AMERICAN CENTURY THEATER

Gunston Theater II
2700 S. Lang St.
Arlington, Va.
703-998-4555
www.americancentury.org

A Piece of My Heart — The story of six women before, during and after the Vietnam War. Shirley Lauro’s drama is a collage of sound and imagery pinpointing the significant moments in each woman’s journey (now-10/11)

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? — The 1955 classic by George Axelrod concerns a hack writer who becomes a successful Hollywood screenwriter thanks to a deal with the Devil (1/15-2/6/10)

Stalag 17 — The Academy Award-winning film adaptation of this WWII dramedy became so famous that everyone forgot it was based on a 1951 Broadway hit (3/26-4/17/10)

The Amazing Sophie — Sophie Treadwell was a trailblazing female journalist, a playwright, a novelist, director, actress, and a courageous fighter for the rights of women. This play, based on her life, is written by local playwright Allyson Currin (5/27-6/19/10)

Babes in Arms — The Rodgers/Hart musical features such classics as “The Lady is a Tramp” and “My Funny Valentine” (6/24-6/27/10)

Serenading Louie — Lanford Wilson’s intimate examination of marriage in suburbia (7/23-8/21/10)

ARENA STAGE

Various Locales
202-488-3300
www.arenastage.org

The Quality of Life — From Emmy Award-winning writer Jane Anderson comes this play filled with compassion, hope and humor. Two wildly different couples – one New Age Liberal and the other Midwestern Conservative – meet one weekend in the wake of personal tragedies. Through laughter, debate, empathy and ultimately love, can these couples from opposite backgrounds join together to find their common ground? Featuring Annette O’Toole. Directed by Lisa Peterson (now-10/18, Crystal City)

The Fantasticks — The musical that charmed off-Broadway for a record-breaking 42 years. In a twist on the classic story of boy meets girl, Matt and Luisa are led by El Gallo from the wistfulness of “when life was slow and oh so mellow” to the reality that “without a hurt the heart is hollow.” Director Amanda Dehnert re-imagines this timeless fable in an abandoned amusement park (11/20-1/10/10, Lincoln Theatre)

Stick Fly — Race and privilege intersect in this thought-provoking and lively modern family comedy by Lydia R. Diamond (The Bluest Eye). One summer weekend, Kent LeVay invites his fiancée, Taylor, to meet his parents at their Martha’s Vineyard summer home. Taylor, under the microscope and unaccustomed to the surrounding wealth, challenges the household dynamic. The family ties rapidly unravel when Kent’s womanizing older brother surprises everyone with his white girlfriend (1/1-2/7/10, Crystal City)

The Light in the Piazza — Molly Smith directs an intimate, chamber version of this musical that won six Tony Awards. With a book by gay playwright Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss) and music by Adam Guettel (3/5-4/25/10, Crystal City)

Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies — This glorious re-creation of the big band sound features some of Ellington’s most memorable tunes, including “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” and “Satin Doll.” Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and choreographed by Maurice Hines (4/9-5/30/10, Lincoln)

R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe — Does humanity have a chance to survive on Spaceship Earth? Explore this question with Renaissance man R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome. Written and directed by D.W. Jacobs (5/28-7/4/10, Crystal City)

CENTER STAGE

700 N. Calvert St.
Baltimore, Md.
410-332-0033
www.centerstage.org

The Importance of Being Earnest — The Oscar Wilde classic features “mislaid babies, mistaken identities, secret engagements, baffled suitors, and some of the wittiest wordplay ever volleyed over cucumber sandwiches” (10/7-11/8)

Around the World in 80 Days — Adaptation of the Jules Verne classic by The Lookingglass Theatre (11/24-12/20)

The Santaland Diaries — The holiday season is nothing without a little David Sedaris. Starring Robert Dorfman (12/8-20)

Let There Be Love — The American premiere of Kwame Kwei-Armah’s drama examining the immigrant experience (2/10-3/7/10)

