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Although it takes place in Washington, D.C., Capital Fringe pulls in plenty of artists from Montgomery County. The fifth annual festival, which begins this weekend, offers actors and directors an opportunity to push the limits of traditional theater. These three shows are just a taste of what's to come.

A Thing for Redheads, by John Morogiello

Three days in a hotel room. That's all John Morogiello needed to write his new play "A Thing for Redheads." The story involves a pair of brothers whose lives spin out of control when they ghostwrite a female pop star's autobiography. An idea for the play had been swimming around Morogiello's head before the writing binge. The initial spark came from the Suzanne Vega song "Gypsy."

"She tells him, ‘Don't even look for me. Just go on your way. But you will hear yourself in song blowing by one day.' I just became so fascinated by that lyric," he recalls. "What if there was this guy who wanted to be written about in a song, so he goes around having affairs with singers and doing horrible things to artists, hoping that they will write about him?"

In step with Fringe's offbeat tradition, "Redheads" isn't quite a comedy. Punchy dialogue is balanced by emotionally heavy scenes.

"We're describing it as a brooding comedy," explains Morogiello. "There are moments that are silly and fun, and then there are moments that are very despairing. Brooding may be incorrect. Maybe it's more bipolar."

The playwright's career has expanded beyond the Washington area, but he still maintains close ties to home. Since 2001, Morogiello has been a Maryland State Arts Council Playwright in Residence.

"I go around to different schools in Montgomery County and teach elementary and middle school kids how to write plays," he says. "It's great. I get to work with students and teach them the joys of theater."

"Redheads" is the first show produced by the recently formed Calliope Arts & Theatre. Producer Leon Levenson, who resides in Rockville, started the company as a vehicle for his own plays. But none of his scripts were ready in time for Fringe.

"I like John's writing because it is so witty," says Levenson. "It just sparkles — his language choice, the way it flows. He's got a real comic flair."

In the near future, Levenson hopes to emphasize the arts in Calliope Arts & Theatre with a website full of poetry and short fiction.

"I just want to be in the arts scene because I love the whole thing," he says.

Pushing Boundaries,

by Ellouise Schoettler

Ellouise Schoettler began her storytelling career in front of children. Eventually, she figured out that the oral history extends beyond fairytales and fables. Adults love to hear a good yarn, too. These days, she performs exclusively for audiences of legal age, often senior citizens.

"It's not just a librarian in a rocking chair," says Schoettler. "Stories are how we learn about our family and how we tell who we are. There's a saying in the storytelling world: The shortest distance between two people is a story."

Her latest tale, "Pushing Boundaries," recalls her ascent from housewife to Equal Rights Amendment advocate and campaign director for the League of Women Voters. At the end of each show, Schoettler asks the audience to share their Women's Movement experiences.

A proud 73, Schoettler isn't a typical feminist. She grew up in Charlotte, N.C., and loved to hear her aunts and uncles tell stories. Think Paula Deen if she were a women's rights activist. In the 1950s, Schoettler followed the same path as many post-war young women. She attended nursing school, fell in love with a medical student, dropped out and got married. Over time, her attitude changed. She enrolled in Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross at age 32 and took a women's studies class. It was only a matter of time before the activist inside of her began to take shape.

"My Southern accent, my being married and being a mother were all great assets for me," she says. "I'm a nonconfrontational lobbyist, so people would continue to listen."

The Chevy Chase artist has performed in several venues across the Mid Atlantic including the Mansion at Strathmore and the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore, but this is her first time at Capital Fringe.

"I'm an everywoman. I'm not Gloria Steinem or Betty Friedan," says Schoettler. "What I'm hoping is that my story will prompt [the audience] to remember their story."

the cloak room, by Tracy Harris

Few plays represent the simple aesthetic of Fringe more than Tracy Harris' "the cloak room." The only things The Mighty Theater needs to produce the show are few set pieces and a bunch of coats. Despite the spare set, "the cloak room" packs a powerful emotional punch. The story centers on a young man (JaBen Early) who struggles to find peace after the death of his mother. He copes with the loss of loved ones by hoarding their coats. At his side, Ruby (K. Clare Johnson) attempts to help her friend crawl out of the darkness.

"It's really strange and weird, but in a good way," Johnson explains. "I like plays that are about relationships and people [instead of] a fancy set and fancy costumes. For me, this is a play about the actors."

The Mighty Theater is based in Peekskill, N.Y., about an hour north of Manhattan. The company's tie to Montgomery County is Johnson, who grew up in Sandy Spring. In graduate school at Toronto's York University, Johnson met artistic director Allison Mitchell and the two became close friends.

"I did a show with them about two years ago, but I haven't done one since," Johnson recalls. "I'm hoping to get up there next spring. It's a balancing act."

Johnson now lives in Arlington and drives back and forth when performing with The Mighty Theater. She says it didn't take much to convince the group to venture down from the Hudson Valley. Even playwright Tracy Harris is flying in — from Wales. Johnson met Harris at last summer's Smithsonian Folklife Festival. While some may feel pressure to perform flawlessly, especially for the U.S. premiere, Johnson isn't nervous.

"I feel pretty good about her coming," says Johnson. "She's very cool. She wants people to do her plays and enjoy them. I'm excited for her to see what we've done."

See "A Thing for Redheads" on Sunday, as well as July 18, July 21, July 23 and July 24 at the Warehouse, 1019 Seventh St. NW, Washington, D.C. See "Pushing Boundaries" Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, as well as July 17 and July 24 at the Goethe Institut Main Stage, 812 Seventh St. N.W. See "the cloak room" Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, as well as July 18 and July 24 at The Bedroom at Fort Fringe, 612 L St. NW. Tickets range from $15 for an individual performance to $300 for all access pass. For show times and a complete festival schedule, visit http://capfringe.org.