Stage: Spring Arts Preview 2016

As theater season winds down, there’s still plenty to choose from for the stage-goer seeking dramatic intensity (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), harrowing, intellectual depth (1984), outright ribaldry (Hand to God) or insanely good musical fun with a drag queen at the center (Kinky Boots). It’s almost a cliche by now to call Washington the country’s best theater town, but, in fact, that we are, with a diversity of stages harboring an even greater diversity of missions. Whether you like your Shakespeare spoken or silent, whether you take joy in theater for the entire family or solely for adults, whether you want to spend your evening in a cramped space with a singularly unique performance artist or revel in complexities of in-the-round, if you love theater, Washington is the only place to be.

ADVENTURE THEATRE MTC

301-634-2270
adventuretheatre-mtc.org

• James and the Giant Peach — A musical by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, based on Roald Dahl’s disproportionately peachy tale (Now to 4/4)
•  Emperor’s Nightingale — A re-imagining of the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale about an aimless prince who ultimately becomes king by, you might say, putting a bird on it (4/22-5/30)
•  Jumanji — When you’re bored, you play board games and then magic will happen, according to this world premiere adaptation (6/17-8/28)

ARENA STAGE

202-488-3300
arenastage.org

• The Lion — A rock and roll journey from boyhood to manhood as written and performed by singer Benjamin Scheuer (Now to 4/10, Kogod Cradle)
•  All The Way — Robert Schenkkan’s 2014 Tony-winning drama examines the red, white and blue-blooded leadership of LBJ (4/1-5/8, Fichandler)
•  Disgraced — Avad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning incendiary examination of one’s self and one’s beliefs — of American identity and South Asian culture. Timothy Douglas directs (4/22-5/29, Kreeger)

CENTER STAGE

410-332-0033
centerstage.org

• Detroit ’67 — The music and politics of the Motown-era sizzle in the background of this sharp-eyed drama about racial and generational differences from Dominique Morisseau (4/8-5/8)

CONSTELLATION THEATRE

202-204-7741
constellationtheatre.org

• Journey to the West — Alison Arkell Stockman directs a fanciful global tale from Mary Zimmerman, with live musical accompaniment by Tom Teasley (4/21-5/22)

FOLGER THEATRE

202-544-7077
folger.edu

• The Reduced Shakespeare Company: William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) — Two of the world’s most famous Shakespearean comedians, Austin Tichenor and Reed Martin, throw themselves into a funny, punny physical frenzy (4/21-5/8)
•  District Merchants — Aaron Posner offers a D.C.-informed variation on Shakespeare’s The Merchants of Venice intended to be both timely and timeless (5/31-7/3)

FORD’S THEATRE

202-347-4833
fordstheatre.org

• 110 in the Shade — Marcia Milgrom Dodge directs and choreographs a new production of this 50-year-old musical about cowboys, confidence and courtship and featuring a lively score from the creators of The Fantasticks (3/11-5/14)

FORUM THEATRE

240-644-1390
forumtd.org

• The Pillowman — Authorities in an unnamed totalitarian state are unsettled by a writer in Martin McDonagh’s piercing play, cutting to the heart of art (Now to 4/2)
•  Blackberry Winter — Michael Dove directs Holly Twyford in a National New Play Network rolling world premiere about the struggles of a daughter to cope with her mother’s advancing dementia (5/19-6/11-16)

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GALA HISPANIC THEATRE

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

• Chronicle of a Death Foretold — An adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s about a murderous mission of revenge by a band of brothers (4/7-5/8)
•  El Paso Blue — Jose Carrasquillo directs this wild and comic tale of lust, revenge, identity and the Blues (6/2-6/26)

KEEGAN THEATRE

202-265-3767
keegantheatre.com

• American Idiot — The quest for true meaning in a post-9/11 world as told through the sharp-edged and exhilarating songs of Green Day (Now to 4/9)
•  Annapurna — A woman reunites with her husband in the wilds of Colorado in Sharr White’s razor sharp tale (4/30-5/21)
•  Next to Normal — Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s tremendously moving and very modern Tony- and Pulitzer-winning show (6/11-7/9)
•  The Lonesome West — A dark Irish comedy from the writer/director of the Oscar-winning film In Bruges (7/30-8/27)

KENNEDY CENTER

202-467-4600
kennedy-center.org

• Kinky Boots — Cyndi Lauper mined Tony gold with songs about a showgirl named Lola, in a story about the power of drag queens and shoes (6/14-7/10, Eisenhower)
•  The Bridges of Madison County — The story of an Iowa housewife and her life-changing, whirlwind romance with a traveling photographer gets the musical treatment (6/28-7/17, Eisenhower)
•  The Phantom of the Opera — A cast and orchestra of 52 will fill the Opera House to the brim in Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic (7/13-8/20, Opera House)

METRO STAGE

703-548-9044
metrostage.org

• Black Pearl Sings! — Over 20 American folk and spiritual songs factor into Frank Higgins’s story inspired by the real-life discovery of Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter by folklorist John Lomax (4/21-5/29)

MOSAIC THEATER COMPANY OF DC

202-399-7993
mosaictheater.org

• After The War — A new play from the author of The Admission about a middle-aged Israeli ex-patriot who returns to Tel Aviv after nearly two decades away (3/24-4/17)
•  Hkeelee (Talk to Me) — Leila Buck offers an interactive exploration of what it means to be(come) American in this probing portrait of a young American’s Lebanese grandmother (4/30-5/1)
•  When January Feels Like Summer — Serge Seiden transports this Off-Broadway romantic urban comedy to the Anacostia and H Street neighborhoods (5/19-6/12)

