Forget Christmas shopping, paying your bills, reading articulate reviews on your favorite local blog. The Internet is for porn. Such is one of the life lessons the delightful Avenue Q, now playing at the National Theater, provides. The now-famous show is a Sesame Street for the post-college, ennui-ridden 20 or 30-something. This means it teaches us not to spell and know our colors, but instead how to cope with useless liberal arts degrees, commitment-phobic boyfriends…

It’s November, so most minds are on turkey and stuffing, but two theater companies are getting a jump on Christmas festivities. While we won’t see Ford Theater’s annual production of A Christmas Carol until December, both Arena Stage and Synetic Theater have their own take on the classic. Arena’s Christmas Carol 1941 emphasizes the DC Christmas experience (Nov 16), while Synetic’s promises to be more choreography-driven (Nov. 24). The relatively new company Spooky Action Theater…

Thank god for the Capital Fringe Festival. The event, now in its second year, makes sure that our July isn’t totally barren when it comes to edgy, exciting theater. We’ll be giving you a more detailed report on what the Fringe has to offer this year (hint: Avenue Q and Harry Potter parodies, Chocolate Jesuses and an operatic Lysistrata are among the choices), but here’s what the less fringified theaters around here will be up…

Though you might not realize it upon entering the poster-decked bar which probably would be right at home next to Don’t Tell Mama on Restaurant Row, the tiny back room of the Playbill Café has its very own puppet show going on. These puppets have a weightier task ahead of them than the jovial characters on Sesame Street, or even the dysfunctional lot over on Avenue Q. Puppets, and various other props, are what drive…

In May, the D.C. theater community has devils, Dorian and the deformed — and in Round House Bethesda’s case, an affection for alliteration that we apparently share. We love the work that Actors Theatre of Washington does, and their latest effort is “Mondays In May”, where for three days this month, they showcase new talent. We Wildephiles are particularly interested in what they’re going to do with The Picture Of Dorian Gray on May 8….