Lise Bruneau

What did our critic think of TAFFETY PUNK THEATRE COMPANY'S VENUS AND ADONIS at Taffety Punk Theatre Company?

There are great depths here, and great wisdom, and Playwright Ellen McLoughlin’s handiwork and that of Chesapeake Shakespeare convey them well. It is good to see a Shakespeare-oriented theater applying its tools and insights to other material from time to time, particularly classical material that is not often produced in these parts.

Tonight, at a celebration honoring outstanding theatre on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered at the ATLAS Performing Arts Center for Theatre Washington's announcement of nominees for the 40th Helen Hayes Awards.

How do individuals and communities heal after decades of violence? THE HONEY TRAP, a world premiere presented by Solas Nua, focuses on one night in Belfast during The Troubles and how the events that transpire that night forever change the lives of diametrically opposed young adults.

Today’s subjects Danielle A. Drakes and Kelsey Mesa are currently living their theatre lives as the director and playwright respectively of Taffety Punk Theatre Company’s World Premiere production of La Salpêtrière. The show runs through October fourteenth at the company’s artistic home Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW).

Following an exhilarating 20th anniversary season, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC) has announced a line-up of five iconic productions for 2023-24. CSC presents RULE-BREAKERS, a celebration of mavericks.  Learn more about the full lineup here!

Asolo Repertory Theatre presents Katie Forgette's INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP as the fourth and final play in its 2023 repertory season.

Asolo Repertory Theatre will present Lauren Gunderson’s SILENT SKY as the second play in its 2023 repertory season. See who is starring in the cast, how to get tickets, and more!

Beginning on November 9 and running through December 11, Studio Theatre will bring Duncan Macmillan's People, Places & Things to the stage. The play will be directed by Studio Theatre Artistic Director David Muse, making his first in-person directorial appearance since the pandemic, and will be only the second production in Studio Theatre's new Victor Shargai Theatre. 

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the launch of Artists Marketplace, a new model for regional theaters to connect art, artists and their artistry directly with patrons.  Patrons will have the opportunity to commission or purchase a work of art from the artists and artisans who have graced Arena's stages. 

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced the expansion of its online programs and events through August 2020. Arena Artistic Director Molly Smith has curated a diverse and engaging Spring/Summer Season, Looking Forward, connecting artists and audiences locally and nationally.

If we can climb beyond the foothills of the weird norms of the dramatic universe, we can take in how marvelously has Shakespeare anticipated some issues we must confront today. Showing us the Duke's deputy Angelo telling novice nun Isabella that he will save her brother Claudio from the executioner, but as a certain contemporary leader would put it, he a?oeneeds a favor from her, though,a?? or showing us Angelo defending himself from public accusations of sexual harassment by pleading a good reputation we know is maintained only by threats, conspiracy theories, and spurious claims about his accusers, or showing us Angelo getting his way (he thinks) by making promises he has no intention of keeping, Shakespeare conducts us to very familiar territory.

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company continues its 2019-2020 Season with William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, directed by Lise Bruneau. Measure for Measure runs from February 7-23, 2020, with previews February 5-6, and press night on the 7th.

'Eureka Day' is still a fun show with a solid cast and production team. I certainly laughed, and enjoyed the performance. But I also had a lingering distaste from its heavy-handed, clumsy messaging.

This production of Shakespeare's Othello has revelations galore, performed by an ensemble of actors whose comfort with the language and emotional power keep you riveted. Even if you've seen any number of Othello's beforea?'especially if you've seen a fewa?'the Riot Grrrls interpretation, as staged in the spartan Capitol Hill Arts Workshop space, gives vivid life to characters and speeches that usually get lost in the cavernous main stages across town.

Mosaic Theater Company of DC launches its 5th season this month with the DC premiere of Lynn Nottage's Fabulation, Or The Re-Education of Undine, previewing August 21 (see our August 1 Fabulation press release for opening night information, and our March 29 a?oe#Wokeseason5a?? release for full season line-up), exactly one month after the close of the most successful show in Mosaic's history, the co-production of Kelvin Roston Jr.'s Twisted Melodies, which sold out its last week of performances, playing to record crowds and box office, providing the capstone to a season of transformative artistic and fundraising achievements. 

Free For All, one of the capital's cherished annual traditions, will return for its 29th annual summer to Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), offering two weeks of free performances of the Company's 2018 acclaimed production of Shakespeare's Hamlet starring MICHAEL URIE (Ugly Betty) as Hamlet.

Arena Stage's production of 'Junk' marks the Washington, DC area premiere of the critically acclaimed play, and, happily, Arena's production is more than up to the task of living up to the show's reputation.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater recently opened the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author Ayad Akhtar's (Arena's Disgraced) timely tale Junk.

Arena Stage presents Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author Ayad Akhtar's (Arena's Disgraced) timely tale Junk. Inspired by the real junk bond giants of the 1980s, Akhtar explores how the riveting, hostile takeover of a family-owned manufacturing company paved the way to expose the rise of greed, power, race and wealth that led to reshaping the rules of Wall Street and the world.