by Elliot Lanes - April 02, 2026
When it comes to the arts, there are a lot of things in DC that go either unnoticed or get lost in the shuffle. For almost twenty years now Ford’s Theatre has been presenting such a piece of theatre and it’s a very important one....
by Mary Lincer - April 02, 2026
When the original production of Chicago opened on Broadway in 1975, its subtitle read “A Musical Vaudeville.” And as distinctively Bob Fosse-style as it was (and is in this excellent touring production of the 1996 revival), Chicago has always been a slight history of vaudeville....
by Rachael F. Goldberg - April 01, 2026
NextStop Theatre navigates the production of 'Guards at the Taj' with a sincere and skillful blend of empathy and urgency, acknowledging the difficulties of the choices we make and the worlds we live in, while encouraging us to do better....
by Jake Bridges - March 30, 2026
What did our critic think of YOUNG JOHN LEWIS: PRODIGY OF PROTEST at Mosaic Theater Company?...
by Itai Yasur - March 30, 2026
Eddie Izzard puts on a bravura performance as Hamlet, and every other character, in her one-person take on Shakespeare's greatest. See what our critic had to say....
by Laurie Sara Oliver - March 24, 2026
What did our critic think of THE CRUCIBLE at Lisner Auditorium?...
by Elliot Lanes - March 24, 2026
Being married to someone that was raised Christian and myself being raised Jewish I never thought that Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) would be something that I would ever enjoy. Over our fifteen plus years of marriage (so far) my wife has introduced me to the likes and talents of such artists in...
by Jake Bridges - March 23, 2026
I like to cook. It’s been one of my hobbies most of my adult life, and I’ve grown a lot in my skill over the years with much practice. My wife often lovingly teases me about all the space my cooking instruments take up in our kitchen storage spaces. Like most things, there’s been quite a bit o...
by Elliot Lanes - March 23, 2026
Besides being the premiere theatre for musicals in the DMV, Signature Theatre also has a highly successful cabaret series. For many years the series has highlighted all genres of music featuring top flight talent....
by Roger Catlin - March 23, 2026
It’s a little surprising that in 40 years, that a production from the Royal Shakespeare Company has never before visited Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company (though the opposite is true — a Shakespeare Theater Company production of “Love’s Labor’s Lost” played Stratford-upon-Avon ...
Past Shows
Chez Joey is a vibrant reimagining of the Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey, directed by Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn. The production features a...
The year is 1940-something, and Chicago’s night scene is sizzling. Enter Joey Evans. A slick-talking, velvet-voiced songster with dreams bigger than the bandstand. But in...
Get ready to celebrate—Step Afrika!'s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show is back for its fourth spectacular year at Arena Stage! Bring the entire family to join...
Written by Reggie D. White and directed by Lili-Anne Brown, "Fremont Ave." is a raw, electric world premiere that moves across decades with the force...
One of America’s most beloved musicals is coming back, dusted off and spit-shined for a new generation. All the elements that made it famous are...
A world-premiere musical of the classic young adult novelMeg Murry's father was experimenting with time travel and the fifth dimension when he mysteriously disappeared. Now, Meg, her...
A new play about queer love and forest magic from the Oscar-winning screenwriter of MoonlightWilson and Free met in a dark park searching for fun not expecting to...
A new play about queer love and forest magic from the Oscar-winning screenwriter of MoonlightWilson and Free met in a dark park searching for fun not expecting to...
In Larissa FastHorse's uproarious comedy, a collision of friends and foes within the non-profit sector sets the stage for a whirlwind of competition, chaos, and...
Against the lavish backdrop of 1870s New York, where hypocrisy thrives and hidden passions simmer, Karen Zacarías brings Edith Wharton's timeless masterpiece, The Age of Innocence,...
COMEDY LEGENDS AREN’T BORN. THEY’RE MADE…IN MIDDLE SCHOOL.
In Ken Ludwig's thrilling adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot becomes entangled in a web of deceit and desire aboard a cruise...
Step Afrika!'s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show returns to Arena Stage, blending the dynamic art of African American stepping with festive holiday cheer. Audiences can...
Data is Matthew Libby's intriguingly suspenseful and relevant new play that takes you behind the locked doors of Silicon Valley. Its protagonist is Maneesh, a brilliant...
Emmy Award winner John Leguizamo stars as Nelson Castro, a Colombian-American laundromat owner grappling with a failing business and buried secrets. When his son Nick...
The Other Americans is a world-premiere drama written and starring John Leguizamo, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. The play follows Nelson Castro, a Colombian-Puerto Rican laundromat...
