Interviews and Features

Playwright Lauren Gunderson had one stipulation when reworking ‘Peter Pan.’ The sexism and racism had to go.

When Gunderson agreed to rework ‘Peter Pan’ for Shakespeare Theatre Company, she had one stipulation: the sexism and racism had to go.

BSO performs US premiere of Lera Auerbach’s ‘Eve’s Lament – O Flowers, That Never Will Grow’ this week in Baltimore and Bethesda

Now that this summer’s drama surrounding the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s financial woes has quieted, at least for now, we can focus on the significant contributions our home state orchestra and its...

Reflections on a terrifying role: Susan Rome talks about ‘becoming’ Louise Nevelson in Edward Albee’s ‘Occupant’ at Theater J

When Susan Rome bats her eyelashes—as she often does in Edward Albee’s Occupant, now at Theater J—she becomes Louise Nevelson, the iconic sculptor whose life and work were inseparable. The lashes,...

The bad romance at the heart of Studio Theatre’s ‘White Pearl’

Anchuli Felicia King’s White Pearl is a hilarious, fast-paced satire set in the Singapore office of a cosmetics startup called Clearday that sells skin-whitening cream to Asian women. As the play...

Virginia Opera opens “From Screen to Stage” series with ‘Il Postino’ at George Mason University

The sensuality and passion of Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician, Pablo Neruda has become the bones for a contemporary opera, Il Postino by Daniel Catán. Il Postino (The...

BSU Theatre reenvisions ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ with artists of color

What does it mean to re-vision a popular musical with theatre artists of color? Students at Bowie State University have set out to do just that with their latest production of Little Shop of Horrors....

The Welders’ Annalisa Dias on ‘HEARTSPACE’ and responding to impending and present climate disasters

The Welders, a self-described artists’ collective, burst upon the DMV theatrical landscape in the summer of 2013 with a mission to establish an evolving, alternative platform for play development and...

A teen of many talents: Ethan Van Slyke of Arena Stage’s ‘Newsies’

Think back to when you were in high school. You went to classes all day and came home and did homework, right? And maybe you took piano lessons once a week or played a sport. Seventeen-year-old Ethan...

Vocal ensemble Cantus explores human connection in the Digital Age with ‘Alone Together’ at the Kennedy Center

“I realized the thing I missed most in my process was people,” American composer Libby Larsen told me recently. She was speaking about her commissioned work YOU, which the vocal ensemble Cantus will...

Stage managers work long hours for rich rewards

Being a stage manager of a theater production brings challenging, yet too often unheralded responsibilities that begin long before an audience steps into a theater to take a seat. As the production...

Exploding the canon: Inside the IN Series opera company’s “radical” practice

Now into his second year leading IN Series, the itinerant company based at the Source Theater, artistic director Timothy Nelson has not been shy about challenging opera’s status quo. “I believe that...

Variations on villainy in the Folger Theatre’s ‘Amadeus’

Villainy takes many forms. And Ian Merrill Peakes – now plotting revenge against a gifted rival in the Folger Shakespeare Theatre’s production of Amadeus – has played more than a few. His most recent...

“All I had to do was listen”: Playwright Norman Yeung rethinks his ‘Theory’

By Norman Yeung That Theory has gained urgency and relevance since I wrote the first draft in 2009 is uncanny and alarming. Over ten years of innumerable workshops, readings, and productions, the...

‘The American Soldier’ to illuminate the impact of military service at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Next week, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage will present a performance keyed to Veteran’s Day–The American Soldier, conceived, written and performed by Douglas Taurel. The November 13 performance...

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Simon Godwin on conscience in ‘Everybody’ and himself

On the day after opening night of Everybody, the first show in Simon Godwin’s much-heralded first season as artistic director of Shakespeare Theatre Company, I visited him in his office to ask him...

‘Protest/Vaněk Unleashed’ heads underground in upcoming Alliance for New Music-Theatre production

In partnership with the Embassy of the Czech Republic’s Mutual Inspirations Festival, and in celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, the Alliance for New...

Strathmore: Growing a vibrant arts community that welcomes everyone

As DC-area demographics have evolved over the recent decades, so have the missions of some of the area’s nimble performing arts venues so that they are welcoming to those they serve and reach out to....

