recording of imaginary epistles directed to Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, set to music written and arranged

by Costello and the string virtuosos.

“Costello summons all his savage wit to envision the kinds of immortality mortals might wish for,” Elysa Gardner wrote in Rolling Stone 26 years ago. The album achieved cult classic status among fans of both the British rock star and quirky classical music. At a cabaret-style concert, three singers from the D.C.-based chamber opera company UrbanArias will take turns bringing Costello’s forlorn characters to life. Director Cara Gabriel designed an intimate staging that fits perfectly into a small black box space at Signature Theatre, while members of the Inscape Chamber Orchestra will stand in for the original string quartet. During a weekend that’s crowded with summer theater openings, this genrefluid performance might just be the show to catch. The show begins at 2 p.m. at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. $47. urbanarias.org.

—Rebecca J. Ritzel

Groups call (202) 416-8400 For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540 Kennedy Center Theater Season Sponsor

ROCK FILLMORE SILVER SPRING 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. (301) 960-9999. The Psychedelic Furs & James. 8 p.m. $35. fillmoresilverspring.com.

MIRACLE THEATRE 535 8th St. SE. (202) 400-3210.

Bill Callahan. 6 p.m. $30. themiracletheatre.com.

UNION STAGE 740 Water St. SW. (877) 987-6487. The Mowgli’s. 6:30 p.m. $20–$40. unionstage.com.

28 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

MONDAY ROCK

COMET PING PONG 5037 Connecticut Ave. NW. (202) 364-0404. Stef Chura, French Vanilla, and Park Snakes. 9 p.m. $12. cometpingpong.com.

THE HAMILTON 600 14th St. NW. (202) 787-1000.

Okkervil River. 6:30 p.m. $24.75–$49.75. thehamiltondc.com.

washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 29

*

VALET & SECURE PARKING AVAILABLE

CITY LIGHTS: MONDAY

july highlights 11

A Southern Soul Tribute: The Music of

Muscle Shoals & Stax/Volt

14

13

12 Newmyer Flyer Presents

the weeklings* A Beatles Inspired Performance

glenn jones FIRST SHOW SOLD OUT LATE SHOW LOW ON TICKETS

14

TWO SHOWS

Christian Scott

Carolyn Malachi* ATunde Adjuah

Vivian Green NO COVER!

12

15

Matt Costa* W/ Matt Hartke

16 Sirius Company feat. Ms. Kim & Scooby

17

17 Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers

19

19

Upstate* W/ Handsome Hound Crack The Sky

Nikki Hill*

JOIN US FOR ROOFTOP BRUNCH ON SAT./SUN. BRUNCH 1PM-4PM FEATURING DJ JEALOUSY SUN. 2PM-5PM

PRESALE ACCESS, NO TICKETing FEES, complimentary valet & more! become a vinofile member EXCLUSIVE

1350 OKIE STREET NE, WASHINGTON DC | CITYWINERY.COM/WASHINGTON DC | 202.250.2531

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Hi, I’m Thor! I’m a one year old Feist mix and a handsome pup with a great personality. I am a sweet and snuggly dog who loves to play. I currently live with another dog and we get along great! In fact, I prefer to have a canine companion as it makes me less anxious.

I like having company and would do best if I lived in a home where I could have people or pups around during the day. I make my foster parents laugh all the time with my silly antics. I am so excited to find my forever home where I can share all the love I’ve got to give!

Wash D.C 202-362-8900 Arl/Ffx Co. 703-243-3311 Mont. Co. 301-424-7100 EST. 1980

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Please contact Rural Dog Rescue www.ruraldogrescue.com to complete an application or visit us at the adoption event this Saturday from 12-2 at Howl To The Chief 733 8th Street SE, DC.

BONDED INSURED

TIMESTAMP: SNAPSHOTS OF A CHANGING D.C.

