Last season, Paula Vogel took the spotlight. This season, it’s August Wilson’s turn, as several major D.C. theaters present a portion of the august playwright’s finest works from his “Century Cycle,” including the biggest hitter at all — Fences, at Ford’s. Overall, the D.C. theater season looks to be as interesting, exciting, and socially and politically relevant as ever, with an abundance of productions focusing on racial relations in this country, both from a present and past perspective. And not to play favorites, but we are secretly looking forward to Amadeus at The Folger, Rep Stage’s E2, Mosaic’s ambitious “Till Trilogy,” and Teenage Dick (not what you think) at Woolly.
Musically, meanwhile, the city is undergoing an embarrassment of riches (keeping Alan Paul in a directing tizzy) with Cats, My Fair Lady, and a return of Hamilton at the Kennedy Center, Spring Awakening at the newly renovated Round House, Fun Home at Studio, Singing in the Rain and Pippin at Olney, Hedwig at Keegan, A Chorus Line and Hair at Signature, and — best of all — Little Shop of Horrors at Constellation. All eyes, however, are fixed on the Shakespeare Theatre Company, as this season marks the debut of new artistic director Simon Godwin, who will direct Timon of Athens and Much Ado About Nothing come spring. Welcome, Simon! We’re thrilled you’re here!
Trying — Joanna McClelland Glass draws on her real experience working for former U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle at his home in D.C. in the ’60s. Directed by Alex Levy (9/19-10/20)
Airness — A comedy about air guitar competitions. A co-production with Keegan Theatre (12/5-12/29, Keegan)
The Royale — In 1905, Jay “The Sport” Jackson dreams of becoming the first African American boxer to fight for the heavyweight championship. A co-production with Olney (1/30-2/23, Olney)
A New Brain — William Finn’s musical confronts the author’s encounter with a neurological disorder (3/26-4/19)
The Waverly Gallery — An art gallery in a small Greenwich Village hotel is threatened with replacement by a coffee shop. By Kenneth Lonergan (5/7-6/7)
Elephant and Piggie’s “We Are in a Play” — Gerald and Piggie are “bestus” friends, and are going to a party hosted by the Squirrelles (9/20-10/27)
The Velveteen Rabbit — Margery Williams’s classic toy story gets a vibrant retelling in this brand new adaptation (11/15-1/1)
The Snowy Day and Other Stories by Ezra Jack Keats — This beautiful show follows the character of Peter and his friend Archie around the neighborhood in four of Ezra Jack Keats’ beloved tales (2/14-4/5)
Lyle the Crocodile — When a crocodile turns up in a bathtub in an apartment, he becomes good friends with the folks in the building except Mr. Grumps (4/24-5/31)
Madagascar – A Musical Adventure — Based on the Dreamworks animated film. Directed by Natsu Onoda Power (6/26-8/23)
Dhana and the Rosebuds — A young Syrian woman pursues her science career in New York as she tries to forget a complicated past (11/1-11/23)
Rasheeda Speaking — A tense workplace thriller that examines the realities of “post-racial” America when two co-workers — one black, the other white — are driven apart by the machinations of their boss (3/6-3/22)
Jitney — The August Wilson classic directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (9/13-10/20, Kreeger Theater)
Right to Be Forgotten — A young man’s mistake at 17 haunts him online a decade later. (10/11-11/12, Kogod)
Disney’s Newsies — Based on the film. Music by Alan Menken. Book by Harvey Fierstein (11/1-12/22, Fichandler)
Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise — Tony Award-winner Ken Ludwig tells the heart-warming story of his parents’ courtship during World War II (11/21-12/29, Kreeger)
A Thousand Splendid Suns — The lives of two Afghan women are inextricably bound together (1/17-3/1, Fichandler)
Miss You Like Hell — Everyone has baggage in this timely mother-daughter musical about escaping and belonging (Now- 10/13)
Thoughts of a Colored Man — Welcome to the vibrant inner life of being Black, proud, and thriving in the 21st Century. By Keenan Scott II (10/10-11/10)
Men on Boats — A hilarious, true(ish) history of the Grand Canyon (11/29-12/22)
Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally — The classic world of “Dick and Jane” fractures in this witty look into a dysfunctional family (2/6-3/1)
Where We Stand — A fable of penance filled with humor, heart, and music (4/2-4/26)
Bakkhai — Heads roll in this fresh, new take on a Euripides classic (4/30-5/24)
Little Shop of Horrors — The Ashman-Menken classic doesn’t have a dud song in the lot. Plus, there’s a soul-singing plant! (10/17-11/17)
The 39 Steps — A cast of four actors embodies over 150 characters in this fast-paced and riotously funny remix of Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller. Nick Olcott directs (2/6-3/8)
Eurydice — Sarah Ruhl’s fresh reimagining of the classic Orpheus myth, told through the eyes of its heroine. Directed by Mary Hall Surface (5/8-5/31)
My Barking Dog — A troubled man, an isolated woman, and a wild coyote who shows up at their apartment building spells a major change of human civilization (10/4-10/13)
Radio Golf — The fast-paced, crackling conclusion to August Wilson’s 10-play Century Cycle examining the African-American experience in the 20th century (10/15-11/17)
Murder on the Orient Express — Ken Ludwig adapts Agatha Christie’s masterpiece (12/3-1/5)
Be Here Now — A comedic look at what we’re willing to do for love and happiness and to create meaning in our lives (1/21-2/16)
Queens Girl: Black in the Green Mountains — As the Vietnam War rages and the Kent State killings ignite college campuses across the country, Jackie arrives in Vermont to begin college where she is forced to confront the space between white and black culture to find her place in the world. A World Premiere commission by Everyman (3/3-4/12)
Berta, Berta — In Mississippi, 1920, Leroy returns to the doorstep of his long-lost lover, Berta, covered in blood after committing a shocking crime. With his freedom in the balance, the clock is ticking for him to make amends (3/17-4/26)
Cry It Out — This no-holds-barred comedy by Molly Smith Metzler holds a microscope and a megaphone to the joys and perils facing new parents (3/31-5/3)
Awake and Sing! — A Jewish immigrant family must weigh the costs of holding onto an enduring belief in the American dream. By Clifford Odets (5/26-6/28)
1 Henry IV — Prince Hal spends his days carousing in seedy taverns with criminals and lowly commoners, but his path to the throne eventually leads him to the battlefield. With Ed Gero as Falstaff (Now-10/13)
Amadeus — Genius and jealousy collide in 18th-century Vienna as the mediocre Salieri will do everything in his power to destroy his musical rival, Mozart. Directed by Richard Clifford (11/5-12/22)
The Merry Wives of Windsor — Shakespeare’s delightful comedy on love, money, deception, and the power of women. Directed by Aaron Posner (1/14-3/1)
Fences — One of August Wilson’s most famous and profound works, starring Craig Wallace and Erika Rose. Timothy Douglas, one of the foremost interpreters of Wilson’s work, directs (9/27-10/27)
A Christmas Carol — Wallace dons his Scrooge nightcap and returns for his fourth year as the miser who would spoil Christmas (11/21-1/1)
Silent Sky — A decade before women gained the right to vote, Henrietta Leavitt and her fellow women “computers” transformed the science of astronomy. This drama explores the determination, passion, and sacrifice of the women who redefined our understanding of the cosmos (1/24-2/23)
Guys and Dolls — Peter Flynn, who knocked Into the Woods out of the park last season, returns to direct this classic, featuring the showstoppers “Luck be a Lady” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” (3/13-5/20)
Life is a Dream — Hugo Medrano directs one of the essential works of Spanish Golden Age theater, a timeless play that explores free will, fate, and tyranny (Now-10/13)
We Have Iré — In this bilingual performance combining spoken word, dance, and live music, Afro Cuban and Cuban-American transnational artists tell their real life stories of finding success in the United States through hard work and ire, the Lucumí condition of being blessed with positive energy (12/6-12/7)
