The Good Books: Sex with Strangers and Elmer Gantry, reviewed.

Luigi Sottile and Holly Twyford in Signature Theatre's Sex with Strangers.

Mary Kate Morrissey, Charlie Pollack, and Jessica-Lauren Ball with the ensemble of Elmer Gantry.

This is my last pair of Washington City Paper theatre reviews to be edited by departing managing editor Jonathan L. Fischer, who as I mentioned last week is moving on to become a senior editor at Slate. I'll miss having him edit me every week but I know he'll do great things there. Godspeed, Jon.

Where the Wild Things Are: Synetic's The Island of Dr. Moreau, reviewed.

ICE to see you! The inhabitants of The Island of Dr. Moreau (Johnny Shryock)

This acrobatic Moreau is a rich sensual experience, one that deflates at the end but not before it has vividly dramatized Wells’s big question: Is physical suffering at best irrelevant and at worst necessary? Can we evolve by teaching ourselves to ignore it? By way of demonstrating his answer, Moreau takes a glinting blade and slices a red trail through his own forearm, ignoring the pain like he’s Peter O’Toole playing Lawrence of Arabia, or Gordon Liddy playing himself, or Gary Busey playing Mr. Joshua. (In Lethal Weapon, duh. Read a book, why don't you.) We always hurt the ones we’re forcibly trying to improve.

My review of Synetic Theater's new adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau is in today's Washington City Paper, available wherever finer alt-weeklies are given away for free.

Its cover feature is "The DC Manual of Style and Usage," the handy and hilarious brainchild of my editor, Jonathan L. Fischer, who announced this week that he's leaving his post as the Washington City Paper's managing editor to become a senior editor at Slate. He's a meticulous, imaginative, patient editor who always smartened-up my copy, and a genius at punny headlines and captions. (Here's just one example.) I look forward to working for him again.

Wig Time: Marie Antoinette, reviewed.

 Gavin Lawrence and Kimberly Gilbert in Marie Antoinette

My review of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's production of David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette, starring the great Kimberly Gilbert, is in today's Washington City Paper, available wherever finer alt-weeklies are given away for free.

Devise & Consent: Toast, reviewed.

Hey, it's a play, sort of, where you pay for the privilege of doing this for half an hour. Nope nope nope nope.

My review of Toast, dog & pony dc's ambitious but unfocused -- and deeply annoying -- new performance-art-as-corporate-encounter-group piece is in today's Washington City Paper, available wherever finer alt-weeklies are given away for free. Also reviewed: Taffety Punk's very fine The Devil in His Own Words.

I Don't Think You're Ready for This Vile Jelly: King Lear and Spark, reviewed.

Joseph Marcell and Bethan Cullinane in King Lear (Ellie Kurttz).

My review of the Globe Theater's stripped-down touring production of King Lear -- the play that inspired Ira Glass to proclaim "Shakespeare sucks"! -- is in today's Washington City Paper. I also reviewed Theatre Alliance's production of Caridad Svich's Spark.

FURTHER READING: I reviewed Synetic Theatre's wordless King Lear in 2011. And I interviewed Ira Glass, who was and remains one of my heroes, in April 2008.

A Matter of Wife and Death: Shining City and Molly, reviewed.

Danielle Davy in Molly (Jae Yi)

Lee Ordeman in Shining City (Jae Yi)

My reviews of Scena Theatre's repertory of Irish playwright Conor McPherson's acclaimed Shining City and the world premiere of George O'Brien's Molly are in today's Washington City Paper. You are alerted.

Capital Fringe on New York Ave. NW: -- 40 --

The Washington City Paper's Fringeworthy Action News & Commentary Sqaud

As it has every year since 2010, overseeing the Washington City Paper's coverage of the Capital Fringe Festival here in DC claimed most of my July. Here's my wrap-up of the festival from this week's WCP.