Dangereuse: An interview with Nigel Rowe, a cabaret star as Ariel in IN Series’ ‘Stormy Weather’

IN Series’ Stormy Weather, inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, features the music of Billie Holiday and a stunning cabaret performance by Nigel Rowe as Ariel. In the new Sybil Williams play,...

New revision of Broadway musical ‘Rags’ is a timely story of the immigrant experience

Something’s coming: an exclusive opportunity to take in an award-winning creative team’s new adaptation of Rags, a hidden away musical gem. If you are not familiar with it, “Rags is a special creature...

Mischief and depth: Professor Gerald C. Wood on Conor McPherson and ‘Port Authority’

Gerald C. Wood is an author and expert on the brilliant Irish playwright and filmmaker Conor McPherson. Wood is Professor and Chair of English at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. In...

Rorschach Theatre remounts and reimagines ‘She Kills Monsters’ at the Atlas

A much-needed rabbit hole to explore is opening in the DMV. Let us rejoice. It is the return of She Kills Monsters some five years after making its first appearance, thanks to Rorschach Theatre....

A musical job unlike any other: A talk with Angel Gil-Ordóñez of the PostClassical Ensemble

Correctly predicting what kind of serious art music would and would not be presented on American concert stages in 2019 would have fooled – even baffled – the most prescient of musical observers from...

LA Theatre Works’ ‘SEVEN’ will explore social injustice through documentary theater at George Mason

LA Theatre Works is bringing its distinctive radio style, live theater to the DMV with a production of SEVEN. A documentary theater play, SEVEN is based on the lives of seven extraordinary women from...

Appropriate or Appropriation? PostClassical Ensemble and The Lakota Music Project Frames Debate on Indigenous Music

If this summer’s Baltimore Symphony Orchestra labor dispute underscored that remonstrating over the sustainability of American symphony orchestras is pointless if we don’t clarify whether they should...

‘My Barking Dog’ Explores Wildness and Uncertainty at Caos on F

Building on its mission to produce “exciting yet profound theatre in greater Washington, DC” The Edge of the Universe Players 2 is presenting My Barking Dog, a play about “A woman. A man. A wild...

First look at the fierce performers of ‘School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play’… and their fabulous dresses

DC Theater Arts spent a day at rehearsal with the cast of Round House Theatre Company’s season opener: School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. Not only is this play a fabulous female-centered...

Maria Manuela Goyanes on ‘Fairview,’ race, and what’s next at Woolly Mammoth

I saw Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview opening night at Woolly, and I cannot stop thinking about its originality—not only in form but in intent. I’m not writing about the production—my colleague Amy...

In the Moment: Peter’s Alley Theatre moves to The Writer’s Center in Bethesda and opens with ‘The Gulf’

Peter’s Alley Theatre has moved its base of performances to The Writer’s Center in Bethesda. Founded in 2012 by Aly B. Ettman, Peter’s Alley is a non-profit professional theatre company dedicated to...

Feature: Good news, bad news and coming attractions at 4615 Theatre

First, the bad news. Enron, the farcical, scary and all-but-unbelievable romp through the biggest fraud in corporate history, has closed. The good news is that there’s still time—four more...

Ruben Santiago-Hudson on Directing August Wilson’s ‘Jitney’

Perhaps it is his distinctive voice or the fact that he has been called the “best storyteller of his generation” that makes Ruben Santiago-Hudson the apparent inheritor of the body of work produced by...

‘Fabulation’ Brings a Tale of Comic (and Cosmic) Comeuppance to Mosaic Theater Company of DC

Although it sounds serious on the surface, Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine, is one of the funniest plays ever to grace a DC stage. That’s the opinion of my colleague, John...

Casting Director Kelly Crandall d’Amboise on Signature Theatre’s ‘Assassins’

The splendid, bone-chilling darkness of Signature Theatre’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins is lifted into reality by a most unexpected source: a 10-year-old character named Billy. He does...

Ray Anthony Thomas Discusses August Wilson and Playing Turnbo in ‘Jitney’ at Arena Stage

He has had major stage roles in everything from The Crucible to Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow. He has appeared in films as different as “Isn’t It Romantic?” and “Shutter Island.” Now...