NATIONAL THEATRE

202-628-6161
nationaltheatre.org

• Annie — The world’s most nauseating musical returns. Let’s hope Arena never decides to stage it — it’ll be the decline of Western Civilization (3/15-3/20)
•  Jersey Boys — Those boys just keep working their way back to us (4/6-4/24)
•  The Wizard of Oz — We’re off to see the wizard in a re-conceived fairyland (5/3-5/15)

OLNEY THEATRE CENTER

301-924-3400
olneytheatre.org

• Marjorie Prime — A tender and provocative story of an elderly woman who’s using technology to reinvent her memories (Now to 4/10, Theatre Lab)
•  Dial ‘M’ For Murder — Frederick Knott’s deliriously spine-tingling play that would go on to inspire the Alfred Hitchcock thriller (4/6-5/1, Mainstage)
•  Bakersfield Mist — Donna Miglaccio is a poor, down-and-out woman and Michael Russotto an “East Coast Elite” art curator, and the two collide over class and culture and a potentially lost Jackson Pollock painting (5/12-6/12, Theatre Lab)
•  Evita — An intimate staging in Casa Olney of the musical about Argentina’s Eva Peron (6/23-7/24, Mainstage)
•  The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado — These two supremely silly Gilbert & Sullivan comic operettas are staged in rotating repertory and in promenade style for ultimate audience attentiveness (7/14-8/21, Theatre Lab)

POINTLESS THEATRE COMPANY

202-733-6321
pointlesstheatre.com

• Ugo Ball: A Super Spectacular Dada Adventure — A one-of-a-kind performance loosely based on the life of one of the founders of the Dada anti-art movement (4/15-5/14)

REP STAGE

443-518-1500
www.repstage.org

• Hunting and Gathering — Love, life and real estate is the focus of Brooke Berman’s smart and sexy comedy, directed by Kasi Campbell in a regional premiere (4/6-4/24)

ROUND HOUSE THEATRE

240-644-1100
roundhousetheatre.org

• Good Kids — The 14th Annual Sarah Metzger Memorial Play, presented by the Round House Teen Performance Company, is Naomi Iizuka’s provocative story loosely based on the Steubenville High School rape case (3/11-3/13)
•  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — Mitchell Hebert directs a cast including local heavyweights Rick Foucheaux and Nancy Robinette in a Round House look at the Tennessee Williams classic (3/30-4/24)
•  The Who & The What — A fierce and funny new play from Ayad Akhtar (Disgraced) about identity, religion and inherent human contradictions (5/25-6/19)

SCENA THEATRE

202-399-7993
scenatheatre.org

SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY

202-547-1122
shakespearetheatre.org

• 1984 — A new multimedia adaptation of the George Orwell classic that was a hit in the U.K. (3/8-4/10, Lansburgh)
•  The Taming of the Shrew — Kinky Boots star Billy Porter leads an edgy, all-male production helmed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (3/17-6/26, Harman)

SIGNATURE THEATRE

703-820-9771
signature-theatre.org

• Road Show — Signature offers the D.C. premiere of this rarely produced Sondheim show about a traveling duo of brothers (Now to 3/12, Max)
•  The Flick — Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy focuses on three employees at an increasingly out-of-date movie theater struggling to find their place in the world (Now to 4/17, Ark)
•  The Mystery of Love & Sex — From the writer of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and Showtime’s Masters of Sex comes this unexpected story of an evolving friendship between not-quite-straight best friends (4/5-5/8, Max)
•  La Cage aux Folles — The perennial Helen Hayes Award winner Bobby Smith leads the cast in this drag-centered, gay-affirming musical (5/31-7/10, Max)

STUDIO THEATRE

202-332-3300
studiotheatre.org

• Moment — Director Ethan McSweeny makes his Studio debut with an Irish tale about a family reunion and long-simmering sibling resentment (3/16-4/24)
•  Hedda Gabler — Mark O’Rowe’s contemporary adaptation intends to provide a nuanced portrait of one of the most fascinating figures in modern drama (5/11-6/19)
•  The Object Lesson — Physical theatre artist Geoff Sobelle transforms Studio’s Stage 4 into an epic storage facility in this immersive, one-of-a-kind performance-installation (5/20-6/5)
•  Hand to God — The Broadway musical that brought wickedly fun life to “sex, sinners and sock puppets” (7/7-8/7)

SYNETIC THEATER

800-494-8497
synetictheater.org

Romeo and Juliet — A revival of this Helen Hayes-winning “wordless Shakespeare” production (2/17-3/27)

• The Man in the Iron Mask — More swashbuckling bombastic adventures in this follow-up to The Three Musketeers (5/11-6/19)
• Twelfth Night — Set in the Roaring Twenties and inspired by the silent comedy of Keaton and Chaplin (7/13-8/7)

THEATRE J

theaterj.org

• Falling out of Time — A new adaptation of acclaimed Israeli author David Grossman’s novel about enduring loss and accepting death in a way that is moving and beautiful (3/17-4/17)
•  The Body of an American — A breathtakingly provocative drama, based on a true story, about the friendship that develops between a playwright and a photographer that spans from Rwanda to Afghanistan to the Canadian Artic (4/27-5/29)
•  Another Way Home — Anna Ziegler’s insightful, sardonic drama about the strangers we all live with — our family (6/23-7/24)

WOOLLY MAMMOTH

202-393-3939
woollymammoth.net

• The Nether — A modern crime drama exploring themes of desire, technology and morality in a futuristic Earth wasteland (4/4-5/1)
•  An Octoroon — Billed as “part period satire, part meta-theatrical middle finger,” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s play explores America’s lasting legacy of slavery and of racial pigeonholing (5/30-6/26)