A conversation between Emergence-SEE!’s Daniel Beaty and Washington, DC story teller Amy Saidman. A fascinating and thought provoking discussion which illuminates the transformative play and the man behind this electrifying performance.. “My story is for everyone. Although people come from diverse backgrounds, they see themselves in the characters I create. The show becomes a model […]
Ennio
Written and performed by Ennio Produced by Arena Stage Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff For those unfamiliar with Ennio’s act, here is the scoop. The Italian-born performer does pantomime, runway style dance routines to popular songs while changing paper costumes to portray pop culture icons. The paper costumes that use Velcro and interesting folds to achieve […]
Karen Kandel from Peter and Wendy
Interviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson with Lorraine Treanor Karen Kandel plays both the Narrator and gives voices to all the puppet characters in Peter and Wendy. Peter Pan has been loved as a children’s story. In a rare conversation, Ms. Kandel takes us into the Mabou Mines adaptation of the play as an adult’s journey, […]
Peter and Wendy
Something very unusual is happening on the Kreeger stage. I don’t mean the story, which is one of the world’s most familiar. Rather, that the avant-grade theatre troupe Mabou Mines and the incandescent Karen Kandel are reinventing the very grammar of storytelling in order to open up Peter Pan’s melancholy heart. To say that they […]
The Heidi Chronicles
By Wendy Wasserstein Produced by Arena Stage Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson Emerie Snyder, Catherine Weidner and Ellen Karas as Heidi Holland (Photo: Scott Suchman) I approached Arena’s production of The Heidi Chronicles hoping to finally get on board the love train for this signature Wendy Wasserstein work. I’ve enjoyed most of her other plays […]
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
By Terrence McNally Produced by Arena Stage Reviewed by Tim Treanor Kate Buddeke and Vito D’Ambrosio (Photo: Scott Suchman) Young love – it’s a beautiful thing. Gorgeous fresh bodies, writing poetry; singing ballads; heads so full of their beloved that they sometimes combust spontaneously. But middle-aged love – that, brothers and sisters, is a stone […]
Gem of the Ocean
Produced by Arena Stage Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson Lynnie Godfrey as Aunt Ester (Photo: Scott Suchman) Gem of the Ocean reminds us why August Wilson is considered by some to be the Shakespeare of our time. Beautifully mounted at Arena Stage, it is nothing short of an epic. Issues involving Honesty, Redemption, Forgiveness, Self-love, […]
Noises Off
Noises Off by Michael Frayn Produced by Arena StageReviewed by Tim Treanor About twenty-five years ago the relentlessly serious English playwright Michael Frayn (Democracy, Copenhagen) wrote Noises Off, a farce about, well, a farce. It is a little like discovering that Aristotle also wrote limericks. (“There once was a philosopher named Plato/Whose cosmology was expressed in […]
From Budapest With Love
She Loves Me Produced by Arena Stage Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff Interviews by Joel Markowitz Revivals of Broadway musicals are huge nowadays and there is little doubt that to be successful, everything needs to click: a good book, a strong score, characters we can care for and good performances. She Loves Me, the Christmas card […]
She Loves Me
She Loves Me Produced by Arena Stage Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff Revivals of Broadway musicals are huge nowadays and there is little doubt that to be successful, everything needs to click: a good book, a strong score, characters we can care for and good performances. She Loves Me, the Christmas card sent to us this […]
9 Parts of Desire
9 Parts Desire – Arena Stage By Ronnie Ruff I thought that it may be interesting to do something a bit different for my review of Nine Parts Of Desire, the one woman play currently mounted at Arena Stage. This is a story of eight fictional Iraqi women and how years of Saddam and now George […]
Review: Arena Stage’s fearless version of Cabaret says “Never Forget”
The long history of Cabaret makes it extremely difficult to produce something refreshing and new for the seasoned theatre audience here in Washington, DC. I think, even more difficult, is the task of pleasing the critics who all have their favorite production. It was only a week or so ago that at least one major critical […]