Kendall Mostafavi

Director Cara Gabriel on the magic and joy of ‘Winterfest’ at Adventure Theatre

‘Our kids have been on screens 24/7 the past two years. I wanted to involve them live and in person whenever we could.’

‘Corduroy’ at Imagination Stage is laugh-out-loud adorable

A lighthearted, fun adventure for families with young children.

Two fantastic detective tales unfold as audio plays from We Happy Few

Sherlock Holmes and Loveday Brooks in a new genre of interactive theater: a mystery experience mailed right to your door.

Poignant musical ‘The Christmas Angel’ premieres at Creative Cauldron

From Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith, a beautiful family experience with a powerful message of love, acceptance, and forgiveness.

A quirky first date goes taboo in new episode from The Playwright Zone

The digital project was created by playwright John Becker to generate work opportunities and compensation for local artists.

A funtastic ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ is in town at the National

The wonderful visual experience mimics the original so well it’s like being immersed in the cartoon.

Kennedy Center’s ‘Accoustic Rooster / Indigo Blume’ is a joyous smash hit

An amazing production filled with energy, courage, and hope.

Susan Derry’s new holiday album inspired by Creative Cauldron cabaret

Atypical tunes with lyrics to bring comfort, light, and hope at a dark time.

In praise of a resilient small theater: Fredericksburg Theatre Ensemble

Surviving the pandemic has highlighted the importance of community.

Delightfully eerie listening in ‘A Midnight Dreary’ from We Happy Few

An entertaining audio series perfect for Halloween.

Two centenarians recall their lives in ‘Having Our Say’ at Creative Cauldron

Who doesn’t love listening to older relatives telling stories about back in their day?

Adventure Theatre’s ‘Luchadora!’ a fantastic show for the whole family

The tale of a teen tomboy, set in the world of Mexican wrestling.

Kennedy Center opens a fantastic ‘Wind in the Door’ for kids

A heartwarming show with a powerful message based on Madeleine L’Engle’s classic.

Free spirit of Bob Marley lifts ‘Three Little Birds’ at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

A silly and light children’s musical full of joy and hope.

Solas Nua’s ‘Side-Walks’ is a wonderful visual and audible literary experience

A story about finding yourself and your path, engrossing and beautifully told.

Rorschach’s enchanting ‘Distance Frequencies’ ends in beauty and love

Full of mystery, passion, heartache, and hope, the monthslong mailbox story comes to life outdoors.

The Playwright Zone to create digital theater with paid local talent

Project creator John Becker says its tone will be ‘the Coen brothers meet The Twilight Zone.’

A feel-good podcast from theatermakers Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith

Do you have those friends who are so crazy talented, smart, and wonderful that you wonder how in the world you are lucky enough to have crossed paths with them? That’s Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory...

Rorschach Theatre hits the jackpot with immersive ‘Distance Frequencies’

Rorschach Theatre’s current production is not a show. Well, not yet. It’s more of an adventure of the mind and, if you wish, the body. Since October 2020, patrons could receive seven chapter boxes of...

Three emerging theater artists confront whitewashing of Black stories

While our country was taking a collective sigh of relief after the guilty verdicts convicting George Floyd’s murderer last week, systemic racism continued to flaunt itself in our society. Manifesting...

A Chekhov trio from Workhouse Arts is an intellectual tickle

Chekhov is not a feel-good story teller. His plays tell a brutal truth about people: their motivations, their weaknesses, and their duplicity. The Workhouse Arts Center is currently streaming Chekhov...

‘A Boy and His Soul,’ heartwarming and buoyant, from Round House

Playwright Colman Domingo has no time for stereotypes. A Boy and His Soul, his one-man, autobiographical play, is a living, breathing example of real life, real love, and real Black experience. In an...

‘Cry It Out’ at Everyman Theatre airs real-life new-mom pressures

Award-winning playwright Molly Smith Metzler’s Cry It Out is a beautiful commentary on real life. The struggles of parenting in an age of never enough. An homage to working parents and stay-at-homers...

Imagination Stage strikes gold with ‘Spy Academy & the Lost Treasure of Atlantis’

There are jumping dogs, ninja fights, and double crosses. The story is fast-paced and offers many moments for kids to chime in on how the story should advance (remember Choose Your Own Adventure...

A great stage flick from AmaZing Theatre rips U.S. racism in ‘Torn’

AmaZing Theatre Company is presenting an original movie/play hybrid that they have dubbed a stage flick: Torn, by local playwright John Becker. The show is based on the momentous event in 1901 when...

‘Loveday Brooke’ audio play from We Happy Few is an entertaining gem

Loveday Brooke is generally referred to as “the female Sherlock Holmes.” Author Catherine Louisa Pirkis first published her lady detective story in 1893 and, aside from having created the first female...

For lovers of sleuthing, a Sherlock Holmes audio drama from We Happy Few

In this ever evolving age of the coronavirus, theaters have been experimenting in ways to keep the arts alive and thriving. We Happy Few has recently been producing audio recordings with extras. Their...

Woolly Mammoth’s ‘JookJOYnt’ was a truly joyous journey

Woolly Mammoth Theatre recently released their mixed media streaming production of The JookJOYnt, A Black in Space Powered by Makers Lab Experience. The video is a funky intergalactic collage of...

