1st Stage

A touching tribute to love and faith in ‘Secret Things’ at 1st Stage

Heartfelt, ironic, and mystical writing, a beautiful production, and a historical backstory of religious persecution.

Unabashed comfort and joy in ‘The Book of Mamaw’ at 1st Stage

A solo performer’s tribute to his maternal grandmother, who raised him and gave him the tools he needed to engage with life.

A dazzling solo performance in ‘Bo-Nita’ from 1st Stage

Terri Weagant juggles accents and body postures to give us five distinctly and flamboyantly desperate people we won’t soon forget.

Music and joy collide in ‘Making Opera Soup’ from 1st Stage

In her solo performance outdoors, supreme storyteller Lori Brown Mirabal reveals the fun in opera for both children and adults.

‘Duck Harbor’ from 1st Stage is a thrilling livestream ride

The 12-episode love story winds up a beautiful and joyous journey.

1st Stage announces live theater lineup, outdoors and in

The 2021–2022 season begins with three solo shows outside at The Boro, then returns to home stage for four premieres.

1st Stage reveals cast of surprise-filled ‘Duck Harbor’ web series

Actors Geoffrey Rivas and Deidra LaWan Starnes met for the first time live online.

‘Duck Harbor’ from 1st Stage to serialize the surprise of a bicoastal love

1st Stage embarks on a surprise-filled new web series, Duck Harbor, by renowned playwrights E. M. Lewis and Bob Bartlett, who collaborate on the clever, humorous, and heartwarming story of...

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...

A Zoom critic takes a hard look at a BIPOC roundtable from Transformation Theatre

I want to carve out a new niche in the Bold New World of virtual online arts meetings. I want to become a Zoom critic! Why? Because I have been forced to hone my facilitator skills with this...

Expert artists from 1st Stage to offer classes online

Something new and engaging is coming our way. A singular opportunity for area theatergoers who want to learn more about how theater is made: 1st Stage in Tysons is offering a Virtual Classroom. The...

1st Stage announces dynamic 2020–2021 season

1st Stage, a vibrant professional company in Tysons, Virginia, recently announced their dynamic 2020-2021 season. This 13-year-old organization has grown from a grassroots collective of local artists...

1st Stage announces thirteenth season

1st Stage Tysons has announced its thirteenth season, opening in September 2020. September 10 – October 11, 2020 Mlima’s Tale by Lynn Nottage directed by José Carrasquillo Pulitzer Prize Winner and...

‘The Royale’ at 1st Stage bares a Black brother’s big heart

This play about a boxer packs so many emotional punches into its compact six rounds, you might not know what hit you. As fists fly, bells clang, terse words burst, and the cast claps out each...

A Black boxing champion battles racism in ‘The Royale’ at 1st Stage

Black early 20th-century celebrity heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson has had as irresistible a pull on subsequent playwrights and filmmakers as he did on the public of his day. Already the...

In uproarious ‘Airness’ at 1st Stage, the rock ‘n’ roll is unreal

In the competitive national and international air guitar scene, contestants vie for championships and prizes by pretending to play (or “shred”) imaginary guitars to 60-second tracks from classic rock...

In ’19: The Musical,’ women sing and dance their way to suffrage

On the day I was to see 19: The Musical—which is about how the amendment granting women the right to vote came to pass in 1920—our Constitution Denier in Chief made a perfectly timed gaffe. There he...

1st Stage launches free Youth Engagement Subscription (YES) pass for Fairfax County high school students

Now in its 12th season, the professional 1st Stage Theatre located in Tysons, Virginia, serves as a cultural hub for the community. Beyond producing award-winning theatrical productions, 1st Stage...

1st Stage to host musical group All 4 Bass on November 16th

Another unique cabaret evening is arriving at 1st Stage in Tysons. It is a musical performance by the quartet All 4 Bass. The event is entitled Play it LOW…Play it COOL. The All 4 Bass group is a...

Review: ‘Trying’ at 1st Stage Tysons

You could approach Trying at 1st Stage as a realistic, two-character play about a real-life character, Judge Francis Biddle, and his new secretary, Sarah Schorr. Born to a life of wealth and...

In the Moment: ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ at 1st  Stage

With a return visit to The Happiest Place on Earth, new gemstones are uncovered, adding complexity and currency to its bittersweet tale about dreams that a heart makes. In its current incarnation as...

Review: ‘The Things They Carried’ at the Logan Festival of Solo Performance at 1st Stage

The Things They Carried is a personal people’s history. A sharply conjured chronicle. It is told at the most granular of levels by a platoon of characters. Performed solo by David Sitler, the...

Review: ‘Joy Rebel’ at the Logan Festival of Solo Performance at 1st Stage

Joy Rebel, written and performed by Khanisha Foster, is a moving, deep dive into fluid identity and the fraught experiences of a mixed-race human being. Joy Rebel is a revealing autobiographical...

Review: ‘Macbeth’ by Britches and Hose Theatre Company

By Katie Crabb Something wicked this way comes in Britches and Hose Theatre Company’s gender-blind version of Macbeth, which breathes new life into one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. The classic...

Review: ‘The Member of the Wedding’ at 1st Stage

It was nearly 70 years ago that Carson McCullers adapted her beloved 1946 novel The Member of the Wedding into a prizewinning Broadway play. Set in a small Southern town, the story centers on two...

Review: ‘columbinus’ at 1st Stage

There’s a lot that’s shocking and disturbing in this show, as well there should be—it’s based on the April 20, 1999, shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. That massacre—during...