Exquisite Agony — Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz will direct his own play about a middle-aged woman’s obsessive quest to find love with a young man who receives the gift of her late husband’s heart (2/6-3/1)
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter — Set in Peru during the 1950s, this funny and tender story of an 18-year-old student who falls for a 32-year-old divorcee is based on the real life experience of Nobel Prize-winner Vargas Llosa (4/23-5/17)
L.A. Theatre Works: Seven — Seven playwrights collaborate to weave together a tapestry of poignant stories about seven courageous women from around the globe, relaying their struggles, threats, and violence along the road to triumph in their communities; the resulting documentary play was created with the support of the D.C.-based Vital Voices Global Partnership (10/18)
Enchantment Theatre Company: Peter Rabbit Tales — Based on The Original Peter Rabbit Books by Beatrix Potter and brought to life on stage with fantastical masks, playful puppets, lavish set, and original music by Charles Gilbert (10/6)
Mason School of Theater: Rags — Composer Charles Strouse, lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and book writer Joseph Stein team up on a new adaptation of a hidden musical gem, about immigrants arriving at Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century (10/31-11/3)
West By God — Two families grapple with issues of grief and love, memory and identity in this new play by West Virginia native Brandon McCoy (9/27-10/20)
Airness — A comedy about air guitar competitions. A co-production with 1st Stage (11/8-11/30)
An Irish Carol — A Keegan holiday tradition entering its 9th season (12/12-31)
Boy — After an accident, a well-intentioned doctor convinces the parents of a male infant to raise their son as a girl. Directed by Susan Marie Rhea (2/7-3/7)
Memphis — In the segregated ’50s, a young white DJ n falls in love with an electrifying black singer named Felicia Farrell. The 2010 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical (4/10-5/10)
Yoga Play — A provocative comedy about authenticity and enlightenment in a world determined to sell it (6/5-6/27)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch — John Cameron Mitchell’s award-winning, one-of-a-kind rock musical (7/24-8/23)
What the Constitution Means to Me — Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition money by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In her boundary-breaking new play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women in her family and the founding document that shaped their lives. Direct from Broadway (Now-9/22, Eisenhower)
Cats — Let the memory live again with new costumes, sets, and choreography (9/17-10/6, Opera House)
Broadway Center Stage: Footloose — Walter Bobbie directs J. Quinton Johnson, Michael Park and Rebecca Luker in the first of this season’s semi-staged productions that have been consistently mind-blowing (10/9-10/13, Eisenhower)
The Second City’s Love, Factually — A parody of that nauseating movie so ripe for parody (12/3-29, Theater Lab)
Come From Away — The remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them is the basis for this Tony-winning musical (12/10-1/5, Eisenhower)
My Fair Lady — The timeless classic, in a glowing new production from Lincoln Center, directed by Bartlett Sher (12/17-1/19, Opera House)
Broadway Center Stage: Next to Normal — Rachel Bay Jones stars in this unflinching look at a suburban family struggling with the effects of mental illness (1/29-2/2, Eisenhower)
Jesus Christ, Superstar — In celebration of its 50th anniversary, a new mesmerizing production comes to North America from London. Just in time for Easter! (4/14-4/26, Opera House)
Broadway Center Stage: Bye Bye Birdie — A loving send-up of the early 1960s, small-town America, teenagers, and rock and roll (4/23-4/26, Eisenhower)
Royal Shakespeare Company: The Taming of the Shrew — Justin Audibert turns Shakespeare’s fierce comedy of gender politics on its head (5/6-5/10, Eisenhower)
Tiny Beautiful Things — An original Kennedy Center production based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed and adapted by Nia Vardalos (6/2-6/28, Terrace)
Hamilton — The astounding Tony-winning musical returns for 14 weeks (6/16-9/20, Opera House)
