Guest Author

Finegan Kruckemeyer on his magical ‘Man Covets Bird’ at Spooky Action

A man awakens as a stranger, finds a bird companion, and embarks on a fantastical quest of self-discovery…

Two women dress down ‘Five Women Wearing the Same Dress’

The comedy now running at Dominion Stage gets a critical look by its director and a cast member.

It’s time to say ‘No shot, no show,’ by Stephen Beaudoin

The executive director of The Washington Chorus calls on DC Metro performing arts organizations to make a vaccination policy rooted in respect.

Producing on stage for the small screen: How Round House did it

A visit with the creative team as it wraps its first virtual season with ‘We’re Gonna Die’ (now extended through July 25)

Tom Barylski on directing female-centric and gay fantasy ‘She Kills Monsters’

By Laura W. Andruski, theater program coordinator, The Arts Barn The Montgomery Playhouse in cooperation with Arts on the Green is presenting a virtual performance of She Kills Monsters by Qui...

‘Broadway Princess Party’ cast shares the joy and magic behind the show

By Kirstin Franko (guest author) and David Siegel Nothing can stop the Broadway Princess Party with its celebration of empowerment for who you are or want to be. It’s a performance that aims to kick...

Four views from ‘The Mountaintop,’ streaming live from the Arts Barn

By Laura W. Andruski, theater program coordinator, The Arts Barn Rockville Little Theatre – in cooperation with Arts on the Green – will livestream The Mountaintop, Katori Hall’s gripping reimagining...

Ditch the “Is this theater?” debate, by Jordan Friend and Gregory Keng Strasser

Gregory Keng Strasser (producing director): Hey, Jordan. Jordan Friend (artistic director): Hey, Greg. I guess we have to pretend like we don’t talk to each other every day. Greg: So. 4615 GO — where...

The time Booker T. Washington dined at the White House and the nation went nuts

By Roslyn “Roz” Ward During quarantine, the biggest loss is the people. The feeling and energy that one gets from a live audience cannot be replicated virtually. Torn—a play written and directed by...

Using Zoom in a new way to create theater that transforms how we see

By Neal Davidson “Dramatic Betweenness”: A new theatrical experience Here’s an incredibly simple idea: a play written and performed as a video call. Nothing more. Not a streamed live production, a...

Elegies for empty stages, by Whitney White and Psalmayene 24

Remembering The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company By Whitney White with Daniel Soule Working on James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner was one of the most fulfilling artistic experiences I have ever...

I have never been comfortable in theater, by Artemis Montague

I have never been comfortable in theater. Not safe. Not “safer.” Just completely unwelcomed. We are in a global pandemic. There is movement building on the ground and online that no one in the United...

Remembering Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Edward Gero

“And though she be but little, she is fierce.” ~W. Shakespeare She was a giant. Borrowing from what was said at Lincoln’s passing, “Now, [s]he belongs to the ages.” Along with her victories for women...

“What this March means to me at this moment in America”: Now with all videos

Studio Theatre commissioned seven Black artists who have appeared on its stages to create artistic responses to their experience at the Commitment March on Washington, August 28, 2020. In these...

Why I am an activist artist, by JChris

As a Latino gay millennial singer-songwriter, I believe I can make a difference. I’m here because I can become one of the reasons why things get better. We will fight and we won’t stop. The powers...

First live local theater since COVID is a new-normal ‘Next to Normal’

By Steve Quintilian and Julie Lloyd, Encore Theater Company Co-founders As artistic directors and theater managers all over the DMV wrestle with how and when to stage live theater indoors, the...

The power of a pause, by Patrick W. Lord

Lights out. Beat. Beat. When the lights go and I’m plunged into darkness, sitting in a theater, my heart always skips a beat, because I know that moment of pause exists to move me—either into the...

Ignorance of the Black theatrical canon is no excuse, by Courtney Baker-Oliver and Steven A. Butler, Jr.

The authors of the following two op-eds are cofounders of DC’s acclaimed Restoration Stage, Inc., whose focus is “restoring the Black family—one story at a time.” Collaborating as director (Courtney...