Jaja's African Hair Braiding is a comedic play by Jocelyn Bioh set in a bustling Harlem salon, exploring themes of cultural identity and the immigrant...
Step into the vibrant world of Jaja's African Hair Braiding, a riotously funny yet deeply resonant play by Jocelyn Bioh. Set in the pulsating heart of...
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding is a vibrant exploration of community and culture set to open in September 2024 at Arena Stage. This production features insightful...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced the appointment of Judy Leventhal as Chief Financial Officer, effective August 12, 2024. Leventhal...
Using its hallmark style of percussive dance-theater, Step Afrika!’s The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence tells the story of one of the largest movements of people in United...
Cleaning out her grandmother’s home, Ellen Rabinowitz discovers the photograph of an anonymous soldier tucked away in a box of keepsakes. And so begins Unknown Soldier, a...
Born into slavery in North Carolina, Anna Julia Cooper was a visionary Black feminist and educator in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, and only the fourth...
Drama Desk Award–nominated theatermaker and mentalist Vinny DePonto guides us on an entirely new theatrical event in which your thoughts play a leading role. A...
When a violent storm sinks their whaling ship off the coast of New Bedford, Mass., the four survivors face a reckoning: how far will they...
The world’s first holiday show incorporating the African American tradition of stepping, Step Afrika!'s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show is a feast for the eyes and ears. You’ll laugh, you’ll...
When the Commander-in-Chief publicly calls his wife a “See You Next Tuesday,” all H-E-Double Hockey Sticks breaks loose. In this searingly funny Broadway hit, POTUS follows how...
It’s 2008 and a father-daughter duo are heading to Phnom Penh; she to prosecute a notorious Cambodian war criminal, he 30 years after escaping then-Communist...
A reluctant historian is thrown out of her element when her acclaimed book about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is optioned by a larger-than-life...
Tony Kushners Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama Angels in America is one of the great epic American plays of this past century. We meet...
More than a century after the Tulsa race massacre killed hundreds and destroyed the prosperous Greenwood District, a Black man in army garb still stands...
In Ride the Cyclone, the lives of six teen chamber choir singers are cut short in a freak roller coaster accident. Stuck in the afterlife, a...
As the world’s first holiday show highlighting the African American tradition of stepping, Step Afrika!'s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show is a feast for the eyes and...
Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok brings us the powerful story of two young DREAMers who fight to establish a place for themselves in America, the...
An up-and-coming Wall Street lawyer from a working-class family aspires to quit and enjoy life once hes made enough money, a prospect that doesnt thrill...
In My Body No Choice, Molly Smiths final directorial venture for Arena Stage, eight of Americas most exciting female playwrights share what choice means to...
Charles Randolph-Wright (Arenas Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story, Broadways Motown the Musical) returns to Arena Stage with a groundbreaking musical powered by Frederick...
Charles Randolph-Wright (Arena’s "Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story", Broadway’s "Motown the Musical") returns to Arena Stage with a ground-breaking musical about Frederick Douglass,...
Electrifying percussive dance fused with contemporary art forms fuels Step Afrika!’s latest production, "Drumfolk," inspired by the Stono Rebellion of 1739 and the Negro Act...
Humor, music and dance drive this rousing musical based on true events and a critically acclaimed film. See how charming, young con man Frank Abagnale...
The lives of seven friends are irrevocably changed when their old friend and blues singer Floyd Barton reappears with a chance of a lifetime. Infused...
Can one woman change the mind of a man and the fate of a nation? Fidel Castros most trusted confidant and political partner, Celia Snchez,...
History is filled with trailblazers and Toni Stone was one of them. Considered a pioneer, Toni Stone is the first woman to play baseball in...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is pleased to announce the premiere of Waiting Room: A New Film by Arena Stages Voices...
Fannie Lou Hamer, Speak On It! is a captivating call to action and look at the impassioned freedom fighter who became one of the most...
Fannie Lou Hamer, Speak On It! is a captivating call to action and look at the impassioned freedom fighter who became one of the most...
The world-renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers shattered racial barriers in the U.S. and abroad, entertaining kings and queens. For centuries, the bold a capella African American...
As the brilliant and calculating Robert Merkin prepares a hostile takeover of a family-owned manufacturing company, he is not concerned about crossing the line to...
Complicated, passionate and difficult, John Quincy Adams was a brilliant diplomat, ineffectual one-term President and congressman known for his eloquence, arrogance and integrity. This unique,...
