Empty nest syndrome is not an issue for Marian (an expertly controlled and controlling Susan Rome), a contentedly retired wife and mother living in Florida with her second husband Richard (John Leslie Wolfe, a portrait of cordial acceptance). She’s got book club, sunshine, dining out and shopping with friends—not to mention her husband’s pregnant 18-year-old […]
Review: Kill Move Paradise asks Why are we so afraid of young black men?
When a show lists a Trauma Counselor in the credits and has a “healing space” outside of the theater proper, you know you are in for an intense experience. Kill Move Paradise will make you feel like you’ve been holding your breath for 75 minutes. That edge of your seat, breath-caught feeling is fitting, but […]
Review: Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally at Baltimore Center Stage
Boy, things have certainly changed since the days of “See Spot Run.” Dick is sick and goes by the grown-up name Richard (Neimah Djourabchi, a textbook 50s Dad with existential longing). His wife (Vanessa Kai, impeccably maternal like a vintage sitcom Mom) has died and children Dick (Jay Cobián, poignant and fierce as a mama’s […]
Review: Synetic Theater’s Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera meets The Red Shoes in Synetic Theater’s sexy and Goth take on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel about ghosts, haute society, obsession and the symbiotic relationship between protégé and pupil. Audiences are probably familiar with the haunted happenings at the Paris Opera House through the long-enduring Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of […]
Review: Be Here Now at Everyman Theatre. Seizures, sanity and the smell of spring
What if happiness was not only a choice, but a side effect? That’s the intriguing premise of Deborah Zoe Laufer’s play Be Here Now, which she also directs with depth and quirky humor at Everyman Theatre in a production that brightens the gloom and gray of midwinter with a joyful reminder to live in the […]
Review: Murder on the Orient Express at Everyman Theatre
Nix the candy canes, the carols, and the seasonal folderol. This year, get into the holiday spirit with a juicy murder. We need a little Christie, right this very minute. Everyman Theatre fulfills these sinister holiday wishes with a bang-up, très chic production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, adapted by Washington favorite […]
Review: Men on Boats at Baltimore Center Stage
No men. No boats. No man-splaining. That’s part of the concept of the high-energy and low testosterone of Jaclyn Backhaus’ adventure saga, Men on Boats. All the roles in John Wesley Powell’s expedition through the Grand Canyon by way of the Colorado River (celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2019) are played by women and non-binary […]
Review: E2. British royals behaving badly. Bob Bartlett’s ambitious play gets a sexy production at Rep Stage
You’d think the big perk of being king is being able to do whatever you want. That is tragically not the case with Edward II, the duty-bound and defiant monarch of E2, an ambitious and sobering play by local scribe Bob Bartlett about the current cold wave of sexual intolerance that threatens to engulf hard-fought […]
Review: Everybody, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ sunny, stunning journey from Life to Death
Everybody is a wonder. Brilliant visuals, arresting acting, ingenious direction by Will Davis, a searching script by playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and an overall generosity of spirit that imbues the show with the feeling that if the journey toward death is this lively and loving, there is nothing to fear. But we do fear death, dying […]
Review: Thoughts of a Colored Man at Baltimore Center Stage
I admired many things about my late father, among them that he never stopped learning or being curious about people and life, even at the age of 92 and grappling with major health issues. I took the spirit of my father into Baltimore Center Stage’s luminous production of Thoughts of a Colored Man and learned […]
Highwood Theatre sexting scandal: a mother’s perspective
It comes down to trust. A parent sends their theater-loving child to the Highwood Theatre, a Silver Spring, Md.-based youth educational theater company, where he can get performance and technical experience and have fun with his peers. The parents trust the adults running Highwood will teach and nurture these budding actors and technical crew in […]
Review: The Bodyguard at Toby’s Dinner Theatre. Toby’s top talent and Whitney Houston’s songs aren’t enough
The legacy and superstardom of Whitney Houston endures, judging from the bobbing heads and impromptu singalongs at Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s production of The Bodyguard. Based on the 1992 film starring Houston and Kevin Costner and a perennial guilty pleasure of many a romance movie buff, The Bodyguard has been made into a rather plodding jukebox […]