Washington, DC Theater Reviews
BWW Review: NEW WORKS 2020 (& BEYOND)
by Barbara Trainin Blank - August 04, 2020
Contemporary Dance is a collaborative style, including modern and ballet elements, as well as sometimes jazz and hip hop. This fusion is the trademark of Chamber Dance Project, the D.C.—based company, with founding artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning at its helm....
BWW Review: Synetic Theatre's Midsummer 'Decameron' Series an Amazing Cornucopia of Talent
by Andrew White - July 09, 2020
Starting this Friday, July 10, the artists at Synetic have found the answer to your summer doldrums, which are now magnified beyond endurance by social-distancing rules: a series of video vignettes inspired by the ultimate in pandemic lit, Giovanni Boccaccio's a?oeDecameron.a??...
BWW Review: NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE'S PRODUCTION OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
by Barbara Trainin Blank - May 04, 2020
There is much to admire in this streamed production of one of Shakespeare's lesser-performed but highly dramatic play. It isn't a work with many famous lines — though it has some — but Antony & Cleopatra makes up for it with action....
BWW Review: THE REALISTIC JONESES at Spooky Action Theater
by Roger Catlin - March 17, 2020
It may have been unrealistic to open a new play amid the coronavirus pandemic, but 'The Realistic Joneses' did just that on Saturday at Spooky Action Theatre, a group whose name inspires no further confidence (it's named after Einstein's term for quantum entanglement - the ability of separate object...
BWW Review: Arena Stage's CELIA AND FIDEL An Emotionally Taut, Gripping Piece of Revolutionary History
by Andrew White - March 16, 2020
Eduardo Machado's Celia and Fidel, set at the beginning of the Mariel Boatlift crisis in 1980, explores the bravado, self-delusion, frustration and paranoia that were the hallmarks of Fidel Castro's rule over Cuba. Director Molly Smith has worked her cast into a taut, suspenseful emotional pitch, wi...
BWW Review: Brave Spirits' HENRY THE FIFTH Rounds out their History Rep in Sobering, Moving Style
by Andrew White - March 15, 2020
Forget the Cherry Blossoms, folks, they'll be gone before you know it. Brave Spirits' Histories rep, cultivated, rested and ready, will be where it's at when our theatres re-open. Their a?oeHenry the Fifth,a?? as with all the other plays in the current cycle, is full of surprises and fresh interpre...
BWW Review: PASS OVER at STUDIO THEATRE
by Jenny Minich - March 11, 2020
Captivating with precision dialogue, Pass Over does more for its' audiences' edification in one hour than most playwrights are able to accomplish in two....
BWW Review: MUSEUM 2040 at 4615 Theatre Company
by Rachael F. Goldberg - March 10, 2020
'Museum 2040' is a stunning, meticulous look at the future we face if we don't break out of the cycles that have become a part of American life. Renee Calarco's world-building is impressively, hauntingly, realistic, and it's beautifully brought to life by 4615's incredible cast and crew....
BWW Review: EINSTEIN'S WIFE at ExPats Theatre
BWW Review: HEAD OVER HEELS at Monumental Theatre Company
BWW Review: BANDSTAND at The National Theatre
by Sophie Williams - March 05, 2020
Bandstand had its Broadway opening in 2017, unfortunately closing the same year, but racking up a Tony for Best Choreography....
BWW Review: SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER at Avant Bard Theatre
by Roger Catlin - March 04, 2020
Tennessee Williams, in his lifetime, wrote more than 70 one-act plays - some just sketches, many that went unpublished until after his death in 1983 at 71....
BWW Review: Washington National Opera's SAMSON AND DELILAH at the Kennedy Center
by Roger Catlin - March 04, 2020
Bad haircuts can be tragic, but none more so than for Samson, the Biblical figure whose strength was sapped the moment his mullet was gone. The treacherous shearing by a revenge-seeking Delilah launched centuries of retelling, including Camille Saint-Saëns' opera 'Samson and Delilah' which the Washi...
BWW Review: DEMO: NOW 2O20 at Kennedy Center
by Barbara Trainin Blank - March 03, 2020
It was a misty, later rainy night, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the audience at Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater watching DEMO: Now 2020. They greeted the musicians and dancers, directed and curated by Damian Woetzel, with standing ovations and loud, prolonged applause....
BWW Review: EASY WOMEN SMOKING LOOSE CIGARETTES at Signature Theatre
by Rachael F. Goldberg - March 02, 2020
'Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes' is a smart, insightful show with an incredibly talented cast and production team. It's a heartfelt, surprisingly funny, and achingly realistic portrayal of a family struggling with their demons, brought to life by an outstanding team....
BWW Review: DON GIOVANNI at Washington National Opera
by James McQuillen - March 02, 2020
Some unclear choices keep a beautifully-designed and often well-sung GIOVANNI from making the impact it intends to....
BWW Review: THIS BITTER EARTH at Theater Alliance
by Roger Catlin - March 02, 2020
Write what you know, authors are often advised. And 'This Bitter Earth,' a vivid tale from prolific playwright Harrison David Rivers reflects a partnership between a back writer and a white activist in Minnesota that is very similar to his own....
BWW Review: AN EVENING WITH NORM LEWIS at Kennedy Center
by Jennifer Perry - March 01, 2020
Backed by the DC area's own incredible pianist Howard Breitbart on piano, Perry Cavari on drums, and Dylan Shamat on bass, Norm impressed from beginning to end, making the trip to the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater well worth the trip....
BWW Review: SUICIDE.CHAT.ROOM Revived at Taffety Punk
BWW Review: TIMON OF ATHENS at Shakespeare Theatre Company
by Roger Catlin - February 27, 2020
The week the stock market erases its year's gains may be just the right time to open a not-often produced play about swift changes in fortune....
BWW Review: THE WANDERERS at Theater J
by Brandon Horwin - February 26, 2020
Theater J, located in Washington, DC's Jewish Community Center focuses its work on celebrating and bringing light to the Jewish culture and its people. Anna Ziegler's The Wanderers is no exception to this mission. This is the fourth Ziegler play that Theater J has produced and its one that is sure t...
BWW Review: ORDINARY DAYS at NextStop Theatre Company
by Jenny Minich - February 25, 2020
If you're looking for an easily-digestible theatre experience featuring a charming and watchable cast of characters, ORDINARY DAYS at NextStop Theatre is just the ticket....
BWW Review: WEEP from Nu Sass Productions at Caos On F
by Roger Catlin - February 24, 2020
Walking into the Nu Sass world premiere 'Weep' is like stepping into the living and work space of its characters....
BWW Review: All Praise THE AMEN CORNER at The Shakespeare Theatre
by Benjamin Tomchik - February 20, 2020
The Amen Corner shows the role faith can play when there is almost nowhere left to turn. This alone is a powerful statement about the American experience....
BWW Review: THUMBELINA at Imagination Stage
by Jane Horwitz - February 19, 2020
We may live in a high-tech age, but little ones still love to draw and make stuff with paper, paste and crayons. And that low-tech delight is exactly what fuels Thumbelina at Imagination Stage, with its interweaving of hand and shadow puppets, paper cut-outs, hand-drawn animation and real actors....