It is one of the most pivotal moments in history?—?the Soviet Union has collapsed. In the ensuing rampage of hyper-capitalism, the Oligarchs, a new class...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will host its second annual Camp Arena Stage Open House on Saturday, January 12, 2019 from...
In 1923, the Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s Yiddish drama God of Vengeance set the stage for an explosive moment in its theatrical history. The...
The SS American has set sail from NY to London. Aboard, the lovelorn Billy has stowed away on a mission to stop the marriage of...
This intimate and no-holds-barred drama chronicles Dick Gregory’s rise as the first Black comedian to expose audiences to racial comedy. His comedy spared no one...
Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel The Snow Child, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, is reborn as a magical new musical with a bluegrass-infused score. The...
It’s 1969 and the Civil Rights Movement is sending tremors through Pittsburgh’s Hill District. At the center of the community is Memphis Lee’s diner, slated...
There is a Japanese proverb that says, “The nail that sticks out is the one that gets hit.” In 1941, one American, the son of...
Robert Schenkkan’s Tony Award-winning play All the Way set the stage for President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s sudden ascent to the White House. In its D.C....
Some wounds refuse to heal. Mary Kathryn Nagle’s daring new work, which debuts as the fourth production in Arena Stage’s Power Plays initiative, travels the...
Velvet-throated songstress Nina Simone hypnotized audiences with her signature renditions of standards from the American songbook. But on September 15, 1963, a devastating explosion in...
The Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory is a tiptop model of efficiency—so why are things getting so steamy? It could have something to do with how hard...
Wear your pajamas and join Arena Stage and 94.7 Fresh-FM for a special cocktail hour after the performance of The Pajama Game – hosted by...
Everything has a price—even our dreams. Victor Franz has returned home to settle his late father’s estate. In an attic overflowing with memories and furniture...
Good fences make good neighbors…right? From the outrageous mind of playwright Karen Zacarías (Destiny of Desire) comes this hot new comedy about the clash of...
Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero is Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in The Originalist. This smash-hit show from 2015 returns to offer audiences...
Do our belief systems stem from our environment, or are some prejudices hard-wired into us? With barbed wit, Lydia R. Diamond (Stick Fly) explores the...
Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking masterpiece follows the Younger family yearning for a better life far from the cramped confines of their Chicago tenement. Hope arrives in...
Inspired by true events, Intelligence is a fictionalized account of a covert operative who, tasked with protecting the national security of the United States post-9/11,...
Four-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl) leads an ensemble cast as Fanny Farrelly in Lillian Hellman's suspenseful masterpiece...
The lawyer: a young, brilliant, courageous woman arguing Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court. The plaintiff: a complex, single woman seeking to end an...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues the company’s season-long Lillian Hellman Festival by hosting free programming, including staged readings, panel discussions...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues the company’s season-long Lillian Hellman Festival by hosting free programming, including staged readings, panel discussions...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues the company’s season-long Lillian Hellman Festival by hosting free programming, including staged readings, panel discussions...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues the company’s season-long Lillian Hellman Festival by hosting free programming, including staged readings, panel discussions...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues the company’s season-long Lillian Hellman Festival by hosting free programming, including staged readings, panel discussions...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues the company’s season-long Lillian Hellman Festival by hosting free programming, including staged readings, panel discussions...
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues the company’s season-long Lillian Hellman Festival by hosting free programming, including staged readings, panel discussions...
26 PEBBLES explores the power of community in the face of unimaginable tragedy. On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and...
Welcome to the Jernigan Gals’ Quilting Corner. Gathering at their childhood island home off the coast of Georgia, four disconnected sisters meet to create a...
Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play (and the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League and the Drama Desk), Vanya and Sonia...
Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero (Red) returns to Arena Stage as one of America's most brilliant and polarizing figures: Supreme Court Justice Antonin...
King Hedley has returned, but to reign for how long? With an angry scar down the length of his face and seven years of prison...
Get your deerstalker cap on— the play’s afoot! From the Tony Award-winning mastermind of mayhem, Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor), comes a fast-paced comedy...
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of an American classic! More than just a poor milkman, Tevye is a humble Jewish father who finds his devotion to...
Need to chase the blues away? Pull up a seat at the Funky Butt Club to celebrate the fresh, feel-good music of “The King of...
An esteemed collection of some of America’s finest playwrights, including winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award and Olivier Award, has been assembled to create...
Meet Alma, a career shoplifter who prefers the “five-finger discount” over some lousy senior citizen deal, whose elaborate life of petty crime is halted by...
World premiere. June 6–29, 2014 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle A pioneer in the world of contemporary dance, Liz Lerman’s newest theatrical dance...
