A trio of women dances and interacts with the audience in Holon!. (Photo courtesy of Capital Fringe)

Reminds us of: A middle school trust-building field trip.

Flop, Fine or Fringe-tastic: Flop.

Whether or not you enjoy Holon! likely depends on whether you are the kind of person who, when asked to state your name into a microphone at the beginning of a production, thinks “Oh, goody, this will be fun!” or begins to gulp with anxiety.

Aptly described as a “casually tender comedy-drama-dance,” Holon! is the creation of Area Woman, a trio of D.C.-based female performers: Claire Alrich, Sarah Greenbaum, and Sadie Leigh. They begin the intimately staged performance with a playful modern dance punctuated with synchronized yoga-esque breaths and set to Meg Lowey’s live layering of voice, beatboxing, and harmonium chords.

During this part, you might almost lose yourself in Area Woman’s enchanting smiles, flowy costumes, and mood lighting until you remember—gulp—the audience participation. Soon, the first victim is selected. Then another. They seem to be cast as parents of a bride, walking Leigh down the aisle towards a hula hoop-sized ring. What happens inside this ring and its two colorful counterparts is, in this Holon’s opinion, the most exciting part of the production.

A holon, as the show’s notes paraphrase from the philosopher Arthur Koestler, is “an entity unto itself but also part of something bigger” such as a liver within a body, a dance within a performance, or Holon! itself within the Capital Fringe Festival, Alrich explains. Also, of course, like one person within an audience. Holons have some degree of autonomy, but they are also influenced by the larger whole. When a holon is asked to take a snack, and then a flower, and then to join hands for a song, who is she to refuse?

There is a fine line, though, between volunteers and voluntolds, and in trying to achieve a certain sense of kumbaya, Holon! breaks down the fourth wall to the point of diluting a talented cast of dancers.

Where to See It: St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, 555 Water St SW.

When to See It: Wednesday, July 18 at 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday, July 24 at 5:45 p.m.; Saturday, July 28 at 11:30 a.m.; and Sunday July 29 at 4:15 p.m.