Cue Connie Francis’ “
It’s June in D.C., which means a rise in heat, humidity, and the appeal of taking in a nice (air conditioned) show. When the next heat wave encourages sloth-like behavior and drives you indoors, you might encounter some similarly languid characters: we’ve got ones stuck in theatrical purgatories, mired in quarter-life crises, and trapped in a closet (I could be joking about that last one, but how would you know unless you keep reading?!). In any case, we’ve got a whole lot of waiting going on, and some of it is surprisingly gripping. Here’s a selection of shows playing this month:
NOW PLAYING
>>MARY-KATE OLSEN IS IN LOVE: J.D. Salinger’s novella Franny & Zooey famously features a protagonist who spends roughly the entire story sprawled out on her couch, talking about her feelings. Mallery Avidon’s boldly surreal play takes that formula and doubles it; two (largely recumbent) young adults who have failed to achieve their dreams are mired down in their Millennial malaise, until (hallucinatory?) visions of the Olsen twins and video game soldiers haunt them into doing something, anything with their lives. Studio’s 2NDStage production, much like a weekly therapist session, runs about 70 minutes and encourages you/wheedles you into facing your feelings head on. Through June 21.
>>ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD Tom Stoppard’s play, up now at Folger Theatre, features the oft-confused-for-each-other characters from Hamlet trapped in a back-stage purgatory whenever Shakespeare’s plot doesn’t have use for them. There’s a lot of waiting around, though in director Aaron Posner’s hands (with some clever cuts from the script and some of the best acting I’ve seen in recent memory) the ill-fated duo’s story is urgent, and that much more entertaining. Through June 21.
>>A TALE OF TWO CITIES It was the best of times, it was the Conchita Wurst of times. We spoke with the creative minds behind this show at Synetic Theater and the challenges involved in doing acrobatic stunts in high heels and a towering wig. Through June 21.
>>ZOMBIE: THE AMERICAN We also spoke with the zombies that inhabit the White House basement in Robert O’Hara’s semi-apocalyptic season-closer for Woolly Mammoth. The show spends perhaps half of its run time sketching together a lore that seems to run deeper than the Silmarillion, packed as it is with mystical minerals, global floods, the walking dead, diplomatic disputes, affairs with clones. Such numerous and disparate plot fragments might make for a compelling world examined—slowly— over a 6 season run on HBO; racing through all of them in the course of two hours is enough to make your head spin (all the better for the zombies to catch you unaware, perhaps). Through June 21.
>>CABARET You can check out our review here. Here’s our summary from last month’s guide: 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. Through June 28.
JUMPERS FOR GOALPOSTS Our reviewer wrote that Studio‘s show, which focuses on a seemingly mundane slice of pub team football life, packs a surprisingly deep emotional punch. The play is “joyful and humiliating, raucous and debilitating” and one of our top picks for the month. Through June 21.
JARRY INSIDE OUT Alfred Jarry is best known for his play Ubu Roi, a comedy that flouted all sorts of cultural rules (and is often cited as a forerunner to Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism) when it premiered in 1896. Jarry’s own outlandish behavior made him a legendary figure in fin-de-siècle Paris, and it his short life that Spooky Action’s Jarry Inside Out takes for its source material. “Jarry’s outrageous creation, Ubu, is known. But the story of Jarry’s life is not, and his life is even wilder than his creation,” said artistic director Richard Henrich. “Not simply a bad boy cut-up and rabble rouser, Jarry methodically set about breaking all the rules and upending conventions. His goal was to redefine reality and see it with new eyes.” Through June 21.
NSFW Yes, you can go ahead and click that link at work. Round House Theatre takes the acronym of our time and pairs it with a biting comedy about media and sexuality in this American premiere. Through June 21.
POTTED POTTER If you’ve avoided reading or watching or audio-booking the Harry Potter series, you’re probably some kind of monster or something, but you’re also in luck: the touring 70-minute reduction is making a return to the Shakespeare Theatre Company and should get you quickly up to speed on everything from what muggles are to solving the mystery of just which dastardly character kills Dumbledore. Through June 21.
SOURCE FESTIVAL: Fear theatrical commitment? The Source Festival’s 10-minute plays are here for you. The 18 original shorts are divided into three intriguing theme sets—science and soulmates, love and botany, mistakes and media—that you each can see separately. The festival also debuts three full-length plays and three works that have been masterminded on “artistic blind dates” (teams of three artists from different disciplines come together over four months to create something). Through June 28.
OPENING SOON
THE BOOK OF MORMON You’ve heard about this show even if you actively avoid hearing anything about Broadway. Your chance to catch the Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Robert Lopez musical without having to Bolt Bus up to New York is here again, as the touring production is about to make its second stop at the Kennedy Center. From June 16 through August 16.
LAST CHANCE
>> THE SHIPMENT Forum Theatre, whose tagline is “plays that start conversations,” puts race front and center in this provocative three-part comedy. Closes on June 13.
Have we overlooked a can’t miss show? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