Once On This Island — Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s musical tells the sweeping, universal tale of a fearless peasant girl in search of her place in the world (6/23-7/12, Eisenhower)
A Monster Calls — A powerful new adaptation by visionary director Sally Cookson (7/21-8/9, Eisenhower)
To Kill A Mockingbird — Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork which took Broadway by storm (but are we getting Jeff Daniels? Please?) (8/25-9/27, Eisenhower)
Fabulation — Lynn Nottage’s satirical tale follows a successful African-American publicist as she stumbles down the social ladder after her husband steals her fortune (Now-9/22)
Theory — A young tenure-track professor tests the limits of free speech by encouraging her students to contribute to an unmoderated discussion group and an anonymous student posts offensive comments and videos (10/23-11/17)
Eureka Day — How do you find consensus when you can’t agree on the facts? A comedy directed by Serge Seiden (12/4-1/5)
Pilgrims Musa & Sheri In the New World — A new immigrant from Egypt picks up a boisterous and quirky waitress and a night of improbable passion turns into an extended labyrinth of cultural assumptions upended (1/16-2/16)
Inherit the Windbag — Liberal Gore Vidal and conservative William F. Buckley meet to reprise their infamous debate (3/11-3/29)
The Till Trilogy –Ifa Bayeza’s three plays — The Ballad of Emmett Till, That Summer in Sumner, and Benevolence — tell the story and impact of the life of Emmett Till. In rep (4/1-6/21)
Cabaret — Alan Paul reinvents a masterpiece masterfully (Now-10/6, Mainstage)
The Diary of Anne Frank — In 1941 Amsterdam, 13-year-old Anne Frank goes into hiding from the Nazis with her family (9/17-9/24, Historic Stage)
The Royale — In 1905, Jay “The Sport” Jackson dreams of becoming the first African American boxer to fight for the heavyweight championship. A co-production with 1st Stage (9/25-10/27, Theatre Lab)
Singing in the Rain — The greatest movie musical of all time comes to life, rain and all (11/8-1/5, Mainstage)
A Christmas Carol — Paul Morella’s one-man adaptation of the Dickens’ holiday classic returns for its 10th Anniversary (11/29-12/29, Theatre Lab)
Miss You Like Hell — A mother and daughter encounter a mosaic of characters as diverse and weird as America itself on a road trip in this musical by Erin McKeown (1/29-3/1, Mainstage)
The Amateurs — A mind-bending journey from the 14th Century to the present day by Jordan Harrison (3/4-4/5, Theatre Lab)
The Humans — A middle-class American family celebrates a difficult Thanksgiving. Directed by Aaron Posner (4/1-5/3, Mainstage)
Pippin — They’ve got magic to do, just for you (6/10-7/19, Mainstage)
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Souvenier — The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the eccentric society matron who fancied herself a great singer, told through the eyes of her accompanist, Cosme McMoon (Now-9/22)
E2 — Power, gender and sexuality collide in Bob Bartlett’s contemporary reimagining of Christopher Marlowe’s tale of England’s infamous ineffectual king, Edward II (10/31-11/17)
Kill Move Paradise –James Ijames takes the Elysium of Greek antiquity and flips the script. Set in a cosmic waiting room, Isa, Daz, Grif and Tiny try to make sense of the world they have been untimely ripped from (2/20-3/8)
Dames at Sea — Rick Hammerly directs this winning musical based on the Hollywood extravaganzas of the ’30s (4/30-5/17)
School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play — The pretty, popular queen bee of the Aburi Girls Boarding School didn’t count on her reign being threatened (9/18-10/13)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time — What begins as an investigation into the grisly death of a neighbor’s dog results in a remarkable coming-of-age journey for a 15-year-old. Directed by Ryan Rilette and Jared Mezzochi (11/20-12/22)
Spring Awakening — Alan Paul directs this exhilarating paean to teenage sexuality. Music by Duncan Sheik (1/22-2/24)
