Washington, DC Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 33

BWW Review: SLEEP DEPRIVATION CHAMBER at Round House Theatre
by Hannah Wing - November 24, 2020

Round House Theatre’s “Sleep Deprivation Chamber,” directed by Raymond O. Campbell, is a tale of injustice, which echoes stories of police brutality in the news, wrapped in dreamy surrealism....

BWW Review: THE JOOKJOYNT at Woolly Mammoth
by Roger Catlin - November 18, 2020

As the astronauts of the SpaceX Dragon must be learning currrently, in their mission to the International Space Station, this battered planet may not the greatest place to be right now. So it is with the Black in Space collective who proclaim to have shot off to a new galaxy 'far, far away from Plan...

BWW Review: TRANS AM at The Keegan Theatre
by Rachael F. Goldberg - November 18, 2020

'TRANS AM' is a powerful, honest portrayal of a fascinating and gifted woman, and brings a beautiful blend of storytelling and performance to the stage (and our screens). With its compelling story, sensational music, and deep emotionality, 'TRANS AM' is a show that stays with audiences in the best w...

BWW Review: HE BROUGHT HER HEART BACK IN A BOX at Round House Theatre
by Hannah Wing - November 17, 2020

Round House Theatre’s production of “He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box” is a haunting portrait of segregated Georgia....

BWW Review: FROM GUMBO TO MUMBO at Keegan Theatre
by Rachael F. Goldberg - November 17, 2020

'From Gumbo to Mumbo' is like a favorite books of poetry – a little rough when you’re still learning the rhythms, but ultimately captivating. Anderson and Lawson-Brown’s command of language is stunning, and the linguistic juxtapositions in this script are so artful, the audience could discover a new...

BWW Review: SIGNATURE VINYL at Signature Theatre
by Elliot Lanes - November 09, 2020

Music has always been able to get us through the most turbulent times in this nation's history. With the ongoing pandemic and all the other craziness that is happening right now, Signature Theatre gives us Signature Vinyl. It's a cinematic concert experience that will make you forget everything in t...

BWW Review: EL PERRO DEL HORTELANO (THE DOG IN THE MANGER) at GALA Hispanic Theatre
by Roger Catlin - November 02, 2020

The big drama about The GALA Hispanic Theatre's season opener 'El Perro del Hortelano (The Dog in the Manger)' is that they're presenting it at all....

BWW Review: DEAR MAPEL at Mosaic Theater Company
by Barbara Trainin Blank - October 27, 2020

Is it possible to change a relationship retrospectively, especially one that has been intermittent all along and ended with the death of the other person? That is the question posed by Psalmayene 24, who didn't see his father until he was 12 and even then was introduced by the older man as someon...

BWW Review: FANNIE LOU HAMER SPEAK ON IT! at Arena Stage
by Brandon Horwin - October 23, 2020

Live-outdoor theatre, an incredible view of the water at the Wharf, and E. Faye Butler are all we could ask or hope for at the moment. Arena Stage has delivered big with its limited engagement of Cheryl L. West's timely Fannie Lou Hamer, Speak On It!. ...

BWW Review: JOY! WITH MARIA SIMPKINS AND VATO TSIKURISHVILI at Synetic Theater
by Hannah Wing - October 21, 2020

Synetic's JOY! is an exploratory theater experience, which blends intimate storytelling with audience interaction....

BWW Review: ROOST performed by Urban Arias as part of the Decameron Opera Coalition
by Barbara Trainin Blank - October 21, 2020

Roost. It's a short opera about an expectant couple (for the first time) in lockdown who would be happy, and sexually active, if not for the fact that the air conditioning isn't working and it's a long, hot summer. Also hovering via FaceTime is Kat's overbearing mother....

BWW Review: AMERICAN DREAMS at Round House Theatre
by Rachael F. Goldberg - October 08, 2020

Round House Theatre leans into our current circumstances and puts on a good show. It's just a shame that our reality is so much worse than we could have envisioned only a few years ago that even cautionary and bitingly political statements now fall short of where we really are....

BWW Review: ((EMOJI PLAY)) at Solas Nua Theatre
by Rachael F. Goldberg - October 07, 2020

I've been as hungry for new shows as I'm sure many theater fans have been. And this particular show has the creativity, resourcefulness, and talent to bring us what we've been missing. But the underdeveloped back story, the shaky premise, and the technical issues make the experience fall short of th...

