Steven Carpenter News

Washington Stage Guild will present a 'heavenly' online performance of George Bernard Shaw's DON JUAN IN HELL, the famous dream sequence from his play MAN AND SUPERMAN. Until it's safe to gather in theatres again, they are inviting their audience to savor Shaw's witty, wise play from their own homes. 

Washington Stage Guild will present a 'heavenly' online performance of George Bernard Shaw's DON JUAN IN HELL, the famous dream sequence from his play MAN AND SUPERMAN. Until it's safe to gather in theatres again, we invite our audience to savor Shaw's witty, wise play from their own homes.

Read Washington Stage Guild's response to Covid-19:

The Washington Stage Guild brings its season of great writers to a close with the Washington premiere of Sam and Dede, or My Dinner with André the Giant by Gino DiIorio.

If there's a D.C. theater company that would approach presenting James Joyce, it'd be the literary-minded Washington Theatre Guild, which has made its mark by presenting everything written by George Bernard Shaw, among other ambitious projects.

The Washington Stage Guild continues its season of great writers with the Washington premiere of Bloomsday by Steven Dietz. This delicate, time-bending romance is set in James Joyce's Dublin on June 16th, the date on which Joyce's Ulysses is set. Robert returns to that city 35 years after meeting Caithleen on a walking tour of Joyce's Dublin. He and Cait meet again and revisit their youthful relationship, amid the echoes of Joyce's masterwork, and the missed connections of that earlier time in their lives. Helen Hayes Award winning Kasi Campbell will direct. A post-show discussion will follow the Sunday matinee on February 2nd, James Joyce's birthday.

If Charles Dickens were working today, he'd likely be enlisted to write for one of the serialized television dramas on which millions feed on and binge. In his day, the equivalent was writing serialized dramas for publication to boost readership.

The Washington Stage Guild continues its season of great writers with a vividly theatrical adaptation of one of Charles Dickens's novels, Hard Times. Dickens's tale of love, loss, and circus folk is set against the backdrop of Industrial Revolution England. This clever version, in which four actors play dozens of characters, has not been seen in Washington for over two decades!

Washington Stage Guild announces its 34th season, dedicated to plays by and about some of the past two centuries' greatest writers. The season will feature one of GB Shaw's most beloved plays, an adaptation of a classic novel by Charles Dickens, a play set in Dublin on Bloomsday when James Joyce's Ulysses takes place, and a play in which a 20th century intellectual giant encounters a physical one.  The Washington Stage Guild's 2019-2020 season will be a feast of language and thought that honors these storytellers in thrillingly theatrical ways.

Playwright Jon Klein will join the director and members of the cast of the current hit comedy Resolving Hedda for a post-show talkback on Saturday, March 30. The talkback, free to ticket holders, will begin at 5:00 pm, immediately following the Saturday matinee performance. 

Playwright Jon Klein will join the director and members of the cast of the current hit comedy Resolving Hedda for a post-show talkback on Saturday, March 30.  A resounding hit with critics and audiences, Resolving Hedda invites audiences to play along with a Hedda Gabler who breaks out of Ibsen's well-made play and wreaks comic havoc while her fellow characters struggle to adapt to their heroine's newfound rebellion. The talkback, free to ticket holders, will begin at 5:00 pm, immediately following the Saturday matinee performance.

Steven Carpenter is the director of Washington Stage Guild's latest production, 'Resolving Hedda,' a twist in the Isben classic, 'Hedda Gabler.' 'Resolving Hedda' is playing at the Washington Stage Guild through April 14th.

Life in the theatre is hard enough without having a diva in your show. As the title character in a well known play by a certain Norwegian playwright you would think that she would play along with what she was given. In this case the playwright is that king of mirth himself Henrik Ibsen and the diva in question is Hedda Gabler. Gabler, after many productions over the span of many years, decides she doesn't want to die by gunshot at the end of every performance. You might be asking how did she get this kind of power. For the answer you need to check out Washington Stage Guild's (WSG) hilarious and (per usual) well presented production of Jon Klein's Resolving Hedda. The show is a DC area premiere.

