Produced by the African Continuum Theatre in association with Ford’s Theatre Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy Frederick Strother as Becker (Photo: T. Charles Erickson) Jennifer L. Nelson, who is stepping aside as artistic director of the African Continuum Theatre Company to dedicate herself to directing, elicits spell-binding performances for this double first: Jitney was the first of August […]
Archives for January 2007
Into the Woods
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by James Lapine Reviewed by Gary McMillan Cast of Into the Woods with [front] Donna Migliaccio as Jack’s Mom (Photo: Carol Pratt) Welcome to the same old, brand new Signature. With the same old commitment to quality, Signature co-founder and impresario Eric Schaeffer, well, Poppa’s […]
Bricktop
By Calvin A. Ramsey and Thomas W. Jone II Produced by MetroStage Reviewed by Debbie M. Jackson Bricktop at MetroStage stomps and sizzles across the stage like there’s no tomorrow. Co-written by Baltimore playwright Calvin A. Ramsey and MetroStage favorite, Thomas W. Jones II, who also directs, Bricktop is a high energy, roller coaster ride through […]
January Pleasures
Carol, Bricktop, Stephen, Act Two and The Boar Here’s why they call me the Wandering Jew. This month alone I attended two National Symphony concerts, two Kirov Opera performances, press openings of a Neil Labute play and a Jewish memoir turned into a play, took a tour of the new spacious high tech theatre that […]
The Tempest
Robert Leembruggan and Ally Raber (Photo: Ray Gniewek) By William Shakespeare Produced by Keegan Theatre Reviewed by Gary McMillan What suits the Nation’s Capital better than a comedy of political treachery? The Keegan Theatre’s The Tempest, a solid – if uneven – entry in the Shakespeare In Washington Festival, nicely melds the drama […]
Sleeping Arrangements
by: Laura Shaine Cunningham Produced by: TheatreJ Reviewed by: Debbie Minter Jackson “It is safe to dream again,” says young Lily, while looking at the stars in the final line from Sleeping Arrangements, a world premiere playing at Theater J. This mild and quirky drama by Laura Shaine Cunningham is based on her memoir set […]
King Lear
King Lear by William Shakespeare Co-Produced by the Folger Theatre and the Classical Theatre of Harlem Reviewed by Tim Treanor Shakespeare Theatre Artistic Director Michael Kahn has called Shakespeare "a playwright for our town" and in no play is it more evident than in King Lear. In Lear, power is acquired through lies and flattery, […]
What’s Done in the Dark
Written and produced by Tyler Perry by Debbie Minter Jackson Mr. Brown & Cora (David Mann & Tamela Mann) The Tyler Perry Experience Tyler Perry. The name alone can pack a playhouse with patrons shelling out $50 a pop for a ticket without a word of print advertising or even a notice in the […]
Opening Doors to a New Era at Signature
YOU’RE GONNA LOVE TOMORROW!! It’s Thursday, January 4th. Only nine days to go before hundreds of enthusiastic theatregoers, subscribers and Shirlington neighbors come to see what all the fuss is about. Will they be ready? Wearing hard hats with the word “SIGNATURE” on it,and surrounded by drywallers, carpet layers, chandelier installers and carpenters, Lorraine […]
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare Adapted by Paata Tsikurishvili and Nathan Weinberger Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili Produced by Synetic Theater Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy (l to r) Armand Sindoni, Mike Way, Niki Jacobsen and Courtney Pauroso as Ensemble and Irina Tsikurishvili as Lady Macbeth. (Photo: Raymond Gniewek) Get the next generation hooked on the ecstasy of live […]
Review: An incandescent production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a sacred text of pain, a holy howl of misery from people who have ritualized both their failures and their depravities, and made them institutionalized. In this incandescent production, Kathleen Turner and the astonishing Bill Irwin – seemingly as at home with Albee as Colleen Dewhurst and Jason Robards […]
Desire Under the Elms
Produced by The American Century Theater Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy Parker Dixon (left) Susan Marie Rhea (center), Kevin Adams (right) (Photo: Jeffrey Bell) The American Century Theater (TACT) can be commended for producing revivals of rarely performed, American masterpieces like Desire Under the Elms from Nobel Laureate playwright Eugene O’Neill in a compelling and beautiful […]