Laura Russell News

Bethesda's own Quotidian Theatre, which has been a true labor of love and art, after nearly 25 years on the D.C. theatre scene, is making an appropriately subtle, and grand, exit. Horton Foote's intensely psychological drama, The Day Emily Married, is a piece that Artistic Director Jack Sbarbori famously brought to life, staging its world premiere and making Quotidian's reputation at the same time. His relationship with Foote has been a hallmark of Quotidian's work, and it's easy to see why.

In a triumphant return to its roots and a bittersweet farewell to the DC theater community, Quotidian Theatre Company will stage Horton Foote's beautiful meditation The Day Emily Married at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, opening August 6, 2021.

Reston Community Players continues its 53rd season with The Diary of Anne Frank, an impassioned drama about the lives of eight people hiding from the Nazis in a concealed storage attic. Based on a true story, Anne Frank tells the story of the two-year ordeal through the writings of the title character, whose optimism in the midst of a dark existence has served as a guide for generations. The Diary of Anne Frank runs February 28-March 14 at the Reston Community Center.

Horton Foote's NIGHT SEASONS, directed by Jack Sbarbori at the Quotidian Theatre Company, examines the nature of a life defined by money and greed, and the notion that perhaps living is the greatest punishment of all. Foote, best known for his 1962 screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird, delivers a quiet critique of capitalist culture and asks us to consider what "home" means. NIGHT SEASONS places us in Harrison Texas, 1963 on Josie Weems' (Jane Squier Bruns) 93rd birthday, though the play deals in flashbacks and the setting easily slips back and forth through 1923-1963 and the years in between. Josie Weems (Jane Squier Bruns) is the manipulative glue that holds the rambling Weems family together by subtly managing finances and allowing and prohibiting marriages at her discretion.

Quotidian Theatre Company wraps up the 2017 season with the Washington, DC area premiere of Horton Foote's NIGHT SEASONS.

Lovingly called "1984 for kids" or "The Hunger Games without the violence,' Lois Lowry's Newbery Award-winning book THE GIVER, adapted for the stage by Eric Coble, is now appearing Saturdays and Sundays at NextStop Theatre in Herndon, Virginia through March 12, 2017. Scroll down for a look at the sci-fi dystopian future created in the black box theatre space next to Reston Town Center, directed by Amanda Herman in her professional debut!

MIDDLETOWN by Will Eno, plays Thursdays through Sundays through February 7, 2016, at NextStop Theatre Company, in Herndon, Virginia. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

NextStop Theatre Company's 3rd professional season continues in January 2016 with the suburban dramatic comedy, Middletown. Will Eno's play echoes the beloved classic, Our Town. NextStop's production, directed by Michael Chamberlin, will open January 14 and run through February 7, 2016.

It is the sixteenth century in England and our rag tag tour guide is the Common Man. The Common Man takes you along as a witness to Sir Thomas More's clashes with King Henry VIII. Will Sir More, a prominent lawyer and statesman, stand up for his heartfelt beliefs or will he allow his fellow politicians to trump them?

'A Man For All Seasons', by Robert Bolt, plays Thursdays through Sundays until June 21, 2015 at NextStop Theatre Company, in Herndon, Virginia. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Following a season that included a best-selling production of 'The Iceman Cometh', the critically acclaimed three-person storytelling drama 'Faith Healer', and the highly successful US premiere of internationally renowned playwright Conor McPherson's 'The Veil', Quotidian Theatre Company opens its 17th season with a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler', updating the action of the play to the socially relevant climate of 1963 Georgetown. Quotidian's production runs October 24 - November 23 at The Writer's Center in downtown Bethesda.

The Quotidian Theater's production of Brian Friel's FAITH HEALER, features excellent acting and direction, a top-notch set, and costumes that are perfectly suited to the personality of each character and the time period. However, the play is unrelentingly sad.

Silver Spring Stage presents Red Herring by Michael Hollinger, directed and produced by Seth Ghitelman, an antic comedy of three love stories, a murder mystery, and a nuclear espionage plot set in 1952. Red Herring will perform weekends today, June 28 to July 27. Please note there will be no performances the holiday weekend of July 5-7.

Silver Spring Stage presents Red Herring by Michael Hollinger, directed and produced by Seth Ghitelman, an antic comedy of three love stories, a murder mystery, and a nuclear espionage plot set in 1952. Red Herring will perform weekends June 28 to July 27. Please note there will be no performances the holiday weekend of July 5-7.

Quotidian Theatre Company will continue its ongoing celebration of the works of playwrights Anton Chekhov and Brian Friel with a free reading of Friel's The Yalta Game, based on Chekhov's short story The Lady with the Lap Dog. The reading will be presented at Flashpoint's Mead Theatre Lab in Northwest DC on Monday, July 23 at 7:30pm.

Following this spring's successful run of Brian Friel's Irish drama Dancing at Lughnasa, The Quotidian Theatre Company pays tribute this July and August to one of its signature playwrights, Anton Chekhov, with a pair of one-act plays inspired by the Russian master, including a world-premiere adaptation.

Quotidian Theatre Company presents Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, April 20 - May 20 at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD 20815. Tickets are $25, or $20 for students or seniors, paid for at the door in cash or by check. Call 301-816-1023 or email quotidiantheatre@comcast.net to reserve.

Quotidian Theatre Company presents Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, April 20 - May 20 at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD 20815. Tickets are $25, or $20 for students or seniors, paid for at the door in cash or by check. Call 301-816-1023 or email quotidiantheatre@comcast.net to reserve.

November has over 60 more openings in the professional, community, universities, and children's theaters in the DC/MD/VA area. A week has already passed in November and over 20 new productions have opened. To read reviews of these shows, go to Maryland Theatre Guide, where I am the Editor and a columnist. A recent back surgery kept me from posting this earlier, so we have some catching up to do.