Arena Stage is making a limited number of tickets to its productions of Kleptocracy and The Heiress available for free to furloughed Federal employees, Arena Stage informed DCTS today.
In addition, Washington Improv Theatre will be offering free improv classes for furloughed folks on Monday, January 14 — the date of the first missing paycheck for most Federal employees.
In a mordant sense, the two Arena offerings may resonate with the furloughed public servants. In Kleptocracy, a new work by House of Cards scriptwriter Victor Lin, a Russian oligarch in the midst of the chaos caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, vows to reform Russian markets and open them to the world — only to be confronted by a young Vladimir Putin. In The Heiress, Augustus and Ruth Goetz’s adaptation of the Henry James novel Washington Square, Catherine, the daughter of a millionaire (gazillionaire in today’s dollars) is plain and socially awkward. Suddenly, however, she has an ardent suitor. Does he love her — or her dowry? And what’s she going to do about it?
There are an extremely limited number of tickets available to the two Arena shows. The Heiress tickets are available for the 8 o’clock shows on February 8 and 9 and the 7.30 shows on February 10, 12, and 13, at the Fichandler. Free tickets for Kleptocracy, at the Kreeger, are available on January 18 at 8 o’clock and the 20th and 22nd at 7.30. Enter the offer code ArenaFREE at the top of the page. Be sure to bring your Federal ID to the theater when you pick up your tickets.
The deadline for obtaining tickets is January 23, and the offer and tickets are available even if the government starts up before then. No more than two tickets per household, though.
WIT’s free improv class will be at the Source, 1835 14th Street NW, on Monday at noon. “Our enthusiastic and friendly instructors work to make sure everyone is able to participate in a playful and trusting atmosphere,” the troupe promises. You can sign up for the class by clicking here. Remember, the first rule of improv is to always say “yes” to your scene partner — ironic, since the first rule of shutdown appears to be to always say “no” to your scene partner.
The improv class will also be free to folks who haven’t been furloughed.
