BWW Review: PANKRÁC '45 at Expats Theatre
Recriminations, reprisals and heart wrenching ruminations ensue as a group of five women face a time of purges and fear in the harrowing play Pankrác ’45. Set in the infamous Pankrác Prison of Czechoslovakia during the end of the Nazi occupation in the year 1945, this trenchant and absorbing play by Czech Playwright Martina Kinská is an interesting melding of an historical context set against five very interesting character studies.
Avant Bard Theatre Announces Next Season
Avant Bard Theatre today announced its next season, which marks a grateful return to live theatre after more than a year of remote performances and programming. This season also marks the first under Avant Bard’s five producing partners: artistic leaders Megan Behm, DeMone Seraphin, Alyssa Sanders, Dina Soltan, and Sara Barker.
Full Cast Has Been Announced For Avant Bard Theatre's Spring Repertory
Avant Bard Theatre has announced the full cast for the launch of their 30th Anniversary Mainstage Season, the Avant Bard Spring Repertory. The Rep features Avant Bard's long-awaited return to Tennessee Williams with Suddenly Last Summer, directed by Artistic Director Emeritus Christopher Henley.
BWW Review: SEA at Scena Theatre
I have to hand it to Scena Theatre- they consistently elevate interesting, international work. Director Robert McNamara brings Jon Fosse's SEA to DC for its US debut performance at the intimate DC Arts Center, and the performance will surely leave you thinking. Norwegian playwright Fosse, one of Europe's most performed dramatists, has been translated into over 40 languages and, in 2010, won the biggest prize in global theatre- the Ibsen award. There were moments on opening night when all the stars aligned: persuasive acting, poignant dialogue, precise movements, and inspired casting. There were also moments when pacing, language, and the play's inherent incomprehensibility made engaging with Fosse's work difficult.
BWW Review: WSC Avant Bard's A MISANTHROPE a Classic Farce
Director Megan Behm has embraced the world of old French farce, and crafted a contemporary satire that is as frenetic and slap-stick as it is wickedly witty. Minnicino's rhyming couplets constantly leave you gasping for breath with laughter, and every single member of the cast has honed their characters to their sharpest comic edge. There isn't a moment, a word, or a gesture wasted, and the way the actors literally throw themselves into their roles is a pure joy to watch.
BWW Interview: Matt Minnicino of A MISANTHROPE at WSC Avant Bard
WSC Avant Bard's Script in Play Festival, started in 2016, has been an opportunity to test out shows for full production treatment through the guise of a series of staged readings and post-play discussions. Written and performed by rising professional talent, these readings have led to some memorable productions, including new versions of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night and Lauren Gunderson's hit Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight. In 2017, a reading of playwright Matt Minnicino's 'distillation' - not 'adaptation,' as we get into below - of Moliere's The Misanthrope was performed. Written entirely in rhyming couplets, it follows a professional cynic who falls in love with an ingenue, and finds his devotion to insincerity tested. Now, it's the capper of Avant Bard's 29th season. I spoke to Minnicino about his career thus far, the adaptation process, and why audiences should be excited for this show.
BWW Review: Scena Theatre Puts a Hollywood Spin on Oscar Wilde's WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
Now playing at the Atlas Performing Arts Center is an all-female, 1930s Tinseltown take on Oscar Wilde's WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, directed by Robert McNamara. It's an undeniably creative angle to approach Wilde, in the vein of Scena's previous gender-bending production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, and it has its share of funny and dramatic moments. However, its busy design and occasionally manic delivery miss the mark at times.
Avant Bard Announces Extension Of EMILIE by Lauren Gunderson
Avant Bard announces a one-week extension of Emilie: La Marquise Du Ch telet Defends Her Life Tonight. The comic drama about 18th-century scientific genius Emilie Du Ch telet--written by Lauren Gunderson, today the most-produced playwright in America--continues through November 19, 2017, at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two in Arlington, VA. 'When we began the run, few folks knew much at all about Emilie Du Ch telet,' said Tom Prewitt, Artistic and Executive Director. 'And no wonder. One of the most brilliant mathematicians who ever lived, Emilie had become a 'hidden figure' in history, a woman remembered if at all as the lover of a great man, Voltaire. Happily that has changed for audiences who have seen Gunderson's whip-smart play and are blown away by the passionate genius they get to know.