Five years ago during the pandemic, twin sisters Hayley and Taylor Emerson posted a video to TikTok announcing that they would write a musical about “whatever the [video’s] top comment says, no exceptions.” The top-voted response was a speed-skating sloth, launching the sisters’ journey tow ard creating the musical that performed two sold-out staged readings this weekend at District Fringe, directed by Stephen Emery with music direction by Paige Rammelkamp. Teenage sloth Archie Mills (Kaeli Patchen), the title character, lives with her father, Pops (Anthony Galace), in a kapok tree in the Amazon rainforest-inspired “Canopy District,” where Pops struggles to keep the family shoemaking business afloat in the face of competition from online retailers and multiple threats to their home, from the ever-encroaching development of a theme park (causing rising electrical costs and frequent blackouts in the neighborhood) to the increasing risk of catastrophic floods. Archie’s mother, Milly, died in a flood some years earlier, and her loss looms large over both Archie and Pops as they wrestle with her absence in the heart-aching ballad “What Would You Do, My Dear?” Galace plays Pops as quietly, doggedly determined to preserve the family home and business in his late wife’s memory and to train Archie to do the same. Archie, however, dreams of flying free on speed skates at the Canopy District’s only ice rink — a dream thoroughly mocked by mean-girl classmates and skating team members, jaguar Meela Spots (Sydney Wilson) and hummingbird Jordan Flutter (Cera Baker) in the rollicking number “Stay in Your Lane.” Baker plays Jordan with the endless energy and flighty personality befitting a teenage hummingbird who desperately wants to be a social media influencer, delivering an outstanding comedic performance. Cristian Bustillos also stands out as Archie’s friend Shayne Kafey, a tapir with working-class roots, a chip on his shoulder, and a sarcastic sense of humor that consistently punches up, whether at the mean girls or at the unseen developers bulldozing the town. Deeply loyal, Shayne refuses to let Archie give up on her dreams of speed skating, even when his ideas for how to help — seeking out the reclusive Lizard Wizard (Shakil Azizi) — seem far-fetched and half-baked. Azizi plays the Wizard with a tongue-in-cheek, self-aware, comically affected creepiness, letting the persona slip just enough that both characters and audience can wink and laugh with him at his act.  Rounding out the cast are Sydne Lyons as Coach Larson, a howler monkey and the town’s speed skating coach, and Mel Gumina as the Canopy District’s Mayor Bubba, a capybara dressed in bow tie and bowler hat and blaming “the government” for the failures of development in the town, setting up a chorus of “But you ARE the government!” from the rest of the cast, a joke heartily welcomed by the DC audience. Befitting the simplicity of a Fringe festival staged reading, the characters are denoted by simple costumes identifying their animal species and role in the story, many with ears attached to headwear. Meela wears leopard (or jaguar) ears on a headband to complement her spotted-print headscarf, shirt, and ballet flats. Shayne’s tapir ears stick up from his backward baseball cap. Jordan wears feathers and tropical flowers in her hair and on her shoulders, evoking her hummingbird wings, while the Lizard Wizard appears in a green cloak and hood with admittedly froggy-looking eyes poking up from it. The sloths, lacking prominent external ears, wear muted costumes (brown corduroy button-down over white shirt, brown slacks, and brown shoes for Archie, a shopkeeper’s apron over a plaid button-down and gray pants for Pops), and emphasize their slow-moving nature through physical and verbal humor. Future fully-staged iterations of the play could do more to integrate the animal species into the characters of Coach Larson (whose polo shirt and visor make her look like a shift supervisor at a fast-food joint who just happens to have monkey ears) and Mayor Bubba, who is never really identified as a capybara except in the program — a missed opportunity according to my 9-year-old son, who has been telling me about his classmates’ capybara obsession for months.  Speed Skating Sloth seems destined to make the leap from Fringe festival staged reading to fully staged production. Archie’s journey through self-doubt to self-acceptance in a world that doesn’t seem built for her as a sloth resonates with anyone who’s ever felt they don’t belong, and Patchen portrays her struggle believably and beautifully. The arc of Archie and Pops coming to understand, accept, and truly see one another through their shared grief over the loss of Milly is poignantly and powerfully portrayed in their duet “You Are Enough To Me” — a song that brought me to tears as a parent and an adult child and that I could easily envision sung on stage and soundtrack for years to come. Beyond Archie’s inner journey and her relationship with her father, the play tackles multiple big issues (climate change, gentrification, displacement, community resilience) thoughtfully, with well-timed and witty humor keeping it from becoming heavy-handed.  With more space and different acoustics to work with in a fully staged production, Speed Skating Sloth could also overcome its sound challenges as a staged reading. The musicians accompanying the actors (Daniella Ignacio on piano, Colin Villacorte on guitar, and Jared Kirschenbaum on drums) were all outstanding, but at times the instruments’ volume made it hard to hear the vocals in the tight Fringe space. Nonetheless, as we left Speed Skating Sloth on Saturday, my 9-year-old said, “If I could understand all of the words, I would say that’s the best play I’ve ever seen!” Over lunch afterward, we imagined what the world of Speed Skating Sloth would look like with full sets, costuming, and props, and how choreography might bring skating to life on stage. We hope to see Archie and her friends again on a DC-area stage soon. Speed Skating SlothBy the Emerson Twins Running Time: 75 minutes Dates and Times: Saturday, July 18, 12:00 PMSunday, July 19, 12:00 PM (masks required) Genre: Children YouthCompany based: Washington, DC/LondonWebsite: www.theemersontwins.comDirected by: Stephen Emery, Music Director Paige Rammelkamp, Conductor/Pianist Daniella IgnacioPerformed by: Kaeli Patchen, Anthony Galace, Cristian Bustillos, Sydney Wilson, Cera Baker, Sydne Lyons, Shakil Azizi, and Mel Gumina  The playbill for the show is online here.  The complete 2026 District Fringe Festival lineup is online here.The 2026 District Fringe Festival calendar is online here. ...read more read less