Pamela Roberts - Page 4

DISTRICT MERCHANTS, Aaron Posner's new adaptation of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, explores the 'other-ness' of being outside the white male stations of power. Setting the work in post-Civil War Washington, D.C., the premiere takes a uniquely American look at race, religion, class and gender. DISTRICT MERCHANTS at the Folger Theatre is an important and compelling work that deftly balances humor among weightier, thought-provoking moments.

Mosaic Theater Company of DC completes its whirlwind inaugural year with WHEN JANUARY FEELS LIKE SUMMER, a play that is relevant, engaging and sweetly funny.

Like the musical icons who inspired the work, The Washington Ballet's program BOWIE & QUEEN toys with the art form - respectful of classical roots yet pushing forward. The pieces innovate, celebrate and they have fun. While BOWIE & QUEEN is full of heart and poetry, the irreverent and humorous moments remind us all to lighten up and enjoy.

JOURNEY TO THE WEST is visually stunning and highly inventive production that features an expert ensemble of actors bringing both humor and humanity to an epic story.

For a brief moment when the opening night performance of IN A WORD ended there was quiet. A stillness fell as the audience collected itself, took a breath, and processed the intensity of the experience. Then, after a beat, the well-deserved applause began.

ANTIGONE NOW is based on the nearly 2,500-year-old Sophocles drama, but in Scena Theatre's hands it could use even more time to gel. From missed lines to erratic pacing, ANTIGONE NOW squanders its interesting potential and never hits its stride.

Combine strength and humor, a dash of curiosity, a pinch of whimsy, and a generous dose of inventiveness, mix thoroughly and you have Aura Curiatlas Physical Theatre's compelling brand of storytelling and movement.

Shakespeare's iambic pentameter, the rhythm of his words, echo the human heartbeat: ba-BUM, ba-BUM. But Synetic Theater gets to the beating heart of ROMEO AND JULIET without a single utterance of any of the Bard's famed words. In its innovative merging of drama and movement, Synetic's silent exploration of the classic work is an extraordinary vision of wonder and passion.

Signature Theatre's WEST SIDE STORY brings freshness and exuberance to the classic work. The exceptional production in an intimate space allows us to consider anew the songs and scenes that have been part of our lives for half a century.

PERICLES, on stage at the Folger Theatre, is a gorgeous and focused production - this from a work that travels through decades and around the Mediterranean in a plot that layers incest, mistaken death, pirates, murder plots and selling a woman into prostitution. But in director Joseph Haj's capable hands the lighter moments bring balance and relief so in the end PERICLES reminds us of both the deep challenges and moments of beauty and light in the human experience.

AVENUE Q is an irreverent and big-hearted look at life once you've graduated from Sesame Street and from college but Real Life hasn't quite kicked in quite the way you'd envisioned. Constellation Theatre Company's production is full of fun, featuring a magnificent ensemble of talented and appealing actors.

SALOME is a visually stunning world premiere that brings us deeply complex characters struggling for command and dignity in one of history's most highly contested strips of land. Yael Farber, the award-winning adaptor-director, returns to the Shakespeare Theatre Company. With SALOME she has shaped a compelling work of power and contradiction. This production upends the traditional view of Salome, considering her as principled and calculated rather than a monstrous harlot. Here, Salome uses the tools she has - access, sensuality, brains - to effect change. Even within the limitations society placed on her, Salome sees opportunity.

UPRISING, premiering at MetroStage, is a powerful and engaging work that asks what choices we make to ensure freedom and for what would we sacrifice it.

As the wheel spins and two sisters clomp around the board with their plastic cars playing the game of LIFE, we recognize Renee's own life has much higher stakes ... and she is not necessarily winning at her attempt. She has recently lost custody of her young son and has had to face her ex- at a school disciplinary meeting. The tumblers of whiskey clue us in to deeper problems. Yet Renee herself is oblivious to how pain has marked her, how relationships shaped her, and how opportunities eluded her.

Happenstance Theater's IMPOSSIBLE! is impossibly inventive, whimsical, and tender. The tribute to classic Depression-era circus life uses period music, a clever costume choice or the arch of an eyebrow to convey far more than mere words are able. IMPOSSIBLE! is a family-friendly production that hits just the right tone - funny not ridiculous, kindhearted not cloying, smart not pretentious. The original piece of physical theater was devised by the Happenstance ensemble. We venture both under the big top and behind the scenes to witness the camaraderie, loneliness, frustrations and foibles of the band of performers.

Summer in DC brings great opportunities to celebrate and discover new plays, the first of which is CulturalDC's Source Festival, which opened June 5 and runs through June 28 with varied offerings of full-length plays, 10-minute plays and artistic blind dates. Based on Love & Botany, a collection of six 10-minute plays, the Source Festival gives audiences a refreshing range of voices riffing on the intersection of relationships and plant life with plays taking us from a backyard garden to across the universe.

Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea beautifully balances a heightened sense of wonder and allegory with humor and earthy practicality. Theater Alliance's production is a winning combination of Nathan Alan Davis' compelling script, beautiful design elements, and an expert cast giving us appealing and convincing characters which renders theatrical storytelling at its best.

Why let the boring old truth stand in the way of a compelling story? Lettice Douffet lives her life by a code her flamboyant actress mother taught her: 'Enlarge! Enliven! Enlighten!' She eschews "the mere" - the regular, tedious, mundane, or mediocre in life. Lettice and Lovage contrasts dreamer and free spirit Lettice Douffet with bureaucrat Lotte Schoen, a rigid realist. Despite their differences the two find commonality and camaraderie. Quotidian Theatre - theatre dedicated to the poetry of everyday life, no-frills storytelling, and realistic situations and dialogue - brings us Peter Shaffer's witty clash of opposites ultimately finding solidarity.

Laugh, making its world premiere at Studio Theatre, is the latest from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley. With its designations of "slapstick" and as an homage to silent movies we expect movement and pace to be at the forefront, yet Laugh is far more rooted in language. But why box Laugh into a genre? There is little else like it. It is with her heightened language and quirkiness that playwright Beth Henley is at her best. Though flawed and in need of a trim from its current 2:15 running time, the comedy has some fine moments particularly in the final scenes that highlight Henley's unique style and unexpected choices.