Rene Auberjonois and Nancy Robinette star in Shakespeare Theater's The Imaginary Invalid. It takes a nerd showing up for things to really get going in Shakespeare Theater's production of The Imaginary Invalid. And this is one hell of a nerd. As Thomas Diafoirus, unwelcome suitor to the young Angelique, Levi Ben-Israel has the bushy red hair, the dorky glasses. He sputters, sniffles and belches through his awkward advances to the young heiress, all the......

That Mark Antony was really a master manipulator. Watching the statesman (Andrew Long) effortlessly work a crowd is one of the many joys of Shakespeare Theater's Julius Caesar, now playing at Sidney Harman Hall. The company has finally found a production that, in the capable hands of director David Muse, befits the grandeur of the company's massive new space. Dan Kremer plays Caesar as an out-of-touch, ego-driven leader bound by superstition and plagued with bouts......

Shakespeare Theater's production of Argonautika is one of the most visually-stunning works we've seen in quite some time on the D.C. stage. And it's not just something pretty - director Mary Zimmerman, who also wrote the piece, has taken a wholly imaginative approach to representing this somewhat familiar Greek tale of hubris, adventure and tragedy. The Argonautika is a journey tale, like many Greek myths. Our hero Jason is nephew to Pelias, who has......

The DC theater community is starting the year off right with...no more productions of A Christmas Carol. Seriously, there's plenty to like in January, from gutsy works to brand-new musicals. The Neo-Futurists (pictured) are back! Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind, which our critic Chris Klimek loved, makes a return engagement at Woolly Mammoth (Jan. 4). Stick 'em up! The American Century Theater gets nostalgic for police dramas with their production of Cops......

Shakespeare Theater's Tamburlaine has a snazzy new venue, a gravitas-heavy star and some looming special effects. If only the play were a little more interesting. Maybe Rorschach Theater's recent sexy treatment of Tamburlaine scribe Christopher Marlowe has heightened our expectations — how could a figure with such a dashing, myth-heavy past produce such a lumbering, monotonous work? Unfortunately, even the author's more lyrical moments can't hold our attention for this three hour-plus extravaganza.......

Pitiable...arresting...bad-ass...shrew? Charlayne Woodard's portrayal of the infamous Kate in Shakespeare Theatre's The Taming of the Shrew defies one-word description. She's an integral part of what's so appealing about Rebecca Bayla Taichman's take on the show, a production which almost manages to overcome the sexist undercurrents of the work itself. For those who missed English class that day (or have never seen Kiss Me Kate, or Ten Things I Hate About You, or that "Moonlighting" episode...),......

While no major event on the schedule this week trumps all others, there are several concerts that will merit your attention. Three of them are scheduled for Thursday night. If contemporary music was the headliner last week, this week it is early music. >> Opera Lafayette's bread and butter is in presenting obscure Baroque operas, usually French, sung by exceptional voices and with the help of their fine instrumental ensemble. The group opens its season......

They’re baaaaack. The area’s theater companies, that is. September marks season opener time for quite a few groups around town. Here are some of the highlights: This weekend kicks things off with the Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage festival. Get a free first look at some of the new plays premiering around town this season. Lots of stuff looks interesting -- a new take on Kafka's The Trial from Catalyst, Ken Ludwig's version of The......

Rogue and peasant slave? Try petulant teenager. Jeffrey Carlson’s take on the title character of Shakespeare Theater’s production of Hamlet, is much more a pouting, stubborn young man rather than a noble, conflicted individual. At first, Carlson’s Hamlet seems a bit affected. He's constantly sniffing, as if a coke addict, and it seems for awhile that his steady whining will be too much to handle for the entirety of a three-hour production. But his portrayal......

It's a weird month when you've got no Broadway tours hitting Warner or National, but still can easily fit in four musicals. And if you're not a song and dance man (or woman), there's always three versions of Hamlet to choose from. Welcome to June in D.C. theater! Here are the highlights: About those musicals: Lloyd Webber descends upon D.C., with Kennedy Center staging The Phantom of the Opera (June 20) and Wolf Trap hosting......

