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• The House of Yes
• By Wendy MacLeod
• Directed by Colin Hovde
• Produced by Washington Shakespeare Company
• Reviewed by Tim Treanor

The House of Yes is by a significant margin the scariest show I have seen on stage this year. It is not a dark comedy, as some suggest, or a comedy at all. It is a horror show. It is much the same as Ripley Scott’s classic horror movie Alien, except that in the movie an animal bursts out of some poor guy’s stomach. What happens in House of Yes is much worse. (more…)

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• One-Man Star Wars Trilogy
• By Charles Ross
• Produced by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Reviewed by Janice Cane

Right now at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, you can see three movies for $28. That’s actually a bargain. And you can see all three in just one hour! But if you’re like me, you might end up investing a few more dollars-and hours-later. (more…)

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Wednesday, Dec 19, 2007 - Shakespeare Theatre Company Artistic Director yesterday announced that an unspecified but apparently serious injury to Avery Brooks, who plays the title role, will force cancellation of the company’s performances of Tamburlaine through Sunday. Dec 23^rd.. Customers who are holding tickets for those productions may schedule a later production or another play by calling the box office at 202.547.1122. (more…)

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• The Second Shepherd’s Play
• By an Unknown Author
• Directed and Adapted by Mary Hall Surface
• Produced by Folger Consort
• Reviewed by Tim Treanor

The key to understanding The Second Shepherd’s Play is to realize that the customary penalty for stealing a sheep is death. It seems somewhat counterintuitive to we who can buy a nice package of lamb chops for $5.99. But in a society whose economy was as close to the bone as was that of the shepherds Coll (Bob McDonald), Gib (Aaron Cromie), and Daw (Chris Wilson), stealing a sheep was an act of terrorism.  When, at the height of the Christmas season, the buffoonish Mak (Andy Brownstein) and his shrewish wife and accomplice Gill (Holly Twyford) hit upon the astonishing scheme to disguise a stolen sheep (a Cromie creation, expertly manipulated by Paige Hernandez) as their own infant, they signed their death warrant. (more…)

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• Monty Python’s Spamalot
• Book and lyrics by Eric Idle; Music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle
• Adapted from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin
• Directed by Mike Nichols
• Co-Produced by Ostar Enterprises and Bob Boyett, at the National Theatre
• Reviewed by Tim Treanor

All hail Monty Python’s Spamalot, a production with tongue so firmly in cheek that you can see it wiggle out of Monty Python’s ear. (more…)

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Rorschach Is Leaving the Church - But First a Giant Yard Sale

Want to make a big splash with the hard to shop for person? Or better yet, pick up cool stuff for yourself for cheap?  Rorschach is selling off costumes, and props you just gotta have, like a plaster poodle, roller skates,  weird glassware, “random fun”, and, yes, a fencing mask. (more…)

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Arena Stage Unveils Its New Crystal City Theatre

Arena Stage welcomes the public to its new Crystal City location with two free Open Houses: Sunday, Dec 16 and Sunday, Dec 23, both from 2 pm to 5 pm. Staff will be on hand to answer questions and guide visitors through Washington’s latest new facility - the 460+ seat Arena Stage which is getting ready to open Ella featuring Tina Fabrique on December 28^th.

The Open House events will be catered by McCormick and Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant. If you plan to attend, Arena asks that you call (202) 488-3300 /4 to RSVP.  Arena Stage’s Crystal City facility is located at 1800 South Bell Street in the  Marriott, with lots of parking and is easily accessible by Metro. For directions, click here.

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• Antigone
• By Jean Anouilh
• Produced by Forum Theatre and Dance
• Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson

Antigone.  The very name conjures up wailing, morose women dressed in long white togas, inescapable tragedy, reminders of the whole Oedipus mother-son mishap, and enough long sour faces to fill a Debbie Downer SNL sketch.  Well, feast your eyes on the likes of this rather upbeat production, where death is treated just like any other inescable aspect of life - it’s going to happen to all of us, so may as well make the most of it.  Putting death in its rightful place as rather comfortable, even sometimes humorous helps to free it from the dreary baggage associated with it. 

Who knew that death could be liberating, while hope - now, that’s an emotion that will weigh you down with expectation, dread, misery.  (more…)

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• By Alan Bennett
• Directed by Joe Banno
• Produced by Washington Shakespeare Company
• Reviewed by Tim Treanor

Kafka’s Dick is a play about…you know.  No, wait, that’s not entirely true. Although his…you know…is involved, it’s really a play about Kafka coming back from the dead.  Imagine this: “Kafka was dead: to begin with. There was no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner…” (more…)

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• The Sound of Music
• Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
• Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
• Directed and Choreographed by Samn Huffer
• Produced by Toby’s the Dinner Theatre of Columbia
• Reviewed by Steven McKnight

If you only know The Sound of Music from the popular 1965 film, a real treat awaits you with the new production of the Tony^® Award winning musical at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia.  Director/Choreographer Samn Huffer and the talented Toby’s cast and crew manage to “Climb Every Mountain” in making this musical come alive in an intimate setting that will touch the heart of every audience member.  (more…)

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