Every creative work is at least a little autobiographical, and rarely more so than in Round House Theatre’s newest production. The thread that playwright Bill Cain uses to weave together his story — narrated by a man named Bill, about a family called Cain — is very nearly transparent. We don’t merely notice the man […]
Ryan Rilette on directing Bill Cain’s How to Write a New Book for the Bible
For the current production of Bill Cain’s deeply personal How to Write a New Book for the Bible, Ryan Rilette, producing artistic director at Round House Theatre, has moved to the director’s chair for the first time since taking the reins at the Bethesda theatre. The former producing artistic director of Marin Theatre Company in California’s […]
Round House brings a season of powerful women to the stage in 2013-14
Round House’s 2013-2014 Season – it’s first under new Artistic Director Ryan Rilette – will feature five stories about powerful women in crisis, along with one of the great classics of the modern stage.
Glengarry Glen Ross
Spend one minute with this sweat-browed clan of real estate agents, racing at full gallop through this most wickedly entertaining of David Mamet’s dark comedies, and you’ll see right away that this ain’t their first rodeo.
Derek Goldman takes us inside Sherwood Forest with young Robin Hood and its Sheriff
Even legends have to go through the awkward years. Take that icon – stealing from the rich and giving to the poor – Robin Hood. Celebrated in song and story for hundreds of years, Sherwood Forest’s most famous resident was once a teenager, just like an average guy, with girl problems and troubles at home. […]
Young Robin Hood
Most of the attention in a theatre review usually goes to the actors and the strong eleven person cast of Young Robin Hood certainly deserves praise. Yet the success of this world premiere production at Round House theatre demands a discussion of the contributions of two talented individuals, playwright Jon Klein and director Derek Goldman.
I Love to Eat
The saying “The only way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” seems to have been tailor-made for American cooking icon James Beard. In Round House Bethesda’s newly opened production of I Love to Eat, Nick Olcott brings Beard to the stage with warmth and verve, reconciling the culinary pioneer’s garrulous public persona with […]
Nick Olcott returns to acting to play celebrated chef James Beard
What happens when an actor is cast as a master cook and famous gastronome? In the case of Nick Olcott, he digs in to some cookbooks and heads for the market.
Bengal Tiger burns bright at Round House Theatre
Rajiv Joseph’s 2010 play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, is one of the most inventive meditations on war you’re likely to encounter. Set in 2003 in Iraq, the play depicts the ravages of war with poetry and inspired weirdness—and without the battle scenes, macho bravado and massive body counts usually associated with combat plays.
A First Look at Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
A ruined city. A populace scarred by a despot and the ravages of war. American soldiers whose lives are forever touched by violence and its after effects. And the ghost of a majestic Bengal tiger that haunts the landscape.
National New Play Network Board President becomes new Round House A.D.
Ryan Rilette, Producing Director of California’s Marin Theatre Company, will be the new Producing Artistic Director of Round House Theatre, the company announced yesterday.
Double Indemnity
James M. Cain’s classic roman noir “Double Indemnity” titillated audiences in serial magazine form in 1936. The 1944 film adaptation is one of Old Hollywood’s high-water marks. The lurid potboiler about a pair of scheming lover-killers and the perfect murder that unravels around them seems tailor-made for a stage treatment, right?