Reviews

STC’s ‘A Winter’s Tale’ mock trial submits evidence that spring is coming

Critic Marjorie Garber suggests that A Winter’s Tale is “a hall of mirrors” and that the main character, King Leontes, lives in a solipsistic universe. The beloved tradition of STC’s Mock Trial, which...

Washington Stage Guild revives Shaw’s ‘Devil’s Disciple’ with simplicity and skill

Many well-made and renowned plays are rarely seen onstage. Extensive staging requirements, such as multiple locations or an expansive cast of characters, often give theater companies pause when...

‘Genderosity’ by Gay Men’s Chorus is a lovely many-gendered sing

By now, you have likely seen a song performed by a “virtual choir,” a group of singers who recorded his/her/their part as a solo video, then a technical person edited the sound and video together to...

Hear Steven Banks on classical sax in exceptional free virtual concert

Every musical theater actor in town is familiar with the sight of some of the pit musicians lugging multiple instruments into the theater. Especially if the “pit” isn’t really a pit but a concocted...

An enchanting ‘Little Mermaid’ from Ballet Theatre of Maryland

Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s production of The Little Mermaid is a beautiful celebration of dance and storytelling. Performed at the Westin Annapolis Hotel to a mask-wearing, limited audience, with...

In Matthew Bourne’s ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ the lovers are teens in juvey

“For never was there a tale of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” Who doesn’t know the tragic ending of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet? Yet we continue to be besotted by the...

Imagination Stage strikes gold with ‘Spy Academy & the Lost Treasure of Atlantis’

There are jumping dogs, ninja fights, and double crosses. The story is fast-paced and offers many moments for kids to chime in on how the story should advance (remember Choose Your Own Adventure...

GMU students have a winner in ‘Sing Happy! The Music of Kander & Ebb’

The joys of a new online musical await: Sing Happy! The Music of Kander & Ebb, an engaging, confidently performed, energy-filled one-hour revue performed by the talent-rich students of George Mason...

TheSharedScreen’s ‘Tape’ unspools tense and scorching storytelling

TheSharedScreen’s scorching new Zoom production of Tape — the 1999 play turned 2001 indie film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman — is a successful experiment in embracing the present virtual...

‘Tape’ is tailor-made for Zoom but not to this critic’s taste in theater

Jon, a filmmaker just starting to make a name for himself, comes home for the premiere of his latest film at the Lansing Film Festival. His old high school friend Vince, now a small-time drug dealer,...

‘Loveday Brooke’ audio play from We Happy Few is an entertaining gem

Loveday Brooke is generally referred to as “the female Sherlock Holmes.” Author Catherine Louisa Pirkis first published her lady detective story in 1893 and, aside from having created the first female...

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,...

Signature Theatre’s lovely ‘Simply Sondheim’ feels like a live performance

Signature Theatre’s production of Simply Sondheim is a lovely tribute to one of America’s best composers and lyricists for the stage. Co-conceived by David Loud and Eric Schaeffer, and directed by...

‘Hi, Are You Single?’ at Woolly Mammoth is hugely moving and entertaining

Ryan J. Haddad’s incredible one-person show, Hi, Are You Single?, is the first time any performer has set foot on the Woolly Mammoth stage since March 2020. This gem of a show, presented by Woolly...

Haunting last words from a Black cop on death row in Meshaun Labrone’s ‘Spook’

“It’s not what you are, it’s what you don’t become that hurts.” This quote by musician Oscar Levant is what opens the film Spook. Based on a solo stage piece by the same name, written and performed by...

For lovers of sleuthing, a Sherlock Holmes audio drama from We Happy Few

In this ever evolving age of the coronavirus, theaters have been experimenting in ways to keep the arts alive and thriving. We Happy Few has recently been producing audio recordings with extras. Their...

New biography of Tom Stoppard, prolific playwright of ideas

Hermione Lee’s biography of Tom Stoppard is a comprehensive look at the life and work of one of the English language’s most accomplished playwrights. Lee, a prolific biographer of 20th-century...

In deeply personal ‘The Catastrophist,’ an unheeded warning of pandemic

In the midst of our current disastrous COVID-19 pandemic comes a compelling world premiere play centered on Dr. Nathan Wolfe, the renowned virologist who has been warning for over a decade about...

Felicia Curry is a sheer powerhouse in ‘Queens Girl: Black in the Green Mountains’ at Everyman Theatre

In its efforts to further enhance its commitment to theater accessibility on every level of comfort, Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre reawakened its 30th-anniversary season opener to digital access,...

