Margaret Daly News

The new DC area theatre season begins in September. Over 50 shows are opening in our professional and community theatres. But before we move on to the new season and what's opening in September, let's look back at my personal favorite musicals, plays, and performances in both musicals and plays in the DC area - from August 2010 to August 2011.

The Studio Theatre follows up its 2008 hit production of The History Boys with Alan Bennett's next play, The Habit of Art. Deep in the bowels of London's National Theatre, rehearsals for a new play go apace: Benjamin Britten is having trouble with his latest opera and seeks out his collaborator, poet W. H. Auden, after a twenty-five year separation. Between visits by a rent boy and a biographer-whom Auden briefly mistakes for the rent boy-these aging artists wrestle with their desires, their jealousies, the ephemeral connection between creativity and inspiration, and all the reasons their friendship fell apart.

Making its Midwest premiere in the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. and Dr. Bob is an inspirational, gripping and timely story about the men and their wives whose relationships pioneered the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous and the creation of Al-Anon.

Making its Midwest premiere in the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. and Dr. Bob is an inspirational, gripping and timely story about the men and their wives whose relationships pioneered the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous and the creation of Al-Anon.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman, Artistic Director/Wayne Kelton, Executive Director) today announced their 10th anniversary season celebrating the work of Michael Frayn, author of such acclaimed hits as Noises Off and Copenhagen. First will be the US premiere of Alphabetical Order, based on the revised version performed at the Hampstead Theater for their 2009 revival. Mr. Forsman will direct. This will be followed by the 25th Anniversary production of Benefactors this spring.

Michael Frayn's 1975 comedy, Alphabetical Order, is the type of play that, either as a compliment or as a dismissal, American audiences are likely to label as 'very British.'  Its humor is subtle, its themes are sub-textual and the characters all talk in these funny accents.  But even those who appreciate the delicacy of that type of play may find this early work by the versatile writer who went on to pen the riotous Noises Off and the heady Copenhagen a little padded and lacking in both humor and bite.  Still, director Carl Forsman and the Keen Theatre Company serve up a lively production that boasts its charms, particularly in the performances of the engaging ensemble.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman, Artistic Director/Wayne Kelton, Executive Director) begins its 10th anniversary season celebrating the work of Michael Frayn, author of such acclaimed hits as Noises Off and Copenhagen, with the US premiere of Alphabetical Order, based on the revised version performed at the Hampstead Theater for their 2009 revival.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman, Artistic Director/Wayne Kelton, Executive Director) today announced their 10th anniversary season celebrating the work of Michael Frayn, author of such acclaimed hits as Noises Off and Copenhagen. First will be the US premiere of Alphabetical Order, based on the revised version performed at the Hampstead Theater for their 2009 revival. Mr. Forsman will direct. This will be followed by the 25th Anniversary production of Benefactors this spring.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman, Artistic Director/Wayne Kelton, Executive Director) today announced their 10th anniversary season celebrating the work of Michael Frayn, author of such acclaimed hits as Noises Off and Copenhagen. First will be the US premiere of Alphabetical Order, based on the revised version performed at the Hampstead Theater for their 2009 revival. Mr. Forsman will direct. This will be followed by the 25th Anniversary production of Benefactors this spring.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman, Artistic Director/Wayne Kelton, Executive Director) today announced their 10th anniversary season celebrating the work of Michael Frayn, author of such acclaimed hits as Noises Off and Copenhagen. First will be the US premiere of Alphabetical Order, based on the revised version performed at the Hampstead Theater for their 2009 revival. Mr. Forsman will direct. This will be followed by the 25th Anniversary production of Benefactors this spring.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman, Artistic Director/Wayne Kelton, Executive Director) today announced their 10th anniversary season celebrating the work of Michael Frayn, author of such acclaimed hits as Noises Off and Copenhagen. First will be the US premiere of Alphabetical Order, based on the revised version performed at the Hampstead Theater for their 2009 revival. Mr. Forsman will direct. This will be followed by the 25th Anniversary production of Benefactors this spring.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman, Artistic Director/Wayne Kelton, Executive Director) today announced their 10th anniversary season celebrating the work of Michael Frayn, author of such acclaimed hits as Noises Off and Copenhagen. First will be the US premiere of Alphabetical Order, based on the revised version performed at the Hampstead Theater for their 2009 revival. Mr. Forsman will direct. This will be followed by the 25th Anniversary production of Benefactors this spring.

