Marisol
March 17, 2009 by Debbie Jackson
Filed under Our Reviews
Marisol is reminiscent of old school, vintage dark comics, only without the Super hero. Its darkness permeates everything, from the tattered wall hangings to the graffiti filled floor and lacerated and junk yard furnishings piled up for the set design. Read more
Last Days of Judas Iscariot Revisited
December 17, 2008 by Tim Treanor
Filed under Our Reviews
The Last Days of Judas IscariotBy Stephen Adly Guirgis
Directed by John Vreeke
Produced by Forum Theatre
Reviewed by Tim Treanor
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot was the winner of DCTS’s Audience Choice Award for Best Play last season, Forum Theatre’s remounting of the production has its original cast with one exception - Heather Haney now plays the role of Mother Theresa, originally played by Maggie Glauber. Here is a reprise of our review of the original production.
—————————
I’ve taken more time than I usually do to write this review because I wanted to be sure you understood how good this play is. I wanted to tell you in plain and direct language the nature of the thing that you have before you. Read more
Forum Opens Next Season with Angels in America
December 16, 2008 by lorraine treanor
Filed under News and Views
Angels in America will be Forum’s Fall 2009 production at H Street Theatre, Washington, DC
Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?
October 12, 2008 by Tim Treanor
Filed under Our Reviews, Uncategorized
Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?by Caryl Churchill
directed by John Vreeke
produced by Forum Theatre
reviewed by Tim Treanor
This is a horrible little play, alternately turgid and incomprehensible. It is a waste of a fine director and two good actors, and should you chose to go, it will be a waste of your time and money as well.
The ostensible business of the play is the relationship between two figures - Sam (Adam Jonas Segaller), who Churchill identifies as a country and who obviously represents the U.S., and Guy (Peter Stray) who Churchill says is, well, a guy, an Englishman who is seduced by the dynamic Sam into leaving his wife and children and coming to America. Read more
Marat Sade
July 23, 2008 by Rosalind Lacy
Filed under Our Reviews
Marat/Sade- by Peter Weiss
- Directed by Michael Dove
- Produced by Forum Theatre Company
- Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy
Walk through a paranoia-inducing, chain-link, floor-to-ceiling fenced cage to be seated next to a thrust stage where actors scream, writhe on the floor, stand and stare and circle a bathtub. Suddenly, one of the keepers padlocks the door behind us. We can’t get out. Read more
Judas Iscariot Revealed
April 26, 2008 by Tim Treanor
Filed under Our Podcasts
-
A conversation with actors Patrick Bussink, Jason McCool and dramaturg Hannah Hessel
-
Interviewed by Tim Treanor
What’s the hottest show in town? It could well be Forum Theatre’s The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Read more
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
April 14, 2008 by Tim Treanor
Filed under Our Reviews
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot-
By Stephen Adly Guirgis
-
Directed by John Vreeke
-
Produced by Forum Theatre
-
Reviewed by Tim Treanor
I’ve taken more time than I usually do to write this review because I wanted to be sure you understood how good this play is. I wanted to tell you in plain and direct language the nature of the thing that you have before you.
It’s not that it’s simply good theater, with a tight dramatic arc and developments which are both outrageously funny and absolutely credible within the parameters of the story…although it is all of that. Nor is it simply that some of our best actors - Hemmingsen, McCormick, del Cerro, Jorgensen - do some of their best work ever, although they do. It is that The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a moral act, which can bring grace to the stricken heart. It will both entertain you and make you think. It could save your life. Read more
Antigone
December 11, 2007 by Debbie Jackson
Filed under Our Reviews
-
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. Read more
Valparaiso
July 3, 2007 by lorraine treanor
Filed under Our Reviews
By Don DeLillo
Directed by Michael Dove
Produced by Forum Theatre & Dance
Reviewed by Janice Cane
During the intermission of Valparaiso at the H Street Playhouse a few nights ago, my companion turned to me and asked, “So, what do you think?” My response: “I like it, but it’s a little strange.” If I had only known what was in store for me! Act One was very good with a little bit of weird mixed in, but Act Two was very weird with a woefully small bit of good mixed in. Read more
Memorandum: Important Must See!
July 3, 2006 by Ronnie Ruff
Filed under Our Reviews
The Memorandum — Forum Theatre and Dance
The Memorandum, a biting commentary on bureaucracy and the silliness that can be its result, is Forum Theatre and Dance’s final production of its 2005-2006 season. The production is directed by artistic director Michael Dove and written by Vaclav Havel who is one of the twentieth century’s best and most respected playwrights. His association with the intellectual opposition to Stalinism in Czechoslovakia and subsequent imprisonment were followed by being elected to the presidency of the Independent Czech Republic. The Memorandum is his most accomplished work and a play that is a perfect example that theatre is always about politics.
