Monica Shores

Recent Actions

• Posted 26 Miles Is Far From Typical Female Fare to DCist
  A scene from Round House's 26 Miles. Round House Theatre's production of 26 Miles will lose potential audience members with its plot synopsis, which features the words "mother," "daughter" and "heart-warming," and conjures up thoughts of Steel Magnolias and chick flicks. Yet there's barely any hugging, crying or any stereotypically feminine gestures iin this intelligent exploration of divorce and estrangement. Thanks to a solid script by Quiara Alegria Hudes, 26 Miles rises well above...
• Posted Studio Theatre's Moonlight Obscures More Than Illuminates to DCist
  Andy (Ted van Griethuysen) and Bel (Sybil Lines) in Harold Printer’s "Moonlight." The Studio Theatre made an ambitious move when choosing to open their season with Harold Pinter's Moonlight. At the performance I attended, the house lights came up to hesitant, confused applause and the most common refrain among those leaving was a simple "I didn't get it." Pinter is not a playwright who readily lends himself to "getting"; his name is most closely...
• Posted Camille Flounces, but Often Falls Flat to DCist
  The cast of Washington Shakespeare Company's "Camille". In Washington Shakespeare Company's staging of the comedic drag classic Camille (A Tearjerker), the story centers on Marguerite, a freewheeling but sickly prostitute with an assortment of silly friends, who falls in love with the penniless Armand. The cast is all male, save for one curious exception, and even actors who actually play men often join in with boa-wearing and lip-synching. Director Christopher Henley recreates the original...
• Commented on Fringe Festival: <i>Dancing To Ancient Rhythms</i>
  Ms. McLane, And thank you for your comment! My reaction to that particular piece may have been related to the venue. I was sitting on the side, flatly parallel to you, and I imagine your movements were intended to be...
• Posted Fringe Festival: Dancing To Ancient Rhythms to DCist
  "Ancient Rhythms" at the Fringe Festival If you’re a sucker for rainbow headscarves, insistent beats, and sequins, you’ll be instantly charmed by this enthusiastic Fringe Festival contribution from D.C.'s Ancient Rhythms Dance Company. The costumes are dazzling and the performers are all great showmen, though the choreography doesn’t always take advantage of the dancers' energy. When the narrator promises at the show’s opening to dive into “the transcendent and the mundane,” she delivers. The...