Justin Schneider

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Persephone’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Usually when someone tells you a Fringe show is different every night, it means “improv showcase” or “audience participation.” Sometimes it means “we didn’t really...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Macbeth: The Instruments of Darkness’

When it comes to Fringe, Shakespeare is an ace in the hole. Audiences find it familiar, but they also expect more in the bargain. Rude Mechanicals’ production of Macbeth: Instruments of Darkness is a...

Source Festival: ‘Dontrell, Who Kissed The Sea’

I’ve been thinking about Dontrell, Who Kissed The Sea from the moment I left the theatre, and my mind hasn’t really slowed down. Here’s the takeaway: rarely have I encountered a work that explores so...

Source Festival: ‘We Forget, We Never Forget’

In a theatre festival marked by brave, bold performances, the Artistic Blind Dates may be the bravest. The Blind Dates bring together three artists of varying disciplines to create a short performance...

‘Happy Days’ at SCENA Theatre

Rejoice, Beckett fans! Short of an actual festival, it’s rare to have the opportunity to see two productions of the same Beckett play in a single season. SCENA Theatre’s latest production of Happy...

‘Titus Andronicus’ at Faction of Fools

I’ll be the first to admit that I was… concerned when I heard that one of DC’s funniest acting troupes was staging one of Shakespeare’s trickiest tragedies. I’ll also be the first to admit that I...

‘Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight’ at The Keegan Theatre

If you feel like you need to watch a comedy from behind your hands, either something’s gone terribly wrong or something’s gone terribly right. In this case it’s definitely the latter. The Keegan...

‘The Václav Havel Project: ‘Vaněk Unleashed’ and ‘Unveiling’ at Alliance for New Music-Theatre at Artisphere

The latest of Alliance for New Music-Theatre’s additions to The Vaclav Havel Project (originally part of the Mutual Inspirations Festival), Vanek Unleashed is a funny, imaginative, and lyrical take on...

‘Charm’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

I could make this my shortest review ever and point you straight to the ticket page. But that might be less than convincing, so instead I’ll say this: even from a company known for lively, engaging,...

‘Nero/Pseudo’ at WSC Avant Bard at Fort Fringe

Celebrities are the new royalty; rock stars are the new idols. With bacchanalian excesses on both sides of the equation, is it any wonder that someone decided to make the comparison literal? In the...

‘The Love of the Nightingale’ at Constellation Theatre Company at Source

Let’s get this out of the way: The Love of the Nightingale is a difficult, and at times brutal play. It is also incredibly smart, and often funny – and an example of Constellation Theatre Company at...

A Report on ‘TYGER’ at banished? productions

Following a first workshop production at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Happenings at the Harman series, banished? productions have returned with version two of their work in progress, TYGER. A...

‘Sleeping Beauty: A Puppet Ballet’ at Pointless Theatre Co. at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

Have you ever thought that the ballet needed more puppets? Or is it just me? For those of us troubled by this glaring oversight, Pointless Theatre Company brings us their technically impressive and...

‘The Wedding Dress’ at Spooky Action Theater by Justin Schneider

“Mysterious and evocative”: these were the words that Spooky Action Theater’s Artistic Director Richard Henrich used to describe their production of Nelson Rodrigues’ The Wedding Dress. And after...

‘Happy Days’ at CulturalDC at the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint by Justin Schneider

Nostalgia has sometimes been defined alternately as an exquisite pain or a longing for a past that never really existed. Both of those ideas were at the forefront of my mind during CulturalDC’s...

‘Scapin’ at Constellation Theatre Company by Justin Schneider

“Beautiful women, graphic violence, and, um, some sort of conclusion.” Toss in “excellent clown-work” and you’ve got a pretty good snapshot of Constellation Theatre Company’s production of Scapin....

‘Cab Calloway’s Minnie the Moocher’ at Pointless Theatre Co. at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint by Justin Schneider

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be trapped in a old cartoon? One of those aggressively manic black-and-white pieces where everything has a face and bounces along to the music? Wonder...

‘Edgar & Annabel’ at 2nd Stage at The Studio Theatre by Justin Schneider

Dear NSA agents reading this review: Thank you for the page views! If you have some time off for the holidays I recommend you head down to The Studio Theatre to check out Edgar & Annabel, directed by...

‘An Irish Carol’ at The Keegan Theatre by Justin Schneider

There’s something magical about good, fake snow. And The Keegan Theatre’s An Irish Carol has it, falling outside the window of their spot-on-pub set and making you feel like settling into a...

‘Classic Albums Live: The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ at the Music Center at Strathmore by Justin Schneider

I have good news for the music lovers out there. Classic Albums Live is exactly what it says on the tin: world-class musicians playing classic rock albums in their entirety, live. At the group’s...

‘Protest’ at Ambassador Theater at Flashpoint, by Justin Schneider

Two friends sit in a study, sipping brandy. Both are intellectuals; one is a dissident, while the other has become a collaborator. Summarizing the state of television, one of the men laments, “Nothing...

‘She, After’ at UrbanArias at Artisphere by Justin Schneider

I’m not generally an opera person. I find them too big, too grandiose, and without enough substance. So it’s with great pleasure that I say that UrbanArias has created the antidote for the traditional...

’36 Views’ at Constellation Theatre Company at Source by Justin Schneider

“It was real, and if I had enough money, it was mine.” It’s a mercenary statement when applied to art; when applied to a person, it’s absolutely chilling. 36 Views, Constellation Theatre’s first...

‘Sweet Charity’ at The Catholic University of America by Justin Schneider

The days are getting darker, the weather is getting chillier, and everything seems a bit more miserable than usual right now. But lucky for you, Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music...

