Dec 22nd, 1989 was the end of a world in Romania. Everything its people had endured for two generations or more – privations which caused them to wait hours in line for a half-dozen eggs or a loaf of bread; a security apparatus so far-reaching that by one estimate one in every four Romanians was […]
Fela! director Bill T. Jones
Kuti’s Afrobeat was just the background to his workouts until 30 years later when he brought the musician’s story to Broadway Consider Fela Ankulapo Kuti. In his fifty-nine years on the planet, he invented a new form of music – Afrobeat; recorded seventy albums; challenged – socially and politically – the society in which he […]
Meet famed Chicago actor Mike Nussbaum, in town to play Madoff client
The pre-production version of Deborah Margolin’s Imagining Madoff was largely composed of dialogue between the notorious criminal named in the title and the famous writer, holocaust survivor and philosopher, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. The choice was easy to justify: there is probably no one living more widely respected for his moral responsibility that Wiesel, whereas […]
A professor, a stripper and Dostoevsky – preparing for The Stenographer
Greek playwright Zoe Mavroudi entrusts the world premiere of her new play to Venus Theatre Two strangers sharing a private room over drinks might not typically turn to talk of “Crime and Punishment.” But this is no ordinary evening, and, for Venus Theatre, The Stenographer is no ordinary play. Written as one scene, told in real-time between […]
Imagining the Madoff within us
An Interview with Rick Foucheux The actor’s stock-in-trade is his ability to empathize with the character he plays, in order to make that character recognizably human, with clear motivations. The actor must be nonjudgmental: “if you comment, and judge your character, you’re not coming at it the right way,” 4-time Helen Hayes Laureate Holly Twyford […]
At e-Geaux (beta), the message is Turn on your cell phone
An interview with e-Geaux (beta)’ s Joseph Price and Amy Couchoud Believe it or not, groundbreaking technology is making its world premiere at Capital Fringe. And Steve Jobs is nowhere to be seen. When e-Geaux (beta) producer Joseph Price told us he and his team had developed a brand new audience interaction app, linked to […]
Ivan Caracalla, director of Zayed and the Dream
A conversation between Ben Cunis of Synetic Theater and Ivan Caracalla of Caracalla Dance Theater of Lebanon Caracalla is, by all accounts, a phenomenon. Founded in 1968 by Abdel Halim Caracalla, the Lebanese dance-theater has toured all over the world, bringing its unique fusion of Middle-Eastern dance styles and Martha Graham’s developments in the form […]
Producer Charlie Fink – he’s not just in it for the money
A theatrical producer wears more than just one hat. Yes, he is a financier, but he is not merely the stage world’s equivalent to an investment banker. He is also—at times—a critic, a midwife, a promoter, a supervisor, a mediator among numerous parties, and least recognized—an advocate for their local theater community.
Randy Danson’s Wicked return to town
In her life in the theater, Randy Danson has played a roll call of outsized women. Think of them: Clytemnestra in The Oresteia, Agave in The Bacchae, Mae Garga in In the Jungle of the Cities, Phaedra, Ahab’s Wife, Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, the Duchess of Malfi, Arkedina in Chekhov’s The Seagull, […]
On being Fringe performer John Feffer
– John Feffer is a funny guy who is engaged in the somber business of writing and lecturing on foreign policy. But three years ago, he tried something new and stepped onto a Fringe stage with his original play, Krapp’s Last Power Point. He’s been back every year since. This year, he brings us The Bird.-
Nat ‘King’ Cole director Lou Bellamy
Lou Bellamy on Nat ‘King’ Cole, August Wilson and his company Penumbra Theatre Director Lou Bellamy is back in Washington, and we had the chance to talk with him about, among other things, the great Nat ‘King’ Cole, because his Penumbra Theatre Company’s production of I Wish You Love has just opened at the Kennedy […]
Seeing Spooky Action up close
Richard Henrich finds his own measure for happiness There’s something about the laws of physics that freaked Albert Einstein out. Certain particles can be related – “entangled” is the term physicists use – such that no matter where they are relative to each other they go through changes together, instantly and completely. He called it […]