New Feet Productions and Adam Blanshay, in association with The Present Company, present the World Premiere of the dark political comedy ALL DAY SUCKERS by playwright/author Susan Dworkin (THE NAZI OFFICER'S WIFE, THE VIKING IN THE WHEAT FIELD), directed by Jessica Bauman (MILK, INTO THE HAZARD (HENRY 5)) - as part of the 14th Annual New York International Fringe Festival with five performances only, between August 13-29 at the Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor) in Manhattan.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company (Carl Forsman, Artistic Director/Wayne Kelton, Executive Director) today announced their 10th anniversary season celebrating the work of Michael Frayn, author of such acclaimed hits as Noises Off and Copenhagen. First will be the US premiere of Alphabetical Order, based on the revised version performed at the Hampstead Theater for their 2009 revival. Mr. Forsman will direct. This will be followed by the 25th Anniversary production of Benefactors this spring.

New Feet Productions and Adam Blanshay, in association with The Present Company, present the World Premiere of the dark political comedy ALL DAY SUCKERS by playwright/author Susan Dworkin (THE NAZI OFFICER'S WIFE, THE VIKING IN THE WHEAT FIELD), directed by Jessica Bauman (MILK, INTO THE HAZARD (HENRY 5)) - as part of the 14th Annual New York International Fringe Festival with five performances only, between August 13-29 at the Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor) in Manhattan.

New Feet Productions and Adam Blanshay, in association with The Present Company, present the World Premiere of the dark political comedy ALL DAY SUCKERS by playwright/author Susan Dworkin (THE NAZI OFFICER'S WIFE, THE VIKING IN THE WHEAT FIELD), directed by Jessica Bauman (MILK, INTO THE HAZARD (HENRY 5)) - as part of the 14th Annual New York International Fringe Festival with five performances only, between August 13-29 at the Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor) in Manhattan.

New Feet Productions and Adam Blanshay, in association with The Present Company, present the World Premiere of the dark political comedy ALL DAY SUCKERS by playwright/author Susan Dworkin (THE NAZI OFFICER'S WIFE, THE VIKING IN THE WHEAT FIELD), directed by Jessica Bauman (MILK, INTO THE HAZARD (HENRY 5)) - as part of the 14th Annual New York International Fringe Festival with five performances only, between August 13-29 at the Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor) in Manhattan.

New Feet Productions and Adam Blanshay, in association with The Present Company, present the World Premiere of the dark political comedy ALL DAY SUCKERS by playwright/author Susan Dworkin (THE NAZI OFFICER'S WIFE, THE VIKING IN THE WHEAT FIELD), directed by Jessica Bauman (MILK, INTO THE HAZARD (HENRY 5)) - as part of the 14th Annual New York International Fringe Festival with five performances only, between August 13-29 at the Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor) in Manhattan.

New Feet Productions and Adam Blanshay, in association with The Present Company, present the World Premiere of the dark political comedy ALL DAY SUCKERS by playwright/author Susan Dworkin (THE NAZI OFFICER'S WIFE, THE VIKING IN THE WHEAT FIELD), directed by Jessica Bauman (MILK, INTO THE HAZARD (HENRY 5)) - as part of the 14th Annual New York International Fringe Festival with five performances only, between August 13-29 at the Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Studios (440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor) in Manhattan.

Mint Theater Company today announced that Jill Abramovitz, Mary Ellen Ashley, Dale Carmen, Matthieu Cornillon, Margaret Daly, Linda Gabler, Jennifer Harmon, Jordan Lage (Speed the Plow), Kate Levy, Dani Marcus, Chris Mixon, Cass Morgan (Memphis), Saxon Palmer, Kraig Swartz, Sheila Stasack, Peter Van Wagner, and Virginia Wing, will join Kristen Johnston (last seen in the Mint production of So Help Me God!, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination) in THE NAKED GENIUS written by Gypsy Rose Lee, on Monday, June 14th at Carolines on Broadway (1626 Broadway between 49th & 50th Streets).