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom — Part of August Wilson’s celebrated 10-play cycle examining the African-American experience throughout the 20th century. E. Faye Butler stars in the title role (4/7-5/9/10)

CHARTER THEATRE

Theatre on the Run
3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive
Arlington, Va.
202-333-7009
www.chartertheatre.org

Lie with Me — Written by Charter’s own Keith Bridges. Directed by Jon Cohn (10/23-11/22)

Two for Ten (2/12-3/14/10)

Good Counsel — Written by Renee Calarco. Directed by Michael Skinner (4/9-5/11/10)

CONSTELLATION THEATRE

Source
1835 14th St. NW
202-204-7741
www.constellationtheatre.org

A Flea in Her Ear — A new version of Georges Feydeau’s farce by David Ives (10/8-11/8)

Three Sisters –Anton Chekhov’s masterpiece (1/21-2/21/10)

The Ramayana — Written by Peter Oswald (5/6-6/6/10)

CRACK

Town Danceboutique
2009 8th St. NW
www.crackdc.com

Heels Up, Hoe Down — Get ready for a wild, wild western jamboree set inside a barn with square dancers, rhinestone cow-queens, randy grannies, and dirty pigs–all served up with a delicious twang (10/17)

CRACK Goes to Jail: Drop the Soap — The performance goes to jail to pay for its crimes against theater (2/27/10)

FOLGER THEATRE

201 E. Capitol St. SE
202-544-7077
www.folger.edu

Much Ado About Nothing — Reluctant lovers Beatrice and Benedick conceal their attraction behind a merry war of wit in Shakespeare’s romantic comedy. This colorful production is set in the heart of Washington, D.C. Directed by Timothy Douglas (10/21-11/29)

Orestes, A Tragic Romp — The war is over, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra murdered, and Orestes and Electra await the judgment of the citizens and the gods. Euripides’ gripping drama is deftly re-imagined by playwright Anne Washburn and directed by the Helen Hayes Award-wining Aaron Posner (1/27-3/7/10)

Hamlet — Perhaps the Bard’s finest, most haunting dramas. Directed by Joseph Haj (4/21-6/6/10)

FORD’S THEATRE

511 10th St. NW
202-347-4833
www.fordstheatre.org

Black Pearl Sings! — Susannah, a song collector for the Library of Congress, encounters Pearl in a Texas prison, and discovers dozens of musical treasures rooted in the African tradition. Pearl must decide whether to give away her ancestors’ songs for a chance at her own freedom. Music unites strangers in a powerful story that illuminates America’s racial divisions and the attempts of two women to bridge them. Starring Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins in the title role (9/25-10/18)

A Christmas Carol — A new production of this perennial. Directed by Signature Theatre’s Michael Baron and starring — and this will truly the best thing ever to happen to Christmas Carol — Ed Gero as Scrooge (11/23-1/3/10)

The Rivalry — Over the course of seven debates, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas tackled the hot topics of their day: state’s rights, slavery and the intent of the Constitution. The Rivalry captures the fiery rhetoric and wry humor of those debates (1/22-2/14/10)

Mark Russell — The piano-playing political satirist returns with material ripped from today’s headlines (2/17-2/20/10)

Little Shop of Horrors — An all-new original production of the playful Alan Menken-Howard Ashman classic. Feed us! (3/12-5/22/10)

FORUM THEATRE

Round House Silver Spring
8641 Coleville Rd.
Silver Spring, Md.
240-644-1099 ext.1032
www.forumtd.org

Angels in America, Parts 1 and 2 — Directed by Jeremy Skidmore and Michael Dove and performed in rep (Oct./Nov.)

