Review: OUT OF MY WHEELHOUSE at District Fringe

An air of breezy improvisation (spurred on by challenges from the audience –wordplay, free association and audience interaction are all involved) is on-hand in the District Fringe offering entitled Out of My Wheelhouse. Director and producer Nora Dell states that “this show pushes the boundaries between performance art, improv, sketch, and game show. More is more.” Indeed, this escapist show has many moments of mirth but at times it seems to be no more than a heightened game of charades for the audience to laugh at.

A master of ceremonies/narrator (of sorts) elicits responses from the audience with a nice, quietly controlling air as a spinning wheel (with options such as “freeze”, “new choice” and “sound effects ” written on sections of the wheel) goes round and round. Each new section of the wheel conjures up new paradigms and comedic possibilities as unexpected results and antics ensue.

A sea-traveling/voyage theme prevails as a voyage to the lost continent of Atlantis is invoked and theatrical claps of thunder usually precede the stern voice of Poseidon as a new challenge is made or as Poseidon’s displeasure is made known. (At the start of the show, a bubble wand was handed out to each member of the audience to use at will and the intermittent blowing of bubbles did create a bit of a nautical atmosphere).

I must commend the performers who definitely do strive with every fiber of their being to keep the audience entertained. They do use every sinew of their physicality and almost every part of the anatomy to portray various improvisational scenes---the abilities of the ensemble to improvise on the spot and to bounce ideas off of one another is, indeed, remarkable. The exceptionally talented individuals in this production include Nora Dell, Erick Acuña, Daniel Barrera Ortega, Peter Bird, Gaby Corcoran, Lauren Gabel, Carly Kraybill, Eva Lewis, and Catherine Mullins.

I do not see the production’s contextual connection from the press material as to  “What does it mean to laugh, and even rehearse, while our city, country, and lives change in scary and fundamental ways?” –combined with reckoning “with the meaning of comedy under authoritarianism” (as mentioned in Dell’s press release ) in the presentation of the particular show that I saw on July 12-- but I do completely and radically sympathize with these thoughts. As mentioned previously, the show plays like a more sophisticated and intense game of charades.

Running Time: Forty-five minutes with no intermission

Out of My Wheelhouse continues to be produced on July 23, 2025, at 7pm, July 24 at 6pm, and July 25 at 7:30pm at the District Fringe located at the University of the District of Columbia (Phoenix) Lecture Hall 44A03 located at 3305-3365 Van Ness Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008.