BIRTHDAY CANDLES Extends Run at 1st Stage

1st Stage has announced that Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles, directed by 1st Stage Artistic Director Alex Levy, has been extended through December 28.

Ernestine Ashworth spends her 17th birthday agonizing over her insignificance in the universe. Soon enough, it’s her 18th birthday. Even sooner, her 41st. Her 70th. Her 101st. This poignant and funny play takes its audience through the highlights, heartbreaks and extraordinary moments that make up one woman’s ordinary life. “[Birthday Candles] is a profoundly affecting experience of theater’s power to reframe what it means to live a life.” – DC Theater Arts

The 1st Stage production of Fair Play features 1st Stage Associate Artistic Director Deidra LaWan Starnes (The Piano Lesson, Postcards from Ihatov, Shutter Sisters, and others), and returning artists Hannah Taylor (The Piano Lesson), Jacob Yeh (Postcards from Ihatov, How the Light Gets In, The Rainmaker, and others), Chris Genebach (The Royale), Patrick Joy (hang, The Nance, columbinus) and Surasree Das (The Lake Effect). The production is directed by 1st Stage Artistic Director Alex Levy (The Lake Effect, The Waverly Gallery, The Chosen, The Last Match, and others).

The design team includes: scenic design by Jonathan Dahm Robertson, lighting design by Helen Garcia Alton, sound design by Sarah O'Halloran, costume design by Lynly Saunders, props design by Cindy Jacobs, and intimacy coaching by Lorraine Ressegger.

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Orchestrations - Top 3

1. Ethan Popp, The Rescues - The Lost Boys

24.9% of votes

2. Anders Eljas, Brian Usifer - Chess

13.1% of votes

3. William David Brohn - Ragtime

12.8% of votes

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