If TIMESTAMP: Snapshots of a Changing D.C. lacks the encyclopedic quality of Chris Earnshaw and Joseph Mills’ photographic oeuvre of the city, it does deliver some worthy glimpses. Several contributors use straightforward black-and-white that blurs chronology, like Steven M. Cummings’ classic D.C. image of Chuck Brown on top of Anacostia’s iconic Big Chair, his sidewalk photograph of an elderly couple that echoes “American Gothic,” and Esther Hidalgo’s Atgetlike wanderings through D.C.’s architectural facades. Other contributors prefer color, such as Michael Horsley and his trove of lost local landmarks or Jerry Truong and his unhurried visual documentary of outdoor summer basketball. The low-key standout: Christopher T. Downing’s image “Stan’s,” which depicts a post-1968 uprising storefront using archival footage printed in 2019, seamlessly—and eerily—linking past and present. The exhibition is on view to July 27 at the Carroll Square Gallery, 975 F St. NW. Free. (202) 347-7978.

—Louis Jacobson MIRACLE THEATRE 535 8th St. SE. (202) 400-3210.

Bill Callahan. 6 p.m. $30. themiracletheatre.com.

GYPSY SALLY’S 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Yak Attack. 7 p.m. $10–$12. gypsysallys.com.

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Crimps. 8:30 p.m. Free. songbyrddc.com.

SOUNDCHECK 1420 K St. NW. (202) 789-5429.

LSDREAM & Dorfex Bos. 10 p.m. $15. soundcheckdc.com.

TUESDAY POP

9:30 CLUB 815 V St. NW. (202) 265-0930. Yuna. 8 p.m. $25. 930.com.

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Nicole Dollanganger. 7 p.m. $15–$17. songbyrddc.com.

UNION STAGE 740 Water St. SW. (877) 987-6487.

Drugdealer & Maraschino. 7 p.m. $15. unionstage.com.

ROCK

DC

BURGER WEEK

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Amyl and The Sniffers. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

Drawin g the commu nity

JULY 21-28, 2019 DCBurgerWeek.com #DCBurgerWeek

30 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

VELVET LOUNGE 915 U St. NW. (202) 462-3213. Edgar Red. 8 p.m. $10–$15. velvetloungedc.com.

togeth er since 2003

APPLY TO BE A VENDOR! Application due August 2 craftybastardsdc.com/vendors

WOLF TRAP FILENE CENTER 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. (703) 255-1900. “Weird Al” Yankovic. 8 p.m. $40. wolftrap.org.

WEDNESDAY ELECTRONIC

FLASH 645 Florida Ave. NW. (202) 827-8791. Ben Böhmer. 8 p.m. $10–$15. flashdc.com.

FOLK

CITY WINERY 1350 Okie St. NE. (202) 250-2531.

Upstate. 6:30 p.m. $12–$15. citywinery.com.

JAMMIN JAVA 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. Craig Cardiff. 6 p.m. $10–$15. jamminjava.com.

POP

CAPITAL ONE ARENA 601 F St. NW. (202) 628-3200.

Jennifer Lopez. 8 p.m. $35–$359.95. capitalonearena.monumentalsportsnetwork.com.

ROCK

CITY WINERY 1350 Okie St. NE. (202) 250-2531. Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers. 8 p.m. $25–$35. citywinery.com.

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Iron Chic. 8 p.m. $15. dcnine.com.

WOLF TRAP FILENE CENTER 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. (703) 255-1900. Tedeschi Trucks Band. 7 p.m. $40– $60. wolftrap.org.

THURSDAY CABARET

SIGNATURE THEATRE 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. (703) 820-9771. Maria Rizzo: Vamping. $38. sigtheatre.org.

CITY LIGHTS: TUESDAY

SIGNATURE THEATRE 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. (703) 820-9771. Joe Coleman: No Boundaries $38. sigtheatre.org.

COUNTRY

HILL COUNTRY LIVE 410 7th St. NW. (202) 556-2050.

Arkansauce. 8:30 p.m. $8–$10. hillcountry.com.

MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. (410) 715-5550. Thomas Rhett. 5:30 p.m. $55–$125. merriweathermusic.com.

