My Signature Story
May 31, 2011 By 2 Comments
DC Theatre Scene readers who have enjoyed shows at Signature Theatre in Shirlington will wish this slender volume was thicker. At 123 pages of large type, it only skims the surface of the story of Signature Theatre — but what is here is fascinating. [Read more...]
Old Times cast on playing Pinter
May 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Shakespeare Theatre Company shifts the tone of their season this spring with Harold Pinter’s Old Times, directed by Artistic Director Michael Kahn. Pinter’s play, first produced in 1971, explores a love triangle between Anna (Holly Twyford), Kate (Tracy Lynn Middledorf), and Deeley (Steven Culp) under the stark white focus of a living room during one extraordinary evening. Provocative and ambiguous, Old Times tells a story that can be interpreted many different ways. [Read more...]
By Jeeves
May 30, 2011 By 2 Comments
How light is the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Alan Ayckbourn musical now playing at 1st Stage? Imagine a chiffon pie, covered with whipped cream and meringue. It is lighter than that. Imagine a field of chipmunks floating on helium balloons. It is lighter than that. Imagine The Unbearable Lightness of Being, made not only bearable but turned into a gigglefest. It is lighter than that. [Read more...]
New guide to theatre ticket deals just published
May 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
With so much good theatre being offered in the Washington area, the question becomes, not should we go, but how often can we possibly manage it? And with food and gas prices on the rise, how can we stretch our entertainment budget to catch that new show that sounds interesting. [Read more...]
Amadeus the latest of 4 Spring shows to add performances
May 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Critics and audiences alike are declaring Edward Gero and Sasha Olinick a triumph in Amadeus at Round House Theatre, which just added three performances, now closing June 12th.
Washington loves all things Stoppard, as the MetroStage production of The Real Inspector Hound is proving. With strong ensemble acting, the hysterical locked room mystery has been extended a week, closing June 5.
At Olney Theatre Center, Beau Willimon’s highly charged insider’s look at Washington politics, Farragut North, originally set to close May 22nd, is on its second extension, running through June 5th.
“Extended. In every sense of the word” was Folger Theatre‘s slyly worded announcement that Aaron Posner’s adaptation of Cyrano, starring Eric Hissom, would be extended for two weeks, and is now set to close June 12th.
The Tennessee Continuum
May 26, 2011 By 1 Comment
Playwright Tennessee Williams wrote the truth as he saw it. By having the courage to share his own troubled personal life, he revolutionized American theater. [Read more...]
A Time to Kill
May 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Arena Stage’s world premiere production of Rupert Holmes’ A Time to Kill is, in turn, funny, shocking, witty, and sly. It’s based on John Grisham’s breakthrough law-and-order novel and clearly conscious of its well-received 1996 film version starring Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, and Samuel L. Jackson. [Read more...]
D.C. City Council rejects 6% theatre tax
May 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Thursday, May 26, 2011 – The D.C. City Council yesterday passed a 2011-2012 budget for the City – without the 6% tax on live arts performances that Mayor Vincent Gray had proposed. [Read more...]
Jerusalem
May 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I have no argument with the general consensus among the critics I’ve read about Jerusalem, the well intended and occasionally powerful play by Jez Butterworth, which has crossed the Atlantic after a very successful run in London’s West End. I have no argument, but I cannot agree. I’ve now read five reviews from respected colleagues, including Ben Brantley of the NY Times, all of which are very high on the play itself. I’ll tell you why I am not. [Read more...]
Old Times
May 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Is there anything more delicious than Harold Pinter done well? When the show’s funny and weird and a polite sense of dread hangs over everything like a sinister odor? [Read more...]
