Reviews

Review: ‘Spring Awakening’ at Metropolitan Youth Theatre

The inevitability of change defines the human experience. We are all subject to our desires, even when we don’t fully understand them. And curiosity and the intrinsic want and need to feel emotions...

Review: ‘Julius Caesar’ at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

‘Julius Caesar’ draws political and historical parallels Julius Caesar, directed by Chris Cotterman, in a production by the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, is an exploration of what motivates a man in...

Review: ‘Women Beware Women’ at 4615 Theatre Company

Most of us know how William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet ends. Romeo, thinking his precious Juliet dead, drinks from a vial of poison. When Juliet awakens, she sees Romeo dead and stabs herself....

Co-Founder and the First Artistic Director of Arena Stage Zelda Fichandler Passes Away at Age 91

We received this sad news from Arena Stage. A pillar of our theater community has passed away. We send our condolences to the Arena Stage family and to Zelda’s family. And thank you Zelda for being...

Dangereuse: Globe Theatre’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ at The Kennedy Center

W.H. Auden once said ,“Shylock is the outsider because he is the only serious person in the play.” Jonathan Pryce’s Shylock is a deeply serious person, and Pryce’s magnificent portrayal of Shylock’s...

Review: ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ at Shakespeare in Clark Park in Philadelphia

For its eleventh annual summer offering, Shakespeare in Clark Park is offering a take on The Two Gentlemen of Verona that feels light and airy as the summer breeze wafting across the park. It’s...

Review: ‘Tink!’ at the New York Musical Festival in NYC

From Peter and The Starcatcher to Finding Neverland, the ever popular tale of Peter Pan continues to inspire original interpretations for the theater. A different take on J.M. Barrie’s beloved...

Review #2: ‘The Merchant of Venice’ at The Kennedy Center

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart.” – William Shakespeare, The Merchant of...

Review #1: ‘The Merchant of Venice’ at The Kennedy Center

The appropriately psychologically penetrating and vivid production of The Merchant of Venice (now playing at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater) embraces all the conundrums of William...

‘Something Rotten’ Revisited at The St. James Theatre in NYC

I first reviewed this unselfconsciously entertaining musical comedy at the beginning of its run in April 2015. I wanted to see it again to determine how it was holding up now that five of its...

Review: ‘Blue God’ by Timeless Entertainment at THEARC

Blue God Examines Faith and Trust at DC’s THEARC Last Sunday afternoon, THEARC in DC was a flurry of festivities, including at its center the play, Blue God, by Marshawn Metters. The one performance...

Magic Time! ‘(Re)Acts: #Orlando’ at Forum Theatre

Live theater is not where we turn to learn the news in real time. We have TV and Twitter and plenty other frenzied feeds for that. But live theater may be the most potent and important form we have...

Magic Time! A Report on ‘Double X’ at Schools Without Walls

S. Ann Johnson’s Double X—an exquisitely crafted choreopoem exploring the multicultural distinctions and connections among seven women—had its DC debut Saturday after appearances in Baltimore, New...

Review: ‘Charles Busch’s The Divine Sister’ at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA

Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers haven’t even said grace. So says the Mother Superior of St. Veronica’s Convent School, the lead character in the new play at the Bucks County Playhouse. But...

‘Review: Love’s Labours Lost’ at 4615 Theatre Company

With the savvy direction of Anne Donnelly and the industrious labors of 4615 Theatre Company, the 400 year-old Shakespearean comedy, Love’s Labours Lost has taken a fruitful leap into the 21st...

Meet the Cast of Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s ‘Spring Awakening’: Part 4: Carlos Castillo

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s Spring Awakening, meet Carlos Castillo. Sam: Why did you want to appear in Spring Awakening at Metropolitan Youth...

Review: ‘Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope’ at New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia

Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope is a musical that’s not produced very often – but in its day, it was a huge hit. Opening on Broadway in 1972, it ran for over 1,000 performances and earned four Tony...

Review: ‘Blithe Spirit’ at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival in Center Valley, PA

For his next novel To the Unseen, successful author and socialite Charles Condomine must gather material on the world of the occult, of which he is highly skeptical. So on a lark, “to make notes on...

Review: ‘Ring of Fire” at People’s Light in Malvern, PA

The man in black has come to Malvern. It’s a long way from The Grand Ole Opry, but People’s Light has imported a cast that seems to have grown up in that world, with musical instruments in hand. Ring...

Review: ‘The Dixie Swim Club’ at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater

Written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, better known to theater goers as the Jones Hope Wooten comedy team, The Dixie Swim Club at the Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and...

Review: ‘West Side Story’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Poverty, street violence, guns, drugs, working-class whites blaming Hispanic immigrants for their financial woes, mistrust of the police—is this an article in last week’s newspaper? It certainly could...

Review: ‘The Music Man’ at The City of Fairfax Theatre Company

Director Lisa Anne Bailey has truly lined up the City of Fairfax Theatre Company’s production of The Music Man with top-notch performers and quality staging! Be ready to tap your foot along with this...

Review: ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre & Children’s Theatre

A first-rate production of Monty Python’s Spamalot opened last night in the intimate Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre & Children’s Theatre, in Frederick, Maryland. Spamalot is the creation of Monty...

Review: ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ at The Kennedy Center Opera House

In fact, a perfect opera! Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera dazzled the Kennedy Center’s Opera House this Friday, bringing the beloved and longest running Broadway musical to the delight...

Review: ’99 – A Rock Opera’ by DC Dogs

Musical theater and the country could use a good renegade rock musical inspired by the Occupy Movement. The demonstrations that spread across America spurred by Occupy Wall Street shared a kindred...

