Washington DC

News: ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ Coming to Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, Virginia is excited to be the first regional theater in the metropolitan area to present The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Justin...

Review: ‘Mom Baby God’ at Taffety Punk

By writing Mom Baby God’s central character Destinee Grace Ramsey as a likable, “trying-to-find-her-place-in-the world” young woman speaking her own truths, playwright Madeline Joey Rose has created...

Review: ‘Godspell’ at NextStop Theatre Company

NextStop Theatre is reaching the end of their July 2017 to June 2018 “Point and Counterpoint” season. Their third and final show pairing explores the contrasting effects that religious teachings can...

Review: ‘The Texas Homecoming Revolution of 1995’ at Best Medicine Rep

Bullies in the bathroom, rampant rumors and petty one-upmanship. Whether in Texas, Iowa or Connecticut, the horrors of high school cattiness haunt many into their adult years. Texas Homecoming’s...

Review: ‘Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends: New Worlds’ at the Kennedy Center

Can you imagine a chamber music concert—a quartet, playing mostly classical work by composers with names like Bach, Schubert and Shostakovich—getting six encores? And seven—yes, seven—standing...

Review: Washington National Opera Presents Verdi’s ‘Don Carlo’ at the Kennedy Center

“Peace and transcendence can only be found in death” seems to be the eternal thread that runs through Verdi’s operatic masterpiece, Don Carlo. Presented by the Washington National Opera, the gloom and...

Review: ‘Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery’ at Center for the Arts/George Mason University

In turbulent times, escaping into a yarn that is as light and high-flying as a helium-filled balloon can be a welcome respite. So, the Great Performance Series at the Center for the Arts/George Mason...

Review: ‘That Part Is True’ at Rabble Crew Productions

Wouldn’t it be fun to be a young urban radical and cohabit with other young revolutionaries—in a cheap walk-up apartment that you all share—eating fast food, having polyamorous sex, doing recreational...

Review: ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ at Olney Theatre Center

Five minutes into the start of Every Brilliant Thing, most of the audience had already cried for the first time – and had laughed aloud. By the end of the show, the entire room seemed to be infused...

Review: ‘Disgraced’ at Compass Rose Theater

Race, religion, office politics, and fear of the “other” are just some of the issues that explode onto the stage in playwright/novelist Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced, a 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner. Set in...

Review: ‘Avenue Q’ at Workhouse Arts Center

The audience for Workhouse Theater’s production of Avenue Q (music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Mark, book by Jeff Whitty), loved every minute. And what’s not to love? The 2003 Tony...

What To See This Week: Young Playwright’s Theater Presents ‘Silence is Violence: Whose Earth is This, DC?’

A movement is taking flight and Young Playwright’s Theater (YPT) is one of its co-pilots. Their upcoming Silence is Violence event will explore environmental injustice as it relates to gentrification...

Review: ‘Gypsy, A Musical Fable’ by Ovations Theatre Senior Company

Gypsy, A Musical Fable, a Broadway classic that debuted in 1959, has become intertwined with the DNA of most Baby Boomers, Gen Xs, Gen Ys, and even Millennials. The book by Arthur Laurents was...

Review: ‘Othello’ at American University’s Studio Theatre

A play like Othello raises many questions in the minds of theater-lovers: Should art be recuperative? Should plays written long ago be redeemed to suit the tastes of modern-day audiences? Othello is a...

In the Moment: Interview with Joe Calarco about ’12 Million Footsteps’

For nearly two decades, the inventive Signature in the Schools education program has exposed Arlington County public high school student actors to highly-charged, real-world issues well beyond the...

Review: ‘Hold These Truths’ at Arena Stage

There is a dramatic moment in Hold These Truths that comes as no surprise yet comes as a heart-stopping shock. We know going in that this moment is going to happen. We know that the U.S. Supreme Court...

Review: ‘The Imaginary Invalid’ by the Mason Players at George Mason University School of Theater

Satire is a comic form I have always loved. Among the greatest geniuses of the genre is Molière, whose comedies from 3.5 centuries ago still evoke howls of laughter when done well. Directed by...