‘Cavalia Odysseo’ at National Harbor by Justin Schneider

Do you remember the first time that you saw Walt Disney’s Fantasia? That feeling of amazement that crept over you at something just happening and being in front of you? Cavalia Odysseo elicits that...

‘The Sunshine Boys’ at The Keegan Theatre by Justin Schneider

Do you like to laugh? If you don’t, you should probably see a doctor about that. But if you do like to laugh, I suggest you get yourself to The Keegan Theatre for their current run of Neil Simon’s The...

‘The Václav Havel Project: Antiwords and Unveiling’ at Alliance for New Music-Theatre at Atlas Performing Arts Center by Justin Schneider

“Everything is real, especially that crate of beers.” That’s not a preface you expect to hear at the theatre, but it’s a fitting opening to The Václav Havel Project, presented by Alliance for New...

‘NSO Pops: Cirque de la Symphonie’ at The Kennedy Center by Justin Schneider

One of my favorite things about attending shows at The Kennedy Center is how helpful the ushers are. In this case, they helped me pick my jaw up off the floor. Cirque de la Symphonie, the first...

‘Molière’s Don Juan’ at Faction of Fools by Justin Schneider

Casanova. Lothario. Bill Clinton. Among the world’s famous playboys, the figure of Don Juan holds a special place in the theatre. Faction of Fools, DC’s premiere commedia troupe, have taken a stab at...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘MOTHS’ by Justin Schneider

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that MOTHS is the most challenging piece of theater currently playing in this year’s Capital Fringe Festival. I don’t mean in the sense that MOTHS will challenge...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Crime Buster Blast-Off 3000 (Yeah!)’ by Justin Schneider

Let’s get this out of the way: The Bradford Güild’s Crime Buster Blast-Off 3000 (Yeah!) is a hot mess. The plot (supposedly based on a poem written by Writer/Director Ian McDermott when he was 9) is...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Fireball XL’ by Justin Schneider

Here’s a quick test for you: if you start giggling when I tell you to imagine Captain Picard reading this review and shouting “There are FOUR AND A HALF stars!”, then Fireball XL is a must-see. If you...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Double Freakquency’ by Justin Schneider

One of the best things about Fringe is that you have a chance to encounter shows that push the boundaries of theater. AVAdventure Production’s Double Freakquency does just that. Using dual-channel...

‘Rabbit Hole’ at The Keegan Theatre by Justin Schneider

“You’re not in a better place than me, just a different one.” An entire play is summed up in that one line, and when Susan Marie Rhea utters it you can feel all the carefully set pieces beginning to...

‘Baby Universe’ at The Studio Theatre by Justin Schneider

Baby Universe starts out dark. Actually, dark may not even be a strong enough term for the mood. Grim. Fatalistic. The last man to escape the Earth’s surface for the safety of underground bunkers is...

‘The Death of the Marquis de Sade & Dante’ at Tantehorse Company at Atlas by Justin Schneider

If I were writing a one-word review, that word would be “Astounding.” But much more deserves to be said about Tantehorse‘s The Death of the Marquis de Sade & Dante, a ‘Must-See’ production at Atlas...

‘Cabaret’ at St. Mark’s Players at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church by Justin Schneider

“It’s so tawdry and terrible and everyone’s having such a great time.” It must be a cliché at this point to use Clifford Bradshaw’s summary of 1930s Berlin as a summary of Cabaret, but it’s just about...

‘Gilgamesh’ at Constellation Theatre Company at Source by Justin Schneider

It’s not often that a company can so completely remake a piece of history and claim it as their own. Gilgamesh is an amazing display of storytelling, and the production is a fantastic example of...

’33 Variations’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria by Justin Schneider

There’s an analogy to be drawn between musical composition and the theater. A play is like a theme; each production is a variation on that theme, stretching it past its original bounds and...

‘The Amazing & Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet’ at Wit’s End Puppets at Mead Theatre Lab by Justin Schneider

How do we determine our place in the world? How do we give our lives meaning? And how do we do both of these things while dealing with loss and change? These are just a few of the questions posed by...

‘The Lady Becomes Him’ at Faction of Fools by Justin Schneider

I’m going to start this review with two important facts. The first fact is that the night I went to see Faction of Fools’ The Lady Becomes Him, it was raining. Hard. One of those awful DC storms that...

‘Spooky Action at a Distance’ at The Catholic University of America by Justin Schneider

Is it possible for two people be irrevocably connected, regardless of action or distance? Can we ever really be certain about where our lives are headed? And can we ever grow as people without taking...

‘The Socky Horror Puppet Show’ at Nu Sass Productions by Justin Schneider

Sing it with me! “It’s time to play the music / It’s time to light the lights…” Oh, no, wait. That’s those other singing puppets. The Socky Horror Puppet Show is the second presentation of Nu Sass...

‘The Drawer Boy’ at Port City Playhouse by Justin Schneider

Since its Toronto premiere in 1999, Michael Healey’s The Drawer Boy has been one of the most produced plays in the United States. After seeing Port City Playhouse’s production, I can see why. In the...

‘Brutus’ at The Catholic University of America by Justin Schneider

On stage, a man tosses and turns in his sleep. Nearby in an overstuffed leather chair, a woman rests. The view from the audience, on bleachers overlooking the stage, is intimate. And “intimate” may be...

‘The Laramie Project Cycle’ at BAM by Justin Schneider

Let’s get this out of the way: I cried. A lot. And I wasn’t the only one. The crying started before a single word of The Laramie Project Cycle was even spoken. At Saturday’s pre-show Artist Talk, a...