The American Century Theater’s new production of Archibald MacLeish’s nearly forgotten verse play J.B. is well worth encountering, particularly if you’re looking for an intellectual challenge.  ACT’s take on this unusual play re-creates its meticulously crafted, highly emotional yet surprisingly probing look back to a post-war era when Americans had begun to seriously question the […]

If I were to tell you that young couples once danced nearly to the point of death, staying in motion for forty-five minutes every hour around the clock for sometimes 4,000 hours straight for a chance, if they survived, to win a cash prize, would you believe me?

Written in 1979, Christopher Durang’s scathing commentary on aspects of strict Catholic educational dogma still has the same bite as its inaugural production; it dredges up his take on sins of the stereotypical sociopathic education imposed on unsuspecting youngsters.  Large swatches of the script are alarmingly mean-spirited, but the ugliness is handled so delicately with […]

It’s a miracle this play exists. The Oscar-winning 1954 movie On the Waterfront,  written by Budd Schulberg and directed by Elia Kazan, has reached iconic status as a Mob violence flick about an ex-prizefighter turned labor leader.

Arlington’s provocative American Century Theater opened its latest intriguing blast from the American past last weekend at Gunston Theater II. On tap this time: Jules Feiffer’s 1967 bizarrely witty comedy-drama Little Murders.

In the very first scene of Clifford Odets’ The Country Girl, Frank Elgin (Brian Crane), is auditioning for a play. In the course of improvising a character, he says: “I have to like him or I can’t get inside him.” This single line of dialogue turns out to be a harbinger for all that follows.

In Gore Vidal’s rarely mounted sci-fi, political satire, well-timed pyrotechnics have to run as smoothly as last week’s shuttle launch, and actors must have rapid-fire, elegant delivery. The American Century Theater skillfully rises to the challenge with an uplifting show that’s refreshing and fun, even in its darker moments.

The American Century Theater’s (TACT’s) current production of Stage Door at Arlington’s Gunston Theatre Two is a bit of a mess. Or at least it was last Saturday evening. That said, it’s frequently interesting, often amusing, and—albeit quite briefly—surprisingly sad.

Even the genius Eugene O’Neill, the only American playwright to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, had a learning curve. And Director Kathleen Akerley, who has the courage to think outside the box and take humongous risks, tackles his great but flawed, three-act play.