Woolly Mammoth Theatre

Two songs and a discussion of ‘A Strange Loop’ at NYC’s Guggenheim Museum in advance of its Broadway debut and cast album release

In 2020, Michael R. Jackson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for A Strange Loop, his cutting-edge critically acclaimed “Big, Black & Queer-ass” musical that had its world premiere in May 2019,...

DCMTA 2021 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Digital Theater

30 online productions that wowed us and got us through theater shutdown.

‘A Strange Loop,’ a hit at Woolly, heads to Broadway

Michael R. Jackson’s ‘big, Black and queer-ass American Broadway show’ will open in spring 2022 at the Lyceum Theatre.

Theatre Washington debuts ‘Backstage at the Helen Hayes Awards’ series

A personal look into the lives that have made DC the second largest and most successful theater community in the nation.

‘A Strange Loop’ at Woolly Mammoth is a knockout smash

Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning musical sings of a singular poet’s journey from self-loathing to self-respect.

Woolly adds a Brit hit to its season of artists ahead of their time

Jasmine Lee-Jones’s ‘seven methods of killing kylie jenner’ offers a Gen Z take on Black womanhood, colorism, and the politics of social media activism.

‘Teenage Dick’ at Woolly Mammoth is entertaining and revelatory

A funny, scary adventure rife with incandescent ideas.

Woolly Mammoth commits its ‘badass theater’ to accessibility

For the entire season, accessibility will be built into productions from the get-go rather than tacked on at the end.

Woolly Mammoth returns to in-person performance with ‘Teenage Dick’

A darkly comic riff on Shakespeare’s Richard III features a high school kid bullied because of his cerebal palsy.

DMV theaters unite to require proof of COVID vaccination

Policies in effect through December also mandate masks for audiences.

Woolly Mammoth, Spit Dat, and THEARC join for ‘Homegrown’ live July 7–11

What is home to you?’ Local legends of DC’s spoken word scene answer the question together with emerging Ward 7 and 8 spoken word artists.

New comedy about the afterlife from new company born during COVID

Laurence Klavan’s hilarious ‘What Comes Next’ premieres as audio play from 21st Century Players.

A sensational seance and powerful storytelling in ‘Animal Wisdom’

Animal Wisdom is a sensational Southern seance with moving original music and heartwrenching storytelling. Animal Wisdom is a collision of traditional storytelling and modern lenses, bursting into a...

Woolly’s powerful father-son convo ‘This Is Who I Am’ in rerun

(This review, first published December 14, 2020, was written about the original livestream run. The production is now streaming on demand through April 25, 2021.) Woolly Mammoth’s production of This...

Woolly’s nifty ‘Rich Kids’ twits excess, whizzes by

You got a fast car I want a ticket to anywhere Maybe we make a deal Maybe together we can get somewhere Any place is better… Is it fast enough so we can fly away?… Leave tonight or live and die this...

Woolly Mammoth begins digital spring with a social-media show

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces its digital spring line-up that features an interactive and innovative play that repurposes social media; the return of two Woolly on Demand productions; an...

My search for Black women’s unsung voices, or, Why theater needs a ‘Reset’

Questions of “canon” have haunted me throughout my theatrical education and subsequent professional career. As a precocious young child obsessed with the performing arts, I searched and searched for...

Black women reimagine artistic programming in ‘Reset’ at Woolly

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has launched Reset, a new, free digital assemblage of Black artistry featuring historical resources, excerpts, and video performances. Curated by six Black cisgender...

‘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...

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 Is Who I Am,’ a father-son drama, to Zoom live from two kitchens

Separated by continents, an estranged father and son reunite over Zoom. From their respective kitchens in Ramallah and in New York City, they recreate a cherished family recipe and struggle to bridge...

‘JookJOYnt’ from Woolly and Makers Lab to jump with Black LGBTQ+ joy

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and DC creative collective Makers Lab reunite for The JookJOYnt, a free, five-part video experience exploring themes of vulnerability, intimacy, and connection. The full...

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...

Get out the vote. Share this vid.

Elections have consequences. Some elections more than others. With voting participation trending downward over the years, what can be done to awaken folk to the critical importance of voting? What can...

Woolly Mammoth announces next season of live shows with dates TBD

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces its 2020–2021 season featuring the return of a postponed production, new partnerships, a digital season, an evolution of Woolly’s subscription plan, and...

Woolly Mammoth launches new Connectivity Core Partner Program

As the nation grapples with profound racial unrest—in addition to a global health crisis that is disproportionately affecting Black and Indigenous people—DC’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is...

Scenes of radical hospitality for #OpenYourLobby at STC and Woolly (photos)

Six DC theaters welcomed #BlackLivesMatter protesters the weekend of June 5 to 7, 2020 . Photographer Malcolm Lewis Barnes reports from two of them, Shakespeare Theatre Company and Woolly Mammoth...

A void in live protest theater is a silenced cry of pandemic proportions

Once again, anti-Black violence strikes at the heart and soul of America. We are shocked and saddened to watch an unarmed, handcuffed Black man struggle to breathe as he lies helpless on the ground....

