The Great Awkward Hope. Image via Avoidance Theater Group/Capital Fringe

By DCist Contributor Rachel Kurzius

The Great Awkward Hope is a play about a man struggling to write a play about a man writing a play about boxer Jack Johnson. Yes, you read that right: It’s that old play-within-a-play chestnut. Most of the action onstage consists of others trying to dissuade Jeff (Jeff Reiser, who also writes and directs) from this venture.

They’re not wrong to do so.

Jack Johnson became the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion in 1908, and Jeff, a white man, wants to play him in his show. While he (of course) wouldn’t fathom doing so wearing blackface, Jeff’s plan still faces skepticism from his friends and colleagues. In one of the more hard-hitting one-liners, the wannabe auteur thinks he’s well-suited to jump-start a conversation on race because “I even shake my head disapprovingly sometimes!” In his less ambitious moments, Jeff insists that the play isn’t even about race or boxing, but instead about Johnson’s alleged invention of the adjustable wrench.

While The Great Awkward Hope centers on the important topic of artistic representation, it doesn’t have much to say about it. The play certainly has a lot of talking, though. Pretty much every scene is a sit-down conversation between characters, despite actors’ difficulty nailing a natural cadence or remembering their lines. During one, Darth Vader (Scott Showalter) interrupts to tell Jeff the scene is clunky. “Please give me a break here,” Jeff says. “It’s the first play I’ve ever written.” The problem is that Darth is right, and lampshading the awkwardness doesn’t excuse it.

The Great Awkward Hope plays at W.S. Jenks & Son. Remaining performances are:
Wednesday, July 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 18 at 12:10 p.m.

See here for more of DCist’s Fringe 2015 reviews.