Marcus Kyd

What did our critic think of TAFFETY PUNK THEATRE COMPANY'S VENUS AND ADONIS at Taffety Punk Theatre Company?

Tonight, at a celebration honoring outstanding theatre on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered at the ATLAS Performing Arts Center for Theatre Washington's announcement of nominees for the 40th Helen Hayes Awards.

What did our critic think of THE SEAFARER at Round House Theatre? Five fine actors give excellent performances in Ryan Rilette's solid production of The Seafarer through December 31.

Today’s subjects Danielle A. Drakes and Kelsey Mesa are currently living their theatre lives as the director and playwright respectively of Taffety Punk Theatre Company’s World Premiere production of La Salpêtrière. The show runs through October fourteenth at the company’s artistic home Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW).

I think the minimalism and starkness is intended to be clarifying; we are meant to be focused on the hearts of the various intertwined stories Shakespeare presents, and perhaps less distracted by other things going on at the very large periphery the playwright has laid out. Whatever the purpose, we find ourselves deeply drawn in, so that by the time all the bodies bestrew the stage at the end, the horror and the catharsis of it all has not only engulfed us – but thrilled us as well.

'Incognito' is a beautiful, thoughtful play, and Constellation Theatre Company’s production is brimming with passion and talent. We may not ever fully understand what makes us who we are, but the cast and creative team at Constellation have certainly figured out what makes a good show.

Theater J has announced the winner of the 2022 Patty Abramson Jewish Play Prize: Alicia Louzoun-Heisler with her play Bashert. The Theater J Patty Abramson Jewish Play Prize awards $3,000 and a stage reading to a promising emerging woman playwright.

Taffety Punk returns to the stage in full force with their production of Our Black Death: Plagues, Turnips, and Other Romantic Gestures, directed by Marcus Kyd is all at once hilarious, shocking, and bittersweet in its exploration of love during a plague.

'Compulsion or the House Behind' is a good show, with a strong creative team and an immensely talented cast, but it’s also a flawed one. With pacing issues and a shyness about fully facing the questions it raises, it’s often a frustrating production. But it’s a thought-provoking one for that same reason.

Beginning on January 26, and running through February 20, 2022, Theater J will bring Compulsion or the House Behind to the stage. Hailed by the New York Times as an “absorbing” and “fascinating, multilayered tale,” Compulsion tells the semi-fictional story of Sid Silver, a man obsessed with making sure the world hears the story of Anne Frank.

Theater J has announced Theater J’s 31st season, which includes five plays and a bonus holiday musical engagement. The nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish theater company, Theater J eagerly anticipates once again gathering audiences for a season that promises to be life-affirming, celebratory, and unforgettable.

This production of Shakespeare's Othello has revelations galore, performed by an ensemble of actors whose comfort with the language and emotional power keep you riveted. Even if you've seen any number of Othello's beforea?'especially if you've seen a fewa?'the Riot Grrrls interpretation, as staged in the spartan Capitol Hill Arts Workshop space, gives vivid life to characters and speeches that usually get lost in the cavernous main stages across town.

Taffety Punk, the insurrectionist yet classically trained company now in its 15th year does what it does best in a pair of striking Greek adaptations by Anne Carson, presented in one invigorating sitting.

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park will present THE LAST WIDE OPEN, a love story that encourages audiences to take a personal, humorous look at modern-day courtship, romance and relationships, just in time for Valentine's Day. It begins Feb. 9 in the Shelterhouse Theatre and runs through March 10, with support from The Rosenthal Family Foundation, Season Sponsor of New Work. Opening night is Feb. 14.

Taffety Punk Theatre Company's Bootleg Shakespeare production HENRY VI, PART 3 is performance without a net - exciting, dangerous, riveting, and raw. Bootleg Shakespeare isn't designed to be polished or perfect, it's designed to be fresh and immediate. And it delivered. What's more amazing? The actors arrived at 10:00 am Monday with roles assigned and lines memorized. That's it. Working together under the direction of Taffety Punk Artistic Director Marcus Kyd, over the next few hours the 32 actors DIY'ed the production and were on stage in front of an audience at 7:30 pm. There were minimal props, lights, and costumes-but the red and white paper lapel flowers told us exactly what we needed to know when every epic battle scene and every word of Shakespeare's text was performed.

While it's hard to fully embrace this comedic play, it is worth a watch if only for the fine acting and compelling thematic content.

Today's subject Lise Bruneau is currently living her theatre life onstage at Arena Stage as Sara Müller in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine. The production runs through March 5th.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents Where Words Once Were, a wordplay-filled world premiere commission from playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer, directed by Colin Hovde. The production, most appropriate for patrons age nine and up, is part of the Kennedy Center's Theater for Young Audiences 2016-2017 season, and will run November 5 through November 27, 2016.