Patrons pining for in-person performance are now finding it by the carload

We thought the days of drive-in movie theaters, with patrons braving the weather for the sake of a good time, were a thing of the past. But pandemic desperation has brought this back, easing some of...

‘Bandstand’ at the National Theatre is a musical love letter to veterans and their families

Bandstand, a heart-wrenching musical about a group of veterans returning home from World War II, with music by Richard Oberacker, and book and lyrics by Rob Taylor and Oberacker, is at The National...

Reston Community Players delivers a powerful ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’

There are some pieces of theater that elicit such raw emotion that describing the experience properly is next to impossible. Reston Community Players’ production of The Diary of Anne Frank, newly...

‘Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth’ returns to Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage brings back its Helen Hayes nominated show, Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth, written by Psalmayene 24. With the title character, Zomo, inspired by a Nigerian folktale, the...

‘The Magical Piñata’ at the Keegan Theatre celebrates Mexican culture and teaches about sharing

The concept of gratitude and sharing can be one of the hardest things for a child to learn. But in a world full of greed, these principles are vital to maintaining a semblance of peace and prosperity....

Creative Cauldron presents ‘Madeline’s Christmas’ for some wholesome holiday cheer

In what is becoming a delightful Christmas tradition, Creative Cauldron reprises their holiday production of Madeline’s Christmas. The lighthearted musical is based on the beloved books by Ludwig...

John Leguizamo takes audiences to school in ‘Latin History for Morons’ at the National Theatre

John Leguizamo is a famously Latino, American, Tony and Emmy Award-winning comedian, known for numerous roles that defy pigeonholing on the character-genre spectrum. Yet despite the vast range of...

Creative Cauldron’s Learning Theater shines a fresh light on ‘The Jungle Book’

Creative Cauldron’s Learning Theater presents its own adaptation of the popular tale, The Jungle Book. Based on Rudyard Kipling’s book of the same name, the show centers around the man-cub, Mowgli,...

Expect the unexpected in Washington Improv Theater’s ‘Life and Death with WIT: Hellcat and iMusical’

Improvisational theater is comprised of different aspects of live performance genres, like stand-up comedy or fully scripted plays. But what defines improv, is how the actors use comments from the...

Prince William Little Theatre brings difficult history and ethical questions to the stage in ‘Judgment at Nuremberg’

Prince William Little Theatre has chosen some heavy material for their recent show. Judgment at Nuremberg, directed by Harry Kantrovich, focuses on the international military tribunals that were a...

Local kids learn to “Let it Go” onstage in Disney’s ‘Frozen Jr.’

Encore Stage & Studio has been working with local youth “to build lifelong appreciation for live theatre by involving young people in all aspects of theatre arts — onstage, backstage, in the...

Review: ‘Carrie, The Musical’ at Workhouse Arts Center

It’s that time of year again, when there’s a bit of Pumpkin Spice in everything and Halloween themes are taking over. The Workhouse Arts Center is doing its part to add a bit of horror into the air...

Review: ‘Murder on the Nile’ at Castaways Rep

Murder on the Nile is Agatha Christie’s staging of her popular novel, Death on the Nile, published in 1937. Castaways Repertory Theatre has chosen this definitive whodunit for their Fall production of...

Review: ‘Ephemeral Fatale’ by Area Woman

Area Woman is a group of four local DC artists who came together to premiere their “comedydramadance,” Holon!, for the 2018 Capital Fringe Festival. This August at various venues throughout DC, they...

Review: ‘Disney’s Newsies’ by Encore Stage & Studio at Kenmore Middle School Theatre

Encore Stage & Studio’s “Theatre by Kids, for Kids!” is currently showing the Disney musical, Newsies. Based on the 1992 movie, and inspired by the real-life newsboy strike in 1899, the story takes...

Review: ‘Mary Poppins’ at Upper Room Theatre Ministry

Since 2002, Upper Room Theatre Ministry has presented one musical every summer. This year, they bring the stage adaptation of the Disney classic, Mary Poppins, to Manassas. The story of the mysterious...

Review: ‘Seussical’ by McLean Community Players at Alden Theatre

Based on the fantastical imaginings of Dr. Seuss, Seussical is a light-hearted musical packed with color, magic, and mischief. McLean Community Players is running their production of this...

Review: ‘The Ballad of Mu Lan’ at Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage’s The Ballad of Mu Lan is the funny and poignant tale of a Chinese woman warrior who defies tradition in order to protect her father and be the person she feels she was meant to be....

Review: ‘Forest Treás’ by Pointless Theatre Company

Pointless Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Forest Treás (pronounced ‘Triage’). Written by Navid Azeez, the play is based around the 2002 Beltway Sniper attacks and the effects the 22-day...

Review: ‘Hand to God’ by Fredericksburg Theatre Ensemble

Fredericksburg Theatre Ensemble (fte) was established in the Spring of 2011. They’re a nonprofit organization, focusing on guilty pleasures and “celebrating the art of the uncomfortable through...

Review: ‘The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence’ by City of Fairfax Theatre Company

In this age of devices, the continuing evolution of man’s relationship with technology has been the subject of many studies and stories. Madeleine George’s play, The (curious case of the) Watson...

Review: ‘The Full Monty’ at Workhouse Arts Center

The Full Monty, a musical about a group of unemployed, average Joes who decide to put on a one-night-only strip show to make big money fast, is currently playing at the Workhouse Arts Center in...