Billie Krishawn

This evening, the 2023 Helen Hayes Awards took place at The Anthem on the District Wharf, with over 1,600 theatre-makers and theatre supporters in attendance. Esteemed Washington theatre artists Naomi Jacobson, Erika Rose, Holly Twyford, and Christopher Michael Richardson hosted an evening showcasing the vibrant and diverse community of professional theatre artists in the Washington region.

A seismic theatrical jolt shot through the theatre world this past Thursday evening when a startling, radically deconstructed production of Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches opened at the Arena Stage; this interpretation grabs you like a “fever-dream” of the mind.  As soon as I walked in to see this interpretation of this classic play of the American canon, a distinctly European sensibility took hold, and I noticed the chandeliers were all covers in heavy tarp/sheeting and the Angel was raking the theatre-in -the -round stage while moving gradations of sand around an inner circle.  This Angel appears with some frequency in this interpretation and we are reminded that there “are” angels in America ---perhaps we do not need be ruled by the crazed politics that divide us.  We can choose to fight our biases and preconceptions.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced the cast and creative team of its upcoming production of Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches, which will run March 24 April 23, 2023, in the iconic in-the-round Fichandler Stage. See first look photos of the cast.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announced the cast and creative team of its upcoming production of Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches, which will run March 24 – April 23, 2023, in the iconic in-the-round Fichandler Stage.

Nominations have been announced for the 37th Helen Hayes Awards, which will be presented on Monday, May 22. Nominees include productions from Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, GALA Hispanic Theatre and more.

Families, sisterly conflicts, alienation from parents, suicidal tendencies, dissociation, nostalgia for childhood mingled with mature reevaluation of it: all these themes and tropes are universal. And audiences of all backgrounds should find this show about them quite relatable, not to mention intriguing.

 From an exciting new voice in American theatre comes this enlightening story about the bonds that unite us, and the journey of experiencing grief. Everyman Theatre presents Jump by Charly Evon Simpson and Directed by Summer L. Williams. 

I strongly encourage anyone who can, to go see at least one if not all three parts of this story.

'The Joy that Carries You' is a touching and touchingly thoughtful journey, one which many might recognize in their own. But Secka and Stoller also make this a celebration of the relationships which until (only) very recently were taboo. Thank goodness we're no longer at the stage where seeing two women choosing each other as life-partners is a shock; we can now see them as human beings. But we also know that relationships like this are still fraught with a unique form of anxiety, between the women themselves but especially with their families.

Awa Sal Secka and Dani Stoller's new play The Joy That Carries You begins rehearsals today for its World Premiere at Olney Theatre Center. Directed by Jason Loewith and Kevin McAllister, performances begin May 11, 2022, and run through June 12, 2022. The Invited Press performance will be held Sunday, May 15 at 1:45 pm.

DC’s Studio Theatre is known as a leading contemporary theater, and the subject matter of its current production can scarcely be more so. Inspired by the police killing of young Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, Mo., and based on dozens of interviews conducted in its aftermath across the city’s communities by playwright Dael Orlandersmith, Under the Flood goes beyond any specific such shooting to explore African American-White relations on a much-broader and emotionally charged scale. The anger and mistrust, the occasional ties of friendship. Personal success and failure amidst social upheaval.

In his directorial debut at Studio Theatre, Associate Artistic Director Reginald L. Douglas has reimagined Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith’s Until the Flood as an ensemble piece for a multigenerational cast of Black women that captures how tragedy in one community became a flashpoint for racial justice across the United States.

A strong cast and steady pace make this rare performance of Shaw's first hit work a worthwhile free tune-in.

The Washington Stage follows up on its greatly popular presentation of Don Juan In Hell last November with a very different “devilish” play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.

The third online production in the series, and the second from Kennedy’s Alexander Plays, is a penetrating, seemingly straightforward tale of mid-20th century discrimination in academia, blended with unspeakable crime.

Round House Theatre, in association with McCarter Theatre Center, announces additional details for The Work of Adrienne Kennedy: Inspiration & Influence, a four-week festival highlighting the award-winning playwright.

a?oeJust Arts: A Celebration of Arts and Activisma?? kicks off on Friday, October 9 streaming at 7:00 pm with an episode dedicated to one of four featured weekly social justice pillars, a?oeEquitya?? curated by Nicole A. Watson.

On September 25, the 36th Annual Helen Hayes Awards concluded, after a series of virtual events celebrating Washington's dynamic and diverse theatre community.

Keegan's Boiler Room Series has announced the 4th Annual WOMXN on Fire Festival at Keegan Theatre, March 9-15, 2020.

Tonight, at a celebration honoring theatre excellence on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered in the National Theatre's Helen Hayes Gallery for theatreWashington's announcement of nominees for the 36th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, which will be presented on Monday, May 18 at an event at the Anthem.