Review: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Theatre Lab

The story of Jesus Christ and his Apostles is a tale as old as time, all having different meanings to each religion. The story of Jesus Christ and his Apostles is a tale as old as time, all having...

Review: ‘Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities’

Fans of Cirque du Soleil know to expect wonder, beauty, and thrills, and Cirque doesn’t disappoint. It’s a brilliantly executed brand that has become a global phenomenon (21 different productions are...

All 113 Capital Fringe Shows Are Now Reviewed on DCMetroTheaterArts

It’s the final weekend of this year’s Capital Fringe Festival and I urge you to attend some of this year’s offerings. DCMetroTheaterArts has reviewed all the shows in this year’s Capital Fringe...

Review: ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre

The Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre’s (SSMT) production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance breathes fresh and hysterically contemporary life into an older operetta. Brilliantly directed...

Review: ‘A Tomb With A View’ at Bowie Community Theatre

Bowie Community Theatre’s A Tomb With A View Puts the Fun in Dysfunctional BCT’s latest production, Norman Robbins’ A Tomb With a View, is a comedy thriller about a wealthy, more than a little...

2016 Capital Fringe Review ‘Act Like a Grrrl!’

Act Like a Grrrl! by the Actors Bridge Ensemble opened at the Martin Luther King Library this Thursday. More paratheatre than straight performance, this rendition of Act Like a Grrrl! represents the...

Review: ‘Nights on the Fringe’ at Baltimore Theatre Project

Modern Vaudeville: Nights on the Fringe As part of its mission to spotlight young and independent artists not only during the annual Fringe Festival, but also at other events in the off-season, Charm...

Review: ‘Riches’ at Anacostia Playhouse

Act 3 of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1962) is entitled, “Exorcism” and, indeed, the infamous Martha and George exorcise their demons, as well as the demons of academia everywhere....

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘, she took me back so tenderly’

It’s not often that you attend a funeral for someone you never knew. Yet, for some patrons, that will be their experience of , she took me back so tenderly, from banished? productions. Billed as a...

Spine: ‘We Know How You Die’ and an Oracular Upright Citizens Brigade

We Know How You Die, the Upright Citizens Brigade’s improvised, audience participation exploration of the Oracle, its predictive methodology, and its impact on the American political—STOP! You will...

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Underneath the Lintel’

Pat O’Brien’s solo performance in Underneath the Lintel has been captivating US and Canadian Fringe audiences for eight years now, and it’s not hard to see why. Seeing O’Brien—a longtime star of...

Review: ‘Mary Poppins’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage and Studio presents Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, with original music and lyrics by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman and Book by Julian Fellowes, and new songs and...

Film Review: ‘Captain Fantastic’

Captain Fantastic begins innocently enough, with gorgeous shots of a deer in the wild (Stéphane Fontaine’s cinematography is a standout feature of this film). Then that deer is slaughtered by an...

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Whisper Into My Good Ear’

The scene is deceptively simple. It’s winter. Two old men—one shivering in a sweater, the other swaddled in layers of coats and hats—are sitting on a park bench, contemplating the emptiness of what’s...

Review: ‘Urinetown’ at Monumental Theatre Company

Urinetown is not what you would call a “feel good” musical. Monumental Theatre Company has mounted this funny and politically-punching show about a town which, due to a catastrophic water shortage,...

Review: ‘Into The Woods’ at Upper Room Theatre Ministry

Once Upon a time, in the city of Manassas, there was a theatre group that was in their 15th year of producing Broadway quality musicals. Every summer a group of talented performers gather to rehearse...

Review: ‘We Know How You Die!’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

I sure laughed a lot at the show I saw the other night at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Gut-busting funny, it was. And I’d highly recommend you catch it…except it was made up on the spot, never to be seen...

Review: ‘I Am Not My Motherland’ at Orbiter 3 in Philadelphia

I Am Not My Motherland, the latest play from the Orbiter 3 playwriting collective, is about a medical operation that has complications, and about a relationship between two surgeons that also has...

Review: ‘The Comedy of Errors’ at The Delaware Shakespeare Festival in Wilmington, DE

Two sets of twins create twice the confusion and double the laughs in The Comedy of Errors, Delaware Shakespeare Festival’s 2016 selection for its annual outdoor offering at Wilmington’s Rockwood...

Review: ‘Miss Cuarenta’ Starring Paula Arcila at GALA Hispanic Theatre

GALA Hispanic Theatre—home of the National Center for Latino Performing Arts—kicked off its 41st season this weekend with the DC premiere of Miss Cuarenta. The dazzling solo performance—written and...

Review: ‘Maids of Honor’ at Unquiet Theatre Company

With a title like Maids of Honor one would expect romantic comedy “scmoop” and wedding hi-jinks, but if you had ever seen a production at Unquiet Theatre before, you would know that things are never...

Review: The Hypocrites’ Production of ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at Olney Theatre Center

You can’t go wrong. Just go with a light heart and desire to have fun as you easily unleash your connections to current world realities. What is it? Well, the “what” is a wonderfully brash,...

Review: ‘Yellowman’ at The Anacostia Playhouse

I first saw Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman at the Manhattan Theater Club in 2002, with Orlandersmith herself in the role of the dark-skinned Alma and Howard W. Overshown as the light-skinned Eugene....

Review: ‘Grease’ at Wildwood Summer Theatre at The Arts Barn

Wildwood Summer Theatre’s first 2016 summer production of Grease (with book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey), directed by Jake Young, combines youthful enthusiasm with great...

Review: ‘Tragical History of Doctor Faustus’ at Clifton’s Got Drama

Ever hear the term “Faustian Bargain”? Well – this is the origin of the story. Plunge the depths of the human soul. Explore morality through a Victorian lens – presented in a contemporary style. Come...