A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts

 \ Jacob Ming-Trent in How Shakespeare Saved My Life at Folger Theatre. Photo credit: Erika Nizborski. In September 2025, I reviewed Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Merry Wives , an updated adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor as filtered through award-winning playwright Jocelyn Bioh. I wrote the following about the actor playing one of the leading roles: “Jacob Ming-Trent is having a wonderful time as Falstaff, the crude, disheveled mountain of a man whose presence is so real one could almost smell his stench. Ming-Trent gives a charismatic performance in his first STC appearance.” How Shakespeare Saved My Life is Ming-Trent’s personal story of his relationship to Shakespeare, as introduced by a high school teacher. The high school student found his inspiration in the words of the world’s most famous playwright and began to consider (and call) himself from an early age “a Shakespearean actor.” Shakespeare served as a beacon for a young man ...

  Justin Weaks, who created and performs A Fine Madness at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Photo credit: Christina Daniels. It should come as no surprise that the current offering by the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, which will be performed at various DC locations, is something that defies easy classification. A Fine Madness , conceived and performed by Justin Weaks, is not a play (as he makes clear early on), but it is a kind of storytelling.   Weaks is a talented actor who memorably impressed me in his Helen Hayes Award-winning performance in Arena Stage’s 2023 production of Angels in America: Millennium Approaches . Here, he takes on the role of himself. A Fine Madness is a personal, timely, insightful, 90 minutes of group therapy, audience participation, reflection, and triumph, not just for Weaks, but for the audience as well. A Fine Madness has its roots in the lockdowns of 2020 in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the memory of which every audience member over 15 or so ...