Ready for a little blood and guts? How about regicide, suicide, and…whatever it is you call it when you have a close friend murdered? At any rate, William Shakespeare has had you covered for a little over 400 years with Macbeth, his dark and grisly tragedy. And DC theater company “The Rude Mechanicals” has brought […]
Private Lives, a classy Coward comedy very well played
Everyone knows a couple like these two. They’re passionate and interesting, worldly and deeply into one another. They’re the couple that causes people to remark “I just love the two of them together!” Then one day, you hear they’ve divorced. And it all makes a lot of sense.
Boeing Boeing offers friendly skies and plenty of laughs
It’s hard to believe, but air travel wasn’t always about long lines, uncomfortable seats and the opportunity to get poked and prodded by strangers. There weren’t always fees to check your bag, and if you wanted a decent martini at cruising altitude you could pretty well bet it was on the menu. Sadly, those days […]
Round House’s Ordinary Days is pure joy
For a recent college grad, there’s a special feeling when stepping out into the world. Three parts excitement and one part nausea, there’s a sense that anything is possible, happiness is preordained and opportunity is all around. I’m just barely old enough to declare that “those were the days,” but there it is. At any […]
Bat Boy: The Musical
Don’t lie – you’ve probably thumbed through the pages of a supermarket tabloid more than once in your life. The line is slow, the cashier has run off, and you suddenly find yourself curious – even captivated – by the possibility of such headlines as “Severed Leg Hops to Hospital” or “Bigfoot Kept Lumberjack as […]
Taffety Punk’s Charm, Thoroughly – Yep – Charming
It isn’t hard to find live theater in Washington, DC. The nation’s capital is a theater town, after all – and if that’s news to you, then I might suggest a quick visit to the Internet to see what you uncover (start with DC Theater Scene, of course). What’s harder is finding great theater, and […]
Adventure Theater’s Jungle Book – pretty, but somber
Here’s a tip for you: if you’re going to see a piece of children’s theater, bring a child with you. It seems obvious, but these things have a way of getting away from you. My 9 year old stepson was supposed to accompany me to Adventure Theater’s production of The Jungle Book, but ran late […]
Big words and bigger laughs at Ford’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
This is it folks. The main event. In the red corner stands the reigning champion, a pubescent alpha-male and phonetic prodigy. In the blue corner, the challengers stand ready. Among them: a militant perfectionist, a boy with a ‘magic foot,’ a teenage girl who swings a mighty dictionary and many more.
Penny Plain at World Stages
The world is dying of a horrible virus, and nature is taking back what’s rightfully hers. There’s no food, no running water and communication with the outside world has been cut off. There are even reports that people are turning to cannibalism to stay alive. So…what’s the plan?
WSC’s Orlando a gender-bending, bawdy delight
It’s one thing to go to the theater and enjoy yourself. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. But it’s a far more transcendent joy to revel as the actors and actresses have even more fun than you. So it is for WSC Avant Bard’s production of Orlando.
Seminar has the write stuff
Ray Bradbury said in his Zen in the Art of Writing that we must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy us. But the quote is the sentiment of a man for whom writing came easy – or at least who enjoyed a modicum of success. In Theresa Rebeck’s Seminar, it’s writing itself that’s […]
Elf The Musical
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The silent night is broken only by silver bells, little drummer boys and millions more rockin’ around the Christmas tree. Yes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, perhaps even a white one, and Santa Claus is coming to town. But go and tell it on […]