Sophia Howes
162 posts — page 2 of 4
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Dangereuse: The Women of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s ‘Richard the Third’
An embittered wife. A “painted queen.” A virago who curses all who have crossed her. At first glance, the women of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Richard the Third would not seem to be particularly...
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Review: ‘Among the Dead’ at Spooky Action Theatre
Hansol Jung is an imaginative young playwright whose work focuses on feeling perpetually uprooted. Born in Jeonju, South Korea, she moved with her family to South Africa at the age of 6. When she was...
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Review: ‘Nell Gwynn’ at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre
Nell Gwynn (1650-1687) was not only one of the most talented actresses in Restoration Theatre, but also one of the most beloved. That was because “pretty, witty” Nell, as diarist Samuel Pepys called...
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Review: ‘Equivocation’ by Bill Cain at Silver Spring Stage
It is 1605. The Gunpowder Plot, in which a group of disaffected Catholics attempted to blow up King James I, his wife, his children, and all the political and religious leaders of the age, has just...
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Review: ‘Kings’ at Studio Theatre
Kings at Studio Theatre is both entertaining and thought-provoking in every sense. Beautifully acted and directed, it reminds us that politicians, even though it may be hard to believe at times, are...
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Review: ‘An Inspector Calls’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company
J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, as directed by Stephen Daldry, represents the best of international theatre. The play combines the chocolate-box delights of an Agatha Christie mystery with deeper...
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Review: Aquila Theatre presents Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ at George Mason University Center for the Arts
New York-based Aquila Theatre has been hailed by The New Yorker for its innovative staging of the classics. Founded in London in 1991, the company has a regular season of productions as well as a...
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Talking Shakespeare with Ted van Griethuysen at the Shakespeare Theatre Company
How do you interview a legend? This was the question I pondered on the way to the Lansburgh Theatre to interview Ted van Griethuysen, one of the finest actors of his generation. Shakespearean par...
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Review: ‘Macbeth’ at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre
In January 1666, famed diarist Samuel Pepys saw a performance of the William Davenant Macbeth and called it a “strange perfection.” The production that just opened at the Folger Theatre is strangely...
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Dangereuse: The “Wow” Effect: Free-for-All ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company
First-rate Shakespeare for free is one of the most valuable gifts the Shakespeare Theatre offers the DC community. The two-week run of Romeo and Juliet is a reprise of director Alan Paul’s acclaimed...
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Review: ‘Macbeth’ at 4615 Theatre Company
Why do people commit evil, and once they have started, why can’t they stop? Now, as always, it is a question worth asking. Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, is an exploration of this...
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Party On! ‘Will on the Hill’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company
Romeo and Juliet, Beatrice and Benedick, and even (don’t say it) Macbeth were on hand for a Shakespearean love fest on Monday night, all to benefit the wonderful education programs the Shakespeare...
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Review: ‘Saint Joan’ by Bedlam Theater Company
Long before he wrote about her, George Bernard Shaw referred to Saint Joan as one of those “half-witted geniuses, enjoying the worship accorded by all races to certain forms of insanity.” He came to...
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Review: ‘Hamlet’ by the Royal Shakespeare Company
The fabled Royal Shakespeare Company brought its Hamlet to the Kennedy Center this week, in a production fully worthy of its glittering reputation. The RSC Hamlet is lavish, bursting with freshness,...
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Review: ‘Titus Andronicus’ at Synetic Theater
“A work of art has value only if tremors of the future run through it…” — André Breton (1896–1966) French writer, poet, and founder of Surrealism. Artistic Director Paata Tsikurishvili likened...
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Review: Druid’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company
“Nothing is funnier than unhappiness,” says Nell in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. Druid’s production of Waiting for Godot at the Shakespeare Theatre Company proves the truth of this statement again and...
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Review: Molière’s ‘Don Juan’ by Taffety Punk Theatre Company
There is always a good reason to see Tonya Beckman perform, and she is a superb Don Juan. Her rendition of the famous seducer is beguiling but at the same time horrifying, like watching a particularly...
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Review: ‘Alabama Story’ by the Washington Stage Guild
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” – James Baldwin Southern humor, gentle charm, and the awkward silences of discussions...