Amazons and Their Men (2/27-3/21/10)

GALA HISPANIC THEATRE

3333 14th St. NW
202-234-7174
www.galatheatre.org

Lúcido/Lucid — This darkly humorous tale enters the world of a dysfunctional family suspended between lucidity and dreams. Lucas navigates between a domineering mother and a sister who reclaims the kidney she donated to him as a child, trying to escape his oppressive reality through his dreams. Directed by José Carrasquillo (now-10/11)

Beauty of the Father/La belleza del padre — An estranged daughter reunites with her father, a painter in Granada, only to fall in love with his 20 year-old Moroccan houseboy and sometime-lover. The presence of the ghost of the poet Federico García Lorca, who visits the painter and becomes his conscience, adds a sense of magic. Written by Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics). In English with Spanish supertitles. Directed by Abel López (2/2-2/28/10)

El retablillo de Don Cristóbal/The Puppet Play of Don Cristóbal — Acclaimed Argentine director Adhemar Bianchi and puppeteer Ximena Bianchi re-imagine Federico García Lorca’s puppet play set against the tense and inflamed landscape of the Spanish Civil War (4/8-5/2/10)

Bola: El embajador de la canción cubana/Cuba’s Ambassador of Spoken Song — Hugo Medrano directs Héctor Quintero’s examination of Afro-Cuban singer and composer Ignacio Villa, known as “Snowball.” Villa was an international sensation from the ’30s to the ’60, heralded for his unique “spoken song” style. Despite a successful and glamorous career, Bola was uncomfortable with his homosexuality in a pre and post revolution Cuba that was reluctant to accept it (June, 2010)

GANYMEDE ARTS

Miss Pixies
1626 14th St. NW
202-390-1502
www.ganymedearts.org

GLBT Fall Arts Festival — Featuring Charles Busch, Special Agent Galactica, Will Gartshore, and encore performances of After the Garden (9/18-27)

Les Liaisons Dangereuses (TBA)

GMU CENTER FOR THE ARTS

War of the Worlds/The Lost World — L.A. Theatre Works, America’s premier radio theater company, presents a double bill of chills, thrills and great literature with two masterpieces of science fiction and adventure (10/23)

As You Like It – The British/American touring troupe, Aquila Theatre Company, presents Shakespeare’s classic comedy (11/20)

Romeo and Juliet — The Acting Company presents Shakespeare’s classic romantic tragedy (2/14/10)

Rose — Olympia Dukakis performs a concert version of her West End and Broadway hit. The evening is an unforgettable portrait of an 80-year-old Jewish woman, Rose, who comes from a tiny “shtetl” in the Ukraine. She takes us along on her journey through war-torn Warsaw to the borscht-belts of post-war Atlantic City and modern day Miami Beach (5/8/10)

THE IN-SERIES

Various Locales
202-204-7760
www.inseries.org

Cosi fan tutte Goes Hollywood — Mozart & DaPonte’s opera is adapted into a Hollywood parable by Nick Olcott (now-9/26, Source Theatre)

From U Street to the Cotton Club — Vocalists Detra Battle, Brian Q. Thorne, Pam Ward and Stanley Webber’s jazz age standards frame actress Michelle Rogers’ journey from countryside to DC, to Harlem, and back home to U Street (now-9/26, Source)

Zarzuela on the Avenue — The Spanish classic musical La Gran Via gets a bilingual treatment (10/31-11/7, GALA Theatre)

WAM! (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) — The amazing young stars of the Washington Ballet’s Studio Co. and In Series opera singers join to explore the miracle of Mozart’s childhood and the glorious explosion of his music. Directed by Septime Webre, David Palmer and Carla Hubner (1/23-1/31/10, Atlas Performing Arts Center)

Casino Paradise — Award-winning composer William Bolcom and playwright Arnold Weinstein’s sardonic cabaret-opera about an iconic tycoon, his dysfunctional family, and his glittering Casino, is a smashing assembly of jazzy rhythms, bluesy tunes and ironic lyrics (4/16-4/24/10, Source)

Searching for Gabriela — Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral was the first Latin-American to win the Nobel Prize. Director Abel Lopez leads a spellbinding bilingual journey through her poetry (4/16-4/24/10, Source)

Swingtime — Director Tom Mallan and conductor/pianist Fred Hughes lead singers, dancers and band players to relive the best of the swing era in dance and song (5/29-6/10/10, Atlas Performing Arts)

