Washington, DC Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 28

BWW Review: A STRANGE LOOP at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
by Timothy Treanor - December 06, 2021

Write what you know, the adage goes. Thus, John Grisham writes courtroom dramas. Bill and Hillary Clinton write political thrillers. Robin Cook writes stories about medicine....

BWW Review: Olney Theatre Center's A CHRISTMAS CAROL: A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS Shines Especially Bright This Season!
by Andrew White - December 06, 2021

When we first enter the Mulitz-Gedelsky Theater Lab at Olney, we see a thrust stage decked out with a wide variety of Victorian-style bric-a-brac, strategically tossed about by Scenic Designer Jacob A. Climer. Forget the tree and the lights, forget the boxes with tacky wrapping, I’ll take the pile ...

BWW Review: DORRANCE DANCE at The Kennedy Center
by Dara Homer - December 05, 2021

Dorrance Dance notes on their website that “tap dance is a subversive form.” The radical delight, playfulness, and palpable trust between the members of the Dorrance Dance company feels beautifully subversive in another holiday season of covid anxiety, distancing, and skepticism. What better time, t...

BWW Review: HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED at Avant Bard Theatre
by Roger Catlin - December 05, 2021

August Wilson was always a font of stories. In addition to the 10 plays of his lauded Pittsburgh Cycle, there were books, essays and poems largely about the African-American experience....

BWW Review: MAN COVETS BIRD at Spooky Action Theater
by Olivia Murray - December 08, 2021

This production was packed full of excitement, self-reflection, celebration, and a small mimed bird reminding us of the moral of the story....

BWW Review: MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER CHRISTMAS at The Music Center At Strathmore
by Ken Kemp - December 05, 2021

Mannheim Steamroller is the number one Christmas music artist of all time, and their annual holiday tour has become a cherished holiday tradition for many families....

BWW Review: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at Olney Theatre Center
by Sophie Williams - November 30, 2021

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Broadway's punk rock/musical theatre lovechild is on-stage at Olney Theatre Center. Following the story of an Cold War German performer with a botched sex change, Hedwig takes us through her tumultous and colorful life accompanied by energetic performances and the occasioc...

BWW Review: HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! THE MUSICAL at The National Theatre
by Rachael F. Goldberg - November 25, 2021

With questionable messaging, a pitchy ensemble, and an overall lackluster production, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical' doesn’t quite feel like the best way to celebrate the holiday season, especially when there are other options available....

BWW Review: THE NUTCRACKER at Kennedy Center Opera House
by Alexander C. Kafka - November 26, 2021

The company hasn't visited The Kennedy Center for more than a decade. It's great to have it back with this charming Caribbean-inflected version of the Balanchine classic....

BWW Review: SECRET THINGS at 1st Stage
by Pamela Roberts - November 24, 2021

SECRET THINGS by Elaine Romero examines faith and human connection – today and through generations. A very sure and charismatic cast and an intriguing history of the hidden Jewish roots in communities of the U.S. Southwest can’t quite make up for a problematic script....

BWW Review: ACOUSTIC ROOSTER'S BARNYARD BOOGIE: STARRING INDIGO BLUME at Family Theater/Kennedy Center
by Mary Lincer - November 21, 2021

Acoustic Rooster's Barnyard Boogie: Starring Indigo Blume...

BWW Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Olney Theatre Center
by Elliot Lanes - November 20, 2021

There are certain musical theatre pieces that audiences see on Broadway and believe the version they saw is the only way the material can be interpreted.  Beauty and the Beast definitely falls into that category for the sole reason of that once you’ve seen how Disney produced it originally, it’s imp...

BWW Review: ACOUSTIC ROOSTER'S BARNYARD BOOGIE: STARRING INDIGO BLUME at Family Theater/Kennedy Center
by Mary Lincer - November 22, 2021

Kwame Alexander's 2010 picture book for the age 5-8 set, Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band, secretly serves as Jazz 101 for children the way Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's Young People's Guide to the Orchestra introduce them to musical instruments. Alexander's book, with character...

BWW Review: XENOS at Eisenhower Theater, Kennedy Center
by Alexander C. Kafka - November 19, 2021

War is hell, but what, exactly, is served by a hellish choreographic critique of it -- alternatingly assaultive and monotonous -- in Akram Khan's final solo performance project?...

BWW Review: PRIME CUT FESTIVAL at Solas Nua
by Sarah Murphy - November 17, 2021

These portraits are essential viewing for North American audiences, who often have a very specific idea of life in Northern Ireland in their heads. At a time of renewed spotlight on the politics of Northern Ireland, that this community of groundbreaking artists is not better known is a testament to ...

BWW Review: TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE at Theater J
by Rachael F. Goldberg - November 16, 2021

Theater J’s 'Tuesdays with Morrie' is a touching, emotional exploration of human connection. It’s an intimate portrait of a beautiful relationship between a man and his mentor in the face of tragic circumstances, but it’s also a greater insight into how we all relate to each other and ourselves....

BWW Review: THE GREAT LEAP at Round House Theatre
by Alexander C. Kafka - November 16, 2021

At Round House Theatre, an alluring production of Lauren Yee's somewhat contrived 'The Great Leap,' a 'socio-political fable' about sports and Sino-American politics...

BWW Review: MY CHILDREN, MY AFRICA at Washington Stage Guild
by Timothy Treanor - November 15, 2021

It is, of course, mere coincidence that former South African State President F.W. de Clerk died only three days before Athol Fugard’s My Children! My Africa! opened at Washington Stage Guild, but it sets a mood. de Clerk was the last President of apartheid-afflicted South Africa; he led the governme...

BWW Review: DE PASO at GALA Hispanic Theatre
by Roger Catlin - November 13, 2021

'Heaven and earth' had to be moved in order to bring in an acclaimed dance company from Madrid to cap Fuego Flamenco XVII, the 17th annual Flamenco Festival at the GALA Hispanic Theatre, the theater's executive director Rebecca Medrano announced at its opening....

BWW Review: RENT at Signature Theatre
by Elliot Lanes - November 11, 2021

It’s been too long since I wrote the following sentence. Signature Theatre is back with a perfect evening (or matinee) of theatre going!! The top DMV theatre company known for producing reimagined versions of musicals and cutting-edge plays is back and stronger than ever with a new production of Jon...

BWW Review: SALVADOR at GALA Hispanic Theatre
by Roger Catlin - November 07, 2021

The 17th Fuego Flamenco Festival at the GALA Hispanic Theatre has opened with a returning favorite, Edwin Aparicio's spectacular autobiographical piece, 'Salvador.'...

BWW Review: SUSAN GRAHAM AND MUSIC FROM COPLAND HOUSE at Kennedy Center
by David Friscic - November 06, 2021

An innovative, reflective and historical evening of musicianship was presented on Thursday evening at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater as the renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the exciting Music from Copland House ensemble performed modern works with fervent zeal and finesse....

BWW Review: Mosaic Theater's BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA a Subtle, Moving Testament to Our Times
by Andrew White - November 01, 2021

The scenes in Birds unfold over a decade in the life of father and daughter, marked by accumulating leaves and, of course, accumulating tensions, as each of them face moments of crushing disappointment, binoculars in hand, alternately consoling and infuriating each other....

BWW Review: WAITRESS at Capital One Hall
by Alexander C. Kafka - October 30, 2021

The show still has a winning recipe, but this touring production doesn't measure up to its 2018 D.C. predecessor....

BWW Review: PANKRÁC '45 at Expats Theatre
by David Friscic - October 30, 2021

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 b...