Studio Theater 2ndstage has a way with loopy sci-fi comedies, it seems. After their triumphant The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow last year, they now bring us tempOdyssey, a goofy, and at times, jarring look into the life of one unique temporary office worker. And while tempOdyssey at times lacks the bite and brilliance of Jenny Chow, it’s still a worthy entry into the medium of sharp and sassy sci-fi theater. TempOdyssey tells the story…

DCist theater critic Missy Frederick contributed to this report. Signature Theatre’s production of Urinetown took top honors at last night’s Helen Hayes Awards, D.C.’s local theater awards ceremony, taking home 8 prizes including director of a musical (Joe Calarco), choreographer (Karma Camp), four different acting awards (Will Gartshore is pictured right accepting his award for lead actor in a musical, which he shared in a tie with Michael McElroy from Big River), and outstanding resident…

Five pseudo-historical, pseudo-literary feminist icons from widely different eras are brought together by a modern-day executive for a dinner party. This arguably contrived premise is the initial basis for Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, now being staged by the Fountainhead Theater. The show’s conceit feels rather forced, and continues to puzzle during the second act, when all the main figures are dropped and the action shifts to a present-day story of that same executive and her…

Sexual intrigue, Hellen Keller and urine; that’s what area theaters have to offer us during the slow month of August, the dead time between the close of the ’04/’05 season and the beginning of the new one. In all seriousness, August still has plenty of offerings for D.C. theatergoers, as a bunch of well-received shows take final bows and a few exciting new productions make their debuts. People can’t stop tinkering with Les Liasons…

In a topsy-turvy world where Virginia’s Governor is a Democrat and Maryland’s Governor is a Republican, two recent moves in curricular politics seem to show that our enfranchised neighbors to the north and south are moving closer to being purple states. We mentioned in passing a couple months ago that in Maryland, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum and Parents and Friends of Gays and Ex-Gays have succeeded in having a restraining order against the Montgomery…

Consumed by an obsession to find your birth mother, while plagued by a serious case of obsessive compulsive disorder and some pesky agoraphobia to boot. What’s a poor girl to do? Clearly, it’s time to build a robot. That’s the conceit behind The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, the witty and moving production by the The Studio Theatre Secondstage team, now on the Milton Theatre stage through the end of the month. The play focuses…

FRIDAY >> Proving once again that country legends, unlike most rock stars, actually can age well, Wanda Jackson (pictured right) makes an appearance on the Black Cat mainstage tonight, where she will no doubt trot out classic hits like “Big Iron Skillet” and “Let’s Have A Party.” But with over 50 albums worth of songs to choose from, including some backed up by the Oak Ridge Boys, let’s hope she performs a few obscure numbers…