News Desk

Reston Community Players restarts with Cold War drama ‘A Walk in the Woods’

After being dark since last March due to COVID-19, Reston Community Players comes back to life with A Walk in the Woods, a Cold War–era drama by Lee Blessing that examines the relationship between a...

Black women reimagine artistic programming in ‘Reset’ at Woolly

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has launched Reset, a new, free digital assemblage of Black artistry featuring historical resources, excerpts, and video performances. Curated by six Black cisgender...

To be young, gifted, and Black in a white theater—YPT breaks the silence

In Silence Is Violence: The Future of the Field—the latest installment of Young Playwrights’ Theater’s (YPT) social justice performance series—three Black characters in the early stages of their...

Washington wonks and Bard buffs to meet in mock trial Thursday

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s annual Mock Trial—“the funniest, most entertaining event in Washington” (Roll Call) and “a Washington wonk’s dream (The New York Times)—will be in session virtually March...

Virus and racism have dramatically reshaped local audience views on theater

The findings of a new study of DC-area theatergoers reveal a dramatic shift in attitudes toward theater as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. The study...

How to enjoy dinner theater in your home kitchen

Tired of figuring out what to cook for dinner? Bored with everything Netflix has to offer? Then Francesca Chilcote and Connor Hogan have just the show for you. In Dinner! Franny and Connor Write a...

Three womxn get back at their ex in ‘Drowning Girls’ from Strand Theater

Continuing its 13th season as the only brick-and-mortar company in Baltimore dedicated to celebrating womxn’s diverse voices and perspectives, The Strand Theater Company presents the regional premiere...

Three lauded local actors to go solo in spring season from Round House

Round House Theatre plans a spring 2021 season with virtual productions of three moving one-person performances: Colman Domingo’s A Boy and His Soul, directed by Craig Wallace; Lucy Alibar’s Throw Me...

Avant Bard Theatre regroups with new leadership team

After the double blow of the pandemic and the death of Artistic Director Tom Prewitt in November, Arlington’s Avant Bard Theatre is moving ahead under a new model of artistic partnership. The Avant...

#WeSeeYou antiracist accountability report includes 11 DMV theaters

An accountability report released by the We See You, White American Theater collective (WSYWAT) points to more than 100 theater institutions nationwide that have responded to the group’s BIPOC Demands...

Tom Prewitt memorial fund set up to aid future generations of aspiring artists

The family of W. Thompson (Tom) Prewitt and the nonprofit organization Embracing Arlington Arts have launched a memorial fund to honor the legacy and contributions of longtime DC-area theater...

Theatre Prometheus to center asylum seekers and marginalized playwrights

Theatre Prometheus—following its “arresting, provocative, and hauntingly relevant” production of 14, José Casas’s play about immigration—has announced two new projects in 2021 highlighting its mission...

‘Cry It Out’ comedy about motherhood up next from Everyman Theatre

Everyman Theatre actors, designers, and crew are back in the rehearsal room preparing for the run of Molly Smith Metzler’s 2017 play, Cry It Out. The full production will be filmed at the theater and...

Synetic Theater to produce original art films and stream on custom app

Synetic Theater has announced the launch of a new digital streaming app as well as the creation of a film production arm, Synetic Motion Pictures. The streaming service, dubbed “Synetic Streaming,”...

Patrick Page to bare the Bard’s bad guys, onstage at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s first-ever online-only production, All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain, a performance written by and starring STC Affiliated Artist Patrick...

Riveting adaptation of ‘Tape’ to unreel live on line six nights only

TheSharedScreen’s powerful adaptation of Stephen Belber’s hit play Tape—featured last month in DC Theater Arts (Using Zoom in a new way to create theater that transforms how we see)—returns live on...

YPT to present virtual readings of plays in progress by two young playwrights

Young Playwrights’ Theater’s (YPT) new script development program, Young Playwrights in Progress (YPIP), will present the work of two talented young playwrights through virtual play readings followed...

Signature Theatre announces cast and dates for ‘Simply Sondheim’ review

Signature Theatre announces the full cast and streaming dates for Simply Sondheim, the first production in the Signature Features 2021 Season. Starring 12 singers and an orchestra of 16, Simply...

Studio Theatre goes all-digital, sets streaming dates through July

Given the ongoing pandemic and challenges to safely presenting live performances, Studio Theatre has taken its five-play season entirely digital. Productions will be filmed in Studio’s intimate spaces...

Lauren Gunderson’s inventive ‘Ada and the Engine’ to go live online

Silver Spring Stage proudly presents the area community theater premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s Ada and the Engine, directed by Jon Jon Johnson and produced by Alika Codispoti and Maura Suilebhan. Ada...

Essential Theatre to mark MLK Jr. Day with Rosa Parks play

In celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday, The Essential Theatre Performances in Cyberspace will present Rosa Parks: Such a Time. Written and performed by Gwendolyn Briley-Strand,...

Studio’s free new audio plays— ‘Kings’ and ‘I Hate It Here’—available now

Studio Theatre looks back at the politics and precariousness of 2020 through two intimate and immediate Studio in Your Ears audio plays available for free now on its website. Studio’s first-ever audio...

Before there was COVID, Lauren Gunderson married a virus hunter. ‘The Catastrophist’ is her play about him.

In The Catastrophist, Lauren Gunderson has written a story for this moment in time about Dr. Nathan Wolfe, the award-winning virologist who years before the COVID-19 outbreak proposed a plan to...

A gay man with a disability asks “Hi, Are You Single?” on the Woolly dating app

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in association with IAMA Theatre Company present Ryan J. Haddad’s celebrated autobiographical solo show Hi, Are You Single? directed by Laura Savia and Jess McLeod. “I...