Cost of Living — Two parallel narratives intersect as a wealthy graduate student with cerebral palsy and his newest caretaker build an uneasy trust, while a truck driver struggles to reconnect with his estranged wife, recently left paralyzed by a car crash in this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama (4/1-4/19)
Big Love — Fifty Greek maidens flee across the sea to Italy and claim refugee status to escape fifty arranged marriages. The fifty Grecian men follow in pursuit. (5/20-6/21)
Everybody — Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins adapts the 15th-century play Everyman in which Death, portrayed by Nancy Robinette, pays a visit to a group of people. Will Davis directs the comedy (10/14-11/17, Lansburgh, 450 7th St. NW)
Peter Pan — J.M. Barrie’s classic is reimagined in a world premiere adaptation by Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Alan Paul (12/3-1/12, Harman)
The Woman in Black — Susan Hill’s acclaimed ghost story comes alive in Stephen Mallatratt’s ingenious stage adaptation, which has been playing for three decades in the West End as one of Britain’s biggest (and scariest) hits (12/3-12/22, Lansburgh)
The Amen Corner — A Harlem pastor rails at her congregation and her teenaged son for their vices. She must face the music herself when a figure from her own troubled past returns (2/1-3/15, Harman)
Timon of Athens — Artistic Director Simon Godwin makes his directorial debut at the Shakespeare with a restaging of his recent, acclaimed production, featuring Olivier Award-winner Kathryn Hunter (2/20-3/22, Lansburgh)
Romantics Anonymous — Two chocolatiers suffering from social anxiety fall in love in this heartwarming musical (4/7-5/17, Lansburgh)
Much Ado About Nothing — Godwin takes the reigns to close the season with one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies (5/5-6/14, Harman)
Assassins — Eric Schaeffer directs Sondheim’s groundbreaking musical with a thrilling results (Now-9/29, Max Theatre)
Escaped Alone — In Caryl Churchill’s dark comedy, three old friends are joined by a neighbor to engage in amiable chitchat with a side of apocalyptic horror. Directed by Holly Twyford (9/24-11/3, Ark Theatre)
A Chorus Line — One of the most successful, award-winning musicals of all time is given the full Signature treatment (10/29-1/5, Max)
Gun & Powder — In this world premiere musical two light-skinned African American twins pass themselves as white to help their mother settle a sharecropper debt (1/28-2/23, Ark)
Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes — A world premiere comedy by D.C. area playwright Dani Stoller (2/18-3/29, Ark)
Camille Claudel — Turn-of-the-century French sculptor Camille Claudel was a groundbreaking artist and a revolutionary free-thinker, but her entire life was determined by the men around her. A new musical (3/24-4/19, Max)
Nijinsky’s Last Dance — A masterful tour-de-force that delves into the fascinating and troubled genius of the greatest dancer who ever lived (4/14-5/24, Ark)
Hair — The joyous, buoyant, and trippy musical that took the ’60s by storm, featuring classics as “Age of Aquarius,” “Let the Sunshine In” and, of course, “Hair” (5/19-7/12, Max)
Doubt: A Parable — Sarah Marshall anchors this Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece about faith, ambiguity, and the price of moral conviction set in 1964 at a Bronx Catholic school (Now-10/6, Metheny)
White Pearl — A leaked ad for skin-whitening cream goes viral in this twisted corporate comedy about the ugliness of the beauty industry (11/6-12/8, Milton)
Pipeline — A searing and deeply compassionate look at a broken education system (1/5-2/16, Mead)
Pass Over — A humorous and chilling collision of the Exodus saga and Waiting for Godot about the dreams of generations of young black men marooned in a cycle of violence (3/4-4/5, Milton)
Fun Home — Studio Artistic Director David Muse directs this heartfelt, powerful musical about coming out, based on the memoirs of lesbian cartoonist Allison Bechdel (5/13-6/14, Mead)
Aspen Ideas — The world premiere of a fast-paced and darkly comedic thriller about the poisonous appeal of believing that the best ideas win (6/24-7/19, Milton)
The Tempest — The troupe’s legendary, cinematic adaptation returns, complete with a water-filled stage and Irina Tsikurishvili as “Prospera” (9/25-10/20)
