DC Theatre Scene ends its 15 year run today. But we won’t be disappearing any time soon. Thanks to a generous donation, we will be able to remain online for the next 3 years. I know many of you have found our coverage useful, so without us, I ask – what’s your plan? How will […]
Archives for December 2020
Lorraine Treanor – These are the plays that won’t let go
These are the plays that won’t let go. They are there as I drift off to sleep, or, unbidden, come to me during the day. This happens more often now, as work here slows to a close. You probably have your list of best plays and performances. This is not that list. These seem to […]
Tim Treanor reviews his life as a theatre critic
After death, two professionals spring into action. The undertaker applies makeup, and puts formaldehyde in the veins, so that the forgetting may begin after a celebration. If the undertaker is successful, the deceased will float into the corner of your brain which holds Uncle Gus, who died when you were eight and who you didn’t […]
Memorable New York stage moments I covered for DC Theatre Scene
Were there magical moments on New York stages in 2020? The question is debatable – just like the definition of “theater” is being debated – since nobody has been performing on any actual stages on Broadway, or Off-Broadway, or (with rare exception) Off-Off Broadway, for the last nine months. It was clearer the first year […]
Review: An Irish Carol 2020 with original Keegan cast members
No, this isn’t just A Christmas Carol with an accent; it is a riff on the familiar Dickens structure, transported to the equally familiar stage world of an old Irish bar. The ghosts and visitations are traded for recriminations and memories; the supreme miser Scrooge for the grumpy old owner David; the near-penniless Cratchit for […]
Reflections of a critic on the closing days of DC Theatre Scene
Theater is at its best when it teaches us something. When it makes us think, and reconsider our stance on an issue, or when it carries us away into another land and time, where characters, fantastical though they may be, are essentially human and essentially ourselves. The mirror held up, as it were. This is […]
Review: The Snow Queen from Imagination Stage
Aimed at young audiences, but appropriate for children of all ages, The Snow Queen is a magical first for Imagination Stage – the theatre’s first foray into online production. Billed as an “at-home theatre experience,” The Snow Queen offers a rich and engaging tale, told by four energetic actors, who breathe life into this Han […]
Since Bob Brown Puppets arrived, DC has become a welcoming home for puppets
Puppet theater has long enjoyed popularity in Washington. The region has often generated a vibrant children’s theater scene offering a multiplicity of styles for a variety of audiences. One particularly effervescent strand in the tapestry of Washington puppetry began to be woven in 1967 when Bob and Judy Brown arrived from New York. Bob Braunschweiger, […]
Close reading of the $15 Billion for Save our Stages shows relief for area theatres
Congress has included a $15 billion grant package for performance and related arts, including theaters, in the $900 billion coronavirus relief package it passed on Monday. The program, called “Grants for Shuttered Venue Operators” in the new bill, will provide up to $10 million in grant money to beleaguered cultural institutions. Under the provisions of […]
Review: From Feinstein’s/54 Below, the return of Sondheim Unplugged
“Being Alive”and “Losing My Mind” – are there any better Sondheim songs to sing at the close of a year full of loss, unrequited yearning and obsession? That they are sung by performers who have moved me for years– Telly Leung and Natalie Douglas – makes me happy that Sondheim Unplugged is back. After shutting […]
Review: “Intimo” – Moody, Masterful Flamenco From GALA Hispanic Theatre
An old-fashioned black-draped dressing mirror is the only prop in the moody, elemental, but by no means elementary “Fuego Flamenco XVI: Intimo,” presented by GALA Hispanic Theatre. The mirror’s undraping and re-draping bracket the hour-long dance-theater piece by two superb dancers and four accomplished, passionate musicians. The overall emotional sense of the work is one […]
Review: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Never will you see anything like it again.
All hail Ma Rainey. The real-life Mother of the Blues gets star power treatment of such high wattage it can scarcely be measured. Peerless acting, a tight ensemble, cinematography burnished to a warm, heraldic bronze, class-act direction, music that heals the hunger inside and costumes that fit the characters like kidskin gloves all work together […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.