Pamela Roberts - Page 4

Compagnie Käfig merges elements of hip hop with modern dance, circus, and technological wizardry in its highly innovative production, Pixel, which has been seen by audiences in more than 30 countries around the world.

Seeing To Kill a Mockingbird, now at the Kennedy Center, isn’t the same experience as the novel you were quizzed on in high school or the classic 1962 film. Aaron Sorkin’s script and Bartlett Sher’s direction gain heightened context and nuance from the rise in racial violence in the last decade. The national tour with Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch, which visited D.C. in June 2022, is again at the Kennedy Center though August 27.

Synetic Theater’s wordless Cyrano de Bergerac is gorgeous to behold and packs a powerful emotional wallop.

Keegan Theatre’s SEUSSICAL: THE MUSICAL is bright and exuberant. It’s a production full of heart and hope. The Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty musical is ambitious for the company – and the tiny stage. The company delivers. The twelve cast members and the six-person band fill the space with music and movement, working on tiers and in every nook and cranny of the stage.

Puzzles and patterns, stories and magic are artfully woven together by David Kwong in The Enigmatist at the Kennedy Center. The immersive experience is a little bit theatre, a little bit magic show, with some codebreaking, word games and storytelling thrown in for fun. Who knew that constructing a crossword puzzle together could be so fun?

In Good Grief: Songs of the Moon and The Unbroken Circle creator Tariq Darrell O’Meally explores how we become more than what we’ve lost. His answer: we must grieve a person as much as we have loved them and balance loss with praise and celebration. The world premiere is the culmination of the 2022–23 Local Dance Commissioning Project.

Exclusion, a thought-provoking and witty world premiere by Kenneth Lin at Arena Stage, explores the tug-of-war between what is true and what sells

Fashioned from the real words and personal experiences of DC-area asylum seekers, Theatre Prometheus’s new work, The Cassette Shop, explores the magical sensory connection of music to link us with others and transport us through time. The devised theater work was created in partnership with the local nonprofit AsylumWorks.

The Trip to Bountiful at Ford's Theatre is an incredible showcase for Nancy Robinette, one of Washington’s foremost actors, who skillfully drives the production as Mrs. Carrie Watts who yearns to leave the small Houston apartment of her son and daughter-in-law to return to her Texas homeland, Bountiful.

What did our critic think of THE BAND'S VISIT at The Kennedy Center?

What did our critic think of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Synetic Theater? Synetic Theater's wordless A Midsummer Night's Dream is, indeed, a dream to behold. An innovative merging of drama and movement, Synetic's silent exploration of the classic work sparkles and pops. It's full of both belly laughs and tender moments. The power and athleticism of the company along with the lush production elements give a fresh perspective to experience the timeless Shakespearean favorite.

A MONSTER CALLS, a powerful story of love, loss, truth and self-discovery, is beautifully rendered for the stage. The fantastical tale is highly physical, gorgeous to behold, and packs a potent emotional punch. The production, now touring to the Kennedy Center, was adapted for the stage by visionary director Sally Cookson. Read our critic's review.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Our Town is a triumphant production of vitality, and consequence. Thornton Wilder’s classic—a work that captures the universal experience of being alive—takes on new resonance and depth in the capable hands of an extraordinary ensemble. This play is immediate—one to see and share and talk about.

A.D. 16 is an exuberant, ambitious world premiere with its eyes on Broadway; music and lyrics by Cinco Paul (Despicable Me, Schmigadoon!), book by Bekah Brunstetter (This Is Us) and direction by Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill). A.D. 16 starts with the missing teen years of Jesus, layers in an effervescent R&B-influenced score, and sprinkles in some irreverence and anachronistic humor.

Before stepping foot into the theatre, you’ve already experienced the best aspect of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical – the extraordinary songs. The production, touring to the Kennedy Center through January 2, highlights the best of Carole King’s hits and reminds us of the tremendous range of her talent. Sadly, that narrative arc of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is at such a frantic pace and is so light on details it takes a fascinating true story of grit, luck, and talent and renders it a flat, bland, homogenized variety-show telling of King’s career.

SECRET THINGS by Elaine Romero examines faith and human connection – today and through generations. A very sure and charismatic cast and an intriguing history of the hidden Jewish roots in communities of the U.S. Southwest can’t quite make up for a problematic script.

MY LORD, WHAT A NIGHT at Ford's Theatre is a fascinating story of a surprising friendship developing at a critical time in history. We don’t see the characters as mythological beings in this production, thanks to the expert cast we are drawn to the approachable – very human – personal stakes, strong bonds and real concerns that compel action.

Constellation Theatre welcomes audiences back to in-person performances with MOON MAN WALK, a sweet, funny, tender meditation on love, connection, and the people in our lives we need to get by. MOON MAN WALK brings together a gifted cast, beautiful scenic elements, and deep and endearing storytelling.

Jeremy Heere is a socially-awkward, hopelessly uncool student languishing at the bottom rung of the high school's social ladder. "I don't want to be special, I just want to survive," he sings in the opening number of Be More Chill, a show that makes its Washington-area premiere in a wonderfully effervescent and wholehearted Monumental Theatre Company production.

Oslo is an amazing against-all-odds story of risk, trust, and diplomacy. It is about overcoming hard-and-fast assumptions. Oslo shows the value in finding common ground and allowing ourselves to hope. This Round House Theatre production is a wonder-a brilliant heartfelt, heart-filling experience.