Washington Stage Guild Season Continues With ARMS AND THE MAN

The Washington Stage Guild's 2023-2024 season continues with the playwright the company has most frequently produced (30 productions of 27 plays), G.B. Shaw and his play Arms and the Man. Directed by Michael Rothhaar (Mrs. Warren's Profession), the director reunites with Stage Guild founding member Lynn Steinmetz, who appeared in his Mrs. Warren's Profession, and was in last season's The Good Doctor. Performances run November 16 to December 10, 2023, with four Pay-What-You-Can previews November 16 to 18 at the Washington Stage Guild's home, The Undercroft Theatre in the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Opening/Press performance is Sunday, November 19 at 2:30pm.

 

ABOUT THE PLAY

Shaw shatters romantic illusions about love and war in one of his most sparkling comedies. In the aftermath of the Serbo-Bulgarian war of 1885, heroes turn out to be hypocrites and cowards turn out to be heroes. What is a romantic girl to do when she realizes she may be in love with the wrong one? First produced by the Stage Guild in 1992, Arms and the Man makes a welcome return in a fresh take.

“Since our very inception in 1986, Shaw has been a constant on our stages," says Artistic Director Bill Largess. "His witty, brilliant works are seldom seen elsewhere nowadays so audiences from around the world have come to depend on us to keep them alive and available. It's always a pleasure to explore his plays, and it's particularly fun to revisit Arms and the Man, last seen at the Stage Guild in a fondly remembered 1992 production.”

 

“When you sit down with Bernard Shaw, it's like facing an expert and very crafty card player. You never know what you will be dealt, but you know it will be a fascinating hand. And he always slides over a card or two from the bottom of the deck,” says director Michael Rothhaar. “At first glance, Arms and the Man seems like a straightforward, realistic, romantic comedy. But it soon transforms into a double-edged sabre that carves up not just the notion of romantic ideals, but also the sturdy idolatry of military heroism. What's more, Shaw pulls this off in a very satisfying comic tour de force. This is my fourth production for The Washington Stage Guild, all of them Shaw plays. And I cannot think of a better company with which to work on a Shaw play than the Guild. It is a genuine thrill. And one further pleasure is the chance to work with Lynn Steinmetz yet again.”

 

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays. With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Arms and the Man was first produced in April 1894 at the Avenue Theatre in London and first published in 1898. The first Broadway production opened in September 1894 at New York City's Herald Square Theatre. Its title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid, "Of arms and the man I sing."

 

The Washington Stage Guild has produced 27 of Shaw's plays (including several one act plays).

 

ABOUT THE TEAM

The cast of Arms and the Man includes Lynn Steinmetz, a founding company member of WSG, most recently in the company's The Good Doctor, Mrs. Warren's Profession, and The Nibroc Trilogy, and has performed with Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and Olney Theatre Center; as well as Diana Afriye-Opoku who is excited to be making her debut with Washington Stage Guild following productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Pandemic Project, Isle of Noises, Facing, and How to Bruise Gracefully at James Madison University; Thomas Daniels, making his professional DMV debut after treading the boards in school, NYC, and at other regional theatres, including State of the Union and The Jewish King Lear at Metropolitan Playhouse, A Child's Christmas in Wales at Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Sherlock Holmes at Lake Dillon Theatre Company, Robin Hood and Sleuth at Winnipesaukee Playhouse, and Peter and the Starcatcher and A Moon for the Misbegotten at Playhouse on Park, CT), among others; Nick Depinto, who last performed in WSG's It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play in 2016, and has appeared most recently in Maple & Vine at Spooky Action Theatre, productions at Shakespeare Theater Company, The Kennedy Center, Olney Theatre Center, Constellation Theatre, Ally Theatre, 1st Stage and many other stages around town, has performed on three continents, including in London & Stratford Upon Avon, and on Amazon Prime can be seen in Meant to be Broken; Matty Griffiths, a freelance actor and director and former Executive Director/Founder of City Artistic Partnerships who returns to WSG after last season's Endgame, and appeared in Gwen & Ida (Nu Sass), Clothes for a Summer Hotel (Rainbow Theatre Project), and Driving Miss Daisy (Anacostia Playhouse); Zack Powell, making his WSG debut, is a DC/Baltimore based actor and a Resident Company Member at Everyman Theater where he has done The Sound Inside, The Lion in Winter, Sense and Sensibility, and The Skin of Our Teeth and next appears in The Book Club Play this spring, plus regional credits including Red Velvet at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Shear Madness at The Kennedy Center, Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood at Cleveland Playhouse, and The Legend of Georgia McBride at Round House Theatre, among others; and Em Whitworth, a NYC/DC-based theater maker whose selected stage acting credits include recent productions of The Pitchfork Disney at Red Rat (also producer) and Maple & Vine at Spooky Action Theater, as well as Rude Mechanics at Bridge Street Theater, Maybe She Dies with The Kennedy Center/Open Circle Theater, The Minotaur at American Theater of Actors, and Nathan The Wise with Theater J/Folger Theatre, and recently served as the movement coordinator for Monstress for Flying V.

 

Arms and the Man is directed by Michael Rothhaar, a Stage Guild Shaw veteran. He returns to the company where he directed Mrs. Warren's Profession in 2022 and 1991 and The Millionairess in 1992. Michael served as the Artistic Director of Pennsylvania's Allenberry Playhouse from 1987 to 1992, directing 40 productions, notably Lettice and Lovage, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Agnes of God, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls and My Fair Lady. He has also directed numerous productions at Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre and Pacific Resident Theatre, including the Los Angeles premiere of Becky's New Car, Theatre of NOTE, and the Ensemble Theatre of Santa Barbara. His production of The Hasty Heart won the 2007 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Revival.

 

The production team includes Joseph Musumeci (Scenic Design), Marianne Meadows (Lighting Design), Cheryl Yancey (Costume Design), Marcus Darnley (Sound Designer), Cole Harriston (Assistant Director), and Arthur Nordlie (Production Stage Manager).

 

DATES & TICKETS

Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw runs November 16 to December 10, 2023, with performances Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2:30pm & 8pm, and Sunday at 2:30pm. The run begins with four Pay-What-You-Can performances Thursday, November 16 at 7:30pm, Friday, November 17 at 8pm, and Saturday, November 18 at 2:30pm & 8pm (Pay What You Can tickets can be purchased for any cash price at the door beginning one hour prior to curtain). Opening/Press performance is Sunday, November 19 at 2:30pm.

 

All tickets are General Admission and are $50 Thursday & Saturday/Sunday matinees, $60 Friday & Saturday evenings. Student Admission is half-price with a valid Student ID. Senior Citizens 65 years and up get $10 OFF General Admission Prices. Groups of 10 or more get half-price tickets. Purchase at https://stageguild.org/buy-tickets/