It's not easy being one of the most influential characters in modern drama, especially knowing you have to die at the end of every performance. What would happen if you simply refused to play along? And what would the other characters do? The Washington Stage Guild invites audiences to play along with a Hedda Gabler who breaks out of Ibsen's well-made play and wreaks comic havoc. Resolving Hedda, by Jon Klein promises laughter to all. Even those new to the story of Hedda, along with the most devoted lovers of the classic play, will delight to postmodern antics. Resolving Hedda opens Thursday, March 21 and runs through Sunday, April 14. Press opening performance will be on Sunday, March 24 at 2:30 pm.

The Washington Stage Guild presents the world premiere of All Save One by area playwright Greg Jones Ellis. Set in Hollywood 1950, this witty comedy-drama reveals what goes on behind closed doors when a world-famous writer, his actress wife and his longtime 'secretary' arrive from England, only to have their comfortable household disrupted by the arrival of a handsome young priest and a film producer with a secret of his own.

The Washington Stage Guild presents the world premiere of All Save One by area playwright Greg Jones Ellis. Set in Hollywood 1950, this witty comedy-drama reveals what goes on behind closed doors when a world-famous writer, his actress wife and his longtime "secretary" arrive from England, only to have their comfortable household disrupted by the arrival of a handsome young priest and a film producer with a secret of his own. Add a malicious young blackmailer, and this glimpse into how Hollywood dealt with private lives is by turns darkly funny and emotionally powerful. All Save One opens Thursday, Nov. 15 and runs through Sunday, December 9. NOTE: There is no performance on Thanksgiving (Nov. 22), but there is an added matinee performance on Friday, Nov. 23 at 2:30 pm. Press opening performance will be on Sunday, November 19 at 2:30 pm.

The Washington Stage Guild announced the stepping-down of Executive Director Ann Norton, one of WSG's Founding Members.  Norton's 32 years in leadership roles helped nurture the WSG into one of Washington's most respected and enduring theatre companies.  Her accomplishments will be celebrated at the Washington Stage Guild's 2018 gala, to be held at the Arts Club of Washington on Thursday, November 8. The theme of the gala, "An Affair to Remember," celebrates the Golden Age of Hollywood, the setting for the upcoming World Premiere of All Save One by area playwright Greg Jones Ellis, set in Los Angeles 1950.

The Washington Stage Guild announced the stepping-down of Executive Director Ann Norton, one of WSG's Founding Members. Norton's 32 years in leadership roles helped nurture the WSG into one of Washington's most respected and enduring theatre companies. Her accomplishments will be celebrated at the Washington Stage Guild's 2018 gala, to be held at the Arts Club of Washington on Thursday, November 8. The theme of the gala, "An Affair to Remember," celebrates the Golden Age of Hollywood, the setting for the upcoming World Premiere of All Save One by area playwright Greg Jones Ellis, set in Los Angeles 1950.

October is the ideal time to delve into the afterlife and commune with disquieted spirits. Washington Stage Guild presents the DC-area premiere of Summerland, the story of a post-Civil War "spirit photographer" to whom distraught mourners turn for images of their dead loved ones, and of the New York City police officer who is committed to prove he's a fraud.

A ghostly mystery begins a season of DC-area premiere productions by the Washington Stage Guild' (WSG). Summerland by Arlitia Jones tells the mysterious tale of William H. Mumler, a 'spirit photographer' with a talent for capturing haunting images from the world beyond the veil. The Civil War has ended, and a grieving nation sees many turning to spiritualism to contact the dead. Mumler sees his business boom as mourners, including a very famous one, flock to his studio. A New York City police official makes it his mission to prove it's a fraud, but finds that harder than he hoped. Based on a true story, this area premiere opens Thursday, Sept. 27 and runs through Sunday, October 21.