America may be in a new cold war with Putin, but the Washington Ballet this week takes Russia into a white-hot embrace.
Archives for October 2017
Langston Hughes, Joseph McCarthy hearings. Why Are You Now … is a timely play
Langston Hughes was a noted poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and one of the earliest innovators of jazz poetry. It’s no wonder that the literary giant got a “shout out” in Rent’s “La Vie Boheme” along with other historic notables.
WAPAVA’s Richard Bauer Award honors Rick Foucheux and Amber Paige McGinnis
On Tuesday, Oct. 10, the DC theater community is invited to the Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archive’s (WAPAVA) Richard Bauer Award celebration at the Woolly Mammoth Theater, in an evening that includes dinner, entertainment, the awards presentations to Rick Foucheux and Amber McGinnis and an auction.
Cat-tress Sweet Bea’s debut in The Collection with photo shares
Monday night was opening, and it all came together beautifully. I am deeply aware that I am representing cats everywhere and hope that people will consider that cats are not just lazy animals; they are talented divas – with personality!
Two visions of Sondheim’s Assassins opens as the country recoils from mass shootings
As the country grieves over yet another mass shooting and grapples with the question of what could drive anyone to contemplate such a hideous act, two productions of the Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman’s musical Assassins, which explores that question, are preparing to open in our area.
Pinter’s The Lover and The Collection review
Spiraling in, and spiraling out: two opposing journeys are on offer in a pair of hour long Pinter plays, directed by Shakespeare Theatre’s Artisic Director, Michael Kahn. The Lover and The Collection may well have been pet projects for the seasoned director, as there is a game spirit evident that enlivens these thorny dramas and makes […]
The Tarot Reading III at Evening Star Cafe review
I’m no believer in astrology or the arcane arts. And a production that bills itself as part vaudeville, part carnival ride? The last thing I expected was to be moved to tears. But that’s what happened Sunday night at Evening Star Cafe.
Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information review
With a title like Love and Information, Forum Theatre’s newest show grants itself a wide warrant, delivering quite a bit of the former and volley after volley of the latter. The show really gets fun when you follow along with the meta-theatrical game Forum plays with the playwright, but whether there’s more than just a […]
Shaw’s Widowers’ Houses review, a sly gut-punch of a story
Black People’s Houses might be this play’s title if it were a play written today and set in DC. That title would probably give a better sense of how provocative and satirical it is. Concerned, as it is, with slum landlords and gentrification, it is much more relevant and sharp than the creaky word “widower” […]
The Cradle Will Rock review
You think you’re in for a reenactment of a historical night of American theater, but then The Cradle Will Rock gets rolling and before long you’re plunged into a musical production from Iron Crow Theatre that is scarily germane and leaves you feeling rattled and exhilarated and thinking maybe you should have worn your pink […]
She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange review
Rectangles of Astroturf. A leafless blue tree branch, a standing lamp. Four very, very good actors and a script by playwright Amelia Roper. That’s all Taffety Punk Theatre needs to show us The American Dream in ashes.