Washington DC

Signature Theatre to stream concert of hits from days of ​vinyl

This week Signature Theatre releases a new cinematic concert, an inspired alternative to its pre-COVID cabarets. Titled Signature Vinyl, the fully produced, professionally filmed production features...

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...

IN Series’s ‘Orphée et Eurydice’ strikes chord of COVID love and loss

IN Series returns to the original revolutionary opera, Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice, for an intimate film experience exploring love, loss, and grief during a global pandemic in which millions have...

Felicia Curry and Adam Immerwahr to co-teach Black and Jewish plays at Theater J

In these tumultuous times, theatermakers and theatergoers have been working to share a long-time common goal: to reflect upon and engage with the human condition. In a noble effort to continue this...

Theater Alliance kicks off eight nights of protest plays

True to its mission—to present “socially conscious, thought-provoking work” that engages audiences “in active dialogue”—Theater Alliance has launched a series of eight short plays by eight emerging...

Next Ice Age dancers carve out haunting moves

Looking for something really cool to do this Halloween weekend? Check out The Next Ice Age (NIA), an amazing ice dancing troupe that will provide both tricks and treats. The company performs its...

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...

In time for the election, an audio play about political scheming from Studio

As millions across the country are taking to the polls, Studio Theatre releases its first audio play, an adaption of Kings, the lacerating, fast-talking political drama by Alexandria, Virginia, native...

E. Faye Butler speaks out on playing Fannie Lou Hamer right now

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” —Fannie Lou Hamer Anyone who has ever seen E. Faye Butler perform knows that they are witnessing something truly extraordinary. A two-time Helen Hayes Award...

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...

Theater wonks and gamers connect with a new ‘Twist’

Theater professionals from New York City, Kentucky, and DC have come together to launch ​Twist, a new virtual experience centered around a rotating series of social strategy games. ​Following a...

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...

E. Faye Butler to rock the vote as Fannie Lou Hamer at Arena Stage

Two-time Helen Hayes Award winner E. Faye Butler returns to Arena Stage to take on the iconic role of civil and voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer in Cheryl L. West’s play Fannie Lou Hamer, Speak...

The Breath Project resists racial injustice with free virtual festival

The Breath Project—a new theatrical initiative formed in response to racial injustice against Black people—will stream as a free virtual festival October 24 and 25, 2020. In partnership with Studio...

UrbanArias’ new opera is a sexy comedy about expecting parents in lockdown

UrbanArias has partnered with eight other American opera companies to create a newly commissioned operatic video series, Tales From a Safe Distance, inspired by Boccaccio’s The Decameron. Each company...

Alden Theatre’s ‘Drive-Thru Drama’ gets spooky

Just in time for Halloween, The Alden Theatre in McLean continues its unique Drive-Thru Drama performances with Objects in Mirror May Be SPOOKIER Than They Appear, October 16 to November 1, 2020....

Dominion Stage announces winners of first playwriting contest

The trials and tribulations of a talk show host’s family. A date between two extreme opposites that gets dangerous. These are the themes of the two winning entries in Dominion Stage’s first...

Shakespeare Theatre Company plots next season with new twists

The lineup for Shakespeare Theater Company‘s 2020–2021 season—as announced by Artistic Director Simon Godwin and Executive Director Chris Jennings—is signficantly different from plans first announced...

Mosaic Theater heads into fall season recommitted to anti-racism

A monthslong period of intensive introspection and evolution at Mosaic Theater Company, led by a recommitment to anti-racism, has culminated in the company’s recent announcement of fall programming,...

Olney Theatre Center hosts ‘Just Arts,’ a virtual social justice arts festival

In response to ongoing social upheaval and protests for racial justice, Olney Theatre Center is hosting a virtual social justice arts festival amplifying the voices of BIPOC artists and activists in...

Happenstance Theater to clown outdoors and online this weekend

The irrepressibly entertaining Happenstance Theater will perform its Pinot & Augustine clown show on Saturday, October 10, 2020, at 2 pm and 6 pm, in the parking lot at Joe’s Movement Emporium (3309...

Free ‘Flash Acts’ theater festival to spotlight U.S. and Russian artists

The Forum for Cultural Engagement has announced Flash Acts, a free six-day, bilingual, virtual theater festival October 8 to 13, 2020. This one-of-a-kind performance festival brings together 20...

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...