KENNEDY CENTER

2700 F St. NW
202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org

Beneath the Veil –Award-winning actress/activist Mary Apick tells stunning stories that expose the systematic and often violent oppression of women and children in parts of the Middle East (10/8, Terrace Theater)

A Streetcar Named Desire — Cate Blanchett stars as Blanche DuBois in the U.S. premiere of the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. Directed by Liv Ullmann (10/29-11/21, Eisenhower Theater)

August: Osage County — Estelle Parsons stars as the matriarch of a family headed for a meltdown. Winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony for Best Play (11/24-12/20, Eisenhower)

Young Frankenstein — The latest in the Mel Brooks oeuvre to receive the Broadway musical treatment (12/15-1/10/10)

Shen Yun — A brilliant blend of beauty, energy, and grace as dozens of dancers in dazzling costumes move in seamless, flowing patterns, bringing to life ancient legends of virtue alongside modern tales of courage (1/20-1/24/10)

Golden Age — Part of the “Terrence McNally’s Nights at the Opera” series, this backstage drama is set amid the premiere of Bellini’s final opera, I Puritani (3/12-4/4/10, Family Theater)

The Lisbon Traviata — Part of the McNally series, the drama revolves around the friendship of two gay men, both opera lovers, one of whom is going through an exceptionally painful relationship with his partner (3/20-4/11/10, Terrace)

Master Class — This third and final play in the McNally series was a Tony winner for Best Play. It focuses on Maria Callas as she gives a master class that finds her recalling her past glories, triumphs and tragedies (3/25-4/18, Eisenhower)

Thurgood — Laurence Fishburne takes a CSI break to star in this dramatic retelling of the life of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (6/1-6/20/10)

Mary Poppins — The Broadway musical adaptation of the Disney classic, based on the works of P.L. Travers about a magical nanny who is “practically perfect in every way.” Featuring choreography by Matthew Bourne. Step in time! (7/1-8/22/10)

METRO STAGE

1201 N. Royal St.
Alexandria, Va.
703-548-9044
www.metrostage.org

The Musical of Musicals — A parody of musical theater, in which one story becomes five different musicals, written in the distinctive styles of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, Jerry Herman and Andrew Lloyd Webber (now-10/18)

Pearl Bailey… By Request — An evening of music and stories performed by Roz White as Pearl Bailey. Directed by Thomas W. Jones II (11/19-12/20)

Mahalia — Thomas W. Jones II directs this musical biography of Mahalia Jackson, starring Bernardine Mitchell, reviving her 2005 Helen Hayes Award-winning performance (1/21-3/14/10)

Tiny Dancer — Scottish Jewish guitar playing rocker Paul Scott Goodman (Rooms) tells his story of living and surviving the Soho music scene in the ’80’s, as an artist, lover, and ultimately, father (4/15-5/9/10)

NATIONAL THEATRE

1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
202-628-6161
www.nationaltheatre.org

Jersey Boys — The 2006 Tony Award-winning musical about Frankie Vallie and The Four Seasons. Features such hit songs as “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Oh What a Night. Directed by Des McAnuff (10/1-12/12)

Grease — It’s back. And this time it’s starring Taylor Hicks (2/9-2/21/10)

OLNEY THEATRE CENTER

2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd.
Olney, Md.
301-924-3400
www.olneytheatre.org

Night Must Fall — A wickedly charming and attractive young man is hired as a live-in companion for an ailing woman residing in a small Essex town with her niece. When the news of a local murder is revealed, the alluring stranger becomes increasingly suspicious (9/23-10/18/09)

Camelot — The irresistible musical by Lerner & Loewe features the enduring “If Ever I Would Leave You” (11/18/09-1/3/10)

Bus Stop — A small-town diner is in for quite a night when a blizzard strands a busload of unusual passengers in William Inge’s classic (2/17-3/14/10, Mainstage)

Da — A man returns to his childhood home in Dublin after the death of this adoptive father and is haunted by his ghost in Hugh Leonard’s Tony Award-winning tour de force (3/24-4/25/10, Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab)

