2017

Review: ‘Marvin’s Room’ at Roundabout Theatre Company

Scott McPherson wrote Marvin’s Room, a play about illness, family ties, and death when he was just a lad of 30. As a gay man, he was of course aware of the AIDS epidemic that had been ravaging the gay...

Review: ‘Of Human Bondage’ at Soulpepper on 42nd Street

The first-ever stage adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage, written by Vern Thiessen and directed by Albert Schultz for Canada’s Soulpepper Theatre Company, is also the recipient of the...

2017 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Poetry Cabaret’

This isn’t your normal poetry reading. Those words, spoken by Creator and Director Caleb Beissert as he introduced the Asheville-based Poetry Cabaret Collective, could serve as the tagline for the...

Capital Fringe Preview: Mike Bartlett’s ‘Contractions’ by Julia M. Hurley

Mike Bartlett’s Contractions, directed by Julia M. Hurley, comes to DC this summer and will be performed at the Logan Fringe Arts Space. This production is presented as a part of the 2017 Capital...

DC Theatre Scene and DCMetroTheaterArts’ Joint Capital Fringe Coverage Begins Tonight

The two media companies combine writing strength to review 70 openings in 6 days The editors and publishers of DC’s two major theater websites—DC Theatre Scene and DCMetroTheaterArts—today announced...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘J-Swizzle’s (and D-Man’s) Epic Awesome Swaggy Broventure for Sweet Rhymes’ by Emma Choi

Between Hebrew classes and surviving middle school, best friends Jared “J-Swizzle” and Daniel “D-Man” dream of becoming the biggest rap stars in the universe. It will take a magical quest that...

Romping Around the Globe: An Interview with Damon Bonetti, Director of Hedgerow Theatre’s ‘Around the World in 80 Days’

Damon Bonetti, a popular Philadelphia actor and director at various theaters and Co-Founding Artistic Director of The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective (The PAC), is directing a new production of...

Review: PBS Presents ‘A Capitol Fourth’

Every year PBS puts on a spectacular show with A Capitol Fourth and has the most talented people involved performing and behind the scenes. This year features The Blues Brothers with Dan Aykroyd, Jim...

Magic Time!: Report on a Staged Reading of ‘Olityelwe (The Forgotten)’ at Theater J

When Jonathan David Martin came from New York to DC to be Theater J’s new associate producer in March of last year, he brought with him a backstory as co-artistic director and producer of the Smoke &...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘HOWL’ in the Time of Trump’ at Sanctuary Theatre’s Performing Knowledge Project

I am not a specialist. I’ve never wanted to be a specialist. In fact, I’ve always wanted to be a non-specialist: someone who encounters life across many disciplines and many loves. As a result, I am a...

Review: ‘Napoli, Brooklyn’ at Roundabout Theatre Company

In Napoli, Brooklyn, playing at Roundabout Theatre Company through September 3rd, Playwright Meghan Kennedy gets us started with a mimed prologue in which a family sits at the dining table, enjoying a...

Review: ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ at Silver Spring Stage

One Man, Two Guvnors directed by William T. Fleming and produced by Karen Flemling is now playing at Silver Spring Stage. This play is a British farce by Richard Bean, based on The Servant of Two...

In the Moment: Report on ‘Declassified’ at The Kennedy Center

A hearty bro-hug to The Kennedy Center and to the National Symphony Orchestra’s (NSO) new Artistic Advisor, Ben Folds, for having the joint jumping at the recent late night Declassified event. It was...

Review: ‘Godspell’ at Infinity Theatre Company

The early 1970s gave us three Bible-themed musicals: Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell (currently in a production directed by Alan Ostroff at Infinity Theatre Company in Annapolis), as well as Andrew Lloyd...

Interview: Landis and Jennifer Smith Discuss ‘The Beast in the Bayou’ to play at Wolf Trap July 6-7th and Penn’s Landing July 11th

The great thing about fairy tales is their malleability. Fairy tales have been around for millennia and are often transported from country to country, morphing with each region and time that they...

