Barbara Johnson - Page 2

If, like me, you missed Mosaic Theater Company's HOODED, OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES last season, here's your second chance: a remount, featuring almost all of the original cast, has arrived by popular demand. As timely as ever, it uses elements of realism, surrealism, and Greek mythology to convey what it's like to be a young black man in America at this very moment. I've called plays from Mosaic "essential viewing" before, and that description certainly applies here.

If you've somehow missed the buzz surrounding Paapa Essiedu in the title role of Royal Shakespeare Company's HAMLET, let me be the one to tell you: get thee to the Kennedy Center before the end of its very short run. Simon Godwin directs this contemporary, graffiti-splashed, West Africa-set take on the classic, buoyed by enthralling performances from an excellent cast.

It's strange to think a Shakespeare production could render words unnecessary, but Synetic Theater's most recent wordless Shakespeare play, TITUS ANDRONICUS, gives you the impossible idea that dialogue might ruin the drama. Without speech, and without stage blood, this incarnation of TITUS is a violent spectacle brought to life by impeccable choreography, top-notch acting, and innovative scenic and lighting design (Phil Charlwood and Brian Allard).

After multiple Helen Hayes nominations for their 2015 production of SWEENEY TODD [PROG METAL VERSION], Landless Theatre Company is back with their second MetalTheatre adaptation: THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD [SYMPHONIC METAL VERSION]. A captivating cast and three-piece rock orchestra guide us through the choose-your-own-adventure story with a blend of spot-on comedy and seamless rock arrangements.

It can be unsettling to reflect on the experience of learning about slavery in middle school: was the content accurate and appropriate, or harmful to our perceptions of history and the present day? Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard explore this - and much more - in their creative, fearless production of UNDERGROUND RAILROAD GAME at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. No matter how uncomfortable or thought-provoking you found American history class, it's nothing compared to this searing comedy.

It seemed unlikely to me that a play set in a fantastical arcade, complete with the old favorite Dance Dance Revolution, would be able to stir deep emotions in an audience. But Rorschach Theatre's impactful production of Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's 410[GONE], directed by Gregory Keng Strasser, does just that. It uses unlikely imagery to tell a highly personal but universal story of trauma and recovery.

The premise is promising: when a group of porn stars decides to make a "real movie", hilarity ensues. Veteran director Joe Banno and a talented cast make the absolute most of it in the Klunch's production of Elaine May's play ADULT ENTERTAINMENT - to fun, fizzy, and surprisingly human effect.

Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer's true life story of becoming "America's favorite sex therapist" is a fascinating and unlikely one. Naomi Jacobson portrays Dr. Westheimer with charm and vigor in the one-woman show BECOMING DR. RUTH at Theatre J, combining autobiography with a broader tale of Jewish origins and identity.

Brave Spirits Theatre again provides a fresh, immediate take on a Shakespearean classic, this time with a hard-hitting production of CORIOLANUS, directed by Charlene V. Smith. Underappreciated compared to many of Shakespeare's other plays, it's particularly timely in 2018 as it explores a power struggle among great men and the masses they're supposed to serve.

Shakespeare's CYMBELINE may be named for the play's king, but his daughter Imogen is the real star of the tale, the center of the action. Pointless Theatre's original adaptation by playwright-director Charlie Marie McGrath corrects the misnomer in a version entitled IMOGEN, which uses creative choreography and shadow puppetry to captivating effect. It's overly long, but it's Shakespeare as you likely haven't seen it before, which is saying something.

The DC premiere of Theresa Rebeck's satire THE WAY OF THE WORLD is adapted from a Restoration-era classic by William Congreve, but it couldn't be more contemporary and on trend. With biting wit and visual flair, it delivers timeless social commentary for the Kardashian (and Trumpian) age. Can true love exist in a world so cynical and jaded?

For the cynics among us who need to look beyond THE NUTCRACKER and A CHRISTMAS CAROL for holiday entertainment, THE SANTALAND DIARIES at Drafthouse Comedy Theater offers a quirky alternative. Cameron Folmar plays a disaffected department store Christmas elf in this consistently funny solo show adapted from a cult-classic monologue by humorist David Sedaris.

In many ways, the holiday season is about schmaltz and sentimentality, when it's okay to let yourself appreciate old-fashioned pleasures and crank up favorite songs. The In Series' AN OPERETTA HOLIDAY unabashedly embraces this spirit, serving up a frothy cabaret of romantic songs from THE MERRY WIDOW, DIE FLEDERMAUS, and other classics.

Mashuq Mushtaq Deen's DRAW THE CIRCLE marks Mosaic Theater Company's first time featuring a transgender artist telling their own personal story, which alone makes the work noteworthy. But Deen's extreme vulnerability and creativity coalesce to make it a vitally important piece of theater.

It's what's on the inside that counts. THE UGLY ONE by German playwright Marius von Mayenburg skewers that idea, and Nu Sass brings us an energetic take on the satirical play. Renata Fox directs actors who embrace their roles with effervescence, three out of four of them playing multiple characters, while colorful lighting by E-Hui Woo enhances the absurdist atmosphere.

When actor and writer Dan Hoyle left San Francisco on a three-month trip through small-town Middle America several years ago, he couldn't have predicted that many of the disillusioned real Americans he encountered on his travels would be part of a nationwide movement to elect Trump in 2016. Hoyle's astounding one-man show, THE REAL AMERICANS (developed with and directed by Charlie Varon), reveals poignant perspectives of these individuals with humor, emotional depth, and authenticity.

Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Creative Cauldron's A LITTLE PRINCESS SARA CREWE is a charming take on the classic. Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith infuse the time-worn story with delightful original songs, which the children of the Learning Theater Ensemble take on with infectious enthusiasm.

Pinky Swear's production of Natalie Ann Piegari's new play SAFE AS HOUSES boasts an excellent cast, a well-designed set, and a gripping concept: what would you do if your husband, who vanished ten years ago, suddenly showed up at your house as if no time had passed at all? But the intriguing idea never gains forward motion. Due to an underdeveloped script, a plot never materializes, and the experience is stagnant and underwhelming.

Upon arriving at Rhizome DC, the homelike site of the Welders' theatrical event HELLO, MY NAME IS..., I was handed a name tag before being ushered into a living room. Many members of the fifteen-person audience had already arrived. From that point, it was a fully immersive experience as we witnessed the distinct but interwoven stories of three Korean adoptees in search of their identities.

It's thrilling to discover a work of Shakespeare for the first time, especially as a kid. For me, those introductions came from old episodes of "Wishbone" on PBS, but luckily for today's young audiences in the Washington area, there's a live option: NEARLY LEAR, a tweaked, SparkNotes-length version of the dark original work, performed in a one-woman show by Susanna Hamnett at the Kennedy Center's Family Theater.