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Dangereuse: The Two Noras: ‘Noura’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)
Noura, the story of a Chaldean Christian refugee from Iraq, is a magnificent production. The acting is first-rate, the technical aspects flawless, the whole experience complex and full of deep...
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Review: ‘Something Rotten!’ at the National Theatre
Something Rotten! at the National Theatre reminds us of why we loved theater in the first place. The Broadway show received ten Tony nominations, and this national tour is pure joy. The cast sent out...
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Review: ‘Hamlet’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company
The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Hamlet, directed by Michael Kahn, is a rich, multi-layered interpretation of a uniquely great play. Hamlet is central to the Western literary tradition....
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Review: ‘Waxing West’ at 4615 Theatre Company (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” So said F. Scott Fitzgerald, at the end of The Great Gatsby. Waxing West, by Saviana Stanescu, is the story of a...
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Review: ‘The Way of the World’ at Folger Theatre (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)
The Way of the World, a deft satire of the mating habits and financial vicissitudes of the 1%, arrived at the Folger Theatre last night. It was a hilarious evening. Theresa Rebeck’s comedy, very...
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Review: ‘Holiday Cheer!’ at National Chamber Ensemble
The National Chamber Ensemble’s Holiday Cheer! on December 16 was a celebration of great music. The charming and witty Artistic Director and leading violinist, Leonid Sushansky, sees each performance...
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Dangereuse: ‘Twelfth Night’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company – Present Mirth Hath Present Laughter
Many consider Twelfth Night Shakespeare’s supreme achievement in comedy. It is also one of his most popular and frequently produced plays. George Bernard Shaw, who hated Shakespeare, described it as a...
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Review: ‘Hamlet’ at Aquila Theatre Company
Straight Outta Denmark Hamlet has a storied history, and the title role is one of the greatest in Shakespeare. It is also universally parodied: the BBC’s 60 Second Shakespeare tabloid reports:...
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Review: ‘Digital Eye: Interactive Event Merging Theater Explores Privacy in the Digital Age’ at Blind Whino SW Arts Club
Big Brother Really, Really Likes You Your online identity does not belong to you. Digital Eye, a transatlantic theater project that was presented Monday and Tuesday, October 16-17, at Blind Whino SW...
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Dangereuse: ‘Emilie’ by Lauren Gunderson at WSC Avant Bard
Emilie Our Contemporary Emilie du Châtelet, scientist, mathematician, lover of Voltaire, genius, is a perfect example of the power of women in the 18th century and today. Many of the challenges to...
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Review: ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ at the Folger Theatre
All for Love Noted critic Harold Bloom once said, “We certainly can say that Cleopatra and Antony do not bore each other, and they are bored, erotically and otherwise, by everyone else in their...
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Interview: ‘Electra’ Director Stevie Zimmerman
Stevie Zimmerman has a reputation in DC as a “must-see” director. She received her bachelors from Oxford and her masters from the University of Leeds in England. She directed The Pitmen Painters and...
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Review: ‘The Lover’ and ‘The Collection’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company
The pairing of a director and a playwright is a mysterious thing. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But sometimes, as here, it is a perfect marriage. The Lover and The Collection by Harold...
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Review: ‘Love and Information’ at Forum Theatre
The vignette “Secret” encapsulates the ingenuity of Forum Theatre’s production of Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information. Two office workers sit at their computers, back to back. One (Samy El-Noury)...
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Review: ‘Julius Caesar’ at Scena Theatre at the Atlas Performing Arts Center
Diamond Julesy Gets It Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar has recently become a cause célèbre. When Caesar was portrayed in a Public Theater production with a Trump-like costume and wig, there were protests....
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2017 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Wit & Wrath: The Life and Times of Dorothy Parker’
Dorothy Parker claimed, famously, that she was “just a little Jewish girl, trying to be cute.” In fact, she was a legendary wit; the first female drama critic in America; and a successful writer of...
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2017 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Thomas Jefferson Hoochie-Coochie Man’
With a breezy “Hi, y’all!” Clyde Ensslin welcomes us to the complicated story of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, as told by none other than Big Bill Clinton himself. It’s a chance to relax, enjoy,...