3701 Mount Vernon Ave. Alexandria, VA • 703-549-7500

For entire schedule go to Birchmere.com Find us on Facebook/Twitter!

Tix @ Ticketmaster.com

WOLF TRAP FILENE CENTER 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. (703) 255-1900. Sheryl Crow. 8 p.m. $45–$70. wolftrap.org.

ELECTRONIC

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Fujiya & Miyagi. 7:30 p.m. $15–$20. dcnine.com.

Friday, July 12, 8pm

DC9 1940 9th St. NW. (202) 483-5000. Fujiya & Miyagi. 8 p.m. $15–$20. dcnine.com.

SOUNDCHECK 1420 K St. NW. (202) 789-5429. Kyle Watson. 10 p.m. $15–$20. soundcheckdc.com.

Music Center at Strathmore

Tickets at Strathmore.org or call 301-581-5100.

FUNK & R&B

GYPSY SALLY’S 3401 K St. NW. (202) 333-7700. Nicky C & the Consiglieri. 7 p.m. $12–$15. gypsysallys.com.

HIP-HOP

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR THE ARTS 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax. (888) 9452468. Navy Band Commodores Free. cfa.gmu.edu.

TWINS JAZZ 1344 U St. NW. (202) 234-0072. Keith Butler Trio. 8 p.m.; 10 p.m. $10. twinsjazz.com.

with special guest Greg Leisz and Christy McWilson Celebrates The 25th Anniversary of King of California

POP

25

KENNEDY CENTER 2700 F St. NW. (202) 467-4600.

Chai. 5 p.m. Free. kennedy-center.org.

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW. (202) 588-1889.

Cayucas. 7 p.m. $15. ustreetmusichall.com.

ROCK

COMET PING PONG 5037 Connecticut Ave. NW. (202) 364-0404. The Gotobeds. 9 p.m. $10. cometpingpong.com.

SONGBYRD MUSIC HOUSE AND RECORD CAFE 2477 18th St. NW. (202) 450-2917. Khemmis. 7 p.m. $15–$18. songbyrddc.com.

MARIA RIZZO

Summertime and the living in Shirlington is easy with Signature Theatre’s summer cabaret series.

Maria Rizzo, a Signature regular (A Little Night Music, Gypsy), is heating up the theater with a great lineup of sultry, sexy Broadway showtunes. Fan of the FX show Fosse/Verdon? Rizzo channels Gwen Verdon for a little “Big Spender.” Rizzo possesses a big voice; she’s also full of personality, and is guaranteed to bring the witty banter between belting songs from the stage. Dare we say she’s one of the best belters in the Beltway? That’s the truth. Rizzo’s Vamping is the perfect choice for a hot date night (one that lets you cool off in the AC), especially if paired with a trip to Signature’s underrated Ali’s Bar. The show runs to July 20 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. $38. (703) 820-9771. sigtheatre.org.

—Diana Metzger

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS THOMAS JEFFERSON BUILDING 101 Independence Ave. SE. (202) 707-5000.

Elena & Los Fulanos. 7 p.m. Free. loc.gov.

An Evening with

TAJ MAHAL QUARTET 26, 27,28 JOHNNY GILL 29 THE ASSOCIATION 30

JAMMIN JAVA 227 Maple Ave. East, Vienna. (703) 2551566. Passafire. 7 p.m. $15–$30. jamminjava.com.

