The Washington Stage Guild, renowned for its delightful stagings of “house playwright” George Bernard Shaw, kicks off its 2019-20 season with one of his earliest comedies, Candida, directed by Laura Giannarelli, Sept. 26 through Oct. 20. Married couple Emelie Faith Thompson and Nathan Whitmer, take on the roles of wife and husband Candida and Reverend […]
Archives for September 2019
The 2020 Michelin Bib Award bargain friendly restaurants near your favorite DC theatres
The Michelin Guide’s official announcement for 2020 Bib Gourmand awards went live today. The Bib Gourmands are announced, yearly, before the announcement of their coveted star rating awards, and are a big deal for those moderately priced restaurants offering exceptional service. Unlike their star-rated awards, which can typically find you dropping a small fortune on […]
Review: Miss You Like Hell musical at Baltimore Center Stage
Baltimore Center Stage’s new artistic director Stephanie Ybarra gets off to a dynamic start with the winning, women-centered musical, Miss You Like Hell, which celebrates the passion and pain of Latinx women but generously embraces all people in search of a community where they belong and are lifted up. This storytelling musical by Quiara Alegría […]
Review: Jitney at Arena Stage
Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s restaging of his 2017 Broadway production of Jitney at Arena Stage—bringing to town much of the design team and several of the actors—is a terrific kickoff to a season-long festival celebrating the monumental playwright August Wilson. The bustling story, set within an unlicensed cab station in Pittsburgh’s predominantly black Hill District, is […]
A look at Unexpected Turbulence: lipstick, slapstick in the not-always-friendly skies
Alexander Burnett, in DC on a break from his studies in Paris, plays flight attendant Crystelle Desjardins, determined to win”Best Flight Attendant in the Fleet” for the 16th year in a row in the U S. debut of Unexpected Turbulence. The only things standing in her way? Just about everything aboard this flight from Paris […]
Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, the Cronut of musicals, still works its spell
Recent research has shown that humans’ domestication of dogs has altered canines’ brains. I have a theory — it has not yet been borne out by science, but I am confident that it will be — that cats have done the same to humans. Why else would we be in such devoted service to these […]
A tribute to Alan Friedman, 71, beloved theater volunteer
Local theater lobbies just got a bit colder with the passing of Alan Friedman, 71, on September 19. Along with his husband Lou Altarescu, Alan was a fixture in the Washington theater scene, a warm and welcoming presence for decades as ushers for Round House Theatre, Washington Stage Guild, Theater J, Signature Theatre and many […]
Review: Surfacing from ExPats Theatre
Sometimes theatre amuses, sometimes it entertains, sometimes it moves. Oftentimes we get caught up in the protagonist’s journey, sometimes we are dazzled by technical brilliance. Then there are times when, as the audience, our obligation is to bear witness. If there’s any hope for humanity, it is our heretofore underutilized capacity for empathy. I’ve also […]
Review: The Gulf, Audrey Cefaly’s Delta drama
We’ve seen “Jaws.” We all know what an innocent fishing expedition can become. The stakes are more emotional than predatory in Audrey Cefaly’s intense and steamy one-act, The Gulf, returning to the Washington area in a finely-pitched production from Peter’s Alley Theatre Productions. The world premiere of The Gulf was at Signature Theatre in Shirlington […]
I Am Her, a personal story that propelled this writer to take to the stage
For three nights in Woolly Mammoth Theatre’s classroom space, first-time playwright Amanda Moskowitz will be telling her story. The play, I Am Her, and performance were not part of this writer’s life plan, but when Jewish Women International (JWI) sent a call for women to submit their #MeToo stories, it triggered her own history of […]
Review: Puliter Prize-winner Fairview at Woolly Mammoth
If someone were to ask me to describe the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury, I would start with Shattering. I would add Visceral, Iconoclastic, and Stinging. The playwright has fashioned a story that reflects feelings and words that have gone unspoken. At least not in public and rarely onstage. Now they are. […]
Review: Helen on Wheels. Comedy is hard.
Best Medicine Rep stands out among our newer small theatre companies for location (a store space on the upper level of Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg) and for mission: they will only present comedies. Laughter, after all, being the best medicine. It’s a commendable mission. Comedy writers get to showcase for their works, while local folks […]