Theater

She riffed about parole officers, sang to white audiences about racial injustice, and used cuss words as adjectives — that’s Billie Holiday, compellingly reincarnated with fresh depth and dynamism in Mosaic Theater Company’s production of…

Some called her an elitist; others said she coddled her students too much. But her biggest flaw? A fiery passion for inclusive education. In the early 1900s, Anna Julia Cooper, a respected Black academic and activist, fought to…

In an oft-quoted 1780 letter to Abigail Adams, then-Envoy to France John Adams declared, “I must study Politicks and War, that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy … in order to give their Children a right to study…

The distance between The Avett Brothers’ upbringing in Concord, North Carolina, and the 19th-century whaling industry of New Bedford, Massachusetts, spans hundreds of miles and several lifetimes. But in Swept Away, a new musical that asks…

For the unacclimated, an advertisement for William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale might conjure images of holiday stories that are often seen on stage this time of year. But DC audiences will find a twisting, tangled yarn spun of jealous…

From the moment one walks into the Atlas Performing Arts Center for Dominique Morisseau’s Confederates, it is clear that the audience is about to be transported. In this new production by Mosaic Theater Company, sparse patches of…

Standing at nearly 6 feet 4 inches, Atlanta Mayor Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. was a formidable presence in national Democratic politics, both in spirit and stature, for three decades. Now, in Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard, a…

Eleven years ago, celebrated Ukrainian playwright Sasha Denisova won Russia’s highest theater prize. That play was one of 25 she has produced in Moscow. Today, though, none of her plays are performed there, or anywhere in Russia for…

Sammi Cannold’s Evita begins and ends with the same striking image: an angelic white gown floating over rolling fields of white flowers. The metaphor isn't difficult to discern as the world continues to grapple with the legacies of Eva…

Toting a bottle of beer, Clyde (Dee Dee Batteast) comes on stage clad in a busty denim dress, a synthetic wig from the local beauty supply and a little too much blush. With gusto that can only be earned from a hard-knock life, she comes to…

The High Ground, a new play by Nathan Alan Davis, poses a fundamental question: “What is a love story?” In attempting to answer, Davis manipulates time and loss to deliver a metaphoric "love" story centered around the Tulsa Race…

DC theater company Edge of the Universe Players 2 will release on Wednesday its first-ever audio play — a production of Anton Chekhov’s comedy short, The Marriage Proposal. Adapting a stage performance to an auditory-only experience,…

DC theaters may soon be struggling with the economic impact of the new coronavirus as theatergoers choose to stay at home or are forced to do so.  In San Francisco, municipal officials ordered a 14-day halt to performances and other…

Once you know who wrote the play, there's little doubt about whether Dear Jack, Dear Louise has a happy ending. The playwright — Ken Ludwig, one of DC’s most prolific and most produced comedic theater writers — is the younger son of the…

How often have you flung up your hands and decried this moment of “political theater” in the United States? Richard III — showing through Sunday at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall — stands among Shakespeare’s great works…

It was in high school that Paul Scanlan stumbled into the notion that he was good at acting — a realization that has paid off. Scanlan, who grew up in Olney, Md., and attended Catholic University, is back home through the holidays as part…

This fall brings an abundance of DC theatrical offerings for all ages. Whether your tastes run to Shakespeare or something more recent, chances are you will find it in the listings below, which provide a sampling of what local theaters are…

It’s been a long hard climb, but the Anacostia Playhouse reached its five-year milestone this month — with flying colors. The small flexible theater, known as a “black box,” is located a few blocks from the Frederick Douglass house in…