WORLD

CITY LIGHTS: WEDNESDAY

Grits & Glamour Tour

JEFFREY OSBORNE 14 LITTLE RIVER BAND 19, 20,21 THE BACON BROTHERS 23 DAVE ALVIN

JAZZ

Back in 2014, Lana Del Rey caused a minor stir by referencing the first line of The Crystals’ 1962 single “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)” in her song “Ultraviolence.” While Del Rey eventually stopped singing the titular lyric, her onetime opener Nicole Dollanganger tripled down, covering the song and turning it into a BDSM fantasy on a collection of songs dedicated to the protagonist of Todd Solondz’s blacker-than-black comedy Welcome to the Dollhouse. Dollanganger—a Canadian singer-songwriter somewhere between a gothier Del Rey, a pre-Elon Musk Grimes, and a millennial Julee Cruise circa Twin Peaks—is no stranger to the transgressive. Her breathy falsetto and gentle, folky pop songs bely relentless darkness. On last year’s Heart Shaped Bed, lyrics about sex dabble in infidelity, obsession, and even incest; love often leads to bloodstains and sometimes to murder. This is spare, sparse music for summer bummers, and for Dollanganger, covering The Crystals was just the beginning. “Want to take you out on a date with death,” she sings on “Beautiful & Bad,” “kiss you with a power drill.” Nicole Dollanganger performs at 8 p.m. at Songbyrd Music House, 2477 18th St. NW. $15–$17. (202) 450-2917. songbyrddc.com. —Chris Kelly

PAM TILLIS & LORRIE MORGAN

12

HOWARD THEATRE 620 T St. NW. (202) 803-2899.

Elle Varner. 6:30 p.m. $35–$40. thehowardtheatre.com.

NICOLE DOLLANGANGER

July 11

Aug

2

3

An Intimate Evening with

CLARE BOWEN & Friends with Imogen Clark KELLY WILLIS & BRUCE ROBISON “Beautiful Lie Tour” HOWIE DAY

Frank Viele

4 5

Theater

ANN Holland Taylor’s Ann is the comedic portrayal of the late Democratic Texas Governor Ann Richards, whose legacy as a feminist and activist politician lives on. Ann has played at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and on Broadway. Arena Stage. 1101 6th St. SW. To Aug. 11 $56–$105. (202) 4883300. arenastage.org.

BLACKBEARD In this world premiere musical commission at Signature Theatre, set sail with an infamous pirate for a raucous high-seas adventure as Blackbeard and his marauding crew journey across the globe to raise an undead pirate from the sea. Signature Theatre. 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. To July 14 $40–$98. (703) 820-9771. sigtheatre.org.

BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS In this oneman show, a guest shows up to a wedding with plenty to say about the issues facing modern gay life, like assimilation, stereotypes, and marriage. Studio Theatre. 1501 14th St. NW. To July 28 $20–$55. (202) 3323300. studiotheatre.org.

THE CAT IN THE HAT Based on the beloved children’s classic by Dr. Seuss, this adaptation of The Cat in the Hat features the use of puppets. Louis Davis stars in the title role, and takes the stage among the puppeteers, who purposefully remain visible to the audience. It is directed by Adam Immerwhar. Adventure Theatre MTC. 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. To

CHRIS ISAAK 8 JON B. 9 THE 9 SONGWRITER SERIES 10th Anniversary Show!

6

DAVID ALLAN COE 11 MOTHER'S FINEST 13 LILA DOWNS WALLIS 15 THE WAIFS BIRD 16 BLOODSTONE 10

17 20

KIM WATERS WATERS

with special guest KAYLA

TAB BENOIT

“Whiskey Bayou Revue”

washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 31

CITY LIGHTS: THURSDAY

Draw in g th e co m m un ity

to ge th er si nc e 20 02

VENDOR APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN! Application deadline:

August 2, 11:59 p.m. craftybastardsdc.com/vendors

CAYUCAS

The first lyrics on Real Life, the April release from indie-pop duo Cayucas, repeatedly tell listeners to “shake.” They’re followed by a melodic “woah-oh-oh,” a bright bass line, and a drum track that begs you to dance. The song, “Jessica WJ,” sounds like it belongs in the summer montage of an indie movie, and kicks off an album of nine tracks that could each do the same. Real Life isn’t the first summer success for Zach and Ben Yudin; the twins initially got attention in 2013 with Bigfoot, a serotonin-inducing album filled with lyrics about their Santa Monica lives.

The slightly more subdued Dancing at the Blue Lagoon followed in 2015, and then came a fouryear hiatus of creative exploration, which eventually led the Yudins to the more polished, pop sound of their latest triumph. Catch Cayucas at UHall and get ready to shake. Cayucas perform at 7 p.m. at U Street Music Hall, 1115 U St. NW. $15. (202) 588-1889. ustreetmusichall.com.

