Now through the end of June, Studio Theatre concludes its “New British Invasion” series by presenting the Gate Theatre of London’’s acclaimed production of Grounded. The winner of the first prize of last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe, Grounded shows the making and unraveling of an American drone pilot in a tense one-woman psychodrama.
About J. Robert Williams
Nero/Pseudo
The stomping ground for Capital Fringe fanatics does not lie dormant this spring: Through June 1, WSC Avant Bard is rocking the Shop at Fort Fringe with an adventurous offering that exemplifies the company’s signature blend of high- and low-brow theatre inspired by the classics.
The Cole Porter Project: It’s All Right With Me
There are few things more charming, more chic, more certain to please than a Cole Porter song. These time-tested pleasures, as tuneful as they are clever, do not tend to disappoint. As such, I entered the opening night of the In Series’ new Cole Porter Project: It’s All Right with Me with the high hopes. […]
Turner triumphs as Mother Courage
Thinking versus feeling, politics versus pathos, pleasure versus instruction—these dialectics often arise in discussing Bertolt Brecht’s revolutionary “epic theatre”, and the idea that these qualities exist in opposition feeds the common perception that Brecht belongs to the canon of “important” artists who offer little in the way of entertainment, and whose works we must suffer […]
Building bombs in a bugged apartment: Edgar and Annabel at Studio Theatre
Who wouldn’t want to watch a gang of political insurgents belt out 90s power-ballads in a karaoke faceoff while simultaneously building a bomb?
Giselle
Intricate cut-outs of luscious trees arch over the stage, and a painted drop shows rolling hills through a gap in the woods. Warm golden light beams into the forest glen, and a little cottage leans out onto the stage. As the pliant suitors of our heroine Giselle stride into the frame, our guileless peasant girl […]
The Night Watcher
Oscar Wilde said that the aim of art is “to reveal art and conceal the artist.” As I approached The Night Watcher at Studio Theatre, I had to wonder if the one-woman show was exempt from this mandate. This is Charlayne Woodard’s fourth autobiographical solo play—by now, to reveal and relive her actual life is […]
Special Agent Galactica and Peter Fields at L’Enfant Cafe
At the crossroads of Adams Morgan and Dupont, L’Enfant Café spills candlelight and savory aromas onto the street corner. Tureens of onion soup and buttery mussels steam up the snug little bistro, a couple tug on the loose ends of a mountain of French fries like they’re playing Janga. It’s an Old-World date spot that […]
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is not a play that deals in easy answers, but Jonathan Munby’s new production at the Shakespeare Theatre makes no problem of losing yourself in a night of spectacle. When a pair of strippers in nun’s habits open their robes and spin their tasseled breasts, it’s hard to think about your groceries.
Special Agent Galactica holds court at the Black Fox Lounge
Special Agent Galactica, a regular on the DC club scene, seen here at the Black Fox Lounge. Special Agent Galactica sashays up to the stage and looks out at the narrow cavern of the Black Fox Lounge. It’s go time. For her first act, Galactica delivers American standards with a mix of irony and earnest […]
The Marriage of Maria Braun
SCENA Theatre continues to mount vital international works in its 26th year, kicking off the season with a stage adaptation of the 1979 film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Marriage of Maria Braun. This cult favorite from the New German Cinema movement is a cultural import worthy of SCENA’s brand, and it’s about time that […]
Torch Song Trilogy
Do we still need Torch Song Trilogy? We’ve come a long way since 1981, when Torch Song Trilogy broke new ground with its presentation of homosexual men who wanted (gasp!) the option to have stable lives and loving families. The protagonist Arnold Beckoff is a drag queen, but not an alien. Minds were blown. Playwright […]