A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts

  Manuel Oliver in Guac . When introducing his family, wife Patricia is first. Photo courtesy of Public Theatre NYC. (Note: The t-shirt worn on opening night had a different slogan, as described below.) I wish there was no reason for me to know these places: Columbine. San dy Hook. Uvalde. Parkland. And too many more. But I do know those places – and others like them. Every month, it seems, there is another to add to the list. This month, it’s Antioch High School in Nashville. Another school shooting. Each one, a call to action. And in each case, some people claim that it’s inappropriate to politicize what happened. But we know, deep down, that things don’t have to be this way. It’s an American phenomenon, where politicians are under the thumb of the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby. As a result, the concerns over the ability to own automatic weapons overrides concerns about any children who are denied life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness because of gun viole...

  Kimberly Gilbert as Heidi in What the Constitution Means to Me at Round House Theatre, Bethesda, MD. Photo by Kent Kondo. At its most fundamental level, theatre is a form of storytelling in which the storyteller relates events and emotions he or she has experienced in a way that allows the listener to understand and benefit on some level. It may be merely the consideration of a different viewpoint or something of more consequence. What is currently unfolding on the stage at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre (continuing through February 16) is a matter of consequence. What the Constitution Means to Me , written and originally performed by Heidi Schreck, is an autobiographical recounting of Heidi, following her from the age of 15 to adulthood. As time progresses, so does young Heidi’s understanding of and relationship to the United States Constitution. The play received acclaim for productions at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, then off-Broadway, on Broadway, and on tour (including a s...

  Erin Weaver as Pseudolus and Mike Millan as Hysterium in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum . Photo credit: Christopher Mueller. If there is even a sliver of a doubt as to what you will see in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (could “funny” be in the title of something that didn’t at least try for comedy?), by the time the opening number (“Comedy Tonight”) is over, any semblance of doubt will be vanquished. With Funny Thing , what you are told to expect you can bank on – particularly when the musical comedy is in the extremely capable hands of director/choreographer Matthew Gardiner and many of the regulars at Arlington’s Signature Theatre. Signature has been lauded as one of the premier venues in the country for musicals and has made much of its reputation on producing the works of Stephen Sondheim. Funny Thing is vintage Sondheim, the first Broadway production for which he wrote both the lyrics and the music, after writing noteworthy lyrics for his f...

  Armando Dur á n as Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile . Photo credit: T. Charles Erickson Photography.  When a new adaptation (by Ken Ludwig) of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile was announced as the first production to be directed by Hana S. Sharif, who succeeded Molly Smith as Arena Stage’s artistic director, I was surprised. Based on her artistic director bio, and having heard her speak at various openings this past year, I expected something more cutting-edge, more socially conscious, reflecting her penchant for new works and plays concerning underrepresented groups. Yes, this is technically a new work, but a plot-heavy mystery about a group of well-to-do characters set in 1937 was an unexpected choice. But in Sharif’s bio as the play’s director, the first credit mentioned is another Agatha Christie chestnut, Murder on the Orient Express . Perhaps the choice is not as unexpected as it seemed. Plays and films based on Agatha Christie’s mysteries ha...

Patrick Page in his one-man show,  All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain , at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo credit: Julieta Cervantes. All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain , created and performed by Patrick Page, is the current offering (through December 29) on the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre stage. Directed by STC’s artistic director, Simon Godwin, it is, strictly speaking, not a play: it is so much more than that. It is an event, a spellbinding performance, a master class in classical acting (and acting in general), an entrancing lecture about Shakespeare’s genius, and a persuasive argument that Shakespeare is responsible for the villain as we know it today. Page created All the Devils during the pandemic. It was first performed on film, presented online by STC. The performance won major awards when it was presented off-Broadway in the spring (Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama Desk Awards for O...

  The cast of Leopoldstadt  at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo credit: Teresa Castracane. Sir Tom Stoppard may well be the most awarded and one of the most often-produced playwrights of the past 60 years, since bursting upon the scene in 1967 with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead . He is the most honored playwright in Broadway history, having won the Tony Award for Best Play a record five times, including for this play in 2023. Leopoldstadt may be the crowning achievement of his career. He has said that it is perhaps his final play (he is now 87 years old) and in some ways, it is his most personal. Leopoldstadt is a sweeping epic regarding four generations of a Jewish family in Vienna, which at the turn of the 19 th to 20 th century may well have been the cultural center of western civilization, fostering achievement in literature, music, poetry, and philosophy, in addition to the advent of psychoanalysis. The play takes its title from the “Jewish ghetto” of Vien...

The cast of The Second City's  Dance Like There's Black People Watching , (L to R) Breon Arzell, Julius Shanks II, Tameika Chavis, Max Thomas, Jillian Ebanks, and Arlieta Hall. Photo credit: Teresa Castracane. Clearly, the Second City production of Dance Like There’s Black People Watching (hereafter referred to as Dance ) is more of a “show” than a play. Perhaps the most appropriate way for me to describe it is as an experience, unlike any you probably have ever seen. Developed improvisationally by its cast and director Rob Wilson, it provides for an outrageously funny - but also pointedly political – evening of theatrical entertainment. Woolly Mammoth welcomes this production by the Chicago-based company in a very liberal political city just as a presidential election has been held. First, let’s deal with that title. Intriguing, but somewhat misleading, though for one moment in the show, during improvisation with an audience member, a White person does, in fact, dance for the...