—Ella Feldman Aug. 18 $20. (301) 634-2270. adventuretheatre-mtc.org.

DISNEY’S ALADDIN From the same producer as Broadway’s The Lion King, the new production of Disney’s Aladdin comes to the stage at the Kennedy Center with Clinton Greenspan as Aladdin and Kaena Kekoa as Jasmine. Kennedy Center Opera House.

2700 F St. NW. To Sep. 7 $39–$179. (202) 467-4600. kennedy-center.org.

HAMLET This rendition of Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet is set in a modern-day surveillance state of Denmark, where citizens turn on each other. It is directed by Craig Baldwin. Sidney Harman Hall.

610 F St. NW. To July 21 Free. (202) 547-1122. shakespearetheatre.org.

THE MOLLUSC The mollusc is a metaphor for Tom Kemp’s sister Dulcie’s “condition.” Hubert Henry Davies’ play, directed by Jack Sbarbori, is a comedy about love, manners, family, and loyalty. The Writer’s Center. 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda. To Aug. 4 $15–$35.

(301) 654-8664. writer.org.

MORTIFIED As seen on Netflix, Mortified is a performance of adults presenting their most shameful childhood mementos and memories. Studio Theatre.

1501 14th St. NW. To July 13; To July 13 $20. (202) 3323300. studiotheatre.org.

SHEAR MADNESS Shear Madness is an audienceinteractive crime comedy set in Georgetown about the murder of a pianist who lives in a hair salon. Each show delivers a unique performance based on the audience’s sleuthing. Kennedy Center Theater Lab. 2700 F St. NW. To Sep. 28 $56. 202-467-4600. kennedy-center.org.

SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS Part of the initiative to highlight new playwrights, SigWorks: Monday Night New Play Readings at Ali’s Bar, Soldiers of the Cross is Caleen Sinnette Jennings’ enactment of intermarriage in the age of Donald Trump when Asha Brown’s brothers marry outside their race. Signature Theatre.

4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. To July 15 Free. (703) 820-9771. sigtheatre.org.

TREASURE ISLAND Jane Hawkins is an orphan who gets swept up in the world of pirates, as she learns about her past and who she is. This play is based on

32 july 12, 2019 washingtoncitypaper.com

the 1883 adventure novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. Synetic Theater at Crystal City.

1800 South Bell St. , Arlington. To Aug. 18 $10–$65.

(866) 811-4111. synetictheater.org.

THE WHITE HOUSE CHANDELIERS Based on the book by the same name, The White House Chandeliers is a play about Stewart C. Stevens, who worked in The White House for the course of seven presidential terms, and his enduring love for his wife through all that time. THEARC. 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE. To July 13 $30–$45. (202) 889-5901. thearcdc.com.

Film

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME When Peter Parker goes on vacation to Europe, he finds trouble lurking in a changed world. Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jake Gyllenhaal. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) MIDSOMMAR When a couple travels to Sweden for an idyllic fabled festival experience, things quickly devolve into a nightmarish series of unfortunate events. Starring Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, and William Jackson Harper. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) STUBER An Uber driver’s new passenger enlists him in a high-stakes hunt for a villain. Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Dave Bautista, and Natalie Morales. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) CRAWL A hurricane traps a woman and her father in a house with aggressive alligators. Starring Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, and Morfydd Clark. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information) YESTERDAY When a struggling musician wakes up in an alternate universe, he discovers that he’s the only person on Earth who remembers The Beatles and their music. Starring Himesh Patel, Lily James, and Sophia Di Martino. (See washingtoncitypaper.com for venue information)

SAVAGELOVE My fiancé and I have been in a relationship for 11 years. His best friend is one of his exes, and that has always bothered me. What do I do?

—Needing Guidance After Getting Engaged

We do it for the glory, COCK, and that warm feeling that comes over us when we can look up and say, “Emission accomplished.” (Sorry about that.)

