Howard Shalwitz News

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the first production of its 2017-2018 season, The Arsonists by Swiss playwright Max Frisch, in a new translation by Alistair Beaton, directed by Michael John Garces. The Arsonists will run from September 5 to October 8, 2017. The Arsonists is made possible by a generous grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has announced its 2017-2018 season, which features six provocative plays that will lean into the current moment, speak truth to power, and galvanize conversations about the social and political questions gripping our country.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces its first production of Season 38, the remount of An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Nataki Garrett. The show will reunite the entire cast and production teams from Woolly's 2016 production and will run from July 18 to August 6, 2017.

After nearly four decades of leadership, co-founder Howard Shalwitz will step down as the artistic director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. He will continue in his position through the end of the 2017-18 season. A national search for his successor will begin this summer.

Today's subject Emily Townley is currently living her theatre life over at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company where she is preparing to begin performances of Taylor Mac's play Hir. The production plays from May 22nd through June 18th.

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.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the final production of its 37th Season, Hir, by playwright Taylor Mac, directed by Shana Cooper. Hir will run May 22-June 18, 2017.

The 33rd annual Helen Hayes Awards will be celebrated at the historicLincoln Theatre at 7:30 pm on May 15, with accomplished actors E. Faye Butler and Lawrence Redmond as hosts. The line-up of award presenters includes artistic leaders from across the Washington region, highlighting the depth and breadth of a theatre community recognized worldwide for the quality and diversity of its work. Following the awards, a roof-raising dance party gets underway at the world-renowned 9:30 Club. Both events honor 236 Helen Hayes Award nominees drawn from 200 eligible productions presented in 2016. Tickets for the combined Awards Ceremony and Dance Party are $275 for premium seating, $150 for balcony seating, and can be purchased online.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has announced its 2017-2018 season, which features six provocative plays that will lean into the current moment, speak truth to power, and galvanize conversations about the social and political questions gripping our country.

The seven originating theaters of the Women's Voices Theater Festival - Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company - have announced preliminary details for the second installment of the Women's Voices Theater Festival, January 15 - February 15, 2018.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the next production of its 37th Season, Pike St. by playwright Nilaja Sun, directed by Ron Russell.  Pike St. will run from March 27-April 23, 2017.

Clare Barron's apocalyptic play BABY SCREAMS MIRACLE is, fundamentally, an interesting and exceptionally written exploration of the forces of religion and of nature on one small town American family dealing with its own kind of inner turmoil. A uniformly strong cast under the direction of Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz brings out the best of the already strong script at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

I had the chance to speak with local actor Travis Turner at Steppenwolf's Front Bar just before he began previews for BOOTYCANDY at Windy City Playhouse, in which he plays the lead role of Sutter. Over the past year, Turner has performed in The Second City's LONGER! LOUDER! WAGNER! parody at Lyric Opera, as well as TWIST YOUR DICKENS at Goodman Theatre, played the role of Avery in Annie Baker's three-hour-and-fifteen-minute long Pulitzer Prize winner THE FLICK at Steppenwolf, and portrayed one-half of a vaudeville duo as Thaddeus in THADDEUS AND SLOCUM at Lookingglass Theatre.

For theatre lovers in our area, we always look forward to what our theatre companies have in store for us in their upcoming seasons. We look to see if there are any trends that stand out to us as audience members. We also see growth in many companies with each new season of shows. Anyone that's been following DC theatre for a while will notice how things have changed in the last twenty or thirty years. One of the biggest examples of this would be the clean up and revitalization of 14th Street, which had direct implications for Studio Theatre and Source.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces its first production of Season 38, the remount of An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Nataki Garrett. The show will reunite the entire cast and production teams from Woolly's 2016 production and will run from July 18 to August 6, 2017.

Arena Stage announces the 2016/17 programming for Actors Arena, a membership-based forum for professional D.C.-area actors.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces a third run of The Trump Card by Mike Daisey, directed by Isaac Butler. The Trump Card will run from October 25-30, 2016. This new production follows a sold-out workshop run in June and a sold-out run in August, both at Woolly, and concludes a 13-city national whistlestop tour.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the third production of its 37th Season, The Second City's Black Side of the Moon, which will run from November 12, 2016 through January 1, 2017.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie, along with Zelda's family including sons Mark and Hal Fichandler, will host two public celebrations of Zelda's life on October 23 and 24, 2016 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St., SW).