World Premiere March 21–May 4, 2014 in the Kreeger Theater Sixty-two miles north of Washington, D.C., nestled in Catoctin Mountain Park, lies the clandestine retreat...
January 31–March 9, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage Tough-as-nails matriarch Mother Courage profits off the very war that steals her children from her one by...
Tectonic Theater Project’s World Premiere Presentation January 10–February 16, 2014 in the Kreeger Theater Bursting with soulful music and poetic storytelling, The Tallest Tree in...
November 29, 2013–January 5, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage Broadway and Arena Stage favorite Kenny Leon (every tongue confess) returns to direct a new adaptation...
A co-production with Alliance Theatre and Cleveland Play House November 15–December 29, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater Broadway legend and Tony Award nominee Maurice Hines...
World premiere by Resident Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright October 11–November 17, 2013 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle From resident playwright Charles Randolph-Wright (Blue, Cuttin’...
Exclusive Pre-Broadway Engagement September 6–October 20, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater In a simple Brooklyn brownstone, 79-year-old Alexandra lives a solitary existence with her fleeting...
With a voice like whiskey and a laugh like pure joy, Janis Joplin took the music scene by storm. Simultaneously rough and vulnerable, Joplin was...
April 25–June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage Staged by Randy Johnson, the visionary behind One Night with Janis Joplin, Smokey Joe’s Café—The Songs of...
The Fichandler Stage: - Jon Robin Baitz; dir: Kyle Donnelly....
After a six-year absence, Brooke Wyeth returns to her Reaganite parents’ Palm Springs enclave for the holidays. But the warm desert air turns chilly when...
Hailed as “daring, rousing and provocative” by Entertainment Weekly, The Mountaintop is Katori Hall’s bold reimagining of the last night of the historic life of...
Writer-director Tazewell Thompson (dir. M. Butterfly, Yellowman) stitches together an insider's look at the unlikely friendship between First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and her talented...
Writer-director Tazewell Thompson (dir. M. Butterfly, Yellowman) stitches together an insider's look at the unlikely friendship between First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and her talented...
“THE SOUL WANDERS IN THE DARK, UNTIL IT FINDS LOVE. AND SO, WHEREVER OUR LOVE GOES, THERE WE FIND OUR SOUL.” Back in D.C. for...
Good People By David Lindsay-Abaire Directed by Jackie Maxwell In the Kreeger Theater February 1 – March 10, 2013 Enter South Boston’s Lower End, where...
Immerse yourself in the “unpredictable and imaginative” (American Theatre) world of acclaimed theater troupe Double Edge Theatre. Inspired by the multi-layered paintings of Marc Chagall,...
The Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle: - music: Alexander Bakshi; dir: Stacy Klein....
The Fichandler Stage: - Alan Jay Lerner; book: Frederick Loewe; lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner; dir: Molly Smith....
Just as Molly Smith’s record-breaking production of Oklahoma! was enthralling audiences at Arena Stage, her fresh reinterpretation of My Fair Lady set the all-time box...
Pullman Porter Blues A world-premiere co-production with Seattle Repertory Theatre By Cheryl L. West Directed by Lisa Peterson In the Kreeger Theater November 23, 2012...
Pullman Porter Blues A world-premiere co-production with Seattle Repertory Theatre By Cheryl L. West Directed by Lisa Peterson In the Kreeger Theater November 23, 2012...
written and directed by Randy Johnson in the Kreeger SEPTEMBER 28 – NOVEMBER 4, 2012 With a voice like whiskey and a laugh like pure...
by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel directed by David Esbjornson in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle AUGUST 23 – OCTOBER 28, 2012 Academy Award...
In war-torn Congo, Mama Nadi keeps the peace between customers on both sides of the civil war by serving everything from cold beers to warm...
American master Edward Albee has outdone himself once again with a riveting new drama that expands on The Zoo Story, the one-act that launched his...
In addition to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and At Home at the Zoo, Albee enthusiasts can experience a never-before-attempted feat: a festival featuring staged...
You’re invited for drinks with George and Martha. As wickedly hilarious today as when it first shocked audiences, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an...
A Theater J Production An Award Winning Adaptation The much beloved story of two boys, two fathers, and two very different Jewish communities in Williamsburg,...
In ancient Baghdad, a courageous young girl postpones her execution by weaving magical tales for the troubled king. Genies and jesters, lovers and thieves spring...
Called “the most exciting individual in American theater” by Newsweek magazine, Anna Deavere Smith (Fires in the Mirror, Twilight: Los Angeles) explores the power of...
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