News

Despite vaccination, theatergoers won’t fill seats soon, says new study

Despite a significant increase in vaccinations, DC-area theatergoers will be slow to return to local theaters, according to a new study by Limelight Insights by Shugoll, a national marketing research...

Woolly Mammoth begins digital spring with a social-media show

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces its digital spring line-up that features an interactive and innovative play that repurposes social media; the return of two Woolly on Demand productions; an...

One-woman ‘Children of Medea’ to power Electric Impulses at Constellation

Constellation Theatre Company kicks off Season 14: Electric Impulses with Sue Jin Song’s powerful one-woman show, Children of Medea. The production will be fully staged and filmed at CulturalDC’s...

New survey shows young talent are staying hopeful despite pandemic

Despite the ongoing pandemic, high school and college arts students are cautiously optimistic and still committed to pursuing their dreams of being a part of the arts community, according to a new...

Four Korean girls defy the male gaze in feminist thriller ‘Man of God’

The Strand Theater Company proudly partners with Asian Pasifika Arts Collective to present Man of God by Anna Moench. The virtual production is directed by Elizabeth Ung. About the play: During a...

Daniel J. Watts, only child of a single mother, grows up proud in ‘The Jam’

Daniel J. Watts’s The Jam: Only Child—the second feature production in Signature Theatre’s 2021 season—is now streaming on demand. Written and performed by 2020 Tony Award–nominated Daniel J. Watts...

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...

‘Broadway Princess Party’ cast shares the joy and magic behind the show

By Kirstin Franko (guest author) and David Siegel Nothing can stop the Broadway Princess Party with its celebration of empowerment for who you are or want to be. It’s a performance that aims to kick...

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...

Applications now open for new performance venues in Tysons

In a unique public-private partnership, a new world-class performing arts destination is nearing completion in the Tysons-Mclean area of Fairfax County. It is Capital One Hall scheduled to open in...

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...

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...

The time Booker T. Washington dined at the White House and the nation went nuts

By Roslyn “Roz” Ward During quarantine, the biggest loss is the people. The feeling and energy that one gets from a live audience cannot be replicated virtually. Torn—a play written and directed by...

Long-awaited government relief package includes $15 billion to Save Our Stages

Following a full week of complaints, delay, and criticism of the 5,593-page $2.3 trillion omnibus US fiscal bill, the President at last signed it into law on Sunday night, December 27, in time to...

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...

Taylor Mac puts on the glitz in ‘Holiday Sauce’ on demand

Taylor Mac is an acquired bad taste, and fans who remember fondly Taylor Mac’s over-the-top Holiday Sauce—which played live one-night-only last year at The Kennedy Center—will be gladdened to know a...

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...

12-hour marathon to mark Beethoven’s birthday and seek world peace

Yael Weiss can remember the exact moment it all began. It was the summer of 2017, and the Israeli-American pianist was reading newspaper headlines in her New York apartment. Each story was more...

#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...

Tom Teasley, Shu-Chen Cuff, Chao Tian to perform an inspired virtual concert

The headlines tell us to stay put. To not travel so we protect ourselves, our loved ones, our communities and the Nation as a whole—advice that DC-area residents seem to be heeding this Thanksgiving....

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”)....

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...

Mosaic Theater to move on without its founding artistic director, Ari Roth

In a meeting Tuesday night, November 17, 2020, the 26-member board of Mosaic Theater Company of DC unanimously accepted the resignation of Ari Roth, who founded the company six years ago “to be a home...

‘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...