By Laurie Sara Oliver Please Clap! is a request that’s easy to oblige when watching the so-titled play written, directed, and performed by The Moon Girls. The Moon Girls are a new DC theater troupe made up of Cammiel Hussey, Charlotte Kim, and Ali Lightfield, who met and started making theater together while all studying at George Washington University. Now, they are happily pursuing their dream of creating art for an audience in this, their debut play.  Consisting of five skits that are about 10 minutes each, Please Clap! feels like sitting in on an improv workshop. The girls wear matching, simple black canvas jumpsuits, move around a few black folding chairs, and periodically dig into a silver trunk full of random props like wigs, water guns, and a backpack of cash. With nothing more than this, they manage to tell five stories, each with different characters in a different world. Between the numbers, they banter and scheme about how to up their game. Each skit gets sillier than the last so that, by the end, it actually feels more like sitting in on a sleepover party of punch-drunk teenagers.  There’s a sense of purity in the playfulness of this approach, not to mention a good dose of nostalgia. Hussey, Kim, and Lightfield seem to be having a fantastic time. They start as three bartenders arguing about a broken AC unit (presumably a coincidence, but an incredibly fitting choice for this venue in July). After that, they morph into three middle school boys nervously waiting to hear their punishments in the principal’s office. With two more skits about cowboys and knights, there’s a lot of good-natured making fun of men, but the best skit is a tragicomedy about a bachelorette party that satirizes the extreme tendencies of female friendship — proving the wisdom of the classic advice to write what you know.  In each of the five skits, the plots escalate along a winding path with a surprising number of twists and complexities for 10-minute skits, and even a few heartfelt moments. Yet, they don’t try to do too much. The Moon Girls are talented. They fully lean into their production; they give it their all, but they do not make the mistake of trying to teach their audience some big lesson or of taking themselves too seriously.  This is the beauty of local arts festivals like District Fringe. They create a venue for shows like this one that you would never otherwise see. They create a venue for three girlfriends to act out some wacky skits they wrote together for no other reason than it’s fun, and that’s a beautiful thing.  Laurie Sara Oliver is a writer, journalist, and critic based in Arlington, VA. An arts enthusiast from the start, Laurie Sara grew up training in classical ballet. She then went on to study the intersection of arts, language, and culture at Eastern University. She believes in the power of art as a way to explore ideas, ask big questions, and bring people together. Please Clap!By The Moon Girls Please Clap! Skits“The Regular”“Cash Out”“Ghosted”“The Bangin’ Bucket Shootdown Showdown Show”“The Goblin Wars” Running Time: 60 minutesDates and Times: Saturday, July 11, 2:00 PM Sunday, July 12, 10:00 PM (masks required) Wednesday, July 15, 7:30 PM Thursday, July 16, 7:30 PM Sunday, July 19, 8:00 PM Thursday, July 23, 10:00 PM Venue: Phoenix – UDC Mainstage VenueTickets: $15More Info and Tickets Genre: ComedyCompany based: Washington, DCDirected by: Cammiel Hussey, Charlotte Kim, Ali LightfieldPerformed by: Cammiel Hussey, Charlotte Kim, Ali Lightfield The complete 2026 District Fringe Festival lineup is online here.The 2026 District Fringe Festival calendar is online here. ...read more read less