A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts

Maalke Laanstra-Corn as Hedvig, David Patrick Kelly as Old Elving, Nick Westtrate as Hjalmar, Melanie Field as Gina, and Alexander Hurr as Gregers in The Wild Duck at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Photo credit: Gerry Goodstein, We spend a lot of time these days questioning “truth.” We have been told that there are “alternative facts” and that “fake news” is rampant. Many of us have learned to question the veracity of information we receive and to bring into question the credibility of those who share that information, even when there is incontrovertible evidence that what is said is wholly truthful. “The truth will set you free” is an often-quoted maxim most of us have grown up hearing. It never occurred to me to try to trace the metamorphosis of that phrase, but I now know that it is Biblical. In the New Testament, the Gospel of John (8:32) quotes Jesus as saying, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Here, “the truth” is expressed in spiritual terms, but ...

  Bradley Gibson as Robert, Stanley Andrew Jackson as Walter, Wildlin Pierrevil as Frank, and Jeffrey Rashad as Tony in  Fremont Ave.  at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin. Reggie D. White’s Fremont Ave. receives an inspired production in its world premiere run at Washington’s Arena Stage, continuing through November 23, in a co-production with South Coast Repertory. White has a true gift for creating dialogue that is smart, snappy, character-appropriate, and by turns, raucously funny and poignantly moving. In a sense, White has given us three plays in one, unified by a family’s three generations – and some characteristics that are shared among them – in a single setting of a Los Angeles suburb over three decades. Under the deft direction of Lili-Anne Brown, the eight actors create a panorama that spans the years from 1968 through the 1990s, up to the 2020s. The changes in time are accomplished through costumes (designed by Jos N. Banks) and period music, as we...

  Jonathan Del Palmer (Marc Anthony) and Brandon Carter (Julius X) in Folger Theatre's production of  Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare,  written by Al Letson and directed by Nicole Brewer, on stage at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Photography by Erika Nizborski.  Julius X is subtitled, on the title page of the program, as “a re-envisioning of the tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.” It is a bold, creative, some might even say audacious, incorporation of the story of Malcolm X, the controversial civil rights activist who was assassinated in 1965, into this classic play. Playwright Al Letson has crafted this play using much of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar as a framework. Letson uses some of Shakespeare’s original dialogue, augmenting it with his own words. Much of the time Letson emulates Shakespeare’s language, while contemporizing much to fit the period (the mid-1960s) and location (Harlem). While this...