Andrew White

Playwright Donja R. Love refers to 'Beauty' as an offering, in the spiritual sense of the word; and it truly is one of the most uplifting cycles, in times of trouble and misunderstanding, we are likely to see.  Director Malika Oyetimein has marshalled a stellar cast, and guided this show with great care and compassion.

There is nothing in the world like a compelling, original story, well told.  And when the story is true, darkly and brilliantly real, it becomes absolutely indispensable. Playwright Mark St. Germain has plumbed the depths of the Holocaust to create a deeply moving one-man show, The Happiest Man on Earth. The journey veteran actor Kenneth Tigar takes us on is harrowing—but there is an epiphany, a moment, when the pain and anger and sorrow give way to pure joy.

With her play Enough to Let the Light In, Paloma Nozicka has crafted one of those great psychological thrillers; the build-up is slow but steady, the characters finely drawn, and the climax will make you jump.  But there’s no need for blood, it’s all in your head.  And if you are looking for an evening that gives you a few of those none-too-subtle psychological shocks, this year’s Contemporary American Theater Festival has just the ticket.

With Harmon dot aut’s semi-autobiographical play, Tornado Tastes Like Aluminum Sting, audiences at CATF will have that rarest of encounters—a play that reveals the world as it is experienced, and processed, by a profoundly autistic, synaesthetic pre-teen who can only communicate with the outside world through their first love, the world of film.  Oliver Butler has created an intensely intricate evening, demanding logistically and dramatically, which holds together in truly remarkable ways.

Believe it or not, Summer is coming.  After we sneeze our way through a way-too-flowery Spring, we get to contemplate the joys of those little weekend getaways here and there, sneaking out of town to enjoy some solid artistry in friendly locales. 

For family and friends who gathered at Round House Theatre to watch the latest crop of high school talent working on and offstage in Joe Calarco’s Spring Break, it was a chance to cheer on young people who have worked hard to create a compelling afternoon’s entertainment, both visually inventive and dramatically potent.

As the Summer draws to a hot close, and school days loom on the near horizon, it’s good to know that some childish antics will survive well into the Fall.  The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, has pulled out the stops with Shakespeare’s zany take on the battle of the sexes, Much Ado About Nothing. 

Although the results are a bit chaotic—truth be known, this is a sprawling epic of a show which could use some trimming—the timeliness of its topic and its glorious performances make “The Overview Effect”, by rights, a major attraction for theatre goers this July.  A mix of straight drama and rock-musical-fantasy, “The Overview Effect” reaches for the stars while contemplating some of the more pressing issues surounding space exploration.

Jeffrey Lieber’s Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction) is a study in tragedy of an all-too-human scale; infidelity, secrecy, lies used to cover for passion, more lies used to cover the consequences of that passion, all so intricately constructed that the heart-breaking reality, when it finally dawns on us, strikes like a streak of lightning.

Dael Orlandersmith reigns supreme in the Studio 112 space at CATF, telling the story of Virgil, a native of the Bronx.  Curated and written with care, and based on Orlandersmith’s interviews and research, the humanity of the piece shines brilliantly. 

Rivera's 'Your Name Means Dream' creates a spectacle of actors at the top of their game, with a script that gives both Anne O'Sullivan and Sara Koviak ample opportunity to shine—and to shine a light on the mysteries of the human heart and the human-generated machine.

Chisa Hutchinson's latest offering, “Redeemed,” is as vitally important a piece as the Festival has to offer this year.  Rooted in the often-distorted dialogue this country continues to have about race, Hutchinson uses the play to address the under-explored question of what it really might take for true reconciliation and redemption.

For years, I have had the incredible privilege and pleasure of reviewing shows, every July, at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. But I have a small confession to make:  the plays are good, sure, but I’m really in it for the Afternoon Tea at Shepherdstown’s treasured pub, the Devonshire Arms. The triple-tier of delights the Arms offers will leave you with what my sainted grandmother would call “a sufficiency” to last the rest of the weekend. 

The genius of “Dissonances” is the way that it reveals, and then gently dismantles, those walls we erect around ourselves, those unconscious fears that prevent us from really communicating and empathizing with people different from ourselves.  Both Duncan and Sandel create human beings we recognize instantly—their virtues intact, their flaws visible but never damning. 

Audiences rarely have the opportunity to navigate between the Scylla of relationships and the Charybdis of a wreck at sea, and 4615 Theatre’s effort here, with both paper backs and Life Jacket, is not to be missed.

The Washington Stage Guild's current production of Shaw's Major Barbara runs rings around a whole world of ideas, metaphysical, physical, you name it, with Emelie Faith Thompson positively shining in her turn as the title character

Simon Goodwin's new production of Much Ado About Nothing pulls out all the stops. Visually joyful, with antics and sight-gags galore, this is just the break from election anxiety this town needs. We've been waiting a long time for this one (COVID delayed the premiere by a bit, as you can imagine), and boy was the wait worth it!

Best Medicine Rep Theater is offering a lovely remedy for the post-Summer Blues, with their production of Crystal V. Rhodes' 'The Trip.' Yvonne Paretzky has assembled a crack cast, and directed them to a briskly-paced evening of entertainment.

Jo Williamson's one-woman show, 'Mary,' is by turns a desultory affair, a tale of a high school English teacher with a varied career pattern, and a variety of relationships with men. 

Inspired by Jordan Peele's blockbuster horror film 'Get Out,' Hutchinson has crafted a Dickensian morality play with 'Whitelisted,' set in a predictably bland, hoity-toity, newly-renovated white lady's apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant.