Do we really need the British monarchy? As if on cue, The Washington Stage Guild’s The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza, one of George Bernard Shaw’s most challenging political satires, opened on the weekend of the wedding of William and Catherine, a prince and a commoner. The twinkly-eyed playwright would have loved the fortuitous timing.
Red Herring
We have the culprit, officer, in Washington Stage Guild’s production of Michael Hollinger’s faux-noir gumshoe dramady, Red Herring. Really, it’s obvious – I figured it out in the first few minutes. It’s the tiny stage, officer. Arrest it, and if it gives you any trouble, shoot to kill.
Magic
To the earliest humans, everything was magic, from the rising and setting of the Sun to the way that flint could change a pile of dry sticks and leaves into a fire. That is to say, the everyday processes by which they lived were incomprehensible to them, and they called upon their invisible gods (usually […]
Darwin in Malibu
Washington Stage Guild opened its season with a thoughtful and thought-provoking production of Crispin Whittell’s Darwin in Malibu. In many ways, in spite of its California Dreamer-style title, Darwin is less a play than a philosophical disputation carried on among three pivotal 19th century intellectuals whose restless spirits suddenly find themselves—bodies intact—transported to a present-day […]
The Best of Friends
Here is a play about – and I hope this is not a spoiler – three people who are the best of friends, mostly taken from the letters they wrote to each other. You see the problem immediately: friendship is ennobling and a great bulwark against the world’s cares, but unless it is tested in […]
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime
After a two-year hiatus, the Washington Stage Guild has returned and mounts Lord Arthur’s Crime with a fun-filled swagger that would do Oscar Wilde proud.
Strange Bedfellows
Traditionally, the Washington Stage Guild doing a successful production of Shaw is as close to a sure bet as the local theatre scene offers. Happily, the company’s latest production of two one-acts collectively titled Strange Bedfellows continues their winning streak.
Bill Largess Heads Washington Stage Guild
In today’s Backstage column, Jane Horwitz writes a moving tribute to John MacDonald with reflections from Rick Foucheax, Victor Shargai and others and announces that well-loved actor Bill Largess, who also serves as President of the WSG Board, will become its Artistic Director.
In Memory of John MacDonald
— It is with great sadness that we announce that John MacDonald, longtime artistic director of Washington Stage Guild, died Sunday, July 6th from an accidental fall in his home in Mt. Ranier. It’s hard to fathom the depth of the loss for the actors and company members who knew him, and for us as […]
Opus
By Michael Hollinger Produced by Washington Stage Guild Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy Early on in Michael Hollinger’s Opus, string quartet music is compared to love making and “a discourse among four reasonable people.” Beautifully acted and staged at the Washington Stage Guild, director Steven Carpenter establishes the right tone for the interlock of a witty […]
Shaw’s Shorts
By George Bernard Shaw Produced by Washington Stage Guild Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy Kathleen Akerly in Dark Lady of the Sonnets (Photo: C.Stanley Photography) Three one-acts by George Bernard Shaw in one evening? What’s impressive is the way the Washington Stage Guild’s adroit actors deliver these plays in two and a half hours. Shaw’s Shorts: […]
Desire Under the Elms
Produced by The American Century Theater Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy Parker Dixon (left) Susan Marie Rhea (center), Kevin Adams (right) (Photo: Jeffrey Bell) The American Century Theater (TACT) can be commended for producing revivals of rarely performed, American masterpieces like Desire Under the Elms from Nobel Laureate playwright Eugene O’Neill in a compelling and beautiful […]