Death looms large in young Hanna Hauser’s world — as stark and imposing as the mountains that surround her Alpine village — while life is as harsh as the howling winds that blow in every fall and portend the arrival of snow. Hanna’s brother, Melk, died suddenly and mysteriously two years earlier, a death that her father, Jakob, and the village pastor, Father Hoffmann, describe as “dying of melancholy.” As the second anniversary of Melk’s death approaches, the unanswered questions surrounding it echo through Hanna’s family and their isolated dairy farming community like the sounds of yodeling that punctuate the sound design of ExPats Theatre’s new production of Cold Country by Swiss playwright Reto Finger, now playing at Atlas Performing Arts Center.

When Finger was a child, his family moved to a small village in the Emmental region of the Alps, where, as he shared with ExPats founder Karin Rosnizeck in a recent interview, “in a way, we always felt like strangers.” The harsh climate of the Alps, the Christian and pagan myths and folklore that haunt the landscape and its residents, and the childhood experience of feeling like an outsider or an observer in an insular community are all deeply felt in Cold Country.

Translated and directed by Rosnizeck, ExPats’ production of Cold Country opens with voiced-over narration of a mythical tale weaving together elements of several Alpine legends, backed by swelling strings and ethereal yodeling (sound design by Rosnizeck, Laura Schlachtmeyer, David Bryan Jackson, and Andrew Bellware) as stunning black-and-white footage of snowy peaks appears on a screen at the back of the stage (Tennessee Dixon, projections designer). Finger’s opening fable features a dairy farmer named Macolvi haunted by the death of his daughter and demanding a reckoning from the divine, and is retold by Hanna and referenced by her parents throughout the play, serving as a frame story for the Hausers’ own.

As patriarch Jakob Hauser, Michael Crowley grieves his son with brooding, barely suppressed anger, which erupts as he slams his fist on the table in the family home and berates his wife Kathrin (Melissa B. Robinson) and daughter Hanna (Sadie O’Conor) when they retreat into their own silences. He colludes with Cold Country’s other patriarchal figure, Father Hoffmann (David Bryan Jackson), to conceal the circumstances of Melk’s death from Kathrin and Hanna, even as he privately tells the pastor, “You know Melk didn’t die of melancholy!”

Where Crowley’s Jakob hides the truth behind silence, Jackson, as Father Hoffmann, obfuscates with pious platitudes: “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.” The increasingly creepy attention he pays to Hanna when she comes to decorate her brother’s grave reveals Jackson’s Father Hoffmann as a more sinister figure than the well-meaning but tone-deaf old man he initially appears to be.

Under the disapproving gaze of her father (who refers to her as “the kid” rather than by her name) and the lecherous gaze of the pastor, Sadie O’Conor as Hanna retreats into defiant silence and grows increasingly desperate to escape the village and its constant reminders of her brother’s death. Dressed in black and gray throughout the play (Donna Breslin, costume designer), and conveying deep emotion through her facial expressions and body language, O’Conor’s Hanna is a young woman stretched taut by the grief and rage she represses in the presence of her parents and Father Hoffmann. She opens up only to the audience and to a tourist from the city, Tobias (Elgin Martin), who arrives in the village intending to climb the nearby mountain with his roommate Jasmin (Maryanne Henderson).

While Martin delivers an earnest performance as Tobias, eager to soak up the beauty of the mountain world that Hanna longs to escape, and Henderson provides the play’s few moments of comic relief in her brief scenes as Jasmin, they often feel less like developed characters and more like a plot device that Finger uses to allow the presence and perspective of outsiders to challenge the stories the villagers tell and the silences they keep.

The stories — and the silences — surrounding Melk’s death are challenged with increasing intensity by Hanna and, more understatedly, by her mother Kathrin (a weary and long-suffering Melissa B. Robinson) as the play progresses, setting in motion an explosive chain of events that echo the mythical frame story.

Director and translator Rosnizeck describes Cold Country as Finger’s “most Swiss play,” and ExPats’ production, from Dixon’s projections of Alpine scenery to the yodeling featured heavily in the sound design to the recurring folkloric motifs, feels uniquely and particularly Swiss. Yet the themes it explores, of life and death and the fragile boundary between them, are universal — and portrayed in scenes as stark and breathtaking as the Alps themselves. 

Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes, without intermission.

Cold Country plays through October 19, 2025 (Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 pm), presented by ExPats Theatre, performing at Atlas Performing Arts Center, Lab Theatre II, 1333 H St NE, Washington, DC. Tickets ($29.75–$54.75) are available online.

Cold Country
By Reto Finger
Translated and directed by Karin Rosnizeck

CAST
Jakob Hauser: Michael Crowley
Kathrin Hauser: Melissa B. Robinson
Hanna Hauser: Sadie O’Conor
Father Hoffmann: David Bryan Jackson
Tobias: Elgin Martin
Jasmin: Maryanne Henderson

CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Karin Rosnizeck
Stage Manager: Amberrain Andrews
Fight/Intimacy Choreographer: Jon Beal
Costume Designer: Donna Breslin
Lighting Designer: Ian Claar
Scenic/Projections Designer: Tennessee Dixon
Sound Design: Karin Rosnizeck, Laura Schlachtmeyer, David Bryan Jackson, Andrew Bellware

SEE ALSO:
Expats Theatre to present ‘Cold Country’ by Swiss playwright Reto Finger (news story, August 28, 2025)

The post Set in the Alps, Expats Theatre’s ‘Cold Country’ is stark and breathtaking appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

As the audience filed into Olney Theatre Center’s Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab Saturday night for the U.S. premiere of Red Pitch, the small cast of three was already in motion, showing off their soccer moves on the red concrete stage. An errant kick sent the ball flying squarely toward an usher directing patrons to their seats. Looking every bit as mortified as three teenage schoolboys, actors Ty’Ree Hope Davis, Terrence Griffin, and Angelo Harrington II bounded over to hug the usher before returning to the stage, comically chastising each other along the way.

This unscripted preshow moment felt like an entirely believable opening to Red Pitch, the story of Black British teenagers Bilal (Davis), Joey (Griffin), and Omz (Harrington), who gather each day on the titular “red pitch” — a patch of concrete in a fictional South London neighborhood known as “the endz.” As the neighborhood changes around them, with the chicken wing shop on the corner giving way to an upscale coffee shop and the residents of their council estate (public housing project) relocating one by one as apartment blocks are slated for demolition, Bilal, Joey, and Omz ground themselves in their shared dreams of playing professional football (soccer). As factors and forces beyond their control loom over their lives, the boys find sanctuary in the red pitch and in their friendship. But as the redevelopment of “the endz” marches on, the boys’ lives as residents of public housing grow increasingly precarious, threatening both their friendship and the “red pitch” that forges it. 

Following sold-out runs at London’s Bush Theatre in 2022 and 2023, where it earned all five of the UK’s Off West End Awards for Best New Play, and a West End premiere in 2024, playwright Tyrell Williams and director Daniel Bailey have brought Red Pitch to the U.S. for the first time at Olney, mounting the play with an American cast and crew. Soccer consultant Malcolm Harris trained the actors in an on-field bootcamp this summer, while dialect coach Yetunde Felix-Ukwu has the DC-based cast speaking with the accents and slang of young Black Londoners.

Williams describes his writing style as character-driven, stating in a preshow panel, “I enjoy exploring humans.” The three actors fill the stage with energy, bantering and one-upping each other as they train for a football club tryout while juggling family pressures, uncertain futures, relationships (or the lack thereof), and breakups. Their performances reveal the full humanity of these young men, each interaction peeling back new layers as the play unfolds.

As Bilal, Ty’Ree Hope Davis is all long limbs and nervous energy. Single-mindedly focused on “making it” as a footballer, he constantly urges Joey and Omz to keep practicing while they tease him that a successful man also needs to rest. Beneath Bilal’s intensity lurks anxiety triggered by his demanding father, who also once saw football as his ticket out of the council estate but remained behind to care for family responsibilities.

