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Spooky Action’s ridiculous ‘Real Inspector Hound’ is truly heady fun

The perfect play to comment on the bizarre virtual spaces we’ve been in lately.

A nerdy Black son takes a magical trip in ‘Moon Man Walk’ at Constellation

The performances are strong, the script by James Ijames surprises, and the poignant show is so, so satisfying.

Perisphere Theater’s ‘Time Is On Our Side’ is a fun-filled romp

A secret lesbian history gets revealed in a laugh-your-socks-off comedy by R. Eric Thomas.

Fierce acting envisions Black Pride in ‘The Bluest Eye’ at Dominion Stage

Nobel Prize–winning author Toni Morrison’s story travels back to before Black is Beautiful.

Quotidian’s going-away gift of artistry in ‘The Day Emily Married’

The treasured theater company’s final production is the Horton Foote play it premiered.

‘Blackest Battle’ from Theater Alliance is a monumental accomplishment

Psalmayene 24’s graphic novel come to life is delightful in its form and harrowing in its emotional impact.

Signature’s ‘Detroit ’67’ is a fiery history lesson that grooves and moves

Played out in a basement bunker, this uplifting virtual show spins on nostalgia and desire.

For Quotidian’s farewell, an encore of its Horton Foote world premiere

Theater grande dame Jane Squier Bruns, starring in ‘The Day Emily Married,’ talks about the challenge of playing ‘the mother from hell.’

A heart-stopping duel makes ‘Macbeth’ a thriller at American Shakespeare Center

Nothing warms the heart like a brilliantly executed crossing of swords.

‘Blackest Battle’ from Theater Alliance promises a visual knockout

Filmed as half music video and half graphic-novel-come-to-life, Psalmayene 24’s hip-hop musical looks to be a stunner.

American Shakespeare Center’s ‘Henry V’ is tremendous fun

In repertory through Thanksgiving, a funky, hilarious, and irreverent take on the Bard.

‘Rumors’ swirls with mischief and mayhem at Little Theatre of Alexandria

A solid reason to return to live theater for an outlandish peek at the ups and downs of married life.

A powerhouse performance in ‘An Almost Holy Picture’ from Everyman

Bruce Randolph Nelson stars as a father whose faith and love are tested in a play full of grace.

Monumental’s ‘Songs for a New World’ is breathtaking

These top-tier performers make fabulously good music.

‘Elf the Musical’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre gives a yuletide gift in July

Postponed from last winter, a spectacularly imaginative show with an exceptionally talented cast.

In Studio’s lyrical ‘Tender Age,’ our country’s crime against migrant kids

George Brant’s play lays out in inescapable terms what the inhumane policy of separating children from their parents means for the moral state of Americans.

An achingly beautiful ‘Last Five Years’ from Constellation Theatre

The solid voices of Adelina Mitchell (as Catherine) and Alex Stone (as Jamie) convey the evening’s exhilaration, hope, and grief.

The fun begins ‘After Midnight’ in big band musical from Signature

The singing, dancing, and songs are all highpoints. The filming, editing, and lighting are all superb.

Broadway sensation Lin-Manuel Miranda hits the screens and reopens an iconic bookstore

Far from a one-hit wonder (though any one of his hits would be more than enough to ensure his eternal fame), the multi-hyphenate Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning composer, lyricist, actor, and...

An enthralling story of love in ‘Berta, Berta’ from Everyman Theatre

I could not help but root for these two lost and lonely souls to find solace in each other.

‘GMCW Turns 40’ celebrates equality, justice, and joy

GMCW turns 40 is a joyous, and bittersweet, survey of the breadth of the work of Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC. Photographs, newpaper clippings, and video footage of the Chorus singing, acting,...

An elegently sensual ‘Ella es tango (She Is Tango)’ from GALA

GALA Hispanic Theatre’s Ella es tango (She Is Tango) is the tale of two centuries of music, dance, and female liberation from the origins of Tango as a macho form of entertainment, for the patrons of...

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...

An independent woman faces cancer in Solas Nua’s intimate outdoor drama

There couldn’t be a more perfect setting for Irish playwright Deirdre Kinahan’s In the Middle of the Fields than the grassy, clovered slope of P Street Beach, a sliver of Rock Creek Park a quick walk...

Studio Theatre’s ‘Flow’ feels like a hip-hop feast for the senses

Director Psalmayene 24 and actor-poet Justin Weaks join forces again in Flow, bridging the gap between Old Skool rappers and new age Flowetry performers to trace the tragic footsteps of seven...

Rep Stage radio play ‘Ghost/Writer’ is some mind-blowing writing

Playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi mixes romance and vengeance and packs volumes of truth into stunning poetic dialog.

NextStop’s ‘First Date’ is a show to fall in love with

This small show with a big heart is smart, funny, and moving.

In a child’s voice, a magical and moving portrait of the South from Round House

Beth Hylton solos as a fourth-grader in Lucy Alibar’s poetic and comic ‘Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up.’