Triumph of Love — The handsome, sheltered Prince Agis has been raised by his Spartan uncle and aunt to follow one rule: renounce love. Logic prevails until the charming and beautiful Princess Leonide arrives with her heart set on wooing the unsuspecting Prince. Book by James Magruder, music by Jeffrey Stock and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (4/14-5/9/10, Mainstage)

Trumpery — Charles Darwin struggles to complete his theory of natural selection while coping with his daughter’s fatal illness and his own loss of faith. Meanwhile, halfway around the world, an unknown explorer is about to come up with the exact same theory (6/9-7/4/10, Mainstage)

The Savannah Disputation — In this contemporary comedy, a Pentecostal missionary gets more than she bargains for when she drops in on two Catholic spinsters and sparks a crisis of faith (7/29-8/22/10, Mainstage)

Dinner With Friends — Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play explores what happens to decades of friendship between two married couples when one couple is on the verge of divorcing (8/25-9/26/10, Theatre Lab)

Misalliance — George Bernard Shaw’s classic comedy (9/29-10/24/10, Mainstage)

Annie — The sun will come out at Olney, dang it (11/17/10-1/2/11)

REP STAGE

10901 Little Patuxent Pkway.
Columbia, Md.
410-772-4900
www.repstage.org

Hysteria — All hell breaks loose when Sigmund Freud’s final days battling cancer are interrupted by Salvador Dali and an attractive young student in this farce (10/7-11/1)

A Dickens of a Carolbelmont — With a twist on Charles Dickens’ classic, “A Christmas Carol,” Rep Stage presents a theatrical/dining experience in the historic Belmont Manor House-an 18th century colonial mansion in Elkridge, Maryland. The audience is transported back to 1843 as Dickens entertains with live period music and storytelling over drinks and appetizers in the ballroom, followed by a candlelit dinner of holiday fare prepared by Belmont’s chef (12/1-20)

The Glass Menagerie — The Tennessee Williams masterpiece, directed by Michael Stebbins (2/3-2/28/10)

On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning — Three Victorian ladies time-travel through the Terra Incognita of man’s recent recognizable universe in Eric Overmyer’s comedic adventure (4/14-5/2/10)

The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? — Edward Albee’s brilliant, alarming, provocative work involves a man in love with a goat. Yes, a goat (6/2-6/27/10)

ROUND HOUSE THEATRE

4545 East-West Highway
Bethesda, Md.
240-644-1100
www.roundhousetheatre.org

The Picture of Dorian Gray — A World Premiere commissioned by Round House, adapted from the novel by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who updates the action, putting a provocative contemporary spin on Oscar Wilde’s scandalous thriller about a man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty (now-10/4)

26 Miles — A new play by Tony Award-nominee Quiara Alegría Hudes (In the Heights). An ’83 Buick Regal may be an unlikely place to find out what family really means, but when Beatriz and her estranged daughter head off on a spontaneous cross-country road trip, neither mother nor daughter are prepared for what lies ahead (10/28-11/22)

Look Out Below! — Clown Theatre with Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell (12/4-20)

Permanent Collection — With its extraordinary collection of works by Cézanne and Matisse, eccentric millionaire Alfred Morris’ art museum has long flourished in quiet obscurity. When its new African-American director discovers eight remarkable African sculptures tucked away in storage, he proposes to add them to the public galleries, causing conflict (1/27-2/21/10)

My Name is Asher Lev — Adapted by Aaron Posner from the novel by Chaim Potok. Asher is driven to draw and paint the world. Born into a Hasidic Jewish family in post-World War II Brooklyn, his artistic genius threatens to estrange him from his parents and his community (3/17-4/11/10)

Around the World in 80 Days — In this off-Broadway hit, five actors use lightning fast costume changes to play all 39 characters in a madcap comedy that’s been called “Monty Python meets Jules Verne.” Directed by Nick Olcott (5/5-5/30/10)

 

SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY

The Harman Center
Lansburgh Theatre 
202-547-1122
www.shakespearetheatre.org

Phèdre — Four words: Helen. Mirren. Sold. Out. If you’re lucky enough to have tickets to this, you don’t know just how lucky you are (now-9/26, Harman Hall)

The Alchemist — Considered Ben Jonson’s best comedy, The Alchemist follows the antics of three con-artists who set about exposing the social ills of their fellow Londoners. Michael Kahn directs his third Jonson play and his 150th career production. Truly a special occasion (10/6-11/22, Lansburgh)

As You Like It — The irrepressible Rosalind finds freedom of a different kind as she pursues love in disguise. One of Shakespeare’s most delightful comedies. Directed by Maria Aitken (Broadway’s The 39 Steps) (11/17-12/20, Harman Hall)

Richard II — Michael Kahn directs this historical play written entirely in verse, containing some of the bard’s most thrilling language (2/2-4/11/10, Harman)

Henry V — David Muse directs this historical play about the young, brash king. In rep with Richard II (2/4-4/10/10)

The Liar — Dorante is charming, handsome, and a compulsive liar. For each problem his clever lying solves, it creates two new ones. Pierre Corneille’s French farce has been given an update by Broadway playwright David Ives. Directed by Michael Kahn (4/6-5/23/10, Lansburgh)

Mrs. Warren’s Profession — George Bernard Shaw’s comedy was originally banned from the stage for being too scandalous — the world of the idealistic Vivie is turned upside down when she learns that her family’s considerable wealth comes from her mother’s management of a chain of brothels. Directed by Keith Baxter (6/8-7/11/10, Harman)

 

SIGNATURE THEATRE

4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, Va.
703-820-9771
www.sig-online.org

Dirty Blonde — Emily Skinner channels Mae West in this play with music by Claudia Shear (now-10/4, ARK)

Showboat — Eric Schaeffer reinvents this classic 1927 Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical with an intimate new staging. Featuring new orchestrations — and a new overture — by the renowned Jonathan Tunick, the musical spans the years 1880 to 1927, chronicling three generations of show folk on the Mississippi (11/10-1/17/10, MAX)

I Am My Own Wife — Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was a German transvestite who managed to survive both Nazi rule and the repressive East German Communist regime. In order to survive, she sacrificed her ideals, becoming an informer for the East German secret police, the Stasi. Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play. By Doug Wright. Starring Andrew Long (1/12-3/7/10, ARK)

Sweeney Todd — The Sondheim grand guignol classic is given a new environmental staging by Eric Schaeffer (2/9-4/4/10, MAX)

[title of show] — Jeff Bowen’s musical puts the audience right in the middle of the creative process. Matthew Gardiner directs (3/30-6/20/10, ARK)

Sycamore Trees — Composer Ricky Ian Gordon is the second recipient of the American Musical Voices Project Award to present a new work of musical theater on Signature’s stage and his work, Sycamore Trees, is the poignant tale of his family’s struggles and their reliance on each other through good and bad (5/18-6/20/10, MAX)

STUDIO THEATRE

1501 14th St. NW
202-332-3300
www.studiotheatre.org

Moonlight — Harold Pinter’s meditation on familial love, estrangement and mortality emerges as a heartbreakingly relevant tale of startling proportions. Starring Ted van Griethusen and directed by Joy Zinoman (now-10/18)

Adding Machine: A Musical — Elmer Rice’s expressionistic masterpiece re-imagined by Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt (10/14-11/1)

The Solid Gold Cadillac — Written in 1953, George S. Kaufman and Howard Teichman’s lost American classic percolates with startling contemporary resonance. Directed by Paul Mullins and starring Nancy Robinette (12/2-1/10/10)

In the Red and Brown Water — Serge Seiden directs this play driven by intense music, enflamed passions and spiritual Yoruban myth (1/6-2/14/10)

That Face — London playwright Polly Stenham was just 19-years-old when she wrote this shocking story about a violent encounter at an all-girls school and its startling ramifications (2/17-3/14/10)

