In yet another sign that local arts and non-profit groups continue to struggle amid the recession, Catalyst Theater Company announced today that budget issues have forced them to cancel their last show of the season. In a message posted to the Northeast D.C. theater company’s Facebook page, Artistic Director Scott Fortier wrote that Catalyst’s production of Dan LeFranc’s Bruise Easy, which had been scheduled to run May 20 – June 21, has been scuttled…

Inserting a rap number into a 1930s Brechtian play-with-music takes a certain sort of chutzpah. Managing to elevate the work in the process: now, that’s just impressive. Catalyst Theater Company has definitely improved on the text of its latest production, Roundheads & Peakheads, a didactic little parable about class warfare and political maneuvering. The work’s connection to the current economic climate is undeniable, but Catalyst doesn’t dwell too much on beating us over the…

If Hitler had been a gangster, what color tie would he have worn? To some, that inquisitive trajectory is irrelevant and even downright disrespectful. Hitler was not only obsessed by power and violence, but a monster to whom, most would say, we should never extend the benefit of a psycho-history. To Bertolt Brecht, however, the value of an inquiry into Hitler the gangster outweighed the dangers. Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (pictured), now…

The nominations for the Helen Hayes Awards were announced last night, despite the cancellation of the traditional reception at the Canadian Embassy. As today’s Post notes, the nominations had their share of surprises. Not surprising, especially to veterans of the D.C. theater scene, was the dominance of the Kennedy Center (17 nominations), Signature Theatre (15 nominations) and the Shakespeare Theatre (14 nominations). With pockets significantly deeper than smaller theater companies, large theaters can spend significant…