Washington, DC Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 23

BWW Review: Chisa Hutchinson's Brilliance on Display in Contemporary American Theater Festival's WHITELISTED
by Andrew White - July 12, 2022

Inspired by Jordan Peele's blockbuster horror film 'Get Out,' Hutchinson has crafted a Dickensian morality play with 'Whitelisted,' set in a predictably bland, hoity-toity, newly-renovated white lady's apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant....

BWW Review: CATF's THE FIFTH DOMAIN a New, Warp-Speed Cyber-Thriller
by Andrew White - July 11, 2022

With Victor Lesniewski's cyber-drama 'The Fifth Domain,' CATF steps boldly into a genre that is in its relative infancy. Focused on the world of code, on computer hacking, and on the shadowy world of international cyber-espionage, Lesniewski contemplates the darkest potential behind the infernal mac...

BWW Review: Contemporary American Theater Festival's SHEEPDOG A Gritty, Moving Tour-de-Force
by Andrew White - July 11, 2022

Sarah Ellen Stephens delivers a passionate, nuanced performance as Amina, a black Cleveland police officer whose relationship with a fellow, white officer is dealt a huge blow when a late-night confrontation with a suspect leads to a shooting, under murky circumstances. Playwright Kevin Artigue does...

BWW Review: USHUAIA BLUE an Immersive, Deep Environmental Dive at CATF
by Andrew White - July 11, 2022

Jessi D. Hill's production of 'Ushuaia Blue' offers us a performance piece that is part tone poem, part personal tragedy, part environmental meditation. Shifting with ease from one time and place, and from one frame of mind, to another, the cast offers us a glimpse of how our understanding of global...

BWW Review: BABEL at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival--A Play Unstuck In Time
by Andrew White - July 11, 2022

Jacqueline Goldfinger's 'Babel' was written in, and for, a different time and a different nation. Although designed as a comedy, watching its action unfold in the Marinoff Theatre at this year's Contemporary American Theatre Festival, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, it's striking how the end of Roe...

BWW Review: CATF's THE HOUSE OF THE NEGRO INSANE is a Riveting, Mind-Blowing Experience
by Andrew White - July 11, 2022

Terence Anthony's offering at this year's Contemporary American Theater Festival, 'The House of the Negro Insane,' will sweep you up in a tornado of emotions and deliver a few gut-punches as well, with riveting characters whose challenges make our own problems look as trivial as that fly landing on ...

Review: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF DR. WONDERFUL (AND HER DOG!) at The Keegan Theatre
by Dara Homer - July 10, 2022

Science is everything and everywhere in The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful and Her Dog!, a bubbly musical for children at The Keegan Theatre that takes audiences on a pillow-fort spaceship journey. With a book and lyrics by Lauren Gunderson and music by Bree Lowdermilk, this show packs a punch ...

Review: THE BAND'S VISIT at The Kennedy Center
by Pamela Roberts - July 10, 2022

What did our critic think of THE BAND'S VISIT at The Kennedy Center?...

REVIEW: HOTTER THAN JULY: STEVIE WONDER at Signature Theatre
by David Friscic - July 09, 2022

When a phenomenal talent like Stevie Wonder comes along, everyone takes notice ---for Wonder is a genius. Genius musicianship was on display as jazzy, hip, and relevant renditions of Stevie Wonder’s music were showcased in Hotter than July by Signature Theatre’s Cabaret series. It was an evening to ...

Review: THE MUSIC MAN at Olney Theatre Center
by Ken Kemp - July 08, 2022

This new take on a beloved classic is fun and family friendly....

Review: Synetic's lush A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM sparkles and pops at Synetic Theater
by Pamela Roberts - July 05, 2022

What did our critic think of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at Synetic Theater? Synetic Theater's wordless A Midsummer Night's Dream is, indeed, a dream to behold. An innovative merging of drama and movement, Synetic's silent exploration of the classic work sparkles and pops. It's full of both belly laug...

Review: THE HOT WING KING at Studio Theatre
by David Friscic - July 05, 2022

The feelings and attachments of men, whether gay or straight, as they fight for self-respect and survival in a harsh world are portrayed in playwright Katori Hall’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play The Hot Wing King. The compromises, commitments, camaraderie, and fractious relationships of a non-traditio...