Reasons To Be Pretty — Neil LaBute tackles the taboos and unspoken truths of contemporary American life. The play concludes LaBute’s trilogy exploring America’s obsession with physical beauty. Directed by David Muse (3/24-5/2/10)

60 Miles to Silver Lake — A father and son barrel down a highway in a car where nothing is what it seems and everything can change in an instant. By Dan LeFranc (4/14-5/9/10)

American Buffalo — Classic David Mamet — perhaps his greatest work — directed by Joy Zinoman and starring Ed Gero and Walleed Zuaiter (5/5-6/13/10)

Lypsinka Returns in Legends! — The lip-synching master’s take on James Kirkwood’s bitchfest (6/16-4/4/10)

Passing Strange — Keith Alan Baker directs this story of a rock musician on a quest for authenticity (7/14-8/8/10)

SYNETIC THEATER

The Rosslyn Spectrum
1611 N. Kent St.
Arlington, Va.
703-824-8060
www.synetictheater.org

Dracula — A restaging of the acclaimed 2005 production, directed by Paata Tsikurishvili (10/16-11/15, Rosslyn Spectrum)

Antony and Cleopatra — The company gives this Shakespeare classic their patented “art of silence” treatment (1/28-2/28/10, Lansburgh Theatre)

Metamorphosis — Guest director Derek Goldman presents a re-imagining of Franz Kafka’s brilliant and darkly comic classic tale of family, alienation, and a giant bug (4/8-5/22/10, Spectrum)

Othello — Silence again reigns in this bold new production of the Shakespeare classic (5/27-6/13/10, Kennedy Center Family Theater)

THEATRE J

1529 16th St. NW
202-777-3210
www.theaterj.org

Zero Hour — Jim Brochu’s one-man celebration of Zero Mostel. Directed by Piper Laurie (now-9/27)

Lost in Yonkers — Neil Simon’s tender, funny coming-of-age comedy won four Tonys and the Pulitzer. Starring Tana Hicken, Holly Twyford and Lise Bruneau. Directed by Jerry Whiddon (10/21-11/29)

Mommy Queerfest — Judy Gold returns for another hilarious rantfest, this one centering on the trials, tribulations and joys of motherhood (12/16-1/3/10)

The Four of Us — When Ben’s first novel vaults him into literary stardom, his best friend David, a struggling playwright, is thrilled for his newfound success…or is he? (1/20-2/21/10)

Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews? — Josh Kornbluth’s monologue takes on Warhol’s controversial series, “Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century” (3/6-3/21/10)

In Darfur — This searing chronicle, based on true events, looks at recent situation in Sudan and pits the desperate need of a people alongside the complicated ethics of those destined to tell the tale (3/31-4/18/10)

Mikveh — Inside the secretive world of the ritual bath, eight women’s stories unfold in this sensitive depiction of religious observance and evolving feminist consciousness. When Shira, a new bath attendant, arrives, she opens a Pandora’s box of issues, revealing long kept secrets (5/5-6/5/10)

New Jerusalem — A theological courtroom drama revolving around rationalist philosopher Baruch de Spinoza, as he faces excommunication from the Jewish community of 1656 Amsterdam (6/26-7/25/10)

WARNER THEATRE

202-783-4000
513 13th St. NW
www.warnertheatre.com

101 Dalmatians — A musical version of the Disney animated classic. Can’t wait to see Cruella live (11/3-15)

The 39 Steps — A cast of four play over 150 characters in this fast-paced tale of an ordinary man on an extraordinarily entertaining adventure based on the Hitchcock classic (3/23-3/28/10) 

WASHINGTON SHAKESPEARE CO.