Family responsibilities loom large beneath the surface for Omz (Angelo Harrington II), who cares for his younger brother and their ailing grandfather and hopes that improvements to the neighborhood mean that “the lifts will work” and his grandfather won’t need to walk up five floors to their apartment. Behind his bravado and bluster, Harrington’s Omz struggles to carry his family burdens or to ask for help. His pain, anger, and desperation bubble to the surface both quietly (in his reaction to a phone call from home) and more explosively later in the play, in a visceral fight scene choreographed by Casey Kaleba.

Joey (played by Terrence Griffin in his professional theater debut) stands physically a head taller than his friends and is the most farsighted of the three. Interested in the possibilities and promise of a life outside “the endz,” Griffin as Joey thinks aloud about his backup plans if football doesn’t work out, and attempts to advise his friends on how to navigate social systems and services as they face the prospect of displacement amid the redevelopment of their neighborhood.

Nadir Bey’s scenic design sets the stage for “the endz” and bookends the red pitch with one goal spray-painted on a graffiti-covered brick wall, and the other goal formed by a rectangular piece of wood. Fencing and scaffolding at each end of the stage evoke the ongoing demolition and construction of the gentrifying neighborhood. The three friends’ shared ritual of slapping the sign on the fence as they enter and exit the red pitch punctuates the play from start to finish.

DJ Potts’ sound design grounds the play in the neighborhood through the rumble of construction vehicles and the chants of community members, while also bringing the boys’ aspirations to life with Premier League announcers and cheering stadium crowds in dream sequences choreographed by Siani Nicole. The musical choices, including during a party that Bilal, Joey, and Omz attend just days before their big tryout, left audience members asking for a Spotify soundtrack after the show.

While the design elements and the individual performances shine in Olney’s production of Red Pitch, the interaction between the three characters allows the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts, as Bilal, Joey, and Omz spar on and off the pitch, call one another out on their bullshit, hype each other up, and have each other’s backs in a believable — and enjoyable — portrayal of teenage male friendship.

At a time when many men of all ages on both sides of the pond struggle to maintain close friendships, Red Pitch and its characters resonate deeply. If Olney’s packed house on opening night is any indication, American audiences will be rooting for Red Pitch — and for the friendships at its heart — from opening kickoff to the final whistle.

Running Time: 90 minutes, without intermission.

Red Pitch is now EXTENDED through October 26, 2025, in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theater Lab at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd, Olney, MD. Regular performances are Wednesday—Saturday at 7:30 pm, with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 1:30 pm. Tickets ($47—$95) can be purchased online, by calling the box office at 301-924-3400, or through TodayTix. Discounts for groups, seniors, teachers, active military, first responders, and students are available here.

The digital program for Red Pitch is available here.

Red Pitch
By Tyrell Williams, based on the original direction by Daniel Bailey

CAST
Ty’Ree Hope Williams: Bilal
Terrence Griffin: Joey
Angelo Harrington II: Omz
Chandler Jordan: Understudy Bilal/Omz
Quincy Vicks: Understudy Joey

CREATIVE TEAM
Scenic Designer: Nadir Bey
Lighting Designer: Amith Chandrashaker
Costume Designer: Jeannette Christensen
Sound Designer: DJ Potts
Choreographer: Siani Nicole
Fight Choreographer: Casey Kaleba
Soccer Consultant: Malcolm Harris
Dialect Coach: Yetunde Felix-Ukwu
Stage Manager: Rachel Harrison

SEE ALSO:
West End hit ‘Red Pitch’ to open Olney’s 2025/26 season (news story August, 26, 2025)

The post London hit ‘Red Pitch’ at Olney Theatre roots for teenage male friendship appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

(Originally published February 26, 2025)

