Karen Eleanor Wight and Max McLean get demonic in The Screwtape Letters. Photos by Gerry Goodstein. Though I had never written anything more easily, I never wrote with less enjoyment . . . though it was easy to twist one’s mind into the diabolical attitude, it was not fun, or not for long. The work into which I had to project myself while I spoke through Screwtape was all dust, grit, thirst, and itch….

At this week’s concerts, the National Symphony Orchestra premiered the new harp concerto that it commissioned from Mark Adamo. Adamo dedicated Four Angels to conductor Leonard Slatkin, who helped make the commission happen, and the NSO’s principal harpist, Dotian Levalier, for whom the solo part was created. On Friday night at the Kennedy Center, Slatkin led the NSO through a sensitive reading of this rather traditional but hauntingly lovely score. The first movement is named…

Memorial Day has come and gone, and we are now officially in the summer hiatus of the Classical Music Agenda. Here are some highlights for this week: in a week or two, this feature will take a well-deserved rest until Labor Day, when the classical concert schedule returns to full power. TOPS THIS WEEK: >> On Wednesday night, the excellent NPR radio program From the Top will be recorded in front of a live audience…

If you ask around, you’ll find a fair share of people who offer Fullerton, California’s Cold War Kids much affection. If your thing is fluid melodies, for instance, or taut pop hooks, you won’t find them in their repertoire. Their music could fairly be called repetitive. If you dressed sexy enough, I certainly wouldn’t kick you out of bed for calling them derivative. Some think their decision to release a full-length record distilled from previously…

DCist first told you about Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s documentary film Jesus Camp back in June, when it walked away with the Grand Jury Award from the SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Film Festival. Now paired up with Magnolia Pictures, Jesus Camp is currently at Landmark’s E Street Theater and has been making a big splash at box offices all over the country. The film follows a group of evangelical Christian kids from Missouri as they…

“I’ve gone God-hunting and caught one,” the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro marvels during the second act of The Royal Hunt Of The Sun. So he has…now what? That dilemma drives the brooding, compelling play now being staged to grand effect by Arlington’s Washington Shakespeare Company. The great, cynical leader Pizzaro (James Foster Jr.) is looking for one last shot at fame before he dies, despite his professed disdain for lofty ideals of glory and chivalry….

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Contrary to the commercial perception, today is much more than green beer and long lines (but don’t worry, DCist is always good for drinking tips for all occasions). Traditionally in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday commemorating the country’s patron saint, a 5th century bishop who is credited with bringing Christianity to the Emerald Isle. In fact, before 1995 pubs were closed by law in Ireland on the day….