"It's need that makes all the trouble" says (ex-) preacher Jim Casy in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. That, in a nutshell, is the ordeal of our times, as millions live without paychecks a…
Yes, it's a drag to have to stay at home instead of seeing our favorite performers live"but then again, after a little adjustment, it's amazing to get to see our favorite performers at home.…
Let us never forget that Tennessee Williams, for all his genius with poetic language, was one the most fearless, gut-wrenchingly honest playwrights of the twentieth century. We have Blanche …
Among Shakespeare's plays are a special few whose relevance waxes and wanes with the times. They disappear from the stage for years, only to re-emerge when they are ready to speak to our iss…
As Synetic Theater races through its rowdy teenage years (not quite 20, yet), they have earned a reputation for finely-honed narrative dance, brilliant original music, and spectacular visual…
There are moments when art and life are so wittily and intimately entwined, you can feel the vibe without a word being said. Given the joyful display of color and power at this weekend's Wom…
There are many joyous traditions this time of year, but to my mind the most indispensable has become Black Nativity. With its spiritual values on its finely-woven sleeve, it's a show that in…
The lights reveal a figurine on a pedestal"regal, decked head to foot, shimmering, amid the mist. Slowly, cautiously, with a twitch here and a jerk there, that figurine"the Snow Queen"comes …
The Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, situated in the same block as the Fillmore and AFI, has a lot to offer us. Live entertainment, yes, but more importantly entertainment that is personal, …
The plays of George Bernard Shaw are, to be honest, an acquired taste. Erudite in the extreme, filled with Shaw's unique sense of his own intellectual superiority"which is expressed with pap…
First, dear reader, a confession"for which I fully expect to be pilloried, drawn and quartered, then maybe burned at the stake:Â I'm not a huge fan of musicals these days. Yeah, I know, t…
Of all of Shakespeare's history plays, Antony and Cleopatra is the most complicated and thankless to stage. You've got shifting alliances, battles won then lost, and then you've got the biza…
You know you're in for a new take on Julius Caesar when the famous Soothsayer ("Beware the Ides of March!") doesn't enter upstage right or left, as usual, to make his warning. In Ethan McSwe…
Two clowns open a suitcase. In that suitcase lies a rope. A long rope. They start to play with it, tug-of-war stuff, with the loser pretending he's winning. Lotsa yuks. Then the twist. And t…
Ballet, like opera, has a love-hate relationship with its 19th-century repertoire. Contrived plots, truly embarrassing cultural stereotypes, crowd-pleasing but horribly dated choreography th…
New companies, and especially hybrid troupes whose members have a variety of artistic origins and talents, are a vital part of DC's theatrical ecosystem. The past few years have seen the lau…
One of the more common phenomena of fringe festivals like ours is to see young actors commit to intensely personal projects, creating a cohesive performance piece that celebrates and reflect…
Last year, Shaun Michael Johnson put himself on the map as a master storyteller, whose protean moves captivated audiences at the Capital Fringe Festival with Sobriety of Fear, a compelling s…
Aficionados of modern dance and movement theatre take note: if you are hungry for something unique, abstract and poetic, get thee to the Plum space at Arena Stage for A Short History of Unfo…
So here's the deal: the card game 52 Pickup is, technically, not a game so much as it is a mess. You grab a deck of cards, say "52 pickup!" and scatter the cards every which way. …
Given the seemingly endless parade of creeps and pervs we see in the news every day, it might seem surprising that a woman would write a sympathetic play about guys. The kind who think of th…
Ah, the perfect relationship " not yours, of course, never yours. I'm talking about the one that other couple has; you know who I'm talking about, they're always such great fun, always quick…
One of the true gems at this July's Contemporary American Theatre Festival (CATF) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia is the premiere of Joseph Dougherty's battle of heart and wit, Chester Baile…
They're at it again. The Happenstance Gang: troublemakers, every stinking one of 'em. And this time, they're going Greek. Mythologically speaking, that is. Nix on the keggers and beer pong, …
For nearly 30 years, the Contemporary American Theater Festival in nearby Shepherdstown, West Virginia has offered audiences some of the most breathtaking, insightful and pointed dramas you'…