—DS

You could make up your mind to get over it, NGAGE. Or you could threaten to break off the engagement unless your fiancé cuts his best friend out of his life. That would be an asshole move—that would be an emotionally manipulative asshole power move. But, hey, you wouldn’t be the first person to wait for the moment of maximum leverage before telling your partner that, despite what you led them to believe (or allowed them to assume), they are going to have to choose between their best friend(s) and the person they’re about to marry or just married. Fair warning: If you issue that ultimatum and your fiancé (or husband) writes in and asks me what to do, I’m going to tell him to leave you.

—Dan Savage

We do it for the glory, COCK, and that warm feeling that comes over us when we can look up and say, “Emission accomplished.”

I’m a 58-year-old happily married gay man, and I have a well hidden kink that I’ve had since childhood: I get off on destructive, city-smashing giants—think of Godzilla as a muscular man smashing things with his dick. Since this is impossible to realize, I rely on drawings and other images. After Tumblr removed the adult content, I found my way to newer websites. Some featured manga-style drawings of giant prepubescent boys. I’ve NEVER experienced any attraction to children, but these cartoons are a turn-on. Does lusting after cartoon images of boys make me a pedophile? —Freaky Erotic Art Requires Serious Self-Scrutiny

Where can a gal go to find reluctant/nonconsensual porn that isn’t overly rapey? I really love power play (think “naughty secretary gets punished”)— but when I look for reluctant/nonconsensual porn, I often come across male-perspective rape fantasies.

I’d love to wank to a video or story about a woman reluctantly enjoying herself while her aggressor fucks her up the ass, but every search is fraught with the perils of finding something truly rapey. And that just makes me feel sad and icky. I’m willing to spend money if I trust the source. I just don’t know where to look! Is the issue with my keywords? Help!

—Really Enjoys Specific Pornographic E-Content, Thanks

If you aren’t sexually attracted to children, FEARSSS, you aren’t a pedophile. Pedophilia is not something a non-pedophile drifts into after viewing a little squicky manga. Pedophilia, according to the best and most current research, is a hardwired sexual orientation— one that can never be acted on for moral and ethical reasons. That said, I would urge you to avoid viewing or downloading this stuff. It’s illegal in the United States (and lots of other places) to possess drawings or computer-generated images of children that depict “a minor engaging in sexually-explicit conduct,” per federal law. I don’t know whether your local prosecutor would consider viewing drawings of giant prepubescent boys smashing buildings with their dicks as a criminal offense, but I’m sure you don’t want to find out.

Avoid those websites.

—DS

“This is one of the things people don’t understand about ethical and feminist porn—it’s not just soft lighting and sweet lovemaking,” said Tristan Taormino, the feminist author, sex educator, podcaster, and porn director. “Ethical and feminist porn can also have an edge and feature power play, so long as there’s consent. My series ‘Rough Sex,’ which has three volumes, is all about real women’s kink fantasies, and there will be something in there for RESPECT (you can find it on gamelink.com).

In addition, I recommend bellesa.co, where she can use the search term ‘rough,’ and xconfessions.com, where she should search for ‘BDSM.’” —DS

I understand the pleasure received by the “suckee,” but I need help understanding what benefit or pleasure the “sucker” derives from the exchange.

Is it the taste of come?

—Confusion Over Cocky Knobblers

I’ve written before to ask if there is a newspaper or online publication that translates Savage Love into Spanish. If there is, I can’t find it. I can hardly believe no one does this. Can you give me a simple answer, please?

—Something’s Lost In Translation Simple answers are my specialty, SLIT. As far as I know, my column isn’t translated into

Spanish. But it can be read in Italian in Internazionale, the weekly Italian newsmagazine.

(I have to give a shout-out to Matteo Colombo, who does an amazing job of translating my slang-laden, neologism-packed column into Italian every week! Thanks, Matteo!) —DS I’m a 57-year-old man, and I have been in a relationship for 10 months. I have some erection problems that are helped by ED meds. The issue is I haven’t told my girlfriend I’m taking them. I take a pill when we are together “just in case,” but this is costly and the resulting lack of spontaneity makes me anxious. Also, I feel like I’m holding on to this secret.

