WASHINGTON, DC THEATER REVIEWS

Living in Connecticut eight years ago when a chimp being kept as a pet ripped the face off a neighbor, I found it tough to see anything but stark horror in the attack....

I can't resist: if you want to be thoroughly 'enchanted,' get thyself to Glen Echo Park (a worthwhile destination for many reasons), for the venerable Adventure Theatre's charming production of Ella Enchanted, a world premiere musical based on the beloved book by Gail Carson Levine. This stage adapt...

The theater space at the Spooky Action Theatre is so intimate you immediately feel you're in the tiny cabin where all its action in Jez Butterworth's play The River takes place....

ln the world premiere of I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, playwright and director Morgan Gould explores a friendship between two people who aren't 'normal.'...

There was a time on Broadway when acting couples made certain plays better than they actually were by giving tour-de-force performances. D.L. Coburn's The Gin Game is a prime example....

Clare Barron's apocalyptic play BABY SCREAMS MIRACLE is, fundamentally, an interesting and exceptionally written exploration of the forces of religion and of nature on one small town American family dealing with its own kind of inner turmoil. A uniformly strong cast under the direction of Artistic ...

THE MAGIC MARKSMAN (DER FREISHÜTZ) at George Mason University and present by Virginia Opera certainly offered a spectacle. Directed by Stephen Lawless, the show's well-crafted sets, designed by Benoit Dugardyn, brought you into the small German-esque town. The lighting, designed by Patricia Collins...

The material speaks for itself and gives the cast - and especially Nova Y. Payton - a chance to stretch their limits....

If the current state of U.S. relations with Russia seems dark and murky, it's opposite that in the Mariinsky Ballet's current offering at the Kennedy Center. The Little Humpbacked Horse is sunny and simple, light-hearted and soaring....

Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm's new play Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies, receiving its world premiere with Mosaic Theatre Company, examines the dangers of identity, prejudice and identity politics from a variety of angles. This is an unforgettable, complex study in identity that for all of its tric...

Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, AS YOU LIKE IT at the Folger Theatre is not your typical Shakespeare play experience. While the theater itself transports you to 1600s London in a replica of an Elizabethan theater, this version of the classic, comedic tale allows the audience to savor the productio...

Seen most recently in his unforgettable turn as Billy Bigelow in Arena Stage's CAROUSEL, Nicholas Rodriguez graces Signature Theatre with his own cabaret. Those in the DC area who have delighted in Rodriguez's take on traditional musical roles now get the chance to hear him croon, emote, and belt a ...

Highwood Theater in Silver Spring has been providing education in a 'community-produced' environment for more than 10 years, but recently has moved into producing professional theater in their new black box theater. I applaud the work that founder and Executive Director Kevin Kearney has been doing ...

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As with all classic ballets in order to bring it to the stage you must breathe new life into it, and create a narrative that balances fidelity to the original with the genius of the modern choreographer. Not to mention the unique talents and personalities of each dancer. Kevin McKenzie, ABT's Artist...

Albee's characters are shockingly volatile. They curse, they drink and they revel in inflecting pain. It's funny, heartbreaking and yes, slightly familiar. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? may have debuted in 1962 but the truth it provokes still feels relevant....

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Four towering music legends live on in a rousing, tune-filled walk down memory lane at Fredericksburg's Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. Fans of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins need look no further than the retrospective musical MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, now bringing audi...

Keegan Theatre's world premiere play Mack,Beth teaches us a few things about how not to do a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's Scottish play....

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Adventurous theatre-goers, take note: a short drive beyond the Beltway, just off the Dulles Access Road, sits Next Stop Theatre Company, a troupe with a growing reputation for solid acting; their current production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is an excellent introduction to the growing t...

Set during an air raid in London during World War II, Aquila Theatre's production follows radio actors from BBC who find themselves with an incomplete cast. Through quick thinking, they decide to continue despite the air raid. After all, the show must go on…with or without Poirot....

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In Washington D.C. we are at the center of political activity. Today we inaugurate the 45th President of the United States and tomorrow thousands are expected to attend the Women's March on Washington. In light of this, the world premiere of ROE at Arena Stage was all the more timely....

The Hard Problem is the brainchild of Czechoslovakian-born British playwright Sir Tom Stoppard. Contrary to all scientific intelligence, Hilary clings to the mysterious. In the spirit of the scientific method, the audience must as: but why? As Dramaturg Lauren Halvorsen notes so concisely, “the te...