WASHINGTON, DC THEATER REVIEWS

It is mere coincidence that Anaïs Mitchell’s remarkable, Tony Award-winning Hadestown, now being given a solid production at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, debuted on Broadway just before our twenty-month plague began, but it fits. Mitchell’s story is at bottom a moral call to arms, which ...

Arena Stage’s production of Celia and Fidel, directed by Molly Smith, is a fast-paced drama set within Cuban politics during Castro’s dictatorship. ...

Fans of the original staging of the 'Fall of the House of Usher' and theater-goers who enjoy productions with a bit of a spooky element for this time of year will likely enjoy the performance. But fans of Poe – the man, or just his other works – may need to temper their expectations....

MY LORD, WHAT A NIGHT at Ford's Theatre is a fascinating story of a surprising friendship developing at a critical time in history. We don’t see the characters as mythological beings in this production, thanks to the expert cast we are drawn to the approachable – very human – personal stakes, ...

David Strathairn amazes in this tour-de-force one-man play, at Shakespeare Theatre Company through October 17. He portrays the Polish resistance fighter and diplomat who tried to warn the world about the Nazis' decimation of the Jews....

The Paul Taylor Dance Company has brought a brief but cheerfully charming program to the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center for a short run through October 9. It's a thirst-quenching performance after our drought. The two pieces run less than 90 minutes, and time will fly because you will be. ...

It seems fitting, in many ways, to return to live theater with such an incredible and incredibly well told story of optimism, humor, and resilience. Theater J’s season opener is a beautiful, thoughtful biography of a woman who can remind us of the value of intimate, loving relationships and how to...

It’s rare that you come across a new adaptation of a classic text that feels groundbreaking and new while still retaining the heart of the original. But Quixote Nuevo by Octavio Solis, currently playing at the Round House Theatre, is just that....

A dramatic reading of letters Shaw exchanged with the actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell reveals the strong-willed woman who captured Shaw’s heart and inspired the playwright’s iconic Eliza Doolittle....

'The Picnics: A Nitwit Dyptich,' makes a perfect dessert to an evening of binge-watching your favorite historical drama, a perfect hors-d'oeuvre before diving into that meaty documentary series. At 14 minutes, it's also just the right, bite-size for a mid-day snack. Which is, actually, kinda what i...

Is it possible that Richard III, had he been beloved by those around him notwithstanding his hunchback, would have abandoned ambition and treachery and instead become a loving and gentle mentor and guardian to Edward V?  Would he have gracefully stepped aside when the young King reached his majorit...

Returning to Shakespeare Theatre Company for a limited pre-season engagement after its original run was cut short in March 2020, Whitney White’s stunning production of James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner offers a resounding “welcome home” to theater lovers set hopelessly adrift over the past eig...

While Labor Day weekend marked the unofficial end of summer it also marked Signature Theatre’s return to presenting LIVE entertainment. In this case, it was not in the cozy confines of their home in Shirlington but at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap. The concert entitled Broadway in the Park marked...

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall was lined with lawn chairs and picnic blankets, and the surrounding lawns were packed with thousands of people eagerly awaiting a performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. These outdoor theatergoers were gat...

Led by the masterful Mabel del Pozo in the title role and Luz Nicolás as her aunt, GALA Hispanic Theatre has mounted a nuanced and visually rich production of Federico García Lorca's 1935 play, Doña Rosita la soltera, adapted by Nando López....

Ragamala Dance Company’s Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim is a beautiful, meditative piece that makes the most of the Kennedy Center’s new outdoor space on the REACH campus. For this reviewer it was the first in-person performance since Covid began, and its transportive qualities...

Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Toni Stone at Arena Stage, directed by Pam MacKinnon, gives Toni (Santoya Fields) the power to tell her own story — the way she wants to tell it. ...

The mouthie from Southie was knocked up in high school and her now-grown daughter, Joyce, is disabled. Unreliable help from her landlady, the aptly named Dottie (Linda High) makes Margie late to work as a dollar-store cashier, so she loses yet another job. Without the nine-something an hour, how wil...

The pandemic has thrown traditional events like the National Symphony Orchestra's annual Labor Day concert for a loop for two years running. Held for years on the West Lawn of the Capitol, it had to be broadcast last year to an audience parked at RFK stadium, watching on screens and listening to the...

The Kennedy Center's Performances for Young Audiences season is back, and it kicked off with a world premiere adaptation of the young adult fantasy classic A Wind in the Door. The whirlwind performance brings the novel's unique blend of sci-fi and whimsical poetry to life....

Is it time to hold God (inhabiting the body of Jacob Yeh) to account?  God knows – forgive the reference – we have occasion to do so.  Even as we hunker, masked, vaccinated and socially distant, within the confines of NextStop Theatre Company, we add more counts to our indictment – a terribl...

How could you not love a play about theater critics? Especially where, as in Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound, now available in virtual format through Spooky Action Theater’s website, the critics are pompous, abrasive and criminally uninformed. Moon (Robert Bowen Smith) and Birdboot (Stev...

Constellation Theatre welcomes audiences back to in-person performances with MOON MAN WALK, a sweet, funny, tender meditation on love, connection, and the people in our lives we need to get by. MOON MAN WALK brings together a gifted cast, beautiful scenic elements, and deep and endearing storytellin...

Written by Jeremy Keith Hunter, a DC-based multidisciplinary artist, and John King, a theatre-maker from Dublin, Side-Walks is a “visual short story about finding yourself after a year of isolation” and is the culmination of a pandemic-long collaboration between the two playwrights and Solas Nua...