Local playwrights write short scripts you can download for free

In the wake of COVID-19 theater closures, DC’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Connecticut’s Long Wharf Theatre, The Public Theater of NYC, and The Repertory Theatre of St....

Actor Mikéah Jennings unpacks his powerful performance in ‘Shipwreck’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre

Anne Washburn’s Shipwreck: A History Play About 2017 is an epic, scorching, and surreal satire of white liberalism in the era of Trump. It takes place at that ominous juncture in recent American...

James Baldwin’s ‘Amen Corner’ bears witness to the Beloved Community

Corners can be safe spaces for hiding. There’s comfort in corners because they’re out of sight and out of danger. In The Amen Corner, James Baldwin’s dilemma is whether to embrace the inner life of...

The Second City’s ‘She The People: The Resistance Continues’ levels the playing field with humor

The good news? The Second City’s sharp-witted She The People: The Resistance Continues is back at Woolly Mammoth for another rollicking production of top-notch sketches and witty songs. The bad news?...

On tour in DC with ‘What to Send Up When It Goes Down’ by Aleshea Harris

Editor’s note: Woolly Mammoth Theatre, in conjunction with its staging of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview, has brought to DC a show produced by the Harlem-based Movement Theatre Company that is...

Magic Time!: A #MeToo Memory Animates ‘I Am Her’

Midway through this taut, fraught drama about sexual trauma, a woman named Ana, a wife and young mother, is suddenly triggered. We are not told exactly why. It might be the Kavanaugh hearings...

Maria Manuela Goyanes on ‘Fairview,’ race, and what’s next at Woolly Mammoth

I saw Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview opening night at Woolly, and I cannot stop thinking about its originality—not only in form but in intent. I’m not writing about the production—my colleague Amy...

Review: Pulitzer-Winning ‘Fairview’ Jump-Starts Woolly Mammoth’s New Season

The Woolly Mammoth Theater Company has rocket-launched its 40th anniversary season with a searing production of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama....

News: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Names Emika Abe as New Managing Director

After a nationwide search run by Greg Kandel, David Mallette, and Management Consultants for the Arts, Woolly Mammoth will welcome their new Managing Director, Emika Abe, on October 7, 2019. Abe...

Review: ‘Describe the Night’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Like Marcel Proust’s famous “madeleine moment,” Rajiv Joseph’s ambitious new play Describe the Night, in an exciting, Kafkaesque rendering by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, finds philosophical...

Woolly Mammoth Announces Its 2019-2020 Season

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces its 2019-2020 season, which features an energizing array of plays by new voices and Woolly veterans. The premiere season curated by Artistic Director María...

Magic Time!: Inside the DC Jail with Liza Jessie Peterson and ‘The Peculiar Patriot’

Actor and Playwright Liza Jessie Peterson is an extraordinary artist/activist. Tucked inside her uproarious one-woman show, The Peculiar Patriot—which she performs through April 20, 2019, at Woolly...

Review: ‘The Peculiar Patriot’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

A klaxon sounds. A video montage of “Betsy” LaQuanda Ross (actor and playwright Liza Jessie Peterson) passing through the visitor entrance at a correctional facility plays in black and white on the...

Review: ‘BLKS’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre

BLKS is gonna be a blockbuster. Let’s get that out of the way. BLKS is a rapid-fire, laugh-out-loud comedy about a quartet of twenty-something black women in New York City who are roommates, gal pals,...

Indicoe: Networking Organization Gets Artists from A to B

Whether you are an actor, a dancer or a painter – being an artist can be a lonely business, characterized by short-term jobs, self-doubt and a constant need to hustle. To remedy these difficulties,...

Review: ‘She The People’ at the Second City at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

It’s common knowledge that the female cast members of Saturday Night Live like Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones practically run the high-profile comedy sketch show. The myth that women cannot be funny...

Magic Time!: ‘The Fever’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

If you’ve ever been in an acting class, a group-encounter session, a sensitivity training, or kindergarten, you’ll feel right at home in The Fever. Even if you’re by nature standoffish, an inveterate...

Review: ‘The Fever’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Audience participation can so often be a painful and unwelcome component of a night at the theater, especially if, like myself, you’re prone to minor panic attacks at the thought of being randomly...

Magic Time!: ‘Gloria’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Count on Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to leave you whiplashed and shell-shocked. He hits nerve after nerve then goes for the jugular. Whatever he writes, see it. Woolly’s previous productions of...

Review: ‘Gloria’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Director Kip Fagan opens this production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Gloria with a clever conceit: Miles (Justin Weaks), an office intern, is at his desk, as the contrapuntal woodwinds and strings of a...

Natalie Graves Tucker: Theatre Week Kickoff Emcee and All Around Superwoman (Interview)

Natalie Graves Tucker is so many things to so many people that we might need to add “superwoman” to her resume: actor, mom, marketing professional, voice over artist, video producer, writer, former...

Review: ‘The Story of the Gun’ at Woolly Mammoth

“All you have to do is move your little finger, move your little finger, and you can change the world.” That line from Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins could well serve as an epigraph for Mike Daisey’s...