Review: ‘On the Town’ at Gateway Playhouse

Smash hit On the Town has sailed into the Gateway Playhouse. Originally opening on Broadway in 1944, this popular musical is also quite well known for its 1949 film version starring Gene Kelly, and...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘I’m Margaret Thatcher, I Is!’ at AnyStage Theater

AnyStage Theater presents I’m Margaret Thatcher, I Is! After premiering their sci-fi comedy Amelia Earhart In Space at last year’s Capital Fringe Festival, AnyStage is thrilled to bring their latest...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘ClickB@it’ at Naked Theatre Company by Rachael Murray

NTC goes viral. What happens next will Blow. Your. Mind. We’re baa-aack! Naked Theatre Company returns to the Capital Fringe Festival with a world premiere production, ClickB@it. Inspired by The...

Review: ‘Zanna Don’t (the Reboot)’ at Theatre Horizon

For the latest show in its 42nd and Main Concerts series, Theatre Horizon tackled Zanna, Don’t!, an offbeat musical that ran Off-Broadway in 2003 and has had productions all over the world since. That...

Review: ‘Truth and Confessions’ at Standing Ovation Theatre Company

“Love is like a tree: it grows by itself, roots itself deeply in our being and continues to flourish over a heart in ruin. The inexplicable fact is that the blinder it is, the more tenacious it is. It...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Lancer & Lace’ by James F. Bruns

First of all, I don’t remember where I was on November 22, 1963 at 12:40 pm, CST when CBS News interrupted, As the World Turns to announce “In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President...

Review: ‘The Full Monty’ at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s production of The Fully Monty is a fun musical with a lot of heart. With book by Terrence McNally, music and lyrics by David Yazbek, and directed by Mason Catharini,...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘The Kind of Thing That Would Happen’ by Agora Dance

Choreographed by Olivia Sabee with original sound design by DeLesslin George-Warren. Performed by Hannah Joo, Melissa Lineburg, Catherine Roth, Robert Rubama, and Meredith Stapleton. In a post-truth...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘ECHOES’ by N. Richard Nash by Manoel Amado

A young man and woman build a low-keyed paradise of happiness within an asylum, only to have it shattered by the intrusion of the outside world. The two characters search, at times agonizingly, to...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Paper’ by John Feffer

A teacher and a student argue over a remark in class. Or was it a remark about class? Or was it really about race? Or gender? My new play Paper brings the explosive confrontations on campus around...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Lazarus’ by Evan Crump

“I sell life, secondhand”: Unstrung Harpist Productions’ Lazarus at the 2017 Capital Fringe Festival What does immortality mean to you? Is it the hope that modern medicine will discover cures for the...

In the Moment: Interview with Theatrical Designer Deb Sivigny Part II

Continuing the conversation we started in Part I of this interview with costume and scenic designer Deb Sivigny, we delve a bit more into Deb’s work as a designer. Maybe even with some reveals and...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Mr. Taken’ by Ward Kay

Mr. Taken — it’s a sex comedy with an emotional heart. The sex comedies of late 20th century – such as Joe Orton’s What the Butler Saw or Foote and Marriott’s No Sex Please, We’re British had basic...

In the Moment: Logan Festival of Solo Performance at 1st Stage

Under the leadership of Alex Levy, 1st Stage aims to be a cultural hub for the Northern Virginia community and beyond. Over the past year, 1st Stage has reached outside of theatrical productions to...

Review: ‘Finding Neverland’ at the Hippodrome Theatre

Those who’ve forgotten Peter Pan are destined to repeat it in Finding Neverland. The U.S. national tour now at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre until July 2 makes for a dreamy midsummer night’s...

Capital Finge Preview: ‘WIT & WRATH: The Life & Times of Dorothy Parker’ by Claudia Baumgarten

Listen, I can’t even get my dog to stay down. Do I look to you like someone who could overthrow the government?—During an FBI interrogation at her apartment in 1952. Claudia Baumgarten’s one-woman...

Capital Fringe Preview: A Guided Tour of ‘Last Ditch Playlist’ by Brad Baron

Last Ditch Playlist is about two men, Aaron and Wes. They’re probably just broken up. So we flash backwards and forwards in a whirlwind of Aaron’s memories to figure out exactly where he stands. While...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Ready to Serve’: A Story for the WWI Centennial by Ellouise Schoettler, Storyteller

Ready to Serve is written and performed by Ellouise Schoettler. The Capital Fringe is a great venue for a performer to premiere or to season work. This July marks my eighth consecutive year performing...