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Review: ‘The School for Lies’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company
David Ives brings the comedy of Molière, with this hilarious “translaptation,” into the 21st century to delight us all. With The School for Lies, Shakespeare Theatre Company presents another...
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Dangereuse: An Interview with Dorea Schmidt, Eliante in ‘The School for Lies’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company
David Ives’s The School for Lies (adapted from Le Misanthrope by Molière and directed by Michael Kahn) has arrived at the Shakespeare Theatre! This charming comedy is at the Lansburgh Theatre now...
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Dangereuse: ‘King Lear’ at WSC Avant Bard
King Lear has sometimes been called the Everest of classical acting. Every great Shakespearean actor must sooner or later face the physically and emotionally exhausting task of playing the part. Some...
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Dangereuse: Shakespeare’s Most Badass Misanthrope: ‘Timon of Athens’ at Folger Theatre
Just when Canada starts to sound like a good idea, comes Timon of Athens at the Folger Theatre, confirming once again that first-rate Shakespeare is a cure for almost anything. The show’s brilliance...
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Dangereuse: Playing Gloucester Female: A Q&A With Cam Magee About Her Regendered Role in Avant Bard’s ‘King Lear’
Much of the publicity for the much-anticipated Avant Bard production of King Lear has focused on Rick Foucheux’s Lear. I recently saw Foucheux play Gloucester in a production at George Washington...
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Dangereuse: ‘A Macbeth for the 21st Century’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company
Samuel Taylor Coleridge said that seeing Edmund Kean play Shakespeare was like “reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightning.” Acclaimed Director Liesl Tommy brings us Shakespeare torn asunder by...
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Review: ‘Doubt: A Parable’ at Quotidian Theatre Company
Voltaire once said, “Doubt is not a comfortable position, but certainty is an absurd one.” Playwright John Patrick Shanley notes that “Certainty is a closed door.” His play Doubt is in one sense about...
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Review: ‘King Charles III’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company
The Ghost in the Machine Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III premiered in 2014, at London’s Almeida Theatre. Both the original production and the Broadway production won numerous awards. This new...
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‘Alfred Jarry and Ubu: An Opening Night to Remember’
“Merdre!” This elaboration on the French word “Merde!” caused a sensation in 1896, at the premiere of Ubu Roi (King Ubu) in Paris. Half the audience was revolted, half enthusiastic. Several people...
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Meet the Cast of ‘The Second Shepherds’ Play’ at Folger Theatre: Part 5: Louis E. Davis
n Part 5 of a series of interviews with the cast of Folger Theatre’s The Second Shepherds’ Play, meet Louis E. Davis. Sophia: Please introduce yourself to our readers. Where have we seen you recently...
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Meet the Cast of ‘The Second Shepherds’ Play’ at Folger Theatre: Part 4: Tonya Beckman
In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of Folger Theatre’s The Second Shepherds’ Play, meet Tonya Beckman. Sophia: Please introduce yourself to our readers. Where have our audiences seen...
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Meet the Cast of ‘The Second Shepherds’ Play’ at Folger Theatre: Part 3: Matthew R. Wilson
In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of Folger Theatre’s The Second Shepherds’ Play, meet Matthew R. Wilson. Sophia: Please introduce yourself to our readers. Where have we seen you...
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Meet the Cast of ‘The Second Shepherds’ Play’ at Folger Theatre: Part 2: Megan Graves
In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of Folger Theatre’s The Second Shepherds’ Play, meet Megan Graves. Sophia: Please introduce yourself to our readers. Where have we seen you recently...
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Meet the Cast of ‘The Second Shepherds’ Play’ at Folger Theatre Part 1: Ryan Sellers
In part 1 of a series of interviews with the cast of Folger Theatre’s The Second Shepherds’ Play, meet Ryan Sellers. Sophia: Please introduce yourself to our readers. Where have we seen you recently...
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Dangereuse: “That Burnett Woman: The Magical ‘Secret Garden’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company”
The Shakespeare Theatre’s production of The Secret Garden is like a dream in which miraculous things happen, old grudges are swept away, and children rediscover childhood. The book, a revered classic,...