—Please Send Advice Call your girlfriend. It’s time you had the talk.

Give her your reasons. Tell her it’s not her fault—and, really, it’s not her fault or yours. Men don’t take boner pills because they aren’t attracted to (or horny for) their partners, as some fear. The reality is quite the opposite: Horny men take ED meds. She may need to hear it a few times before it sinks in, PSA, but you have nothing to be ashamed of. And if she enjoys the sex, she should be as grateful for these meds as you are—and she shouldn’t want you to waste them any more than you do.

—DS I’m a bi guy in my late 20s. I date women and occasionally hook up with guys. In between, I have toys. My question has to do with something that happens when I’m using a dildo and stimulating my prostate: During intense stimulation… I pee (I think)? My confusion lies in the fact that what comes out is clear and doesn’t smell like urine. I know there’s a debate about female squirting and whether it’s urine, but I’m still very confused.

But is this normal for a man? Should I worry?

—Leaking Everywhere And Knowing It’s Not Good Your dildo isn’t just stimulating your prostate gland, which produces the milky fluid that comes flying out of your cock when you ejaculate, but your Cowper’s glands as well. The Cowper’s glands are located just under your prostate and they produce a clear fluid, aka “pre-come,” that basically flushes out your urethra during arousal. Urine is acidic, and acids can harm sperm cells. So pre-come neutralizes whatever acids might be lurking in your urethra—basically, pre-come makes sure your urethra is a safe space for your sperm cells.

Some men produce very little pre-come, some men produce buckets of it, and some men produce more under particular circumstances.

Don’t worry, LEAKING, just enjoy.

—DS Email your Savage Love questions to mail@savagelove.net.

Gear Prudence Gear Prudence: In what my wife has called an early onset midlife crisis, I’ve gone all in on cycling and I’m watching the Tour de France this summer for the first time. I’ve done some cursory Googling and think it will be a showdown between Nairo Quintana and Egan Bernal. (They’re good, right?) You don’t normally write about pro cycling, but do you have tips on how best to watch a bike race on TV? —Live, Entertaining Television Of Unique Race Dear LETOUR: There are two registers upon which you can enjoy the Tour: 1) as a premier cycling event in which some of the best athletes in the world undergo a grueling contest of mindboggling rigor, and 2) as a kind of rolling Rick Steves program full of swooping helicopter shots of lush landscapes and villages of minor import during the Albigensian Crusade. (“Honey, it’s that village of minor import from the Albigensian Crusade!” you’ll say excitedly to your wife, who hopefully ignores you.) While the scenery is gorgeous and your Francophilia will become unbearable, the point of watching a bike race is to watch a bike race and you’re in for a treat.

The best part about a stage race is that each day is a mini race within the larger race with its own terrain, tactics, and drama. You can track the overall leaders and enmesh yourself in whatever excitement, tragedy, and/or wackiness unfolds that day. While some stages are more exciting than others (time trials and mountain stages being paramount, generally), you’ll derive maximum enjoyment by embracing each day as its own self-contained episode.

—Gear Prudence Gear Prudence: On nearly every bike commute, the same rider says, “Hi [my name]!” I always greet him back, but I have no clue who it is or how I know him. With his helmet and sunglasses, he looks pretty generic. How do I figure out his identity without admitting that I didn’t recognize him?

—With Helmet On, I’m Stumped.

He’s Exasperating Dear WHOISHE : Is it really that embarrassing? Helmets and sunglasses do obscure faces (Lois Lane couldn’t even overcome a pair of regular spectacles) and if you’re riding one way and he’s riding the other, a cursory hello doesn’t give you a ton of time to suss out much detail. Sure, no one wants to overlook a friend, but there is a certain degree of difficulty here.

If you absolutely have to know who it is, just wave him down. A closer look from a stationary position and a conversation longer than “Hi [your name]” should do the trick.

