WASHINGTON, DC THEATER REVIEWS

Synetic's latest work is taken from Kafka's novel THE TRIAL with elements borrowed from his other works, presented in the kinetic and bold theatrical style the 22-year old company has earned their renown. A perfect fusion of movement, stagecraft, text and performance, Synetic's THE TRIAL leaves a la...

The view looks pretty good from a pair of platform shoes. Heck, even on an idyllic, Greek island resort there's not a moment of stress and strain that can't be cured by breaking into the hits of Sweden's number one pop group, ABBA. If you want to get your groove back to the tune of 'Dancing Queen,' ...

Composers and librettists were the stars Saturday night at The Kennedy Center's triple world premiere. For six years, the American Opera Initiative Festival (AOI) has selected three composer-librettist teams to create their own 20-minute operas under the guidance of a seasoned composer and librettis...

Washington Stage Guild had a hit last year with the 1940s Americana romance 'Last Train to Nibroc,' so it's natural to want to stage the sequel by Arlene Hutton featuring the same pair of actors as the appealing couple, Lexi Langs and Wood Van Meter....

The Wolves boasts an all-female cast and the lack of any male in a play set in the male-dominated world of sports is innovative...Just girls being girls, in whatever way they see fit....

Shakespeare's CYMBELINE may be named for the play's king, but his daughter Imogen is the real star of the tale, the center of the action. Pointless Theatre's original adaptation by playwright-director Charlie Marie McGrath corrects the misnomer in a version entitled IMOGEN, which uses creative chore...

Jonathan Safran Foer's 2002 semi-autobiographical debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated, is a riveting portrayal of one man's quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis at the start of World War II. While the journey of the central character, Jonathan, is the focus of the book...

In the course of American history there have been 44 men to become President of the United States. In the course of just under two hours, 5 very capable women embody those 44 men, plus their wives, mistresses, political opponents, and everyone's favorite non-POTUS, Benjamin Franklin....

THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH at Constellation Theatre is a thought-provoking, skillfully-rendered reminder that chaos and uncertainty are not unique to our time or to any single time. In the sure directorial hands of Mary Hall Surface, Thornton Wilder's masterpiece is a wild time-traveling, allegorical t...

The DC premiere of Theresa Rebeck's satire THE WAY OF THE WORLD is adapted from a Restoration-era classic by William Congreve, but it couldn't be more contemporary and on trend. With biting wit and visual flair, it delivers timeless social commentary for the Kardashian (and Trumpian) age. Can true l...

In the wake of a marathon holiday season, there is a helluvah lot to love about Stephen Karam's Tony Award-Winning The Humans....

The second annual Women's Voices Theater Festival's first entry is the follow up to the hit play Queens Girl in the World, an entry in the first festival in 2015....

It's fun and sometimes that's all you need....

Individually, they might amuse the captive audience of a cruise ship. But combining five magicians in one show under the name The Illusionists has proven to be a popular attraction worldwide ever since it was first devised in Australia nearly six years ago. With its revolving casts of not quite hous...

Soaring vocals, stunning costumes, weepy theatre goers: these are all things you expect at a production of LES MISERABLES. But a pace that leaves you reeling and energized? I didn't realize that was possible. The pacing, oh the pacing! This touring production of Cameron Mackintosh's production of Bo...

As seasonal offerings go, An Irish Carol is perfect for those who love the narrative arc of Dickens' original, and who could use the spiritual uplift, but who are sick to death of Marleys in chains, let alone all those cheery Fezziwigs. Down-to-earth, but with heart, it shines to remind us that ther...

Theatre Prometheus' world premiere, SOLDIER POET, is a compelling work, richly rendered. In an intimate theater space with fresh and compelling actors, a persuasive script, and inspired scenic design, SOLDIER POET aptly and successfully reminds us of our shared responsibilities and human connections...

As the holidays kick into, high gear there is no better way to spend the season than with an evening of holiday music played by the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) conducted by Maestro Steven Reineke....

One of my first big assignments after I moved to Washington was tracking all the places that Duke Ellington lived, went to school, worked, hung out and performed with his orchestra in the city. I could walk to most of them....

When the opening night curtain rose on the final work of an emotional night - the last performances of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet that has been in residence at the Kennedy Center for 15 years - there was applause even before there was any movement....

Riddled with anachronisms and enough irreverent potshots to keep your naughty inner child sated through the New Year, The Second City's Twist Your Dickens is just the ticket for a crowd of world-weary Washingtonians....

For the cynics among us who need to look beyond THE NUTCRACKER and A CHRISTMAS CAROL for holiday entertainment, THE SANTALAND DIARIES at Drafthouse Comedy Theater offers a quirky alternative. Cameron Folmar plays a disaffected department store Christmas elf in this consistently funny solo show adapt...

In many ways, the holiday season is about schmaltz and sentimentality, when it's okay to let yourself appreciate old-fashioned pleasures and crank up favorite songs. The In Series' AN OPERETTA HOLIDAY unabashedly embraces this spirit, serving up a frothy cabaret of romantic songs from THE MERRY WIDO...

Bergman's protege Liv Ullmann directed the film version of Private Confessions in 1996, and now with the arrival of the centennial of Bergman's birth, Ullmann has returned to the scene of Bergman's heartbreak, with added depth and humanity....

Under Ryan Rilette's excellent direction, a uniformly marvelous cast gives one of the best ensemble performances I've seen this season of a very strong play....