CulturalDC to host Reclamation Project racial-equity residency at Source Theatre

The Reclamation Project—an idea inspired by We See You, White American Theater, “Hot button issues for Black theater: A roundtable on revolution,” and “Gender Diverse Black Theatre Leadership...

1st Stage commissions 11 artists to create solo works

As part of its ongoing commitment to creating diverse, modern work by leading playwrights and performers during the prolonged COVID-19 theater closure, 1st Stage has announced eleven new artist...

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...

Round House Theatre announces revised 2020–2021 season

Round House Theatre has announced an updated lineup of plays, conversations, and education offerings, including digital programming for the fall and winter and a return to live productions in its...

Vanessa Williams and Renée Fleming sing in a new era at the Kennedy Center

It goes without saying that things haven’t quite gone as planned this year in the DC performing arts scene. The recent pandemic shuttered many of the region’s stalwart venues in March and continues to...

A strange phone tree leads to hilarity in ‘Human Resources’ at Woolly Mammoth

When was the last time you enjoyed a funny, edgy Woolly Mammoth production while digging up stubborn weeds from your garden or taking a stroll through Rock Creek Park? Just when we thought our options...

Emoji-titled ‘??‍???‍?’ from Solas Nua invites online interplay

Celebrating Solas Nua’s 15th anniversary, the DC-based Irish arts organization has commissioned a series of digital plays from African-American playwright Jeremy Keith Hunter and Irish playwright John...

The complete 2020 Helen Hayes Awards and more

The 2020 Helen Hayes Awards—recognizing outstanding work produced on Washington-area stages in 2019—were celebrated as a series of virtual events, from August 31 to September 11, 2020, followed by the...

A preshow chat with Felicia Curry and Naomi Jacobson, cohosts of the Helen Hayes Awards

Screens will be lighting up all over Metro DC as theater lovers, supporters, and luminaries gather online for the 2020 Helen Hayes Awards Friday, September 25. The red carpet unrolls at 6 pm sharp...

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...

The future of opera in the time of pandemic: A Q&A with Adam Turner

I spoke with Adam Turner, Artistic Director of the Virginia Opera, on Tuesday, September 15, about how a regional opera company weathers COVID and the shutdown of most live performance. Virginia Opera...

Virginia Opera is all about Stayin’ Alive

With live performances shut down since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, artists unemployed, and income streams disrupted, performing arts organizations continue to face the hardest of times....

Remembering Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Edward Gero

“And though she be but little, she is fierce.” ~W. Shakespeare She was a giant. Borrowing from what was said at Lincoln’s passing, “Now, [s]he belongs to the ages.” Along with her victories for women...

“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...

Arena Stage docudrama makes case for making DC ‘The 51st State’

In our current political and cultural stressful times, how can theater make a difference, not just to those who are in-person patrons but to a wider community in the DMV and into American hinterlands?...

For one singular celebration, Helen Hayes Awards glam goes multiplatform

Culminating the 2020 Helen Hayes Awards recognizing outstanding work on Washington-area stages in 2019, the theater community will gather for one singular celebration in three successive digital...

Pols and players perk up ‘Will on the Hill’ for Shakespeare Theatre Company

For one brief shining moment, there was bipartisanship in Washington. It occurred with the 2020 online edition of STC’s 18th annual Will on the Hill, broadcast on Monday, September 14, 2020. The...

IN Series digital opera season lifts off this weekend with a festival of premieres

IN Series launches its groundbreaking 2020–2021 digital opera season with a Festival Weekend of world premieres September 17 to 19, 2020. The season, characterized by genre-defying collaborations with...

A tribute to Brave Spirits as it calls off Shakespeare’s histories due to COVID

There are certain theater experiences that you look forward to with extraordinary excitement. Brave Spirits Theatre’s Shakespeare’s Histories 2020 was one of them. To their credit, Brave Spirits,...

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...

Olney Theatre Center takes ‘The Humans’ from stage to stream

The Humans—Stephen Karam’s Tony Award–winning family dramedy—was slated for a run at Olney Theatre Center this season, but that physical production was shelved this summer when the COVID would not...

A top-notch storyteller tells ‘Stories I May Not Tell’ at Best Medicine Rep

Theaters have gone dark during the pandemic, with little certainty about when or whether actors and audiences can again gather in the same space to tell and listen to stories that illuminate our...