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Adrienne Kennedy festival replays a painful drama from her own life

When Ohio State University invites the distinguished author Suzanne Alexander back to her alma mater, she is asked specifically to lecture on the theme of violence in her works. Brace yourself, Ohio...

Elegies for empty stages, by Whitney White and Psalmayene 24

Remembering The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company By Whitney White with Daniel Soule Working on James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner was one of the most fulfilling artistic experiences I have ever...

A slapstick look at the spoiled rich in Happenstance Theater’s ‘Barococo’

It’s one thing to be cooped up and have an excuse for it; COVID has us all hunkering down, and we all teeter on the brink between tedium and madness—with good reason. It’s another thing entirely to...

A Black son’s assault by police, powerfully told in the Adrienne Kennedy festival

Twenty-nine years before George Floyd was murdered on camera and 18 years before Black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested for “breaking and entering” into his own home, Antioch College...

‘This Zoom Life’ could be the the best comedy web series since COVID

These days, in lieu of live scripted comedy, I’ve learned to feel lucky whenever I find online theater that gets me LOLing all alone. To be honest, that happens rarely, and never all the way through....

Adrienne Kennedy festival opens with haunting letters between lovers

Round House Theatre, in association with McCarter Theatre Center, has launched its digital series of works by Adrienne Kennedy with the enigmatic He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box, directed by Nicole...

Opera Lafayette takes a French comic classic to the Old West

Take any decent road trip through the American West and you’re bound to pass half a dozen old opera houses in varying states of disrepair, or repair — if there happens to be a local renaissance...

Equity and Be An #ArtsHero continue their advocacy for the theater community post-election

With the incoming administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, two major organizations that represent the theater community are celebrating the Democratic victory in the 2020 election and continuing...

How the Kennedy Center is keeping live performance alive (cautiously)

Update November 18, 2020: COVID cancelations to cost Kennedy Center over $80 million Scheduled performances through April 25 are off; Broadway musical tours are postponed; Kennedy Center Honors are...

‘Brown Sugar Bake-Off’ festival centers Black women’s voices

When I learned that a bake-off was taking place, I instantly thought of warm apple pie and holiday-themed gourmet cookies. That’s the foodie in me. However, the Brown Sugar Bake-Off festival is a...

Theater will have to be less racist to survive: A Q&A with Soyica Colbert

Although Shakespeare Theatre Company’s acclaimed The Amen Corner had to shut down in March before its run was done, the production proved fortuitous for STC’s future: It brought Director Whitney White...

How DMV theaters are strategizing for reopening

With the fall season and following seasons still only tentatively planned, arts organizations are taking the time to focus on a reopening strategy that makes the most sense for their staff,...

If you missed ‘What the Constitution Means to Me,’ now’s your chance

This tense election season has been made all the more nerve-wracking by our president’s persistent dissing of the Constitution he swore to uphold. Short of a landslide shellacking, Heidi Shreck’s What...

In Synetic Theater’s ‘Joy,’ two fearless performers get personal

Synetic Theater is renowned for its lively, “silent,” physical-movement–oriented productions of classic theatrical works propelled by original music. Now, with precautions necessary to combat the...

Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates Sondheim in stellar quarantine cabaret

The pandemic has caused many arts organizations to search for creative ways to bring their talent to fans. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC has jumped into the fray with Losing My Mind: A...

Urban Arias’ ‘The Roost’ takes a steamy look at a couple in quarantine

The Decameron Opera Coalition, a collection of different opera companies throughout the United States, has created a unique event, inspired by classic literature and modern necessity. Their Tales from...

The Public Theater examines the ‘SHIPWRECK’ of our nation in a four-part audio drama

In a co-production with DC’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (where SHIPWRECK made its American debut in February), The Public Theater presents the New York audio version premiere of Anne Washburn’s...

Artists Who Inspire! #6: Kathleen Akerley

Welcome to the sixth installment of Artists Who Inspire! During the continuing shutdown of live theater, DCMTA will use this space to lift up local theater artists who are finding ways to remain...

In ‘American Dreams’ at Round House, it’s game on! for U.S. citizenship

“Every form of refuge has its price,” once sang The Eagles. That concept hasn’t changed as the ardent, emotion-packed American Dreams unfolds before audiences. American Dreams is Round House Theatre’s...

Fresh and funny ‘??‍???‍?’ from Solas Nua creates a flash community

There were a number of factors that led Solas Nua, the 15-year-old theater company dedicated to presenting contemporary Irish arts, to abandon their previous project, Being Here, and devise a new...

Lights to go on again at GALA Hispanic Theatre with classic Spanish comedy

Now in its 45th season, GALA Hispanic Theatre has always been cutting edge. From its founding in 1976, GALA (Grupo de Artistas LatinoAmericanos) has been sharing and producing Latino arts and culture...

Reginald Douglas and David Muse on how Studio Theatre is “doing the work”

The ground feels as if American theater might actually be shifting in the direction of change for Blacks, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Here in the DMV, Studio Theatre is grappling with what...

Can laughter be lethal?: Dr. Linsey Marr on aerosol transmission of COVID

I first learned of Dr. Linsey Marr when I read a startling opinion piece that appeared in the New York Times July 30: As “a civil and environmental engineer who studies how viruses and bacteria spread...

“What this March means to me at this moment in America”: Now with all videos

Studio Theatre commissioned seven Black artists who have appeared on its stages to create artistic responses to their experience at the Commitment March on Washington, August 28, 2020. In these...

Olney’s virtual ‘The Humans’ shines with fine performances

Olney Theatre Center’s virtual production of The Humans offers proof positive of the old adage: Necessity is the mother of invention. Just see how they have turned the pandemic’s crushing blow into a...

