Andrew White - Page 8

Indian playwright Girish Karnad's play 'The Fire and the Rain' is now receiving a spectacular North American premiere at Constellation Theatre.  In the grand tradition of Greek tragedy, Karnad has taken a chapter from the Mahabharata's long saga and given it his own personal stamp.  And as directed by Allison Arkell Stockman you are guaranteed a fascinating spectacle that, although complex, can be truly rewarding.

Teatre de La Abadia 's company has developed a priceless ensemble, steeped in Commedia but with their own unique house style. They fill the theatre, literally, with life and sound, and the addition of musicians and sound-effects men to enhance the action makes their work truly enjoyable.

Walking into a Max Major show when you know nothing about him is like stumbling into the city's hottest party hours after it started-but feeling like the host was waiting just for you. Although ostensibly an evening of magic and mind-reading, the most fun part of a Max Major event is the way he draws everyone in and makes them feel like they're a part of the show. As he tells audiences with his new show, Think Again, it's not about magic, it's about potential-the audience's potential as well as his own.

Set in the 10-island archipelago of Cape Verde, Contos em Viagem is a tapestry of stories woven from a broad range of writers native to this former Portugese colony. The stories chosen here, and performed passionately by Carla Galvão, are taken from the lives of women in the islands, among them kids recalling the creepiness of a death in the family and, most memorably for me, a teenage girl begging her mother to go to a dance, with predictable results. The performance style here is part theatre, and part storytelling, live music and a touch of ritual thrown in.

Flying V, a young company that has earned a devoted following with their whimsical originality, returns triumphantly with another episode in their 'Pirate Laureate' series. Our story is set once again in the fictional realm of Ephrata, where poetry kicks tail, the pen is mightier than the sword and the hottest duels feature poets at ten paces, scribbling furiously or improvising on the spot.

'King Hedley II,' in Timothy Douglas' riveting and thrilling production now at Arena Stage, portrays life in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the early 1980's. The six-character play is a symphony of rage, despair, hope, regret, love and determination. Douglas has staged Wilson's play in the round with a spare, concrete-inflected set. The production has a deliberate, ritualistic tone, with the actors assembling in silence and remaining visible throughout the performance.

Taffety Punk's current production of The Tempest demonstrates how Shakespeare's work is infinitely elastic in terms of creativity and casting. Riot Grrrls, a faction of Taffety Punk Theatre Company dedicated to all-female productions of the Bard's works, has come up with a low-tech, low-cost, intimate staging that is as finely tuned as anything you'd pay big bucks for uptown.

Creative Cauldron has embarked on its own five-year plan, fittingly entitled 'Bold New Works for Intimate Stages.' Matt Conner and lyricist Stephen Gregory Smith have created and directed a new musical based on Henry James' classic macabre tale, 'The Turn of the Screw. ' The performances here are terrific, beginning with Susan Derry as the governess Miss Giddens.

Filled with laughs and anarchic asides, as well as a healthy dose of audience participation, Theatre J has an unqualified hit in Aaron Posner's Life Sucks [Or the Present Ridiculous]. Here we have Posner's thoroughly irreverent, Jewish take on Uncle Vanya, Russian playwright Anton Chekov's classic tale of unrequited love and unfulfilled lives. Forget the theatre history lecture, however; this is pure slapstick at Chekhov's expense and nothing to be intimidated by in the least.

Director Ethan McSweeny clearly knows his way around the play, and offers mature Washington audiences a visually rich, complex Tempest that has its share of magical moments, but which at its core is unvarnished by sentiment. And Geraint Wyn Davies gives us a Prospero who is a temperamental, gravelly, flesh-and-blood nobleman, more Hemingway than Santa Claus.

Theatre J's production of 'The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures' comes complete with quirks and brainy asides that can leave audiences miles behind, grasping for meaning. This being an epic affair, eventually we simply give up and let the characters live their lives, untouched and untouchable. But that's when the magic starts.

Happiness was a huge hit at the Fall Fringe festival last year, and richly deserves this full revival; not only is Maher's ear for verse spot-on, you simply cannot ask for a better cast.

The Castleton Festival, a longtime fixture on the classical music scene located a comfortable hour and a half from Washington, DC, recently celebrated Debussy's playful side with a full performance of his piece for piano, La Boite a Joujoux ('The Toy Box'). Pianist Orion Weiss, working with Director Hinrich Horstkotte of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre, was inspired to bring the music, scenario and images to life through a puppet show that incorporated all the toys from the original.

If you are a Shakespeare connoisseur who knows the plays and who thrills at new stagings of familiar material, by all means get thee to the Lansburgh Theatre to see Michael Attenborough's fascinating production of As You Like It. With a rock-solid cast, and a Spartan stage design that throws their great work into high relief, you will be in for a rich experience indeed.

Ever heard the old adage that you should never share the stage with a dog? Next Stop Theatre's production of A. R. Gurney's empty-nest comedy 'Sylvia' shows it goes double when an actress is the one playing a dog. Sherry Berg has one of the most entertaining roles imaginable-Sylvia the mutt, part poodle (mais oui) and part street ('sup). Her shameless, joyful romp is the highlight of the show.

Roll over, Bela Lugosi: there's a new smooth-talking villain in town, and he wants your flesh. Paata Tsihurishvili, who has been dearly missed during his behind-the-scenes hiatus, returns to the stage in fine form as one of literature's most notorious mad scientists. If you are looking for that edgy, near-perfect evening out this Halloween season, it doesn't matter whether you've got a date to impress or a feisty teenager who loves gore-you really must check out Synetic Theatre's The Island of Dr. Moreau

Director Amber Jackson has assembled a brilliant cast, creating an anarchic and, yes, surreal atmosphere in which anything and everything can happen. Zachary Fernebok's performance of Dali is priceless, and Jos. B. Musumeci Jr.'s set is a perfect evocation of the surreal atmosphere of Obolensky's play.

This is one of the most fabulous, intimate musicals you will ever see: Metro Stage's revival of Janet Pryce and Thomas W. Jones II's Three Sistahs features a brilliant, gospel-inspired musical score by local composer William Hubbard and one of the strongest casts on the DC theatre scene; it all adds up to an unforgettable family portrait.

Actress Danielle Davy gives us a vivid incarnation of John Millington Synge's muse Molly Allgood, in a performance that is by turns hilarious and deeply moving. The play has been given a fine, deftly-directed trajectory thanks to Scena Theatre's Robert McNamara. The brogue is occasionally thick and of course it helps if you're familiar with the leading lights of the modern Irish stage, but Davy carries you through the evening effortlessly with Mollly's determination and her charm.

Conor McPherson's genius is in knowing what will make you squirm in your seat. And Robert McNamara's current production of Shining City at the Atlas Performing Arts Center gives us a lasting impression of McPherson's work. Ron Litman gives a positively riveting performance as John, a contemporary Everyman whose conscience will never let him be.