For three years, Lucinda Merry-Browne, director of the Compass Rose Theater, has been hoping to stage Cats in the intimate setting that houses the Annapolis, Md.-based stage. She finally procured the rights and it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time for the theater, as it also had another of T.S. Eliot’s productions on […]
Sex war showdown at Shakespeare’s Lansburgh Theatre
Someone has stormed the Capitol, looted the Treasury, eviscerated the Judiciary, and declared sex illegal. No, no, not Ted Cruz. This happened thousands of years ago, and the culprit was Lysistrata. But no crime is so ancient that it cannot attract the attention of Washington lawyers, and thus on November 24th Lysistrata was brought before […]
Making Toast with dog & pony dc
Science is a creative enterprise. Let’s start there. If you survey the unassuming objects of your daily life—hair dryer, stapler, scissors, fridge—you can see the moments in time that someone, somewhere, grabbed hold of an opportunity that had just become available. Scissors couldn’t exist without first developing the sharpened blade. And scissors as we know […]
Landless’ Sweeney Todd – report from the front lines of final dress
Many people who attend the theater don’t know it, but theater is a race. The finish line is set months in advance and is cheekily called “Opening Night,” even though it is the closing of a long journey. And, just like any race, the moments leading up to the finish line are the some of […]
Highlights from Signature’s Open House and season intro video
Chalk up another success for Arlington Va.’s Signature Theatre, which welcomed loyal subscribers and curious newcomers alike August 2nd for its annual free Open House event.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg holds court at Glimmerglass
Contracts, like agreements, are often broken in opera as well as life, giving grist for good plotlines. And Grand Operas, like our constitution, are rightly to be re-interpreted with an elastic, contemporary understanding. “Don’t you agree?” So says Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with a twinkle in her eye. The Justice was at Glimmerglass […]
Weirdest thing and other impossible Fringe questions
How’s it going, Capital Fringe fans? As we get ready for this final Fringe weekend (Capital Fringe closes Sunday, July 27) we thought we’d check in with all the Fringe-goers. We came up with the questions, and our writers have started us off. We’ll be looking for your answers in the Comments below.
From South Carolina, Confessions of a Good Man at DC Black Theatre Festival
South Carolina isn’t the first place that comes to mind when considering good theatre, but there are several gems ‘down south’ just waiting to be sought out. One South Carolina theatre company is making its way to the Nation’s capitol to participate in the DC Black Theatre Festival with their newest hit stage play Confessions […]
The Kennedy Center draws back the curtain on its Side Show attractions
Step this way, ladies and gentlemen, for the first look at the sideshow performers you’ll meet when Side Show performs at the Kennedy Center (June 14 – July 13, 2014).
Notes from the Prague Fringe Festival – performers show us around the festival
– The Prague Fringe Festival (May 23 – 31) invites companies from around the world for their 9 day festival. Susan Galbraith and her Alliance for New-Music Theatre productions – Unveiling by Vaclav Havel and their original musical Havel Unleashed – seen here at Artisphere in May, performed in the closing week. Here is Susan’s […]
Bitch Trouble makes a one day stopover at Corner Store, June 1st
“It’s the thing I’m most proud of in 35 years of doing theatre.” Rod Menzies is in Washington to direct the current class at the Academy of Classical Acting (ACA) in its production of The Duchess of Malfi. But that wasn’t what he referred to when we spoke this week. He was talking about Bitch […]
In war, what happens to the bodies? Liz Lerman explores answers in Healing Wars
Liz Lerman is the sort of artist who constantly finds herself fascinated. The veteran choreographer and MacArthur “Genius” has conceived and choreographed dance productions for nearly forty years, yet she still gets excited when discussing how movement can tell a story. Her new choreographic work, Healing Wars, is a prime example.