BWW Review: A TRIBUTE TO LEON FLEISHER
by Barbara Trainin Blank - September 29, 2020

The word legendary can be used loosely, but as Brian Ganz demonstrates in a tribute concert to his long-time teacher and world-famous pianist Leon Fleisher, in this case not only is the description deserving but can be applied in many different spheres....

BWW Review: A TIME TO SING: AN EVENING WITH RENEE FLEMING AND VANESSA WILLIAMS at The Kennedy Center
by Roger Catlin - September 27, 2020

If you were planning the first in-person performance in the Kennedy Center in six months, a kind of historic cultural awakening after the darkness of the pandemic lockdown, you couldn't go wrong with a double bill of Renée Fleming and Vanessa Williams....

BWW Review: THE TELEPHONIC LITERARY UNION'S 'HUMAN RESOURCES' at Woolly Mammoth
by Roger Catlin - September 27, 2020

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BWW Review: WILL ON THE HILL...OR WON'T THEY? at Shakespeare Theatre Company
by Hannah Wing - September 15, 2020

Will on the Hill...or Wona??t They? is almost like attending a lecture on Shakespeare by multiple enthusiast professors, but it leaves the audience with a major case of a?oeZoom fatigue.a?? ...

BWW Review: NEW WORKS 2020 (& BEYOND)
by Barbara Trainin Blank - August 04, 2020

Contemporary Dance is a collaborative style, including modern and ballet elements, as well as sometimes jazz and hip hop. This fusion is the trademark of Chamber Dance Project, the D.C.—based company, with founding artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning at its helm....

BWW Review: Synetic Theatre's Midsummer 'Decameron' Series an Amazing Cornucopia of Talent
by Andrew White - July 09, 2020

Starting this Friday, July 10, the artists at Synetic have found the answer to your summer doldrums, which are now magnified beyond endurance by social-distancing rules: a series of video vignettes inspired by the ultimate in pandemic lit, Giovanni Boccaccio's a?oeDecameron.a??...

BWW Review: NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE'S PRODUCTION OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
by Barbara Trainin Blank - May 04, 2020

There is much to admire in this streamed production of one of Shakespeare's lesser-performed but highly dramatic play. It isn't a work with many famous lines — though it has some — but Antony & Cleopatra makes up for it with action....

BWW Review: THE REALISTIC JONESES at Spooky Action Theater
by Roger Catlin - March 17, 2020

It may have been unrealistic to open a new play amid the coronavirus pandemic, but 'The Realistic Joneses' did just that on Saturday at Spooky Action Theatre, a group whose name inspires no further confidence (it's named after Einstein's term for quantum entanglement - the ability of separate object...

BWW Review: Brave Spirits' HENRY THE FIFTH Rounds out their History Rep in Sobering, Moving Style
by Andrew White - March 15, 2020

Forget the Cherry Blossoms, folks, they'll be gone before you know it. Brave Spirits' Histories rep, cultivated, rested and ready, will be where it's at when our theatres re-open. Their a?oeHenry the Fifth,a?? as with all the other plays in the current cycle, is full of surprises and fresh interpre...

BWW Review: Arena Stage's CELIA AND FIDEL An Emotionally Taut, Gripping Piece of Revolutionary History
by Andrew White - March 16, 2020

Eduardo Machado's Celia and Fidel, set at the beginning of the Mariel Boatlift crisis in 1980, explores the bravado, self-delusion, frustration and paranoia that were the hallmarks of Fidel Castro's rule over Cuba. Director Molly Smith has worked her cast into a taut, suspenseful emotional pitch, wi...

BWW Review: PASS OVER at STUDIO THEATRE
by Jenny Minich - March 11, 2020

Captivating with precision dialogue, Pass Over does more for its' audiences' edification in one hour than most playwrights are able to accomplish in two....

BWW Review: MUSEUM 2040 at 4615 Theatre Company
by Rachael F. Goldberg - March 10, 2020

'Museum 2040' is a stunning, meticulous look at the future we face if we don't break out of the cycles that have become a part of American life. Renee Calarco's world-building is impressively, hauntingly, realistic, and it's beautifully brought to life by 4615's incredible cast and crew....