In Synetic's production of Host and Guest, even the pantomimed act of suiting up for war is a thing of lyrical beauty. The show is based on an epic Georgian poem and a remounting of a previous production in response to the recent conflict in the region. The story of Host and Guest is a rather thin one - hunters from warring clans meet in forest. One brings the other home as his guest, but... [continue]

The election is practically around the corner, and with that comes... a timely opportunity for many local companies to delve into the world of political theater, it seems. What are we talking about? Well, RepStage is producing the politically-charged Intelligence (Oct. 8), Arena has the one-man show Citizen Josh (Oct. 9), Forum's Drunk Enough To Say I Love You? deals with U.S. foreign policy (Oct. 11), Journeymen's As America As has a homeland security theme... [continue]

Studio Theatre's The Road To Mecca can be a tense, devastating play, but it comes most alive when its characters are laughing. The playful, joyous friendship between an older artist and a young teacher in South Africa is the heart of Athol Fugard's play (also a film starring Kathy Bates). Their bond is one to envy, one where the two women challenge each other, inspire each other and make each other feel like children again... [continue]

For those familiar with the original work, there's something daunting about the fact that when intermission rolls around during Catalyst Theater's production of Christopher Gallu's adaption of 1984, we know that all there's really left to see is the interrogation scenes -- and they aren't going to be brief. The decision to divide the play at this point really drives home this version's emphasis on torture -- its brutality and more importantly, its futility,... [continue]

Ace runs at Signature Theater through Sept. 28. Signature Theater's Broadway-bound musical Ace has a story that is so much more appealing than its lyrics, that it's tempting to wonder whether the whole thing might have worked even better as a play. Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker have crafted a tale that reveals itself bit by bit, almost like a detective story. It centers around the ancestry of a young boy, Danny, who never... [continue]

Woo woo! The summer drought is over! Tons of companies are back this September with their season openings, and we'll try to catch as many as we can. Here are some highlights. Princess Leia does Arena! Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking premieres (Sept. 5). It's the Montagues versus the Capulets -- or Taffety Punk vs Shakespeare Theatre! As Shakespeare Theater stages an all-male, Willy-style version of the classic, the edgy company responds with an all-female version... [continue]

Jason Grote is certainly charming his way through the Washington theater scene. The young playwright first dazzled audiences this summer with his poignant, thought-provoking, sexy and even scary This Storm Is What We Call Progress. And while his Maria/Stuart, now being staged at Woolly Mammoth, doesn't have quite the grandeur of Storm, it still offers a tale of family dysfunction where the stakes are high, the words hit close to home, and there's still enough... [continue]

Open Circle Theater's production of "Story Theatre" easily whisks you back to the times right before bed when your mother was reading a book to you, or cozy hours in the library on a rug with the other little kids, hearing about the boy who cried wolf. The trouble with the production is it doesn't add any newness to those familiar, comfortable tales, making the production a slam dunk for kids, but one that won't... [continue]

Rabbit Hole is the most produced play this year nationally -- does this mean America likes its theater desperately, achingly sad? Much more likely, artistic directors appreciate the general brilliance of this Pulitzer Prize-winning work, which has been adeptly staged by Olney Theater. It's a production with a clean, contemporary look (notice the silvery, twisting trees adorning the streamlined house set) and a team of actors with the grace to carry the rapid, conversational... [continue]

Doug Kreeger and Nastascia Diaz star in Rooms: A Rock Romance, at MetroStage in Alexandria this month What the hell is one of the season's most vibrant, exciting new works doing debuting in August in an off-the-beaten-path, half empty Alexandria theater? It's a question best not dwelt upon for long - it's much more interesting to talk about the joys of Rooms: A Rock Romance, the new musical currently being showcased at MetroStage. Taking... [continue]

They don't call it the doldrums of August for nothing -- openings this month tend to be sparse. The silver lining? We've got quite a few sneaking up at the end of the month, and those shows that are premiering look pretty damn intriguing. Olney Theatre will take us down the Rabbit Hole, a play about a couple whose lives are changed by a tragic accident (Aug. 6). If Jason Grote's Maria-Stuart, premiering at Woolly,... [continue]

Thornton Wilder's The Skin Of Our Teeth, despite having won a Pulitzer, is a play that's hard to appreciate on anything more than an intellectual level. It's clear the author's intent (mostly a commentary on the devastation of war and how we're destined to repeat our mistakes). There are more than a few clever literary allusions, many of them Biblical. The play's dour, end-of-the-world message certainly resonates in contemporary times. And you have to give... [continue]

The thing about all those clichés like, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? They're actually kinda true. Iconicity, a smart offering from this year's Capital Fringe Festival, takes such sentiments to heart, and presents a meditation on the power of pictures through a theatrical lens. The title refers to the production's emphasis on iconic imagery and unforgettable, universal events. The "Where Were You?" sentiment we all fall prey to when discussing historical happenings of... [continue]

It might seem like a stretch to weave together a coming-of-age-story about two Korean-American girls with Alice In Wonderland and the Greek myth of Medea. But writer/performer Sue Jin Song does this with ease, and her one-woman show, Children of Medea at the Capital Fringe Festival, is a fascinating story performed by a compelling performer. Song embodies all the characters present in her narrative, namely two sisters and their emotionally-withdrawn father. The story teeters intriguingly... [continue]

Horatio Hornbeam likes nuts. In his mouth. And if you didn't get it the first time, you'll have dozens of reminders of this fact throughout the production of I Like Nuts! (The Musical), playing at Studio Theatre for the Capital Fringe Festival. The hammering home of such silliness is part of the charm of I Like Nuts!, but it also quickly wears thin. Those who are fans of the "Deez Nuts" school of humor should... [continue]

Is it possible to have a raucously good time at a production of a Greek tragedy? Those under the tents at the rocking performance of Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Roadside Revue Presents: The Orestia can answer the hypothetical with a resounding, "Yes!" The show, presented by the folks from Spooky Action Theater Company infuses the Aeschylus classic with a burlesque sensibility, and a rock score to boot. The Furies? Leather-clad, neon-wigged sex bombs with a chilling... [continue]

If Monday rolls around and you haven't spent all your cash on alcoholic refreshments for the 4th of July weekend, here's another way to get rid of your dough: Tickets for the Capital Fringe Festival are now on sale. Visit here to get a synopsis of each show running during the 18-day festival, and we can tell you, the selection is diverse. Cabaret, burlesque, one-man shows, operas about talk show hosts, clowns, samurai and Shakespeare.... [continue]

One word pretty much defines the D.C. theater scene in July, and that word is FRINGE. We’ll be providing exhaustive coverage of the Capital Fringe Festival as it draws closer, but know that it runs July 10 - 27. A list of shows is available here if you want to start planning in advance how to delegate your $15 per show. Some of D.C.’s theaters have Fringe offerings as well – keep your eyes open... [continue]

Rorschach's back, and in rare form. After a nearly year-long absence from the theater scene when it lost its performance space, the small but ambitious theater company is returning with a jam-packed schedule stuffed with three works running in July, including a four-part serial. If its first offering, a sexy and meditative staging of the world premiere This Storm Is What We Call Progress is an indication of things to come, we're in for an... [continue]

"But wait...there's a second act?" When the lights go out an hour and a half into Washington Shakespeare Company's Red Noses, it's a surprise when the curtain call doesn't follow. Though not every loose end has been tied up in the play, a humorous send-up of a religious troupe who turns to comedy to combat the devastation of the Black Plague, it's difficult to figure out what else the work has left to say.... [continue]