Ian Blackwell News

Two-time OnComm award-winning, The Show Must Go Online, the global digital theatre movement producing live performances of the chronology of Shakespeare's plays weekly, today announce the full cast for their upcoming livestreamed performed reading of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Forget the Cherry Blossoms, folks, they'll be gone before you know it. Brave Spirits' Histories rep, cultivated, rested and ready, will be where it's at when our theatres re-open. Their a?oeHenry the Fifth,a?? as with all the other plays in the current cycle, is full of surprises and fresh interpretations. It is clear that the Histories Repertory will wrap up a few loose ends, while pointing towards contentions and bloodshed to come.

The final chapter of The King's Shadow is about to begin. Henry the Fifth, opening March 14, 2020, completes the first season in Brave Spirits Theatre's two-year project to stage Shakespeare's eight history plays about the Wars of the Roses. During a tumultuous period of less than a hundred years, England experienced civil war and political upheaval as the throne switched hands nine times. Shakespeare dramatized these events over the course of his career in eight remarkable plays: Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth Part 1, Henry the Fourth Part 2, Henry the Fifth, Henry the Sixth Part 1, Henry the Sixth Part 2, Henry the Sixth Part 3, and Richard the Third. Brave Spirits Theatre is making history by becoming the first professional American theatre company to mount full productions of Shakespeare's two tetralogies and perform them in repertory.

With the mayhem, warfare and epic egos of Henry the Fourth, Part 1 well under their belts, Brave Spirits Theatre now turns its talents towards one of the more challenging history plays in Shakespeare's canon, Henry the Fourth, Part 2. Director Charlene V. Smith continues to find new gems here among the many performers, and there are some moments that truly shine here.

This is the second installment in Charlene V. Smith's four-play repertory project, and judging from the quality of the work here, Washington theatregoers are in for a truly rewarding experience of the Histories, well into April. Brave Spirits is well on their way to one of the more vital repertory seasons inside the Beltway that we have seen in quite some time.

One of D.C.'s finer classical companies, Brave Spirits, has embarked on a two-year repertory of William Shakespeare's history plays. Leading off this ambitious project is Charlene V. Smith's razor-sharp production of a?oeRichard II.a?? Smith has assembled a cast that is assured in its understanding of Shakespeare's language; more importantly, she has nurtured some of the most creative, nuanced readings of the Bard's famous speeches I have ever heard.

During a tumultuous period of less than a hundred years, England experienced civil war and political upheaval as the throne switched hands nine times. Shakespeare dramatized these events over the course of his career in eight remarkable plays: Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth Part 1, Henry the Fourth Part 2, Henry the Fifth, Henry the Sixth Part 1, Henry the Sixth Part 2, Henry the Sixth Part 3, and Richard the Third. With an ensemble of twenty actors, Brave Spirits Theatre will stage these eight plays over the next two years, culminating in marathon performance weekends during July 2021.

'I like this place, and willingly could waste my time in it.' This line, spoken by Celia (Rebecca Speas) early in As You Like It, is an appropriate way to describe the vibe of Brave Spirits Theatre's new production of Shakespeare's comedy, directed by Jessica Aimone. It's an amiable production of one of the most laid-back plays in the canon, led by a charismatic cast whose chief concern is our entertainment. On that front, it's a success.

Escape to the forest of Arden with a romantic and immersive production of As You Like It. Four charming couples swoon, banter, argue, and fall deeply in love against the background of an original, modern score. This production reunites the team behind our entertaining, touching, and bittersweet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream: director Jessica Aimone and music director and composer Zach Roberts. Join Brave Spirits Theatre for the wedding of the year!

Even though sometimes funny, even to the extent of farce, and filled with a manic vitality, Jerusalem is not easy theater, but it is infinitely rewarding. It will be surely be one of the most ambitious shows local audiences see in this new year.

St. George's Day in England, the Morning of the county fair, the local drifting soul and pied piper of chaos Johnny "Rooster" Byron stirs the souls of his countrymen to forego the comforts of modern suburban life and raise their spirits in the countryside. His family want to spend the day with him, thugs want to teach him a lesson, the authorities want rid of him, but Rooster just wants more out of life. Having played on the West End and then to Broadway (and back to the West End), Jerusalem is a darkly comic and modern meditation on the spirit of a nation.

St. George's Day in England, the Morning of the county fair, the local drifting soul and pied piper of chaos Johnny "Rooster" Byron stirs the souls of his countrymen to forego the comforts of modern suburban life and raise their spirits in the countryside. His family want to spend the day with him, thugs want to teach him a lesson, the authorities want rid of him, but Rooster just wants more out of life. Having played on the West End and then to Broadway (and back to the West End), Jerusalem is a darkly comic and modern meditation on the spirit of a nation.

BST's fall repertory explores depraved violence, sexual obsession, and female determination in two of the greatest tragedies written for the early modern stage. In The Changeling, Beatrice-Joanna goes to any lengths rather than be forced to marry a man she doesn't love--including murder. Though four hundred years old, this gripping play presents an all too familiar picture of women's entrapment and degradation at the hands of men. The Duchess of Malfi also follows the tragic efforts of a noblewoman to marry for love and to free herself of the writhing political, religious, and erotic web spun by her family. Inspired by a true story, his macabre, punk beauty of a play draws together extraordinary language, violent delights, and some of the most complex and memorable characters in Jacobean drama.

One of the best parts of seeing a re-imagining of a well-known work is that it enables you to revisit it from a different angle. The new presentation allows you to enjoy the work fresh, and maybe even catch something new that has been lost in familiarity. With apologies to the (British) Bard, Quotidian Theater Company's production proves that A Midsummer Night's Dream is, in fact, an Irish play.

Brave Spirits Theatre again provides a fresh, immediate take on a Shakespearean classic, this time with a hard-hitting production of CORIOLANUS, directed by Charlene V. Smith. Underappreciated compared to many of Shakespeare's other plays, it's particularly timely in 2018 as it explores a power struggle among great men and the masses they're supposed to serve.

BST's 2018 repertory explores war and winning from opposite perspectives. As civil unrest threatens political upheaval, the war hero Coriolanus is driven to defend and then destroy his own country. Shakespeare's last tragedy takes a piercing look at men who cannot leave war behind. Performed as part of the Women's Voices Theater Festival, The Trojan Women Project explores the timeless story of The Trojan Women to illuminate modern women's relationships to sexuality, politics, and violence. This intersectional look at American women asks why our gender isn't enough to unite us and whether we are the losers in the American Dream.

Dorothy and Toto travel to Oz and join a Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion in search of the Wonderful Wizard.

Doctor Faustus transforms into a production about how a woman is manipulated by the world around her. With a solid cast, Brave Spirits Theatre's production turns Marlowe's vision on its head and explores it through a feminist lens.

Brave Spirits Theatre updates the classic tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil to explore ambition and power from a woman's point-of-view. In her quest to get everything she's ever wanted, Joan Faustus pays the ultimate price: her soul.

Robert McNamara's current production gives us everything you need for an exciting evening of Shakespeare, even for those who wouldn't know a Colosseum if it dropped into their front yards. The combination of high-octane performers, solid in the pentameter and carefully directed, is thrilling to watch. You can't miss this one.