The Snow Queen — A whimsical, family-friendly adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s beloved fairy tale (12/3-12/29)
Phantom of the Opera — A physical adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s classic. Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili (2/5-3/1)
Life is a Dream — A modern take on Calderon’s Spanish Golden Age classic (4/22-5/17)
The Servant of Two Masters — Carlo Goldoni’s commedia dell’arte masterpiece, Synetic style (6/17-7/12)
Day of Absence — Citizens in a sleepy country town are forced to deal with a shocking discovery (10/5-11/3)
The Bitter Earth — An introspective black playwright finds his lack of activism questioned by his white boyfriend, an impassioned member of the Black Lives Matter Movement (2/22-3/22)
The Blackest Battle — A revolutionary hip-hop musical written by Psalmayene 24 (5/16-6/14)
Candida — In this George Bernard Shaw classic, a preacher and a poet are in love with the same woman (9/26-10/20)
Hard Times — An adaptation of the Dickens classic in which four actors play all the roles (11/14-12/8)
Bloomsday — A young couple meet on a walking tour of James Joyce’s Dublin, but a misunderstanding keeps them apart. Thirty-five years later, they return to retrace their steps and confront their younger selves about the missed opportunity (1/23-2/16)
Sam & Dede — Subtitled, “My Dinner with Andre the Giant,” Gino Dilorio’s play chronicles one of the unlikeliest of friendships in history (3/19-4/12)
Fairview — Beverly insists the celebration for Grandma’s birthday be perfect. But her husband is useless, her sister is into the wine, and her daughter’s secrets are threatening to derail the day (Now-9/6)
What to Send Up When It Goes Down — A play-pageant-ritual-homegoing celebration in response to the physical and spiritual deaths of Black people as a result of racialized violence (10/30-11/10)
The Second City’s She the People: The Resistance Continues — The Second City returns to Woolly with a freshly written show further satirizing the reality of being a woman in this wild world (12/1-1/5)
Shipwreck: A History Play About 2017 — A group of well-meaning liberals gather at a farmhouse for a relaxing weekend when the 45th U.S. President sends a history-altering dinner invitation (2/10-3/8)
There’s Always the Hudson — Paola Lázaro’s new work takes an unflinching look at confronting trauma, and how the bonds with our chosen family can carry us through (4/6-5/3)
Teenage Dick — Mike Lew’s modern, darkly comic re-telling of Shakespeare’s Richard III set in high school. Bullied because of his cerebral palsy, Richard is willing to crush his enemies in order to become senior class president (6/1-6/28)
A play of epic proportions, Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt has almost equally epic challenges and, like a suit that doesn’t quite fit, it feels just a little too big for the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production.
Immense in scope, Stoppard’s semi-autobiographical journey weaves its way from 1899 through 1955 as multiple generations of a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna experience war and antisemitism in ways that will forever change their lives and identities.
Heavy on the expository and vignette-driven, family gatherings share space with spirited conversations about Zionism, the creation of a Jewish homeland, and the growing “othering” of Viennese Jews as time passes through Germany’s annexation of Austria, two world wars, and a final post-war-Vienna pause.
British singer Elton John revealed over the weekend that he has lost his eyesight following a recent infection.
The "Tiny Dancer" singer made the announcement following the opening night of the new musical version of The Devil Wears Prada, based on the 2006 hit film starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway (which, in turn, was based on a 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger).
John, who wrote the score for the musical -- which stars Vanessa Williams as intimidating editor Miranda Priestly -- said he struggled to watch the musical due to his vision loss, reported The Associated Press.
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