Review: The Second City's THE REVOLUTION WILL BE IMPROVISED at Theater Lab/Kennedy Center
by Mary Lincer - July 05, 2022

What did our critic think of THE SECOND CITY'S THE REVOLUTION WILL BE IMPROVISED at Theater Lab/Kennedy Center? While we await Saturday Night Live's 48th season, Washingtonians can bounce on over to the Kennedy Center for comic relief by The Second City's the Revolution Will Be Improvised. The troup...

Review: POTTED POTTER at Shakespeare Theatre Company
by Tavish Young - July 01, 2022

In the spacious and comfortable Sidney Harman Hall of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, a group of wizards, muggles, adults, and children sat down to watch Potted Potter (The Unauthorized Harry Experience). The show is a parody of the world-famous Harry Potter novels, and encapsulates all seven in ju...

Review: BROADWAY IN THE PARK at Wolf Trap
by Elliot Lanes - June 28, 2022

What did our critic think? This past weekend Signature Theatre and Wolf Trap teamed up for the second annual edition of Broadway in The Park which like last year featured some of Signature Theatre’s best performers, two Broadway headliners and a 25, yes, 25-piece orchestra. The result was a truly lo...

Review: IN HIS HANDS at Mosaic At Atlas Performing Arts Center
by Mary Lincer - June 28, 2022

What did our critic think of IN HIS HANDS at Mosaic At Atlas Performing Arts Center? The world première of Benjamin Benne's In His Hands has opened at the Atlas Performing Arts Center while it's still Pride month. But this fine script's universal notions hold true from Jan. to December; the play is ...

Review: MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS at Imagination Stage
by Roger Catlin - June 28, 2022

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Review: SOPHISTICATED NEW ONES at Unexpected Stage Company
by Martrese Meachum - June 27, 2022

What did our critic think? Sophisticated New Ones, written by well versed television actor, writer and show creator Keith Powel is not a throw away play. Set in the time leading up to President Barack Obama's first election, this story centers an antique repair shop owned and operated by a divorce' ...

Review: JOHN WILLIAMS 90TH BIRTHDAY GALA CONCERT at Kennedy Center
by Elliot Lanes - June 27, 2022

109 film scores, lots of symphonic music, and the music you hear during the Olympics doesn't even begin to properly describe a true living musical legend like John Williams. His 50 years and 29 film association with Steven Spielberg is the longest relationship in film between a director and a compos...

Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Kennedy Center
by David Friscic - June 27, 2022

Harper Lee’s classic book To Kill A Mockingbird has a legion of fans and so does the 1962 film but it would be best to forget the source material and simply savor the theatricality of the play To Kill A Mockingbird now playing at the Kennedy Center.  Playwright Aaron Sorkin has written a stage...

Review: RED VELVET Captivates on Opening Night at Shakespeare Theatre Company
by Morgan Musselman - June 25, 2022

The Shakespeare Theatre Company wraps up its 2021/2022 season with a brilliant production of Red Velvet, directed by Jade King Carroll, playing now at the Michael R. Klein Theatre through July 17, 2022....

Review: SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE at The Keegan Theatre
by Rachael F. Goldberg - June 21, 2022

'Shakespeare in Love' may appeal to fans of the movie, but its convoluted plot and awkward presentation make this production one that is unlikely to earn new admirers. It can make for a fun night out, but isn’t a production I’d actively recommend prioritizing over others....

Review: JERSEY BOYS at the Kennedy Center
by David Friscic - June 19, 2022

A group of streetwise guys from Jersey sing about the everyday battles of daily life that so many people can relate to in the emotionally direct and hard -hitting smash hit tour of Jersey Boys now playing at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater.  Romance, heartache, family ties, financial w...

Review: FIRES IN THE MIRROR: CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN AND OTHER IDENTITIES at Theater J
by Rachael F. Goldberg - June 16, 2022

'Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities' is an intense, but fascinating portrait of community and identity, with a powerhouse creative team on and off the stage....

BWW Review: MAZ AND BRICKS at Solas Nua Is Fiery, Sharp, and Timely
by Elizabeth Seablom - June 15, 2022

Fiery, sharp, timely. Those are the words that first come to my mind after attending Solas Nua's production of Maz and Bricks. As a woman it is easily one of the most relatable pieces of theater in DC right now and the production seems to draw on the very energy of the protests taking place just dow...