It’s summertime (well, springtime anyway) and the living’s easy…if you’re a Shakespeare fan. Theaters in the area have traditionally offered free Bard fare during the year’s warmer months, and with the Shakespeare in Washington Festival drawing to a close at the end of June, Will aficionados have even more options. Here are the highlights: Shakespeare Theater’s Free For All is always one of the more anticipated theater events of the year. From May 24 through......

So the big winners at last night’s Helen Hayes awards were… puppets? Indeed, Aaron Posner’s unique vision for Measure for Measure, produced at the Folger this year, where puppets took on many of the play’s roles, earned him a best director trophy (he tied with Michael Kahn, for his zany take on Love’s Labor Lost), as well as the award for Outstanding Resident Play. Signature Theater’s Assassins won the most awards of the night with......

Shakespearan works are often known for their pathos and their poetry. In Titus Andronicus, however, it’s all about the bloody. A slick production of the gruesome tragedy is now being staged by http://www.shakespearedc.org/ ">Shakespeare Theater Company as part of the Shakespeare in Washington festival. The story starts off pretty slowly, mired in complicated political intrigue that fails to fully engage. Then, the limbs start coming off, and things proceed swiftly from there. Titus is at......

Well, they don’t call it Shakespeare in Washington for nothing. This month brings quite the selection of Bard-tastic choices. We’ve got Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare Theater (April 3), The As-You-Like-It-inspired She Stoops to Comedy at Woolly Mammoth (April 1), and The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Coriolanus at the Kennedy Center (April 13). Plus, Edward III just opened this week at Washington Shakespeare Company, and even Lord John Marbury's in DC this weekend, doing the......

It's official: we're going to have no social life this January, as there are too many great productions premiering this month for us to do anything else but plays, plays, plays. We've got a ridiculous amount of Shakespeare, a beloved Sondheim musical, a new work by an old favorite, and we haven't even gotten to Kathleen Turner. It's a good month to be a theater lover. We adore Neil LaBute here at DCist, even though......

So if October's the month for spooky productions and December is the time to get in the holiday spirit, what does November mean for D.C. Theater? Looks like this month, it means a diverse catalogue of everything from Chinese Elvises to Katie Couric (ok, maybe some theaters are apparently still thinking "scary"). Actors' Theater of Washington has the camp-tastic Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy, which will serve as a late-night follow-up to its current production,......

So much theater, so little time...that's what DC theater fans will lament as they view the hefty list of Beltway-bound openings this month. Enough introduction: let's leave room to showcase everything from Kushner to Capote. Not to be confused with the Jennifer Lopez/Ben Affleck disaster, there's Woolly Mammoth's The Gigli Concert, focuses on an Englishman's love for women and vodka which features a struggling Englishman in Dublin who is faced with a client with a......

December may have been classic musical central, but January brings a new year and host of exciting options, heavy topics and renowned playwrights showcased by local theatres. Opening this week is Studio Theatre's anticipated Neil LaBute Festival, highlighting the work of the often-caustic man responsible for, among other things, The Shape of Things and In The Company Of Men. The festival kicks off with Fat Pig, which explores whether a man can overcome his friends'......

The third annual Barracks Row festival will be held this Saturday from 11-5, on, you guessed it, Barracks Row. The festival will feature musical performances; a dog show; and over 70 vendors selling art work, gift items, and food. If you haven't been to Barracks Row and are curious, this is the perfect opportunity to see what some have (perhaps a little prematurely) called "the next Georgetown." The Barracks Row strip (the 500-700 blocks of......

If you were hoping to catch the latest production of the Washington Shakespeare Company time is running out. Their engagement of "The Tempest" at the Clark Street Playhouse" ends Sept. 5. Although the Washington City Paper called the production (in print only) " ... often pretty, occasionally moving, alternately intriguing and infuriating ... It is, to say the least, rather uneven," DCist enjoys a little Shakespeare now and again. It might also help to keep......