Laurie Metcalf is the fifteenth actress since 1889 to portray Nora Helmer on Broadway, the character in Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House who slams the door on her husband and three children. But she is the first Nora to knock on that door 15 years later, in Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2, […]
Archives for April 2017
From St. Petersburg: Three Sisters at The Kennedy Center (review)
Life flies by, jeering at our measly accomplishments, even as it drags on endlessly, hour after weary hour. Love is elusive and taunting. Loneliness is an ever-present scourge, but company is bothersome. Pride is foolish, but its absence is hideous. Life without work is meaningless, but, then, so is work. The pained past has been […]
How Rizal Iwan from Indonesia ended up on H Street making his US debut in Forgotten Kingdoms at Rorschach
Rorschach Theatre’s co-artistic director Randy Baker has penned some intriguing plays over the years—memorable shows such as Dream Sailors and After the Flood. His latest, Forgotten Kingdoms, is currently making its world premiere on the stage of the Atlas Performing Arts Center.
Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures from Peter’s Alley (review)
One of the great challenges for a director involves taking a slightly dated play like Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures and making it work. That the latest Peter’s Alley Theatre Production is so successful is a tribute to director Aly B. Ettman and her talented cast.
The Fantasticks still charms, if you pardon its age (review)
There may be no local theatre with a house style more suited to The Fantasticks than Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. Before every show, and during every intermission, representatives of the company come up on stage and welcome the audience into the show, as neighbors and friends.
Ally Theatre Company jumps into the scene with a bold look at the first First Lady
The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington by James Ijames, will have its DC premiere as the first-ever production for the Ally Theatre Company.
Hub Theatre’s new season announced
Hub Theatre’s 2017-2018 season will offer a new production of a play familiar to Hub audiences, a brand spanking new play written by an area playwright, and another brand new play written by a playwright familiar to Hub audiences.
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp at Adventure Theatre MTC (review)
Scheherazade’s mystical folktale, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, still spins its magic. Taken from James Norris’ 1940 adaptation of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, Adventure Theatre MTC’s production overflows with color, flash, and culture from start to finish.
Six Degrees of Separation Review: Conning Rich Parents in the ’80s
Near the end of Six Degrees of Separation, Allison Janney, portraying the first rich white victim of a young black con man, tells her husband that she doesn’t want to turn the experience into an anecdote, “with no teeth and a punch line you’ll mouth over and over for years to come.” But it was […]
Kipling’s Jungle Book meets the creative team at Imagination Stage (review)
Starting with Kendra Rai’s gorgeously hued Indian-spice costumes, conjuring tamarind, cinnamon and saffron, Imagination Stage’s production of The Jungle Book brings to life the rich imaginative world of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale of boy raised by wolves and his simply splendid surrogate family.
In The Heights achieves new heights with its Spanish language debut (review)
In The Heights in Spanish is a show to shout about. The Broadway smash by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes, that swept New York’s 2008 theatre awards, including the coveted Tony Award for Best Musical, doesn’t disappoint. Originally written by Miranda in English, this Spanish translation by Amaury Sanchez with English surtitles, makes GALA’s 41st […]
The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (review)
In the midst of a fever dream, The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington flips the power dynamic of Mt. Vernon and leaves first First Lady Martha Danbridge Washington to answer for slavery, with her slaves as judge and jury.