Review: Happenstance Theater’s ‘Slapstick Jukebox’ Is a Wacky Good Time

Catch Happenstance Theater’s Slapstick Jukebox before it scoots away. Only five shows were planned for this weekend, so only the fast and the few will get the opportunity to watch this solid ensemble...

Online Lives/Offline Drama: Writers Have Superb ‘Sex with Strangers’ at Colonial Players

Sex with Strangers, written by Laura Eason, is now on stage at Colonial Players. Directed by Dave Carter, this play about two writers navigating the difficulties of love in the digital age stars...

Magic Time!: The Birth and Revelation of ‘Mom Baby God’: A Q&A with Playwright/Performer Madeline Joey Rose

Mom Baby God—a solo show written and performed by Madeline Joey Rose about the right’s attack on abortion rights—is as playful as it is powerful. The play centers on a fourteen-year-old girl,...

In the Moment: Interview with Sound Designer Justin Schmitz

All too often the work of a theater sound designer can go unnoticed. In fact, not long ago the Tony Awards decided not to even provide an award category for sound design (now reinstated). Thankfully,...

Review: ‘The Gospel at Colonus’ by Avant Bard

The Gospel at Colonus, Avant Bard’s production of the gospel-infused Oedipus story, opened on February 27 with a sweet, bright salvo of a song. Members of the Women’s Ecumenical Choir (headed by Becky...

Kennedy Center Members Did Not Throw Away Their Shot When ‘Hamilton’ Tickets Went On Sale

Imagine for a moment that you were a visitor to DC yesterday and you wanted to see a show at the Kennedy Center. You would likely have logged on to their website and received this message: Because...

Diverse City: A Chat with Matt Ripa, Founding Artistic Director of the DC Queer Theatre Festival

Welcome to the Diverse City column on DC Theater Arts. My name is Darby DeJarnette and I created this column to highlight, through interviews, the different experiences of individuals from various...

Reston Community Players Presents Tennessee Williams’ Classic ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’

It’s been called author Tennessee Williams’ best work and is widely known as his favorite. Now the classic Southern drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof takes the stage in Reston Community Players’ 51st...

Discovering Your Story in Circus: Street Light Circus’s Julia Quigley, Louise Chase Dettman, Dani Pierce Steuber, and Christian Kloc on ‘Circus in Lines: Many Stories Tall’

A couple of things about the local circus community: One, if you show up as your authentic self and are willing to work, you will be heartily, soul-nourishingly embraced. Two, a lot of folks who...

Review: ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at the United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy’s Department of Musical Activities’ production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a feast for the eyes and ears. With lyrics by Tim Rice and music by...

Review: ‘Becoming Dr. Ruth’ at Theater J

Helmed by a trio of DC’s creative talent royalty, Theater J’s production of Becoming Dr. Ruth, penned by Mark St. Germain, goes beyond just facts and dates to become an engaging exploration of how Dr....

Review: ‘Infinite Future: Bernstein’s Lasting Impact’ by Monumental Theatre Company at Atlas Intersections Festival

Enticingly presented by Monumental Theatre Company as part of the Atlas Intersections Festival, Infinite Future: Bernstein’s Lasting Impact is an exciting and multi-dimensional theatrical event that...

Review: ‘The Audience’ at Little Theatre of Alexandria

Attention Anglophiles: If you loved The Queen, and if you avidly follow The Crown on Netflix, then by all means, join the audience for The Audience at the Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA). All three...

Review: ‘All in the Timing’ at Silver Spring Stage

Ever wonder what would happen if you took theater, literature, linguistics, and film, put them into a blender, and then wrote a collection of witty comedic scenes with the reference puree that...

Review: ‘DIAVOLO’ at The Kennedy Center

A lone dancer steps forward. Framed in silver metal rectangles, others stand behind her. As she dances, others step forward, emerging to take her place. As the number of bodies increases and the...

What’s Playing at the Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival? I’m Glad You Asked.

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? The Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival kicks off today and its ninth season promises to be better than ever. Taking place at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in...

Preview: ‘That Part is True’ at Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival

That Part Is True, written and directed by DC local Madeline Farrington, is a psychological thriller for the resistance featuring activists, intrigue, betrayal, and garden stakes. As a blizzard...

