The DC Area’s artistic community has seen the rise and fall of many theatre companies. As the cost of space rentals in DC increase, we see fewer and fewer performing spaces for theatres within the city limits. However, in Northern Virginia, more and more small theatre companies are cropping up. Our community has a lot to […]
Review: Dracula from We Happy Few
One of my favorite things about any We Happy Few production is the vigor and joy with which the performers throw themselves into the work. The story, like Bram Stoker’s original Dracula, is told through a series of epistolary devices, primarily letters, with a good mix of telegrams and ships’ logs and the like. At […]
Another white man? Shakespeare Theatre’s staff speaks honestly about new artistic leader, Simon Godwin
Recently, Shakespeare Theatre Company announced the results of their exhaustive search for for an artistic director to replace Michael Kahn: the young British director Simon Godwin. Naturally, the theatre community burst into conversation. One of the things that struck me was the sheer number of artists and theatre professionals who were rolling their eyes and […]
Review: The Pianist of Willesden Lane, a mother’s story told by her daughter through words and music
Mona Golabek has adapted The Pianist of Willesden Lane from her book The Children of Willesden Lane, written with Lee Cohen and performs it alone on stage. Golabek’s presence as she recalls the life of her mother, Lisa Jura, is warm, inviting, and easy-going.
A look into Rainbow’s In the Closet with its director and actors
“The closet” symbolizes an important moment for many LGBTQ+ folks. It has myriad meanings and significance to the members of the community. Playwright Sigmund Fuchs, through In the Closet, has presented his version of it; a place that bends the laws of space-time in a fun, new and exciting way.
How Pointless springboarded from Lorca’s puppet show to their own Don Cristóbal
One of the great perks of being in the theatre community is getting little sneak peaks at your friends’ shows. When you meet for drinks or run into one another at various places around the city, you talk about the things you’re working on, what you’re coming up next. You share gossip and whispers. The […]
Review: Pointless turns Garcia Lorca’s puppet show into a delightfully absurd fantasia
Productions that are the most fun ask their audiences to buckle up, embrace the madness, and hang on for a wild ride. Pointless Theatre has such a carnival of entertainment in their latest offering, Don Cristóbal, freely adapted, as only Pointless can, from Federico Garcia Lorca’s puppet show El Retablillo de Don Cristóbal.
Two directors find commonality in 4615’s rep of Macbeth and the contemporary Dinner
I think there are few earthly pleasures quite like sitting in a restaurant with a fantastic cup of coffee, discussing theatre with intelligent and driven professionals. Jordan Friend, Artistic Director of 4615 Theatre, and Stevie Zimmerman are deep in the process of directing the company’s repertory of MacBeth and Moira Buffini’s Dinner. The two plays, […]
Review: Tinker Bell, a brand new look at Peter Pan
To put on a sweeping adaptation of the epic story of Peter Pan takes some faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust. Adventure Theatre in Tinker Bell, adds just the right touches of theatrical magic to this world premiere as we see Peter through the lens of the fairy. Upon entering the theatre, the […]
Switch playwright Brett Abelman explains it all
The Rainbow Flags are everywhere. Those who shackle themselves to the binary are besieged by the onslaught of colour. Debates rage about why there can’t be a “straight pride parade”, or something to that effect. Within the Rainbow, there are arguments and debates to make the spaces more inclusive, and to remember its roots as […]
Review: Ever in the Glades, a TYA from deep in the Everglades
When thinking of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), we’d be forgiven for thinking of beloved children’s fables, or charming musicals with lessons to be learned. Oftentimes the messages are given to us in neat little packages tied up with heartfelt bows.
Review: Pointless Theatre’s Rite of Spring
When Rite of Spring first premiered in Paris in 1913, the music and the dance proved so…strange and bizarre that it allegedly sparked a riot, resulting in 40 people being removed or arrested. Accounts vary. Either way, the music proved so outlandishly new and strange, and the dancing so modern and far removed from “Ballet” […]