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...]

To say that Tom Stoppard has a way with concepts and words is like saying birds have a way of flying in the air, or the Beltway has a way of congesting in rush hour. He can be trusted to grasp complex ideas and relay the issues via well crafted characters without sounding (too) polemic. [Read more...]

To understand Juno and the Paycock, and the masterful production it’s getting from the Washington Shakespeare Company, imagine Laurel and Hardy in Beirut. Imagine Ralph Kramden meeting Moammar al-Gaddhafi, or Fred Flintstone at the moment the comet hits, or anything, really, by Brendan Behan. Sean O’Casey creates – and WSC delivers – an uproarious domestic comedy, but instead of a punch line, it delivers a sucker-punch to the gut, which lets in all the cold sad air of the real world. [Read more...]

Few dramatic works illustrate the twisted and self-serving aspects of politics in as entertaining a fashion as Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart.  Mary Stuart is an inspired choice for a time of elections and governmental transition, and it receives an inspired production from the Washington Shakespeare Company. [Read more...]

Loaded with action and intrigue and bursting at the seams with an uncommonly large cast of characters, William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Richard III inspires controversy and discussion whenever and wherever it’s staged. And the Washington Shakespeare Company’s new production of the drama is no exception. [Read more...]

Veronica (Kari Ginsburg), looking frightened and vulnerable, opens the door to her home and walks inside. Before she can close it, a mysterious, mustachioed stranger (Christopher Henley), dressed in black and wearing an enormous handgun, slips in behind her. He demands that she tell him about Peter Brown, someone she immediately claims not to know. [Read more...]