Providence Players’ Julie Janson Previews Pop-Up Production of ‘Bobby Gould in Hell’

With the success of their first pop-up theatrical venture, the Providence Players of Fairfax are ready for a second pop-up production. This time the Providence Players, a Northern Virginia staple for...

Vocalists Add a Narrative Twist to Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Volta’

Cirque du Soleil’s Volta is a rush of energy and hand-over-mouth gulps of emotions. Currently decamped in Fairfax County, a quick saunter from the raised Metro Silver Line station at Tysons II, Volta...

Magic Time!: A Love Letter to ‘Dear Evan Hansen’

When Dear Evan Hansen debuted at Arena Stage four years ago, I was so moved by the show I wrote it a love letter, republished below. Now a Broadway hit, it returns to DC for a run at Kennedy Center...

Dark Horse Theatre Company Brings Daring Production of ‘No Exit’ to Two Northern Virginia Venues

Adding to professional theater options for audiences in Northern Virginia, Dark Horse Theatre Company will be mounting its next production at ArtSpace Herndon, as well as in its regular home base...

In ‘Aladdin,’ Iago Is The Perfect Sidekick: And No, He’s Not a Parrot Anymore

LA-based character actor Reggie De Leon brings comedic flair to the beloved Disney character Iago. ‘Aladdin’ is playing at the Kennedy Center through September 7th.

Feature: Directing ‘Ann’ at Arena Stage

Ann Richards, the late governor of Texas, and the first woman in that state to be elected in her own right, would be howling with glee if she could see the pandemonium unleashed in government today....

Interview: Pawel Walczewski Flies into Tysons with Cirque du Soleil ‘Volta’

Cirque du Soleil’s Volta features an inspirational message about loving the weirdo within. Volta centers around the character Waz who has allowed the dust of inertia and conformity to gather on him...

Magic Time!: Why ‘A People’s History’ Is “Painful”: A Q&A With Mike Daisey

John: Before you brought A People’s History to DC, you performed all 18 parts three times—once through in Minneapolis and twice through in Seattle. I can imagine people could be picking and choosing...

Interview: Alec Wild, Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy for Classical Acting at the George Washington University

Soft, behold! This summer DC offers first-rate Shakespeare everyone can enjoy. The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting (ACA) at the George Washington University, starting in...

Monumental Theatre Opens DC-Area Premiere of ‘Be More Chill’ July 11

You may remember James Corden, Sara Bareilles, and Josh Groban singing a parody of the song “Michael in the Bathroom” a few weeks ago on the Tony Awards network television show. The stars sang of...

Mark G. Meadows Wants To Change the World

In 2016, after the presidential election that put Donald Trump in the White House, musician Mark Meadows felt lost. He believed that his voice, and the voices of other artists “weren’t heard and...

Mara Bayewitz On Playing ‘Dolley Madison, Presidentress’

How does an actor prepare to embody of of the United States’ most famous first ladies? We spoke to Mara Bayewitz about her upcoming solo turn as Dolley Madison playing at Best Medicine Rep one weekend...

Jess Hill of Big Teeth Performance Collective Discusses Myths, Monsters, and ‘Ordinary Creatures’

Big Teeth Performance Collective’s exploration of monsters without and within, Ordinary Creatures, is coming to Baltimore for one night only Saturday, July 13. Earlier in the day, the members of Big...

Playwright Sam Hamashima and Director Kathryn Chase Bryer Discuss Hub Theatre’s ‘American Spies’

Once again Fairfax’s Hub Theatre will be introducing a new playwright, and a new play that highlights America’s common humanity, to a wider DMV audience. This time the playwright is Sam Hamashima and...

‘A People’s History’ at Capital Fringe Will Rock Your Worldview

I remember being so bored by my high school American history class that I got a D in it. This was not normal. My report cards always had A’s and B’s. So the kindly elderly woman who taught the course,...

Dressed To Plunder, and Maybe Kill: Costuming Signature’s ‘Blackbeard’

When the actor playing Blackbeard first appears on stage at the Signature Theatre in the new musical bearing his name, smoke literally curls out of his matted black hair. It’s a terrifying look and...

‘Musica Viva Kentlands’ Puts Classical Music Outdoors in Gaithersburg, Maryland

Traveling through the south of France one glorious September, regardless of where my companion and I found ourselves, it seemed that at one point in the afternoon, there would be a classical music...