4615 Theatre Company unveils a new season in a wild variety of forms

Hot off of winning the 2020 John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company, the 4615 Theatre has created a multifaceted solution to meet the challenge posed by the pandemic. For the first...

Two theater students start a podcast that asks stars “Whatcha Doin’?”

Two enterprising Catholic University of America seniors are hosting a new podcast to connect current theater industry professionals with future theater industry professionals through interviews on...

Make December merry and bright with local holiday arts offerings

When the holiday season approaches, we tend to turn to things that give us joy and comfort. The arts always seem to take center stage during these darker months – providing togetherness, light, and...

Update: Mosaic’s #ENOUGH plays against gun violence now available on Vimeo

Mosaic Theater Company will participate in the nationwide reading of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence, seven winning short plays in a nationwide competition for middle and high school students. On...

#WeSeeYou activist-authors to observe ‘Twelve Days of Watchmas’

The influential Black, Indigenous, and People of Color working group We See You, White American Theater — which collectively authored and issued the BIPOC Demands — has rolled out a new action it...

Signature Theatre heralds five-show cinematic season

Signature Theatre has announced the full lineup for its 2021 Signature Features season, and it will be all online: five fully staged plays and musicals, made exclusively for the screen and...

1st Stage joins nationwide reading of plays against gun violence Dec. 14

1st Stage is proud to be participating in the #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence project, working with visionary teenage playwrights across the country who have come together to speak out against gun...

What’s next in Prologue Theatre’s monthly new works series

Prologue Theatre has launched FOREWORD: A New Works Series. Each month through March 2021, a creative team will come together for two weeks to workshop a playwright’s new play, culminating in a...

Black women to join Brave Soul Collective’s ‘#BlackMenFeel’ on healing

Brave Soul Collective continues its exploration of mental, emotional, and spiritual challenges experienced by Black men, specifically Black Queer men, with the third and final installment of...

Studio’s new audio play is an anthem for a world on the brink

As the world collectively plans to close the door (and maybe throw away the key?) on 2020, Studio Theatre offers a reflection on this complicated, unexpected, and consequential moment in history with...

New Solas Nua interim executive director arrives from Ireland

Solas Nua, the DC-based contemporary Irish arts organization, has appointed Miranda Driscoll its interim executive director. Having served for five years as director/CEO of Sirius Arts Centre in...

COVID claims another local theater: Brave Spirits to close

Brave Spirits Theatre announced in September that its acclaimed eight-play Shakespeare’s histories series would end (“A tribute to Brave Spirits as it calls off Shakespeare’s histories due to COVID”)....

Silver Spring Stage goes online with arresting opener ‘Lobby Hero’

Silver Spring Stage is offering a new season of virtual performances. First up is Lobby Hero by the Academy Award–winning Kenneth Lonergan, an absorbing play where good intentions can be undermined by...

COVID cancelations to cost Kennedy Center over $80 million

Responding to the mounting COVID-19 pandemic, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has canceled all previously scheduled programs through April 25, 2021. Additionally, Washington...

‘This Is Who I Am,’ a father-son drama, to Zoom live from two kitchens

Separated by continents, an estranged father and son reunite over Zoom. From their respective kitchens in Ramallah and in New York City, they recreate a cherished family recipe and struggle to bridge...

Essential Theatre resurrects a heart-wrencher, ‘The Resurrection of Alice’

“If you like theatrical storytelling—the kind that catches you by the heartstrings, gets you all wrapped up, then doesn’t let loose until the very end—you’re going to love The Resurrection of Alice.”...

Washington Stage Guild to serve up an intellectual feast over Thanksgiving

Washington Stage Guild will present a “heavenly” online performance of George Bernard Shaw’s Don Juan in Hell, the famous dream sequence from his play Man and Superman. Audiences are invited to savor...

‘JookJOYnt’ from Woolly and Makers Lab to jump with Black LGBTQ+ joy

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and DC creative collective Makers Lab reunite for The JookJOYnt, a free, five-part video experience exploring themes of vulnerability, intimacy, and connection. The full...

Update: Creative Cauldron’s ‘On Air’ to stream November 16 to December 13

“Dancing and singing over the wireless airways—how might it have happened? What might have been a dry history lesson is given delightfully appealing musical charm in Creative Cauldron’s world premiere...

Everyman Theatre premieres ‘Queens Girl: Black in the Green Mountains’

Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre will bet on another successful run with Queens Girl: Black in the Green Mountains by Caleen Sinnette Jennings, premiering for in-person performances on November 19. The...

Round House begins monthlong tribute to living legend Adrienne Kennedy

Round House Theatre, in association with McCarter Theatre Center, has announced updated details for The Work of Adrienne Kennedy: Inspiration & Influence, a four-week festival highlighting the...

IN Series’s ‘Gonzales Cantata’ tells a true story of political corruption

Just when American politics could not seem more fraught, IN Series is offering a cheeky throwback to a shockingly simpler time: a made-for-film production of Melissa Dunphy’s The Gonzales Cantata....

Keegan Theatre’s fall rep to stream in real time from onstage

Keegan Theatre returns to mainstage programming with a pair of productions streaming live in rep November 12 to 29, 2020. Performed from the Keegan stage, the fall repertory includes the world...

Signature Theatre to stream concert of hits from days of ​vinyl

This week Signature Theatre releases a new cinematic concert, an inspired alternative to its pre-COVID cabarets. Titled Signature Vinyl, the fully produced, professionally filmed production features...

IN Series’s ‘Orphée et Eurydice’ strikes chord of COVID love and loss

IN Series returns to the original revolutionary opera, Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice, for an intimate film experience exploring love, loss, and grief during a global pandemic in which millions have...

Taking Care COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund expands to meet ongoing need

theatreWashington has announced an expansion of the Taking Care COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, originally organized in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and the sudden loss of work for...