Pick of the Fringe

After three weeks of DIY theater, the Capital Fringe Festival has come to a close. The Baldacchino Gypsy Tent has served its last beer. Drag queens have taken off their wigs. Sweaty venues like the Apothecary and the Clinic are not longer places of magic, but just old, disused buildings.

But it was a great run. 33,897 tickets were sold this year, up from 25,500 in 2009. And the people who attended Fringe saw more shows than ever before.

The Capital Fringe Festival wrapped up with a typically raucous awards ceremony in the Gypsy Tent. Awards were handed out in multiple categories, followed by a beer-fueled dance party. Here were the winners:

Best Comedy: Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending
This was an adorable show, put on by recent University of Maryland graduates. This isn't the tragic play that you remember but a light-hearted romp where the audience gets to decide the course of the action. There are eight possible endings and most of them are happy ones.

Best Drama: Genesis
Genesis explores the inner workings of a beautifully dangerous mind and asks: Who is the voice of reason among the insane?

Best Musical: Super Claudio Brothers, the New Video Game Musical
A game everyone knows and loves set to music - a fan favorite at the Festival. They were also excellent promoters (which is key to Fringe success) who handed out little mustaches to people as they pitched their show.

Best Experimental: The Sleeping Beauty: A Puppet Ballet
By no means was this show just for kids. It was incredibly fascinating watching the puppeteers coax emotion out of pieces of wood held up by strings.

Best Dance: How Frail the Human Heart
This original work was a journey inside the female psyche. 

Best Solo Performance: Do Not Kill Me Killer Robots
One man, a piece of cardboard and a justified fear of robots. 

Directors' Award: Ridgefield Middle School Talent Nite
Two incredibly funny people put on perhaps the worst talent show that you've ever seen. This was so good that the audience literally didn't want to leave at the end of the show.