Playwright Ian August zeros in on ‘Zero,’ from Spooky Action

Interview by Roberta Alves Spooky Action Theater’s New Works in Action play-reading series continues Sunday, August 16, with Ian August’s Zero, a dark comedy about three miscreant teens—Nil, Julia,...

Theater and the risk of breath, by Kari Ginsburg

There is a moment in theater that I live for. I’m onstage, responding truthfully in the moment as if for the first time, embodying my skin as another person and existing in a brilliant...

A quick guide to going live online

By Violet Brookes The term “new normal” gets thrown around a lot nowadays. And indeed, things are going to be vastly different due to the effects of the global pandemic. Since mid-March, conversations...

For BIPOC women in theater who have had enuf: A roundtable on resistance

By Thembi Duncan DC Theater Arts has committed to offer our communications channel to help amplify the BIPOC voices (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) that are now pointing the path to American...

Ricky Drummond opens up about love, death, and ‘Desiderium,’ his new musical from Monumental

On Monday, July 20, 2020, Monumental Theatre Company will present an online reading of a new musical, Desiderium, written by Ricky Drummond and featuring music by The Oh Hellos. Because of the...

How the Signature board behaved badly, from a patron’s POV

By Dalissa Vargas As a lifelong live theater fan and a woman of Puerto Rican descent, I have spent the better portion of my adult life as an avid theatergoer wherever I have lived. On any given week I...

In ‘Hamilton,’ Angelica Schuyler’s husband is called ‘not a lot of fun.’ Here’s his real story.

By Daryl Austin The hip-hop musical Hamilton is being released on Disney+ on Friday (July 3)—a full 15 months ahead of schedule—so you can watch the drama and all of its love stories and scandals...

Playwright Jack Novak probes life’s phases in ‘Transferal,’ online from Spooky Action Theater

Interview by Roberta Alves Spooky Action Theater’s livestreamed New Works in Action play-reading series concludes Sunday, June 21, at 3 pm with Transferal by Jack Novak. Directed by Bridget Grace...

A war-wounded woman meets myth in ‘Circular’ by Laura Shamas, livestreaming from Spooky Action Theater

Interview by Roberta Alves Spooky Action Theater’s livestreamed New Works in Action play-reading series continues Sunday, June 14, at 3 pm with Circular by Laura Shamas. Her heritage includes...

Remembering the power of live theater: My night of rapture under a ‘Silent Sky’

By Christopher Lancette I sit down at Ford’s Theatre a few months ago—back when there was no coronavirus and the world was normal—to watch a play. I have never been much of a theater guy. Not because...

Playwright Matthew Kelly on queering power in ‘We Victorians,’ online Sunday from Spooky Action Theater

Interview by Roberta Alves Spooky Action Theater’s New Works in Action play-reading series continues livestreaming Sunday, May 31, at 3 pm with We Victorians by out queer playwright Matthew Kelly. In...

Gwydion Suilebhan: “Now is the time for artists to ask The Deep Why”

By Gwydion Suilebhan In 1960, a Turkish immigrant named Erol Onaran arrived in the United States with a whopping $32 in his pocket and a fair bit of skill as a television repair person. Erol was a man...

Artists Who Inspire! #4: John Becker

Welcome to the fourth installment of Artists Who Inspire! During this unprecedented shutdown of live theater, DCMTA will use this space to lift up local theater artists who are finding ways to remain...

What’s the future of live theater beyond COVID-19?: A point-counterpoint between Audrey Cefaly and Elliott Bales

What follows is an extraordinary conversation. It started as a Facebook post by award-winning playwright Audrey Cefaly. It was joined by her dear friend, acclaimed actor Elliott Bales, who doubles as...

Julianne Brienza announces “with agony” this year’s Fringe Festival is off

By Julianne Brienza Founding Director, Captial Fringe When planning began for the fifteenth annual Fringe Festival, no one could have imagined a pandemic with such fast, global restrictive changes,...

Molly Smith: “Our job as artists is to remind our fellow human beings that better days are coming”

“In the dark times Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.” —Bertolt Brecht (motto to Svendborg Poems) When I saw the blooming cherry blossoms this year, I...

