The Anacostia Playhouse may not make it through the year if they don’t get nonprofit exemption status from the IRS.

Ian Blackwell Rogers, Rena Cherry Brown and Barry McEvoy in ‘Public Enemy’.Photo: Ian C. Armstrong Early in Kenneth Branagh’s career, the young phenom — already well established as an actor on the British stage and on the brink of being declared the heir apparent to Laurence Olivier as the premier cinematic interpreter of Shakespeare — tried his hand at playwriting. One of the two works that emerged during that period is this fascinating angle…

Our hearts are heavy as word reaches us that Bruce Robey, the co-founder of the Voice of the Hill newspaper and the H Street Playhouse, died Sunday night of an apparent heart attack. He was 65. Mark Segraves has a lovely tribute to Bruce up online already. The last time DCist spoke to Bruce, he was telling us all about his newly relaunched version of Hill-Talk, the online bulletin board that used to be an…

Nigel Reed in “The Woman Who Amuses Herself”. Courtesy Theater Alliance. So what was Mona Lisa really smiling about anyway? Was she thinking about a past romantic rendezvous? Wistfully reminiscing about days gone by? Wincing a little over a pesky toothache? Hearing third graders provide their theories on the eternal question (yes, that’s where the toothache theory’s coming from) is a chuckle-worthy aside during in Victor Lodato’s The Woman Who Amuses Herself, now getting…

It’s sometimes poetic. It’s sometimes haunting. It’s consistently, well, long. A hard sell, ’tis, this Portia Coughlin. Marina Carr ‘s allusive, surreal, and ultimately turgid play gets its D.C. premiere in a confused and confusing production by Solas Nua, the great theater company dedicated to works by living Irish dramatists. The show certainly doesn’t lack for ambition, but it’s somehow both overcooked and undernourished, boasting several fine performances but ultimately sunk by a muddled narrative,…

We would like to take a moment to thank this week’s advertisers on DCist. AMEX Urban Adventures, because big cities are full of little adventures. Rogue Wave, playing the Black Cat on November 5th. World War Z, perfect as Halloween is coming up. Ambition Facing West, at the H Street Playhouse. Travelzoo, with its Top 20 list on travel deals. DC Vote, with an event on October 23rd (that’s next Tuesday!). Busted Tees, where they’re…

As is the custom around these parts, we would like to take a moment to thank this weeks’ advertisers on DCist. AMEX Urban Adventures, because big cities are full of little adventures. DC Vote, with an event on October 23rd. Look Me In the Eye, which is apparently an instant best seller. Ambition Facing West, starting today at the H Street Playhouse. Busted Tees, where they have hoodies! If you’re interested in advertising on DCist…

After seeing two plays in a row based in a mental institution, it’s hard not to go a little crazy. But when the harrowing environment comes with the finessed performances and thoughtful themes of Theater Alliance’s latest, Blue/Orange, it’s worth the trial. In director Jeremy Skidmore’s Blue/Orange, two doctors are treating Christopher (Cedric Mays), a disturbed individual who may or may not be schizophrenic – and also thinks he’s the son of African dictator Idi…

Well folks, we’re down to the last three days of this city-wide performing-arts smorgasbord. If you are Fringing hardcore, now’s the time to catch up with the shows you missed last weekend. If you can’t take it anymore, gather with your fellow Fringers and Fringe artists at the Warehouse Friday and Saturday nights at midnight for drink specials and a handful of special performances Saturday night. But if you’re looking for more, head downtown to…

FRIDAY: >> Seems like everyone’s talking about the new nightlife options on H Street NE these days, thanks almost entirely to local bar Tsar Joe Englert. Englert’s latest creation, Showbar Presents the Palace of Wonders (though we hear a lot people refering to it simply as the Freak Show Bar) has been open for a few weeks already to mixed buzz — the decor is cool, the drinks are standard, and the food is…