Looking back on the Hispanic Theatre season
August 17, 2010 By 2 Comments
Looking back at the excellence in the 2009-2010 Hispanic Theatre season is really looking forward to more to come. This summer, after working in a coffee community, a voluntary collective of “fincas” (small farms), and living with a family in El Salvador, I emerge ever more wide-eyed and aware of the great need for more Hispanic theater. [Read more...]
Casting Challenge: Pick your favorite musical and play and cast the leads
August 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Question #3 in our series, getting ready for voting for the 2010 Audience Choice Awards. (In case you haven’t been following along, #1 is here, and #2 is here.)
This fun exercise was dreamed up by Steven McKnight:
Casting Challenge: Pick your favorite musical and play and cast the leads.
Who were the most memorable characters you saw portrayed this season?
August 12, 2010 By 4 Comments
Here is the second in our series of questions thinking back over the past season as we get ready for the 2010 Audience Choice Awards.
Again, Steven McKnight came up with it.
Who were the most memorable characters you saw portrayed on a DC stage this season?
Best Plays and Performances of 2009-2010
August 11, 2010 By 6 Comments
Tim Treanor
The 2009-2010 ends awash in melancholy, with the death of a great Washington theater leader following (by mere days!) the death of a promising young actor and singer. These tragic events serve as punctuation for a season we will remember with some sorrow. [Read more...]
Which shows do you most regret missing from this past season?
August 10, 2010 By 19 Comments
To get ready for the opening of the polls to choose the DCTS Audience Choice Awards, we thought we would ask a series of questions to help us all think back over the season. [Read more...]
Favorite New Plays debuted this season
August 10, 2010 By 6 Comments
In describing the DC theatre scene to friends around the country, I emphasize the depth and diversity of the offerings here. That point is brought home each year when I look back on the season, particularly the new and original works which debuted in the DC area. [Read more...]
New Audience Choice Awards voted by invitation
August 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
DC Theatre Scene’s Audience Choice Awards, now in its fourth year, are the only awards to cover the Washington area’s professional theatrical season – which begins and ends in August – and which allows audiences to make the final decision as to who receives the final awards, based on nominations by the DCTS writers and staff. [Read more...]
Arena Stage adds 5 playwrights to its payroll
August 3, 2010 By 1 Comment
Is Arena Stage Launching a New Business Model for Playwrighting?
Arena Stage, which will be introducing its rebuilt $125-million facility to the Washington public in October, may be putting an even more lasting change into effect by giving five playwrights a salary and benefits. Fueled by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, the plan, which Arena will administer through its American Voices New Play Initiative, will give each of the selected playwrights wages (described by Arena as a “living” wage and estimated elsewhere to be in the mid-five-figure range), health insurance, other benefits and a $15,000 annual budget for development. [Read more...]
Some personal reflections on the Fringe
July 26, 2010 By 9 Comments
While there are numerous awards for Fringe productions, I would like to honor some individual and group performances that made the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival a memorable experience for me. However, I only saw 27 productions (i.e., only 20% of the 132 total) so please chip in with your own comments on who should receive these awards or, better yet, create some award categories yourself and name the deserving recipients. [Read more...]
Writing and performing Bucky’s song and dance
June 29, 2010 By 1 Comment
A conversation with playwright/director D. W. Jacobs and performer Rick Foucheux
If you haven’t read the work of Buckminster Fuller or seen it explained in R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe, you might doubt whether watching one solo performance could totally transform how you see this “Spaceship Earth” [Read more...]