If you still get nothing, do what any reasonable person would do: Pretend that you’re your own twin, introduce yourself with a different name, tell him that he’s been mistaking you for your sister, and ask his name. Simple.

—GP

washingtoncitypaper.com july 12, 2019 33

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2204 Devine Street, CoLegals lumbia, South Carolina, within thirty (30) days DC SCHOLARS PCS REQUEST after the date of service FOR PROPOSALS – Moduhere of, exclusive of the lar Contractor Services - DC date of Public such service.

If Scholars Charter School you to answer solicitsfail proposals for a the modular Petition within time, contractor to providethis professional the Petitioner apply management and will construction services to construct a modular to the Court for the building to house four classrooms relief demanded in the and one faculty offi ce suite. The Petition.

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1 Water balloon sound effect 6 Summer party, for short 9 "Super Bowl Shuffle" group 14 Team building?

15 Columbus sch.

16 Cancel 17 Group doing downward facing dog?

19 A ___ Called Quest 20 Beyond Meat's was on May 2, 2019 21 SASE, e.g.

22 Bro 23 Chain that serves Shivers 25 Riverside where one does gliding steps?

29 Give a speech 31 "___ jacket is this?"

32 Kind of acid 33 Can opener transaction?

34 Legal grp.

37 Garcon's line after handing a patron a menu with the heading "La Mer"?

Across

41 "This isn't good!"

42 Competes (for) 43 With a heavy chest 44 Green of Gnarls Barkley 46 Former NBA star ___ Okafor 47 Hottie that eats only the last course?

51 Sunscreen ingredient 53 Steel beam 54 "Wasn't expecting that zinger" 56 "How absolutely dare you, ___!"

57 First aid kit stuff 58 Artificial chocolate concoction made by scientists?

61 Say 62 Spanish peeper 63 Lines on a neck 64 Words of Wordsworth 65 Direction 66 Early responder's comment on some threads

11 2019 Thom Yorke album 12 Apply, as ointment 13 Very fast 18 Back in the day 24 Hard pull 26 Onto 27 Harbor sights 28 Free ___ (2019 Best Documentary) 30 Trifle (with) 32 Shrink's org.

33 Created 34 Suck-up 35 Ones with growing concerns?

36 "They all look good" 38 Up above 39 Big Wimbledon sponsor 40 Red Sea canal 44 Battery and bra specifications 45 Where congers are caught 46 Highly questionable problem?

47 Unearth 48 Muse that carries a kithara 49 Cook with some olive oil, say 50 "That's not good" 52 Wave part 55 Danny and the Dinosaur author Syd 58 A/C setting 59 How to Get Away With Murder star ___ Naomi King 60 Switzerland canton

Down

1 "Cat got your tongue?"

2 One with a thing for jokes?

3 Toy block 4 Los Espookys star/creator Fabrega 5 Sticky stuff 6 Big name in home appliances 7 Talks trash, briefly 8 Jose's "huh?"

9 Sits in the tub 10 Dress, as a judge

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THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS stories of global displacement The Phillips Collection June 22-September 22, 2019 Organized in partnership with the new museum, New York BRING IN THIS AD FOR HALF OFF ADMISSION

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With funding provided by Beatriz Margarita Bolton, Susan and Dixon Butler, The Paula Ballo Dailey Memorial Fund, Carol Brown Goldberg and Henry H. Goldberg, Bonnie and Harold Himmelman, Joe and Lynne Horning, Micheline Klagsbrun and Ken Grossinger and The CrossCurrents Foundation, Howard and Stephanie Krass, The Estate of Jack Rachlin, Eric Richter, Alan and Irene Wurtzel, and Judy and Leo Zickler.

Additional support provided by Nancy and Charles Clarvit, Barbara and Bob Hall, Scott Spector and Sandra Masur, A. Fenner Milton, Alice Phillips Swistel and Daniel Swistel, and Tom and Claudia Henteleff.

Dorothea Lange, Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California (Migrant Mother), 1936, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, Prints & Photographs Division