Photo via Capital Fringe.

By DCist contributor Seth Rose

Reminds us of: The Dating Game meets Whose Line is it Anyway?

Flop, Fine or Fringe-tastic? Fringe-tastic

Play Cupid is the kind of show Fringe exists to showcase. There’s barely anything to it on the surface: five characters representing common dating archetypes improvise answers to audience questions, then pair up to go on scripted dates based on audience votes. And yet, this clever use of audience participation mixed with some inspired performances and writing adds up to a spectacularly deep and varied show, with humor and drama in equal measure.

Play Cupid doesn’t so much remove the fourth wall as much as it rips it up wholesale, throws it on the ground, and invites the audience to sit on it. The audience engages with the characters from the moment the question section starts, and once the dates begin, a majority vote from the audience can stop them just as quickly. This approach bears fascinating fruit once the dates begin: both of them picked during my performance were stopped partway through by audience members who felt that the pair had little chemistry and were only hurting each other by continuing. Others in the audience, including this reviewer, saw a meaty dramatic scene unfolding and wished for it to continue for the sake of good theater, consequences to the characters be damned. The tension raises an interesting question about how we treat and mistreat characters when we have power over them. By incorporating the removal of the fourth wall, Play Cupid asks that question without ever once losing sight of the fun at its core.

And this is all from a performance that mathematically represents only one-fifth of the total possible show. The allotted hour generally leaves time for only two dates, depending on how interactive the audience gets, so every performance is theoretically completely different. If the future runs are anything close to the one I saw, I’d happily see it again — and maybe again after that.

Play Cupid plays at the Atlas Performing Arts Center: Lab II on July 15 at 10:30 p.m., July 21 at 6 p.m. and July 24 at 6:30 p.m.

See here for more of DCist’s Capital Fringe 2016 reviews.