A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts

  Adeoye as Leonardo in The Noteboo ks of Leonardo Da Vinci . Photo Credit: Liz Larsen. Washington’s Shakespeare Theatre Company presentation of the Goodman Theatre (of Chicago) production of The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci , written and directed by Mary Zimmerman, is currently playing at the STC’s Klein (formerly Lansburgh) Theatre. Reflecting on this unique theatre experience, I realized this is not a “play.” It may be more accurately portrayed as a theatrical event, an artistic endeavor, or a piece of performance art. One of my reference points took me back to my college studies of oral interpretation. In those days, “oral interpretation” meant that the performers held manuscripts and engaged in limited movement while performing works of literature. Oral interpretation’s definition is no longer that limited, often incorporating movement and dispensing with the manuscripts.  Zimmerman is an artistic associate at the Goodman where she has directed 17 productions in the pas...

  Todd Scofield (Edward Seton), Baize Buzan (Linda Seton), Olivia Hebert (Julia Seton), Sean Wiberg (Johnny Case), and John Austin (Ned Seton) in Holiday running October 7 through November 6, 2022 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Photo by Margot Schulman. The current offering at Washington’s Arena Stage is Holiday , a 1928 play by Philip Barry. The Artistic Director’s note on the play emphasizes that it is a romantic comedy. She reminds us that the 1938 film starred Cary Grant  and Katharine Hepburn, who would reunite in the 1940 film “The Philadelphia Story” (in which they were joined by Jimmy Stewart), also based on a Philip Barry play. Yes, there is romance and comedy, but there is more to it than that. It occurred to me that the play is really a comedy of manners. Because it has been many years since I studied (and then taught) theatre history, I wanted to make certain that my memory was correct as to what, exactly, is meant by “comedy of manners....

  Stephen Pasquale and Gamblers, "Luck Be a Lady Tonight." Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel/the Kennedy Center Much has been written about the “Golden Age” of Broadway musicals, roughly from the advent of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! in 1943 to the arrival of the “rock” musical epitomized by Hair , which debuted in 1968, ushering in the Age of Aquarius. The Golden Age was a period of great “book” musicals, with a focus on plot and musicality. Broadway songs regularly became pop music standards. What might be construed as appropriate material for musicals expanded as subjects became more serious. After all, South Pacific was about war and racism, one of the title characters in The King and I died on stage after an exploration of privilege and sexism, West Side Story gave us gang warfare in New York, Fiddler on the Roof showed the expulsion of Jews as part of a Russian pogrom, and Cabaret demonstrated the rise of the Nazis in pre-war Germany. Heady stuff; you could easi...

  Full Disclosure: at this time 45 years ago, as a graduate student in drama at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, I was preparing to direct a production of The Good Doctor as part of thesis requirements for a Master of Fine Arts degree. The production was presented in December 1977. At the suggestion of the theatre faculty, I increased the cast from five  to seven in order to provide two more actors with performance opportunities. My preparation included in-depth research on the play, its author, its inspiration, and its original production. The production was critically well-received (and more importantly, ultimately approved by my thesis committee). In the intervening years, I never saw the play produced, only a version PBS aired in 1978. I was, therefore, especially looking forward to the current production by the Washington Stage Guild (WSG) at the Undercroft Theatre. Pardon me for quoting my thesis as I described why I wanted to direct the play: The Goo...

The Trip to Bountiful is one of several plays by Pulitzer Prize-winner Horton Foote that document lives of ordinary people in or from small Texas towns in the 1900s. (Foote also won Oscars for his screenplays of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Tender Mercies.”) Currently at the historic Ford's  Theatre, the play is perfectly suited for Ford’s intimate space in this well-crafted production. Mrs. Carrie Watts is miserable in her current circumstances. An energetic woman of advanced years, she shares a tiny Houston apartment in the years after World War II with her son, Ludie, and his shrewish wife, Jessie Mae. Everything that Carrie does, from her hymn singing to her “running” through the apartment, grates on Jessie Mae. Ludie tries to keep things peaceful, but he is now decidedly more his wife’s husband than his mother’s son. Any peace between them is bound to be fragile and, ultimately, short-lived. If only. If only Carrie can get back to Bountiful, the small town on the southeas...

  I haven’t read The Color Purple , Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel. It has been (and continues to be) the subject of much book-banning for a variety of reasons, including violence, language, drugs, and sexuality. I saw the 1985 film by Steven Spielberg when it was released; only vague images remain in my memory. I did not see either the 2005 original or 2015 revival of the musical version of The Color Purple , so this was as close to a brand-new experience as possible. When I learned that the remarkably talented Nova Y. Payton would take the starring role of Celie in the production at Arlington’s Signature Theatre, I was quick to purchase my ticket. (A film version of the musical is planned.) The plot follows Celie from the age of 14, abused and pregnant with her father’s child, as she marries a brutal man called Mister, who continues her abuse. Celie’s only comfort is her relationship with her sister, Nettie. When Mister attempts to assault Nettie, Nettie leave...

  Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is many things: a comedy, a romance, a fantasy, even a revenge drama. The most often produced of Shakespeare’s plays, it has always been a fan favorite. I had my own experiences with it, once upon a time, many, many years ago, when I acted in a college production of it – as Peter Quince, the carpenter who directs “the play within the play.” I have never been a Shakespeare purist. I celebrate colorblind casting and have seen well-executed performances by women playing male characters. (Remember, all of Shakespeare’s plays were originally staged with men playing all of the roles.) I’ve seen successful productions that were set in different time periods. I remember a touring production of Much Ado About Nothing set in 1950s Cuba that I saw in Durham, NC, over 30 years ago. But this “adaptation” of Shakespeare’s play, produced by the Washington’s Folger Theatre at the National Building Museum this summer, was “impure” enough to bring out a...