Natsu Onoda Power’s adaptation of ‘Thumbelina’ captivates audiences of all ages at Imagination Stage

By Kelly Hanson Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina, a beloved fairy tale about a tiny girl searching for a place to belong, has been captivating children for hundreds of years. Though this story has...

Britches and Hose Theatre Company presents bold, beautiful ‘Richard III’

By Kelly Hanson William Shakespeare’s Richard III is a masterpiece rife with intrigue, violence, and dark humor. Undertaking such a complicated and beloved production is a bold choice, and Britches...

“All I had to do was listen”: Playwright Norman Yeung rethinks his ‘Theory’

By Norman Yeung That Theory has gained urgency and relevance since I wrote the first draft in 2009 is uncanny and alarming. Over ten years of innumerable workshops, readings, and productions, the...

‘Flyin’ West’ Soars to the Clarice UMD’s School of Theatre, Dance, & Performance Studies

By Kyle Starling The School of Theatre, Dance, & Performance Studies (TDPS) and The Clarice at the University of Maryland, College Park will be premiering their main stage production of Flyin’ West by...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Britches and Hose Theatre Company

By Brianna Lau See the greatest show with Britches and Hose Theatre Company’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream! Magic and mayhem run rampant in this William Shakespeare comedy, and the setting...

50th Annual Ruby Griffith Award Goes to 2nd Star Productions

By Frankie Lewis The British Players’ ceremony for the 50th Anniversary of The Ruby Griffith Awards for Excellence in Community Theatre was held at the Bretton Woods Recreation Center in Germantown,...

2019 Capital Fringe Review ‘What Wasn’t’

By Rebecca Kurtz Perhaps it is a matter of personal preference that at Fringe I am often more taken by the comedies than by the dramas. The intensely self-involved process of making and performing a...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Six Months of Winter’

By Helen Ganley Conjuring up images of day and night, one imagines the sun cascading into a pink and purple horizon while the moon excitedly and stoically takes its place in the sky. The picture, in...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Our Town Plus Zombies’

By Rebecca Kurtz What fun! The Adequate Players make a splash again at Fringe this summer with writer/director/actor John Geoffrion’s one-act parody of Thorton Wilder’s 1938 ode to the small town....

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Amelia’

By Rebecca Kurtz There is a lot to love about historical fiction, and writer/director Robert McNamara chose a good branch of history with the beautifully open-ended story of Amelia Earhart’s...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Journey to Long Nose’

By Helen Ganley Labeling the DNA sample bottle and depositing it gingerly into the mail slot feels almost like a rite of passage for many Americans. The masses of inhabitants that bask under Lady...

Review: ‘Macbeth’ by Britches and Hose Theatre Company

By Katie Crabb Something wicked this way comes in Britches and Hose Theatre Company’s gender-blind version of Macbeth, which breathes new life into one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. The classic...

Mud and Blood: Guest Posts from The Welders Document Process in Upcoming Shows

Over the next few months, DC Theater Arts will invite guest writers from two Welders projects-in-process to share their creative process with our readers. The Welders, DC’s only dedicated playwrights’...

Interview: David Dimitri ‘L’homme Cirque, The One-Man Circus’ at Strathmore

By Marilyn Millstone When we think of a circus tightrope performer, most of us think of risk. Fear. Danger. But David Dimitri—whose one-man show L’homme Cirque helps celebrate the Music Center’s new...

Five Reasons to Kick Off Pride Month With Monumental’s ‘Flip Flop’

Get ready kweens! For the fifth year in a row, Monumental Theatre Company will be presenting its annual Flip Flop cabaret. This is THE Pride month kickoff event you won’t want to miss. Let’s face it:...

Review: ‘Treasure Island’ by We Happy Few Productions

By Andy Arnold Ahoy Washington landlubbers! Prepare to set sail on the Hispaniola with Jim Hawkins (Alex Turner), Long John Silver (Wyckham Avery) and the Treasure Island crew: if you dare. Robert...