Magic Time!: ‘The Brothers Size’ at 1st Stage

“You fucked up! You fucked up! You fucked up!” rails the older brother, berating the younger. “You fucked up! You fucked up! You fucked up!” he goes on, as if he cannot rage enough, as if he can’t get...

Review: ‘The Brothers Size’ at 1st Stage

Offering timely explorations of important topics, 1st Stage continuously produces memorable plays. They are always solid, but The Brothers Size will knock you out. In it, a young man newly released...

Magic Time!: ‘ 19: The Musical’

It was “a century of struggle” before women in the United States won the right to vote in 1920, and the centenary of the amendment that cinched it, the nineteenth, is just around the corner. An...

Past Is Prologue in New Musical About Suffragists

When Nancy Pelosi accepted the gavel as Speaker of the House last week, she expressed pride at presiding over Congress during the 100th anniversary of women having the right to vote (coming in 2020)....

Review: Paula Vogel’s ‘A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration’ at 1st Stage

A Civil War Christmas at 1st Stage is a strong addition to plays that connect with the holiday season. Playwright Paula Vogel embraces and examines provocative themes in this piece, looking at all of...

Artistic Director Alex Levy on Bringing Paula Vogel’s ‘A Civil War Christmas’ to 1st Stage

With the holiday season upon us- whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year’s- the performing arts calendar is full of productions that help connect an audience to the larger, diverse...

THE ROSE THEATRE CO Brings FIRST DRAFT Reading Series to 1st Stage

Love new plays? Then THE ROSE THEATRE CO’s Reading Series|FIRST DRAFT has great news to report. The series will begin its 2018-19 season of new play readings with a new Northern Virginia location to...

Review: ‘Hero’s Welcome’ at 1st Stage Theatre

Hero’s Welcome at 1st Stage is the area premiere of British playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s 79th play. While Ayckbourn might be best known for his uproarious comedies, the humor here is darker than...

Review: ‘Where Did We Sit On The Bus?’ at 1st Stage Tysons

Where Did We Sit On The Bus? is a solo performance that examines identity in America through the eyes and observations of a Brown young man named Brian Quijada. With his charismatic smile, playwright...

Review: ‘Brahman/I’ at The Logan Festival of Solo Performance

Set in a non-descript stand-up comedy club, the 1st Stage production of Brahman/I has a clever premise: a solo performer reveals some of a human being’s most intimate details. Brahman/I is a unique...

Review: ‘The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey’ at 1st Stage Tysons

“The dark side is my beat.” These are some of the first words heard from a New Jersey detective in The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey. He is recalling a hate crime from a decade previously that...

Review: ‘Swimming With Whales’ at 1st Stage

In its world premiere first professional performance, Swimming With Whales at 1st Stage has already built an impressive record in its preparation. It was part of the Sigworks Readings at Signature...

Interview: Actor Sara Barker Discusses Upcoming Performance of Lauren Gunderson’s New Play Against Gun Violence (1st Stage April 23)

On February 14, 2018, a gunman entered Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 students and teachers. On April 3, Playwright Lauren Gunderson made her new play involving gun violence, Natural...

Review: ‘Fly By Night’ at 1st Stage

Recipe for a vexing evening of musical theater: combine cuteness, sweetness, quirkiness, clever and funny dialogue, and a sprinkling of amusing and melodic songs. Add a heavy dose of sentimentality....

News: Lauren Gunderson’s ‘Natural Shocks’ Reading to Address Gun Violence

WSC Avant Bard will present a reading of Natural Shocks, a new play by Lauren Gunderson, on Monday, April 23, 2018, at 7:30 pm at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Rd, McLean, VA 22102, as part of a...

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...

In the Moment: Arts Council of Fairfax County Announces 2018 grant awards

As we well know, funding for the arts from all levels of government sources are under assault. Government funding is either static, or in worse cases has been reduced. As government revenue has still...

Review: ‘My Name is Asher Lev’ at 1st Stage

From the beginning of the 1st Stage production of My Name is Asher Lev, we are told that the young Asher is an amazingly gifted artist. Asher, who is played by Lucas Beck, narrates the play, and every...

In the Moment: Interview with Theater Photographer Teresa Castracane

Often, images of a theatrical production help establish the initial interest and expectations for a potential audience. Photographs can draw an audience into a production even before reviews or...

Magic Time!: ‘Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train’ at 1st Stage

There are times in the theater when the particulars of a play—its people, place, and poetics—pull you in as only an arresting, well-told story can. But then something even more interesting begins to...

Review: ‘Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train’ at 1st Stage

Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, now in production at 1st Stage, opens while the audience is still finding their seats. On a raised platform, in the round, Angel Cruz (Luis Alberto...

Review: ‘The Gun Show’ at 1st Stage

Among the issues polarizing America (and degrading public discourse) is the hot-button question of what to do about guns. Proponents of positions right and left talk past each other. Both camps have...

Review: ‘Empanada For A Dream’ at 1st Stage

Proust may have had his mother’s madeleine, but Juan Francisco Villa has his mother’s empanada to stir up memories of his gritty, hard scrabble childhood in New York’s City’s Lower East Side. It was a...

Review: ‘Hick: A Love Story’ at 1st Stage

What was hidden away as a purposefully invisible sidebar of decades-old history, is brought to well-deserved notice by 1st Stage’s inaugural Logan Festival of Solo Performances. With Hick: A Love...