Being stuck in the world of 410[GONE] might seem like Hell for most people. After all, it is a trippy video game afterlife full of maddening puzzles based on Dance Dance Revolution and manic Chinese deities that get high off of human pain. While it is Hell of a sort (technically more of a purgatory) […]
The Ugly One from Nu Sass (review)
You would have to be quite the hermit to be missing the current cultural moment of the horrifying and sometimes violent interactions between bodies, sex, and power. With news full of the empowered brought down by abuses they have committed and feeds full of #MeToo’s, #IHave’s, #MenToo’s, and #BelieveWomen’s, Nu Sass’s DC premiere of the […]
The Real Americans at Mosaic Theater Company (review)
In today’s information age, where significant cultural moments flutter in and out weekly, topical theater may not age well. But sometimes, art speaks to fundamental fault lines in a culture, and that divide is played over and over with different names attached. The Real Americans, a solo show in Mosaic Theater’s “Transformational Journeys” series, is […]
Deb Sivigny’s Hello, My Name Is … (review)
Memory is a home we can’t help but live in. Wandering from room to partitioned room, we reflexively replay the moments that define us in our search of what they mean for who we are.
An Interview with a Revolutionary: Natalia Kaliada of Belarus Free Theatre
There is still dictatorship in Europe. Protestors are beaten in the streets. Artists and activists are tortured in prison. An iron-fisted strong man rigs elections and crushes all opposition. This is not a setup for a dystopian film. This is Belarus 2017.
Assassins from Pallas Theatre Collective (review)
In the wake of an historically deadly mass shooting and a historically unpopular president comes a musical comedy of sorts about guns, presidents, and their tragic interplay from Lincoln to Reagan. These elements, brought to life by the catchiest tunes in the Sondheim oeuvre, make for a musical that feels not only worth doing, but […]
Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced at NextStop Theatre (review)
Imagine the worst dinner party you could attend. Not the worst for company (everyone here is erudite and cosmopolitan), nor the worst for purpose (a celebration of achievement), nor the worst for food and drink (scotch, an adorable fennel salad and pork tenderloin in the oven). No, the worst because everyone says things they shouldn’t, […]
Spectacle key to Rorschach’s repeat Neverwhere (review)
This DC theater season, several mid-sized theaters are delving into a trend recently popular among the bigger houses: remounting popular productions of previous years. Usually these shows spice the remount up with a twist of casting or design, but are sure not to twist too much to make the production unrecognizable.
Deep Cuts: a Lesson from Whipping’s Beer Man
In the past few days, as I’ve let Kathleen Akerley’s play Whipping, or The Football Hamlet (and this review) settle in my mind, I realize that my review perhaps comes off more harshly critical than I intended. Longacre Lea plays have a deserved reputation of inspiring polarizing, even heated, opinions. Such is the nature of […]
Whipping, or The Football Hamlet (review)
Whipping, or the Football Hamlet has rushed into CUA’s Callan Theater with Kathleen Akerley calling this play as writer and director as she does most every humid DC August. As a theatergoer, it’s an exciting time. Just before the mass of September openings that signal the start of the theater season, Akerley often offers a […]
Review: As You Like It plays pastoral Prince George’s parks
Everyone has an idea of how Shakespeare “should” be performed: from the gorgeous flashiness of Shakespeare Theatre Company to the original practice imitations of American Shakespeare Center to edgy interpretations popular on Fringe stages. But for my money, Shakespeare performed outdoors, on a ramshackle stage and under the stars, is hard to beat. That’s especially […]
Trey Parker’s Cannibal! The Musical (Capital Fringe review)
A man wanders onstage, a mad look above his riotous beard. Another man comes on, petrified with fear, not seeing the disturbing maniac. With lightning speed, the bearded man pounces and tears a massive gash in his victim’s neck. Blood shoots everywhere while the cannibal gargles his hideous laugh, gore oozing down his gullet.