Photo by Raymond Bryson.
After a month where everything was coming up Chekhov, the D.C. theater scene is back to Shakespearean business as usual. We’ve got a punk take on a “bad” draft of Hamlet, an imagined life of two of Hamlet‘s most forgettable characters, and a play about zombies, which should also count because, you know, skulls.
Shakespearean or not, here are the shows on our radar this month:
NOW PLAYING
>>THE FIRE AND THE RAIN: In Constellation’s North American premiere, famed Indian playwright Girish Karnad uses some Shakespearean glue to bring ancient Indian fables to life. One of the titular elements—either fire or rain —is created through some spectacular special effects in the show finale. It’d be a spoiler to say which, so you’ll just have to take your chances. Through May 24.
>>HAMLET, THE FIRST QUARTO. The first “quarto” is the first published version of Hamlet; it’s also known as the “bad” quarto, being so full of errors that it’s thought to be either a first draft, piracy, or just a big Shakespearean mistake. Taffety Punk‘s theory is that this in fact makes it the superior version of Hamlet, though my own favorite will always be the Sassy Gay Friend version. Through May 23.
>>THE CALL Theater J presents this show at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. A pair of yuppies, finding themselves in want of a child but unable to conceive, decide to adopt a child from Africa. It proves to be an emotionally fraught process. Opens TONIGHT and plays through May 31.
>>THE ORIGINALIST Scalia—the sassiest Supreme Court Justice by far—is the subject of Arena Stage’s fictionalized look at the man’s inner life. The portrayal is apparently sympathetic to the point that our reviewer wonders if Scalia might be the justice you’d most want to grab a beer with. Probably not if you’re gay, though. Extended through May 31
>>MURDER BALLAD. Here’s what we said last month: For those in a mood to rock the pain away. A fairly bold experiment in theater from Studio, this rock musical promises an “immersive” audience experience. Studio is also stressing, presumably with a knowing wink, that full bar service is available prior to the show. Extended through May 31.
>>THE BLOOD QUILT We interviewed the director and some of the actors of Arena Stage‘s world premiere about what keeps a tight-knit (sorry) family from falling apart. Though it deals with siblings coming together after a death to squabble over an inheritance, I have been assured that this is not a southern adaptation of Bad Jews. Through June 7
OPENING SOON
>>CABARET Signature presents this famous musical set in the libertine, sleaze-celebrating nightclubs of pre-war Berlin (which was a pretty rockin’ place before the Nazis got to it), based on the 1970s Liza Minelli movie, based on a play, based on the stories of Christopher Isherwood. So, you know, the typical number of adaptation-layers of your average Broadway musical. Opens May 12, plays through June 28.
>>ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD Okay, this isn’t about zombies, but the premise is equally cool. This companion play fills in Hamlet’s gaps (perhaps we’re talking about the bad quarto?) by imagining the lives of two minor characters each time they step off stage in the bard’s original play. Aaron Posner directs, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with Chekhov. Opens May 12, through June 21.
>>ZOMBIE: THE AMERICAN The hotly anticipated season-closer for Woolly Mammoth focuses on the first openly gay President dealing with a potential zombie apocalypse. You could only hit more of my pop-culture buttons if there was a scene where the President rides on a dinosaur. We can only hope. Opens May 25, through June 21
OTHER PICKS
>>FREEDOM’S SONG at Ford’s Theater, through May 20
>>KAFKA’S METAMORPHOSIS, a remount of Alliance for New Music-Theatre’s creepy crawly show covered previously here, through May 17.
Have we overlooked a can’t-miss show? Leave a comment below and let us know
