Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan

Vanity Fair, William Thackery's 19th century exploration of female conventions and ambition as seen through the discerning eyes of Kate Hamill (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park) is a delight for the eyes and a thoughtful female perspective on gender roles that continue to evolve today. With its sparkling cast of seven actors playing dozens of roles and first-rate direction by Jessica Stone, Thackery's carnival-like satire of British society portrayed through the cunning, strong-willed Becky Sharp is as contemporary today as it was shocking in its day.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces its 2019-2020 season, which features an energizing array of plays by new voices and Woolly veterans.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon announced the full cast and creative team for Vanity Fair, acclaimed playwright Kate Hamill's rollicking new stage adaptation of William Thackeray's classic 19th-century novel that pops with 21st-century spirit. Ambitious Becky Sharp may not have been born with wealth or status, but she's determined to attain both-at any cost. Armed with fierce wit and calculating charm, Becky forges her own path through London's high society, dealing herself into a game she was never invited to play. Displaying the celebrated audacity and verve that she brought to her adaptation of Sense & Sensibility, Hamill conjures an inventive and lively period drama that combines a fierce contemporary edge with the theatricality of Victorian Burlesque.

Mean Girls, Big Little Lies, Heathers, Broad City, Thelma and Louise, Parks and Recreation, Sex and the City…These are some of the better known vehicles for female friendship that inhabit our pop culture universe. Paling in comparison to the numerous portrayals of male friendships and "bromances", too often these relationships center on competition or jealousy, on getting the guy. Very few take a deeper, more comprehensive dive into the complexity of female companionship. Even fewer are the product of female authors, directors, playwrights, etc.

Following the success of her Sense and Sensibility at the Folger Theatre in 2016, Wall Street Journal's Playwright of the Year 2017 Kate Hamill, returns to D.C. with her adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel Vanity Fair. Hamill's vibrant and colorful tale about society's foibles is a co-production with San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater. Directed by Jessica Stone and featuring Rebekah Brockman as Becky Sharp, the production will run at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th Street, NW) from February 26 through March 31, 2019.

What was it like 21 years ago when Paula Vogel's 'How I Learned to Drive' premiered off-Broadway?

It's an explosive and thought-provoking production in more ways than one - and a natural fit for Woolly.

Round House Theatre announces casting for the five mainstage shows that will comprise its 41st season. "Our 2018-2019 Season launches our exciting Resident Artist program, and once again confirms our longstanding value to prioritize the use of local artists, with more than 90% of our artists hailing from the DC area," says Artistic Director Ryan Rilette. "We're thrilled to pair the best DC artists with some of the most exciting new plays and modern classics in American theatre. It's a season you won't want to miss." 

Featuring a compelling script, some of the best acting you're bound to see anywhere locally (most notably from Jon Hudson Odom) under the swift and inspired direction by Marti Lyons, and strong production elements (even music!), this is an unpredictable "only at Woolly" experience you won't want to miss. It's especially perfect for Pride Month.

The DC theatre community hurried along the waterfront on Monday night, attempting to beat the looming, black storm clouds that threatened, but this could not dampen the vibrant crowds as they entered the recently opened Anthem for this year's Helen Hayes Awards. This stunning, modern space will be greeting the likes of Belle & Sebastian, Janelle Monae, and Nine Inch Nails in the coming months, and on this evening, theatre creative showed off their finest.

This evening, the 34th Annual Helen Hayes Awards celebrated Washington's diverse and vital theatre community with a gala event at The Anthem, recognizing 258 Helen Hayes Award nominees and 48 award recipients drawn from 202 eligible productions presented at 64 theatres in 2017. GALA Hispanic Theatre's Spanish-language production of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes' In The Heights received nine awards, putting them at the top of a list of 20 theatres receiving Helen Hayes Awards this year.

The 34th Annual Helen Hayes Awards will take place on Monday, May 14, 2018 at The Anthem, the cultural center of Southwest D.C.'s new District Wharf, with a celebratory party to follow.

The 34th Annual Helen Hayes Awards will take place on Monday, May 14, 2018 at The Anthem, the cultural center of Southwest D.C.'s new District Wharf, with a celebratory party to follow. Esteemed Washington theatre artists Michael J. Bobbitt, five-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, choreographer and Artistic Director of Adventure Theatre MTC, and Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan, recipient of last year's Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play-Hayes Production for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, will host an evening showcasing the vibrant and diverse community of professional theatre artists in the Washington region. There are 258 Helen Hayes Award nominations-selected from 202 eligible productions from 64 theatres in 2017. Tickets for the event are $100 for reserved seating and $275 for VIP premium seating. Reduced-priced tickets will be available to artists and administrators in the community at an industry rate, subsidized by Artist Supporter tickets. All tickets are now available for purchase through the theatreWashington website.

Sometimes playwrights have a good idea for a script, but can't leave well enough alone. Such is the case with Laura Schelhardt and her world premiere commissioned play Digging Up Dessa, now playing in the Family Theater at Kennedy Center as part of the Women's Voices Theatre Festival.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents a world premiere Kennedy Center commission,  Digging Up Dessa, running February 3-18, 2018 in the Family Theater. This insightful and humorous play follows Dessa, a 21st-century girl with no shortage of struggles, secrets, and mysteries to solve. With the help of a remarkable friend-the pioneering 19th century English paleontologist Mary Anning-she sets out to dig up some super-sized discoveries.

The Mosaic Theaatre Company closes its second season with a perfectly realized and humane play about real life in the Middle East precisely 50 years after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

The Return is a U.S. premiere, co-written by Palestinian-American playwright and performer Hanna Eady (who performed in Motti Lerner's The Admission, both in DC and Israel), and Seattle-based playwright Edward Mast.

BroadwayWorld has a full list of the Helen Hayes Awards winners updating LIVE below! Named for actor Helen Hayes - a Washington native and legendary First Lady of the American Theatre - the Helen Hayes Awards celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington region and has become a hallmark recognized by theatre makers and theatre lovers far beyond Washington D.C.

Mosaic Theater Company of DC presents the culmination of its expansive and hugely successful second season with the 2017 Voices From a Changing Middle East Festival. This year's festival is of particular resonance in this 50th year since the Six Day War and the start of The Occupation, and focuses on two taut dramas about the lives, circumstances, and humanity of Palestinians in Israel and Gaza.

The 2017 Helen Hayes Award nominations were announced tonight. A line-up of leading theatre artists announced nominations in 47 categories of artistic excellence. Award recipients will be announced at the Helen Hayes Awards gala event to be held at the Lincoln Theatre on Monday, May 15 with an after-party hosted at Washington's legendary 9:30 Club.