Rapid Lemon’s ‘Serious Adverse Effects’ fascinates, resonates

A complex sci-fi drama with a gripping theme of spiritual transcendence, in a world premiere by Derek Lee McPhatter.

A daughter’s family dramas drive a hilarious and moving ‘2.5 Minute Ride’

“2.5 minutes is a really long time on a roller coaster if you are having a good time. If you think it’s killing your father it’s a really, really long time.” —Lisa Kron in 2.5 Minute Ride The first of...

‘Blindness’ in darkness at Shakespeare is a brilliant beacon of theater

On this Kentucky Derby weekend, wondering what theatrical “horse” will nose ahead and augur well for a new world of theater when we can emerge from the pandemic, I’m placing my bet on Blindness at...

Poignant memories of love in Signature’s vibrant ‘Midnight at The Never Get’

In the hidden back room of a 1960s Greenwich Village bar is the stage for a past, hidden love at the center of Midnight at The Never Get now streaming from Signature Theatre. Trevor, a colorful and...

Live at last at GALA, a boldly comic ‘Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter’

Trudging up the two flights from the rainy street-level pavement to GALA Hispanic Theatre’s auditorium entrance felt like a pilgrimage. (Yes, I could have taken the elevator, but who would have wanted...

A white cop’s shots at Black man echo through ‘Until the Flood’ at Studio

Dael Orlandersmith’s Until the Flood, now an on-demand production from Studio Theatre, brings the viewer into the conversation. You couldn’t be more active as a listener in this simple, seamless...

In brilliant ‘Children of Medea,’ a Korean American girl hopes to cope

Conformity can be difficult for some of us at the best of times. But it is especially difficult in adolescence for a girl. Cynthia, 17, the main character in Sue Jin Song’s brilliant Children of...

‘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...

Woolly’s nifty ‘Rich Kids’ twits excess, whizzes by

You got a fast car I want a ticket to anywhere Maybe we make a deal Maybe together we can get somewhere Any place is better… Is it fast enough so we can fly away?… Leave tonight or live and die this...

Studio Theatre’s raw, audacious ‘Cock’ is one big deal

Set me free why don’t cha babe Get out my life why don’t cha babe ‘Cause you don’t really love me You just keep me hangin’ on These unflinching lyrics floated through my brain as I took in Studio...

A year into COVID, how theater is changing maybe forever

At first, the shutdown of live theater came as a shock. Then, once artists were left to think quick on their feet, an extraordinary evolution began to happen. At the beginning of the coronavirus...

On toxic artistic leadership (part three): Manifesto for theater ethics

Back in the 1980s, the Harvard University Business School dismissed offers to create a curriculum in ethics—free of charge, if I remember correctly; an alumnus even offered to pay for it. The Business...

My search for Black women’s unsung voices, or, Why theater needs a ‘Reset’

Questions of “canon” have haunted me throughout my theatrical education and subsequent professional career. As a precocious young child obsessed with the performing arts, I searched and searched for...

How Imagination Stage is making sure the kids are okay during COVID

A new guard is stepping in at Imagination Stage, led by longtime Artistic Director, now Producing Artistic Director Janet Stanford. Rounding out the leadership trifecta are Meghann Babo-Shroyer as...

How do we love in the time of COVID? Rep Stage counts ten ways.

For its first production since shutdown, Rep Stage explores how love can help us connect and heal in a time of isolation and unrest. The fully produced, filmed theater event of ten original...

O villainy! Patrick Page slays in ‘All the Devils Are Here’ from STC

“This rough magic I here abjure.” This phrase, from Prospero’s farewell in The Tempest, is among the most exquisite in Shakespeare. In All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain,...

Stepping to Go-Go, Step Afrika! takes on COVID prevention

“We have a shared responsibility to keep our communities safe,” Step Afrika! founder C. Brian Williams told me at the top of our phone conversation. With the pandemic continuing to ravage the DC area...

Two rival sisters feud in intense and surreal Adrienne Kennedy drama

Round House Theatre, in association with McCarter Theater Center, concludes its festival of works by celebrated playwright Adrienne Kennedy with the world premiere of Etta and Ella on the Upper West...

Muslim women’s voices in ‘Unveiled’ serve up tea and empathy

Hot tea is the recommended beverage for viewing Chicago-based playwright Rohnia Malik’s Unveiled, available online through January 2021 from Baltimore Theatre Project. The one-woman show introduces us...

MetroStage to stream ‘Mothers and Sons’ in tribute to Terrence McNally

What does a gay man call another gay man to whom he is committed? The character Cal in Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons gropes for the right word: Andre and I were what people called “boyfriends”...

‘Twelve Days of Watchmas’ from #WeSeeYou is a blunt and raw must-read

Revolution is rooted in protest. And in revolutionary ways, protest theater promotes social change. The ubiquitous We See You, White American Theater movement courageously flips the script using the...

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...