GALA Hispanic Theatre announces 2020–2021 season and plans to reopen

November 23, 2020, UPDATE: FUEGO FLAMENCO XVI, originally scheduled for December 4–6, 2020, has been cancelled. November 3, 2020, UPDATE: The Department of Homeland Security of the District of...

15 Questions in 15 Minutes with Broadway’s Laura Benanti

After taking Broadway by storm at the age of eighteen as Maria in The Sound of Music, the super-talented multi-nominated multiple award-winning star Laura Benanti has appeared in such notable Broadway...

Jessika D. Williams as Othello at ASC is a marvel to behold

By far one of the most exciting theatrical discoveries for me has been the work of the remarkable Jessika D. Williams. Those of us lucky enough to have seen her in the the American Shakespeare...

Why I am an activist artist, by JChris

As a Latino gay millennial singer-songwriter, I believe I can make a difference. I’m here because I can become one of the reasons why things get better. We will fight and we won’t stop. The powers...

First live local theater since COVID is a new-normal ‘Next to Normal’

By Steve Quintilian and Julie Lloyd, Encore Theater Company Co-founders As artistic directors and theater managers all over the DMV wrestle with how and when to stage live theater indoors, the...

The power of a pause, by Patrick W. Lord

Lights out. Beat. Beat. When the lights go and I’m plunged into darkness, sitting in a theater, my heart always skips a beat, because I know that moment of pause exists to move me—either into the...

Ignorance of the Black theatrical canon is no excuse, by Courtney Baker-Oliver and Steven A. Butler, Jr.

The authors of the following two op-eds are cofounders of DC’s acclaimed Restoration Stage, Inc., whose focus is “restoring the Black family—one story at a time.” Collaborating as director (Courtney...

A conversation with Tony Award-winning producer Ron Simons

With over 20 years of experience and a running count of five nominations and four Tony Awards to his credit – more than any other Black Broadway producer in history – Ron Simons, CEO and President of...

Can white arts leaders become anti-racist “accomplices”?

Recently, during an interview with Nicole Brewer, founder of Anti-Racist Theatre, I learned about the Arts Administrators of Color Network’s Accomplices Leadership Institute (ALI). As a member of...

Theater and the risk of breath, by Kari Ginsburg

There is a moment in theater that I live for. I’m onstage, responding truthfully in the moment as if for the first time, embodying my skin as another person and existing in a brilliant...

New York celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment

August 26, 2020, marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote. To commemorate the momentous anniversary, special events and...

A dynamic ‘Tears of the Soul’ dramatizes 1968’s BLM awakening

Racial unrest and violent protests in the streets. Social division and a nation on the verge of collapse. A nascent social movement confronting racial injustice and police brutality. Internal family...

Update: Psalm’s Salon to feature women of color, Studio Theatre extends series

Studio Theatre‘s series of digital salons—Psalm‘s Salons at Studio—continues its exploration of equity in theater on August 20 at 5 pm with Natalie Graves Tucker, Farah Lawal Harris, and Lady Dane...

For BIPOC women in theater who have had enuf: A roundtable on resistance

By Thembi Duncan DC Theater Arts has committed to offer our communications channel to help amplify the BIPOC voices (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) that are now pointing the path to American...

Update: Synetic Theater’s wonderfully inventive ‘Decameron’ is now all online

With all videos in The Decameron available through July, Amy Kotkin completes her original review with yellow-highlighted additions below. History always has lessons to teach during times of enormous...

Wrapping up and rating Round House Theatre’s ‘Homebound’

Well, here we are. The end of 10 episodes over 11 weeks. The first episode of Homebound, which revolved around Craig’s inability to turn back from a potato on Zoom, seems like it took place a long...

How Only Make Believe brings theater to kids in hospitals even during COVID

In these days of medically necessary masks and prudent social distancing, let us not forget children in hospitals and care facilities living with chronic illnesses and disabilities unrelated to...

New study: Theatergoers are averse to returning but woke to racism

Shugoll Research, a national marketing research company in Bethesda, Maryland, has released findings from a Wave 2 online survey it conducted with 743 DC-area theatergoers about three pressing areas...

Eric Whitacre’s new virtual choral work is testament to power of community

“Human beings will go to any length necessary to find and connect with each other.” —Eric Whitacre, in a 2011 TED Talk Even anti-maskers, I suppose, are dimly aware of the heightened risks of human...

Wolf Trap to stream a summer’s worth of gems from its archives

Wolf Trap’s Filene Center may be quieter than usual this summer of 2020, but it is far from dark. While there are no live performances in an abundance of caution because of COVID-19, Wolf Trap has...

Ricky Drummond opens up about love, death, and ‘Desiderium,’ his new musical from Monumental

On Monday, July 20, 2020, Monumental Theatre Company will present an online reading of a new musical, Desiderium, written by Ricky Drummond and featuring music by The Oh Hellos. Because of the...

The Kennedy Center introduces multiple social impact initiatives

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has recently revealed a plan for several ongoing and long-term social impact initiatives—and the urgency and importance of this work has only grown...

The #WeSeeYou White American Theatre movement is ready to end a battle it didn’t start

Boots are on the ground. Battle lines are drawn. A collaborative network of more than 300 BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) theatermakers are in garrisons and trenches across the nation,...

The Public Theater’s ‘The Line’ relays true pandemic stories from New York’s first-responders

As the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the world, and on live theater on and off Broadway, The Public Theater has responded with a virtual world premiere of The Line – an original Zoom docudrama with a...

How the Signature board behaved badly, from a patron’s POV

By Dalissa Vargas As a lifelong live theater fan and a woman of Puerto Rican descent, I have spent the better portion of my adult life as an avid theatergoer wherever I have lived. On any given week I...