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...

A son summons his absent father in ‘Dear Mapel’ at Mosaic Theater

Urgent times call for urgent theater. And urgent theater has been Mosaic Theater Company’s calling card since its founding — rather unexpectedly — five years ago, by artistic director/playwright Ari...

Annapolis Shakespeare Company captures the magic of ‘A Christmas Carol’

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of A Christmas Carol is a moving, faithful adaptation of Charles Dickens’ beloved holiday tale, now playing virtually for stay-at-home audiences. Adapted by...

‘Signature Vinyl’ spins first-rate versions of turntable classics

Directed and conceived by Matthew Gardiner, Signature Vinyl delivers a filmed concert of songs performed by an excellent cast of singers and musicians, captured live at several DC-area outdoor...

A beautiful winter rose blooms in ‘A Christmas Carol’ at ASC

One of my family’s most cherished traditions this time of year has been to visit family down south (of course), but also to stop off in Staunton, Virginia, for a few days. It is a great time of year...

‘A Protest in Eight’ at Theater Alliance packs a social-justice punch

No doubt about it, in just fifteen minutes, protest theater can pack a powerful punch. Theater Alliance’s creatively ambitious A Protest in Eight, with its lineup of eight fierce young playwrights,...

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...

The charms of ‘Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley’ from Strand Theater

Strand Theater Company’s production of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley is a delightfully theatrical sequel to Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. Written by Lauren Gunderson and...

Studio’s bold and smart ‘I Hate It Here’ is a seismic theatrical experience

Ike Holter is a trickster playwright so right for our quicksand-ridden times. In his new audio play commissioned by Studio Theatre (he also directed), Holter creates a grand hall of mirrors full of...

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...

A hauntingly lovely ‘Christmas Carol’ from PG County Shakespeare in the Parks

A Christmas Carol, produced by PG County Shakespeare in the Parks and set in Victorian England, is a hauntingly lovely radio drama. It’s free and family-friendly, and a welcome reminder of the value...

The joys of watching actors in virtual ‘Lobby Hero’ at Silver Spring Stage

Silver Spring Stage’s streaming production of Lobby Hero is a pleasure to watch. Filmed on the theater’s stage, it combines the joys of seeing actors physically interacting together with some of...

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...

Update: GALA Hispanic Theatre’s comedy ‘Dog in the Manger’ to get a run online

Live performances of The Dog in the Manger at GALA Hispanic Theatre have ended, but the company has announced that the production will be available to enjoy streaming. Tickets may be purchased online...

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...

Woolly Mammoth’s ‘JookJOYnt’ was a truly joyous journey

Woolly Mammoth Theatre recently released their mixed media streaming production of The JookJOYnt, A Black in Space Powered by Makers Lab Experience. The video is a funky intergalactic collage of...

‘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....

Levity and pleasure abound in ‘Marriage Proposal’ audio farce

Ready for some fun? You’ve earned it. Escape from the messy troubled real world is just a click away with the engaging audio farce from the intrepid folk at Edge of the Universe Players 2. The company...

In two live shows at Keegan Theatre, a transwoman and two Black men get real

The Keegan Theatre’s streamed live performances from their stage are the closest thing I’ve seen so far to theater as we remember it avant le deluge. They are presenting two pieces in repertory, which...

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...

IN Series’s amusing ‘Gonzales Cantata’ musicalizes a congressional grilling

The Gonzales Cantata, a streaming production of the IN Series online program Invision, The Logan Operahouse Without Walls, is a cleverly done “docu-opera.” Composer Melissa Dunphy has taken the...

IN Series’s emotional ‘Orphée et Eurydice’ evokes loss of a loved one

Orphée et Eurydice, a streaming production of the IN Series online program Invision, The Logan Operahouse Without Walls, is a cleverly updated version of Gluck’s classic 1762 opera. It features...

‘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...

Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s ‘Dracula’ is perfectly spooky

Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s production of Dracula is the perfect Halloween show, even in these scary times. Viewing the performance outdoors, on the grass lot of the future Maryland Theatre for the...

Spooky Action Theater’s ‘To the Earth’ literally zooms into space

As the pandemic continues to take its toll on live theater, smaller-budget theaters are staying nimble and daring, thanks to generous support from donors. One of these deft companies is Spooky Action...

A George Mason University music review celebrates underrepresented voices

Give yourself a musical boost and some warm inspiration for these stormy days. Add plenty of deeply appreciated civility during an unsettled period. These might seem hard to find, but if 2020 has you...

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...