Review: Source Festival 2017: ‘Through the Wall’: Artistic Blind Date

A Source Festival Artistic Blind Date brings together three area artists of different disciplines for an adventure in performance art. In five months they need to create and perform a performance that...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Caveat’ by Ben Lockshin

Unless you’re an heiress or robber baron, a room of one’s own in DC is hard to come by. Enter the group house scene – where the young, cash-strapped, and slightly desperate commit to living with...

Theater Alliance Announces Its 2017-2018 Theater Season, Including Return of ‘Word Becomes Flesh’

Theater Alliance announces its 15th Season with an impressive lineup, including the return of its Helen Hayes Award–winning production Word Becomes Flesh, presented with two regional premieres by...

Review: ‘The Crusade of Connor Stephens’ at the Jerry Orbach Theater

Gun violence, socio-religious intolerance, same-sex marriage, and gay adoption are some of the current hot-button issues that tear apart a family, polarize a community, and create a media frenzy in...

Film Review: ‘Abacus: Small Enough to Jail’

The fallout of the financial crisis is still being thrashed out in full public view, which makes for a terribly difficult documentary subject; we are a long way from knowing where most of it actually...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Boobs, Balloons, Babies, & Buffoons’: The Origin Story of ‘Tiresias’ Tits’ By Rebecca Rose Vassy, aka Diva Darling

The night I went to see the opera Les Mamelles de Tiresias, I was not expecting to hear a duet about bacon. I’d gone to the dress rehearsal of the Wolf Trap Opera Company’s production knowing nothing...

Review: ‘The Nerd’ at Bucks County Playhouse

The summer stock experience has nearly passed away. Half a century ago it was a vacation custom to visit a picturesque village and, after a day of sightseeing complemented by great food, stop by a...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘The Blind’ by The Wheel Theatre Company

Imagine you are lost and alone in the forest. You have never been here before and you cannot see to find your way out. You don’t know if anyone knows you are missing or if they will be able to find...

Review: ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

Turning The Hound of the Baskervilles, one of Sherlock Holmes’ most famous cases, from a mystery into a small-cast comedy is an idea that sure gets around. Hedgerow Theatre staged a four-actor version...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘Exit Carolyn’ by Jennie Eng by Nu Sass Productions

Exit Carolyn “Best Friends Forever?” Written by Jennie Eng Directed by Bridget Grace Sheaff Featuring Alison Donnelly, Hilary Kelly, Jasmine Jones, and Torin Lusebrink. About Exit Carolyn After the...

Capital Fringe Preview: ‘8 Bit Circus S*it’ by Peculiarity Productions

Have you ever wanted to be inside a video game? Now is your chance. 8 Bit Circus S*it will bring video games to life through two games of fire and circus art. In Game I, our cast will use a unique...

Report: ‘Manual Cinema: The End of TV’ at the Columbia Festival of the Arts

Manual Cinema: The End of TV proved to be an interesting last night for the Columbia Festival of the Arts for this year. It was presented at the Smith Theatre at the Horowitz Center at Howard...

Review: ‘Pippin’ at Princeton Summer Theater

So many men seem destined To settle for something small, But I won’t rest until I know I’ll have it all… Stephen Schwartz’s lyrics for “Corner of the Sky” sum up everything that the title character of...

Review: ‘My Fair Lady’ at Olney Theatre Center

Not your grandparents’ My Fair Lady, Olney Theatre Center presents a brilliant reimagining of this classic musical. With book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, it was adapted...

Review: ‘The Imbible: Day Drinking’ at New World Stages

Feeling overwhelmed by the demands of work, everyday chores, and the incessant pings of your digital devices? Then don’t just find the time, but make the time, for getting together, catching up, and...

Review: Sheryl Crow at Wolf Trap

In support of her latest album, aptly entitled Be Myself, nine-time Grammy Award-winning, singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow returned to Wolf Trap. The sold-out crowd at the Filene Center eagerly embraced...

Magic Time!: ‘Broken Glass’ at Theater J

Arthur Miller’s 1994 Broken Glass does not rise to the stature of his greatest works (Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, The Price, and others). But even lesser Miller can be arresting, as the smart...