They're Making A Foothold in The Footlights

In a town with lots of established theater companies and deeply ingrained playgoing habits, starting up is hard to do. That truism, however, has not prevented a slew of young hopefuls -- bearing scripts and short-term leases -- from taking a risk and joining Washington's highly competitive theater fray.

Pictured here are representatives of a cross section of troupes that have been birthed in the past few years. From Solas Nua (Celtic for "new light," Solas Nua specializes in contemporary Irish plays) to Taffety Punk (an outfit that, among other things, stages guerrilla productions of Shakespeare) to Extreme Exchange (dedicated to reviving the fortunes of the political play), these scrappy, often nomadic units broaden the landscape and help reinvigorate local theater.

The three-year-old Capital Fringe Festival -- which this past July drew a record 21,500 customers to a multitude of offerings, all built on a dollar and a dream -- is a seasonal advertisement for this spirit of rejuvenation, for the theater's efforts to keep itself fresh and relevant. We'll have to see how far opportunity might take some of these baby ventures.

-- Peter Marks