Many view the Coronavirus pandemic as The Great Pause, where we hunker down and muddle through, hoping we return to normalcy some time in the near future with at least some of our marbles intact. Theater J, on the other hand, views Corona Time as space; space to think, reflect, challenge ourselves and grow. Rather […]
Theater J offers classes to help audience members embrace changes coming to area theatres
Changes which might come about in theaters once the plague is over may affect ways in which audiences see and experience the art. To prepare patrons for these changes, Theater J will be offering the series “How to Become a Raised-Consciousness Audience Member” for four Thursdays, beginning August 13. Rachel Grossman, a DC director, collaborative […]
Theater J reveals the 7 plays for its 2020-2021 season
True events, leavened with fable and fantasy (and a little bit of the Kinsey Sicks) will propel Theater J’s 2020-2021, the company has revealed. In five months, the outline of our national plebiscite will be in better focus than it is now, which may make it clear sailing for another round of Electile Dysfunction and […]
Review: Anna Ziegler’s The Wanderers, a perfect marriage of script and production
There’s a saying among actors: “There’s no such thing as a perfect show.” Anyone lucky enough to see Theater J’s production of The Wanderers will have to politely disagree: top to bottom, this is as fine and perfect a piece of theater I’ve seen in many a year. The script by Anna Ziegler (whose play […]
Sheltered at Theater J raises the question – with terror, isolation and the pressure to assimilate rampant today, can we envision a Providence for ourselves and others
“Are we? Are we human?” – a line of dialogue from Sheltered “Noah said ‘No, no you’re full of sin. God’s got the key and you can’t get in.” – lyrics of “Didn’t It Rain,” a spiritual “She called him everything but ‘a child of god.’ – a familiar saying I used to hear when […]
Review: Sheltered at Theater J
A compelling story and witty script, a faultless. pitch-perfect cast under the savvy direction of Adam Immerwahr, and its excellent design make Theater J’s production of Sheltered a must-see before it closes in early February. In only its second professional production, Sheltered by up-and-coming playwright Alix Sobler is a cogent choice for Theater J, its […]
Theater J announces two new Jewish Play Prizes. Submissions close April 1, 2020.
Theater J, which in addition to its season of fully produced plays helps re-discover Yiddish plays through readings in its Yiddish Theater Lab, today announced the formation of two national Jewish Play Prizes. Submissions are being accepted now, with winners announced in the fall of 2020. The press release announced: “The Theater J Trish Vradenburg […]
2020 Visions. Theatre leaders tell us what lies ahead.
We asked area theatre companies to tell us what they were most looking forward to in 2020. Their answers surprised us! Contributors: 4615 Theatre Company . American Ensemble Theater . American Shakespeare Theatre Company . Arena Stage . Avant Bard Theatre . Brave Spirits Theatre . Capital Fringe . CulturalDC . Folger Theatre . Happenstance […]
Review: Edward Albee’s Occupant at Theater J
“It’s not the person,” cries the sculptor Louise Nevelson (Susan Rome) in Edward Albee’s Occupant, “It’s the work they do!” Would be it that Albee had heeded his character’s advice. Then we might have had a gripping, insightful drama about the sculptor and her work — some of the most significant American sculpture done in […]
Review: Love Sick, Theater J’s seductive musical
In its best moments Love Sick—the opening show of Theater J’s 2019-20 season in its newly renovated space—is a brilliantly woven tapestry of competing forms. The music, written by Ofra Daniel and Lior Ben-Hur, blends mellifluent middle-eastern melodies with the plucky refrains of modern musical comedy. Daniel’s script, adapted from the Hebrew bible’s Song of […]
Next season, Theater J returns home with a robust roster of plays
Theater J, its old stage at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center completely refurbished, will offer a slate of six new(or new-ish) stories about older (or ancient) events for its 2019-2020 season. The company will lead off the 2019-2020 season with its sole musical, Ofra Daniel’s Love Sick, with music by Daniel and Lior Ben-Hur. […]
Review: The Jewish Queen Lear, world premiere of Yiddish theatre classic
Yiddish theatre in New York around the turn of the century was vibrant: in the small Bowery theaters, Jews of all nationalities and branches of Judaism came to watch shows full of emotion and sorrow, joy and exuberance, all in the tongue common to European Jews: Yiddish. Theater J, with the first full production of […]
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