The Day My Great-Great-Grandfather Saved Frederick Douglass from a Probable “Lynching” by the U.S. Government Right After the Harper’s Ferry Raid

(DC Theater Arts is pleased to publish this remarkable first-person history on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’s birth and Theater Alliance’s production of Idris Goodwin’s...

In the Moment: ‘Power and Lunch’ at Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival

In the DMV area, there are plenty in the political and social elite who can be found clicking away on their social media working hard to make us aware of what we should think. These same folks are...

Magic Time!: Michael Urie Opens Up About His Hamlet at Shakespeare Theatre Company

When I had a chance to ask Michael Urie some questions about his performance as Hamlet, I learned he can hold forth as insightfully as the character he plays. Well, maybe minus the verse and plot. But...

Review: ‘The Raid’ at Theater Alliance

Can social justice happen without militancy? Can ideals of equality become real without resort to violence? These questions gnaw at the mind during Theater Alliance’s powerfully eloquent staging of...

Review: ‘Hobson’s Choice’ at Quotidian Theatre

Hobson’s Choice is a winner. The play – a sparkling comedy with a terrific cast – just opened at the Quotidian Theatre Company, a jewel of a playhouse tucked into the rear of the Writer’s Center in...

Interview: Monumental Theatre Company’s Bridget Grace Sheaff and Gretchen Midgley on ‘Infinite Future: Bernstein’s Lasting Impact’

Monumental Theatre Company is a theatre troupe on the rise. Recently eligible for the Helen Hayes’ John Aniello Award, their productions are steadily gaining high praise and acclaim–and they show no...

In the Moment: DIAVOLO ‘The Veterans Project: A Long Journey Home’ at The Kennedy Center

“We all move, we all walk, we all run, we all fall, we all can even dance.” said Artistic Director Jacques Heim of DIAVOLO. With a motto of “architecture in motion” DIAVOLO will be bringing its highly...

Turning Trauma Into Art: Amy Oestreicher on ‘Gutless and Grateful’ and PTSD in Theater

Amy Oestreicher was a theatre-obsessed teen until her world changed overnight after waking from a coma, caused by her stomach literally exploding. After 27 surgeries and six years being unable to eat...

Interview: Alter Circus members Zoe Stasko, Georgeanna Layton, and Jessica John Get ‘Hysterical’

One of the newest companies in the DC circus scene (yes there is one), Alter Circus, is dedicated to challenging gender norms and celebrating “the rebellious spirit, strength, and grace of women.”...

Review: ‘The Farnsworth Invention’ at 1st Stage

In 1920, a fourteen-year-old boy in Idaho, named Philo Farnsworth, asked his science teacher for advice on a design he was working on for an electronic television system. Seven years later, that kid...

Review: ‘The Lathe of Heaven’ at Spooky Action Theater (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)

Puppets, people, props, projections, and sci-fi pop up a lot on DC stages, but not often with the narrative verve, literary cred, and nonstop wit of The Lathe of Heaven. Adapted and directed by...

Review: ‘The Boys Next Door’ at the Port City Playhouse

Review by Betsy Lizotte The Port City Playhouse production of The Boys Next Door is playful, yet provocative. This community theater, operating out of the Sleepy Hollow United Methodist Church in...

Dangereuse: The Two Noras: ‘Noura’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)

Noura, the story of a Chaldean Christian refugee from Iraq, is a magnificent production. The acting is first-rate, the technical aspects flawless, the whole experience complex and full of deep...

Review: ’35mm: A Musical Exhibition’ at George Mason University School of Theatre

35mm: A Musical Exhibition is referred to as a musical by the directors, but it is different from the way many think about the standard musical. The George Mason University School of Theatre and the...

Review: ‘The Veils’ at Nu Sass Productions (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)

Written by Hope Villanueva, The Veils explores the dualities of identity and traverses the delicate terrain of PTSD. This show, produced by Nu Sass Productions, is enjoying its world premiere at the...

Review: ‘U-Street, The Musical’ at Momentum Collective

U-Street, The Musical, directed by Alexandria, Virginia-based playwright Jason A. Ellis, explores the tribulations of the homeless in an engaging story punctuated with humor, song, dance, and a touch...