601 S. Clark St.
Arlington, Va.
703-418-4808
www.washingtonshakespeare.org

Camille: A Tearjerker — Charles Ludlam’s absurdist, campy take on Alexandre Dumas fils’ The Lady of Camillias (Now-9/27)

Lulu — Abused, debased, and maligned, Lulu climbs through German and Parisian high society, leaving a trail of dead lovers behind her, only to find herself crashing onto the streets of Jack the Ripper’s London. Directed by Christopher Henley (11/12-12/13)

The Miser — Molieré’s classic, adapted by David Ball, concerns a ruthless moneygrubber who controls the strings to his purse as tightly as the reins of his household (1/28-2/28/10)

The Front Page — Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s newsroom comedy crackles with wit. WSC plans to transform the fast-talking, freewheeling comedy into an examination of the media’s role in society and how perception often cloaks such (6/3-7/10/10)

WOOLLY MAMMOTH

641 D St. NW
202-393-3939
www.woollymammoth.net

Eclipsed — The captive wives of a Liberian rebel officer form a hardscrabble sorority, their lives set on a nightmarish detour by civil war (now-9/20)

Full Circle — Charles Mee’s comedy is set during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the chaos that ensues. The production, which will lead the audience on a journey through Woolly’s entire building, is a powerhouse company reunion, featuring Sarah Marshall, Kate Eastwood Norris, Nancy Robinette, Michael Russotto, Michael Willis and Woolly Mammoth Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz (10/26-11/22)

Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind — The Neo-Futurists return for the fourth engagement with a brand new set of 30 mini-plays performed in 60 minutes (12/7-1/2/10)

The Last Cargo Cult — Master storyteller Mike Daisey recounts his true adventures on a South Pacific island where locals worship cargo left by WWII G.I.’s (1/11-2/7/10)

Clybourne Park — In Bruce Norris’s drama, a white community in 1950’s Chicago frets about the African-American family about to move in. Fast-forward to our present day, and the same house represents very different demographics (3/15-4/11/10)

Gruesome Playground Injuries — In Rajiv Joseph’s drama, the lives of two eight-year-olds lives collide in the nurse’s office. As they mature from accident-prone kids to self-destructive adults, their broken hearts and broken bones draw them ever closer (5/17-6/13/10)

WASHINTON IMPROV THEATER

Source
1835 14th St. NW
202-204-7770
www.washingtonimprovtheater.com

Bitchwood — Meet the Von Sterlingtons, the most powerful family in town and owners of Bitchwood Industries. Follow their lives and loves in America’s most beloved prime-time improvised soap opera as they struggle against the nefarious Guillotine Enterprises. Miss the pilot episode? Not a problem, as each episode begins with a recap (10/17-11/7)

Seasonal Disorder — WIT’s troupes offer a fun range of holiday-themed shows ranging from super-sweet to bittersweet… to just bitter (11/12-12/26)

Spring Programming — Includes the 4th Annual Tournament of the Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament (F.I.S.T.), a bracketed elimination-style tourney of comedy pitting three-player improv shows against one another in head-to-head competition until one troupe emerges as the champion (3/4-4/10/10)

Late Night Summer Shows (5/7-6/5/10)

 

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COMMUNITY THEATER

THE ARLINGTON PLAYERS

3501 Second St. S.
Arlington, Va.
703-549-1063
www.thearlingtonplayers.org

Bye Bye Birdie — A timeless musical hit (9/18-10/3)

Amadeus — If you’ve only seen the movie, then you’ve missed out on a great play (1/29-2/13/10)

Mel Brooks’ The Producers — Zany fun (4/9-4/24/10)

DOMINION STAGE

3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive
Arlington, Va.
703-683-0502

Glorious! — The joyful Florence Foster Jenkins had a passion for singing, but a voice of disastrous proportions which left audiences crying with laughter. Spinning from her bizarre recording sessions, unbelievable recitals and an ultimate triumph at New York’s Carnegie Hall – this is a true, heart-warming story about a group of eccentric friends who lived their dreams (9/25-10/11)

Reefer Madness – The Musical — Inspired by the 1936 film, this musical comedy takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the hysteria caused when kids fall prey to marijuana (1/15-1/31/10)

Love! Valour! Compassion! — Terrence McNally’s stunning drama about a group of gay friends (5/21-6/6/10)