Molotov Theatre Group's Debut "For Boston" Voted "Best Comedy of the Fringe" ; Capital Fringe Festival Recognition Sets Stage for Follow-Up Revival of Original Grand Guignol Scripts

Molotov Theatre Group, Washington, DC's most incendiary new acting company, won recognition as "Best Comedy" in the Capital Fringe Festival for its debut production, the original one-act play "For Boston". The award, decided by an audience vote sponsored by The Capital Fringe Festival and The Washington City Paper, was announced by Fringe co-founder Julianne Brienza on July 29.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) August 2, 2007 -- Molotov Theatre Group, Washington, D.C.'s most incendiary new acting company, won recognition as "Best Comedy" in the Capital Fringe Festival for its debut production, the original one-act play "For Boston". The award, decided by an audience vote sponsored by The Capital Fringe Festival and The Washington City Paper, was announced by Fringe co-founder Julianne Brienza on July 29.

The "Best Comedy" recognition provides momentum for Molotov Theatre Group's follow-up presentation, a collection of three original Grand Guignol scripts translated by Richard Hand and Michael Wilson, co-authors of the definitive textbook, "Grand Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror." Audition information for the production will be posted on the Molotov Theatre Group Web site (www.molotovtheatre.com).

Written by Michael McMahon and Lucas Maloney (Molotov Theatre's Producing Artistic Director), "For Boston" featured Washington, D.C.-based actors J J Area, Chris Dinolfo, Danny Gavigan, and Eric Humphries. The play, which combines dark comedy, suspense and horror, embraced many of the stylistic elements of the original Grand Guignol genre.

"The Grand Guignol style taps into visceral, primal reactions," Maloney explained. "It's easy to pigeonhole the movement as simply 'horror,' but in fact comedy is equally important to the genre. In our shows, Molotov tries to fully engage the senses, and to present the most extreme outcomes possible. Afterwards, all that should remain is just a feeling.

"If that stirs up conversation and debate, that's great. On the other hand, if people walk out talking about 'the human condition,' we haven't really done our jobs," Maloney added.

Molotov Theatre Group is the first company on the East Coast, and only the second in the entire United States to focus on the Grand Guignol genre as a key part of its mission.

About Molotov Theatre Group:
Founded in 2007, The Molotov Theatre Group is dedicated to preserving and exploring the aesthetic of the Grand Guignol, or French Theater of Horror. The Group will strive to accomplish this in two ways:
1) Through its ongoing project, "Grand Guignol DC," to produce English translations of original Grand Guignol scripts to preserve and draw attention to this important, and essentially forgotten genre; and
2) To apply ideal from the Grand Guignol to contemporary and classic works.

The Molotov Theater Group will pursue these goals following the Grand Guignol models of employing a resident company of artists and working towards building a true rotating repertoire of plays. To our knowledge, no other company in the world is working to maintain this genre in such a traditional way. For more information, visit http://www.molotovtheatre.com or http://www.myspace.com/molotovtheatre.

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