Order in the living room! There is no bottom to Washington’s taste for litigation, but Shakespeare Theatre’s Mock Trial went beyond itself last night, charging Nick Bottom and the rest of the Rude Mechanicals with a contractual violation which they, ah, didn’t actually commit. The Supreme Court of Athens met via Zoom last night – […]
As a result of Gov. Hogan’s directive, Maryland theatres announce cancelled 2020 shows
Bethesda’s Round House Theatre has elected to cancel the 2020 portion of its live theater schedule, the company announced on Tuesday. “Governor Hogan’s Roadmap to Recovery outlines a phased process for reopening Maryland. As Round House falls into the final phase of that plan, it has become increasingly clear that we will be unable to […]
Theatre patron and 2013 Gary Maker Award recipient Linda Elyce Bryce has died
Linda Elyse Bryce, a teacher, lover of Shakespeare, broad-spectrum theater supporter and winner of the 2013 Gary Maker Award, given to the audience member who best exemplifies Maker’s enthusiastic, grass-roots support of Washington theater, died yesterday morning. Bryce was a resident of Venice, Florida at the time of her death. The Faction of Fools, Washington’s […]
Joy Zinoman’s Studio Acting Conservatory breaks ground on its new Columbia Heights home
Studio Acting Conservatory, the Joy Zinoman-led acting school previously evicted from its home at Studio Theatre, will begin work on its new 6,000 square foot Holmead Place digs and expects to have the building ready in one hundred days, the Conservatory announced Tuesday, May 5, 2020. The company also held a groundbreaking ceremony on […]
In remembrance: arts journalist Gary Tischler
Gerhardt (Gary) Tischler, a veteran arts journalist whose debut post with DC Theatre Scene “There’s No App for That” remains one of our most-read articles, passed away at Sibley Memorial Hospital on April 8. He was 78. Tischler’s breakout piece, which poetically and in detail described the wonder of the theatrical experience, launched a nine-month, […]
Update: Jurisdictions struggle to get promised CARES Act unemployment benefits to theater workers
Updates: Maryland’s system for new unemployment claims suffered system crashes in its first weekend of operation, but is now (Monday, Apr 27) receiving applications. The District of Columbia began accepting claims as of this morning (Monday, April 27), however, they require that PUA applicants first file for standard unemployment benefits. Local governments in the DC […]
Quotidian Theatre to stage one last play before closing. A casualty of Covid and time.
Quotidian Theatre, the Bethesda-based company which specialized in the work of Horton Foote and, to a lesser extent, Conor McPherson, will close its doors for good after a production of Foote’s The Day Emily Married, “most likely” next spring. The company will not mount its previously-scheduled performance of Ibsen’s Ghosts, which had been cancelled due […]
Brush up your Shakespeare. It’s (almost) his birthday. Invites from 3 companies to celebrate
So Bill Shakespeare would have been 456 on Thursday, April 23, and under normal circumstances, I know, you would have been enjoying a fat goose and a few tankards of mead with a dozen or so of your besties. But: coronavirus. So now what? Do not despair. Three nearby Bard-centric theatre companies have your covered. […]
Review: The Grapes of Wrath, by ASC’s touring company, now online
Take an 80-year-old, 169,000-word novel, which begins with a journey halfway across the country, in the midst of the Depression, features the death of important characters, violent fistfights, a murder, the burning of a camp, a woman giving birth to a stillborn baby, which is moreover filled with pittoresque asides and a little bit of […]
The 2020 Capital Fringe has been canceled
The 15th annual Capital Fringe Festival, scheduled for this July, has been canceled. Capital Fringe Founding Director Julianne Brienza announced the cancellation in an e-mail to Fringe supporters and prior participants this morning. The coronavirus, of course, was the cause. “[I]t is clear that not only will it not be safe to produce the Festival […]
More of your support for theatres may be tax deductible in 2020, thanks to two CARES Act provisions
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) enacted last week has some significant appropriations for theater — including a $25 million direct grant to the Kennedy Center and $75 million to the National Endowment for the Arts, for further distribution to nonprofits. It also contains somewhat smaller-scale provisions to encourage us to […]
Woolly Mammoth uses its 3-D printer to help hospitals save lives
For years, theater artists have used their skills to create stage illusions from unlikely ingredients. Today, at Woolly Mammoth, two artists are using those skills to save lives. The artists are Woolly Mammoth Technical Director Joel Garcia and his assistant, Alec Sparks. They are using their skills with Woolly’s 3-D printer to create parts for […]