Following the success of its three prior touring productions at the Museum of the Bible’s World Stage Theater (two runs of The Horse and His Boy in 2023, Prince Caspian in the spring of 2024, and The Pilgrim’s Progress last fall), the Academy of Arts Logos Theatre, based in Taylors, South Carolina, has for the first time chosen to launch a national tour in Washington, DC, with its adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Seventy-five years after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first appeared in print, the Logos Theatre’s adaptation of it, written, directed, and choreographed by Academy of Arts Artistic Director Nicole Stratton, immediately draws audiences into World War II–era London and from there to the English countryside, where four siblings are being evacuated to escape the bombings. (Much like the professor who greets them at his country home, played with comically exaggerated eccentricity and absentmindedness by Noah Stratton, Lewis hosted child evacuees during the war.) When the youngest child, Lucy (played by Alice Johnson with an endearing mix of vulnerability, curiosity, and spunk), claims to have found a magical world called Narnia in a wardrobe in one of the professor’s many spare rooms, her siblings react in entirely believable ways. Edmund (Emmett Yopp), the next youngest, bullies and mocks her as the only person in his life he can punch down to. Peter (Brinton Stratton) and Susan (Bethany Bliss), trying desperately to be responsible older siblings in the absence of their parents, are concerned that Lucy is coping with the trauma of wartime, displacement, and family separation by engaging in escapism, and worry that she is lying or has gone mad.

Yet as the siblings soon find out when first Edmund and then all four end up entering Narnia through the wardrobe, Lucy (as she has stridently maintained) was not engaging in escapism but truly found another world. Fleeing from war and tyranny in their own world, the children find themselves caught up in it in Narnia, where the White Witch (Nicole Stratton) rules by force, manipulation, and magic and keeps the land frozen in a state of eternal winter. In their own world, the children are sent away from the air raids in London in an attempt to shield them from the reality of war and are constantly told to keep out of sight and out of trouble at the professor’s country home by his uptight housekeeper, Mrs. Macready (Lydia Miller). In Narnia, they are seen as the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy and immediately taken seriously by the Witch, who seeks to kill them as a threat to her power, and by a pair of beavers (Christian Lamas and Jennifer Swain) who risk their own lives to deliver the children to the great Lion Aslan, setting in motion an epic battle between good and evil.

The Logos Theatre uses an expansive cast and crew to keep the adventure (and its many parts!) moving seamlessly. Jesse Gould’s set design and Jeremiah Gould’s visual effects, including projections on the side and back walls of the theater, use every inch of the World Stage Theater space and give the illusion of a much larger world. Movable set pieces, including the titular wardrobe, the Beavers’ stick-framed home, and the imposing Stone Table, are skillfully rotated between scenes, often concealing or setting up character and costume changes. The characters walk through the aisles to the right and left of the stage, and between the two sections of the orchestra seating, immersing audiences in the story. My eight-year-old and I sat in the back row of the first orchestra section and experienced a great thrill when the life-sized puppet Aslan (designed and operated by a team of puppeteers led by Justin Swain) walked right behind us, near enough to touch.

See below: “A Q&A with Yisak Estifanos (age 8) about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”

The crisp pacing, scene transitions, and use of the aisles for the characters to walk through are so effective in most of the play that the rare occasions where it’s done less well stand out. This chiefly occurs when Edmund leaves the Beavers’ house and heads to the White Witch’s castle near the end of the first act. In the book (and in the late-1980s BBC television series), Edmund’s journey through the snowy night forest to the castle is miserable, causing him to question his decision. In this play, Edmund’s abrupt appearance at the Witch’s castle almost immediately after leaving the Beavers’ home feels like a missed opportunity to engage with his character’s inner and outer struggles.

Puppetry, props (Kayla Goodfellow), costumes (Lucy Parker), and makeup (Rachel Maciejack and Rachel Sorgius) blend especially well to imbue Nicole Stratton’s White Witch and her wolves, led by Harrison Winkley as Maugrim, with icy terror. In one of the Logos Theatre’s few artistic liberties with Lewis’ text, the White Witch rides in a sleigh pulled by snarling, armored wolves instead of reindeer, adding to her intimidation factor from the moment she appears on stage. (So fearsome were the wolves that I half expected them to turn and snap at the Witch’s dwarf driver whenever he cracked his whip at them!)

C.S. Lewis wrote in 1956, after publishing the final volume in his seven-part Chronicles of Narnia, that “The Fantastic or Mythical is a Mode available at all ages for some readers; for others, at none. At all ages, if it is well used by the author and meets the right reader, it has the same power…” Seventy-five years after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first appeared in print, its story of adventure and redemption, of power that seeks to dominate and destroy countered by power that sacrifices itself to restore and to heal, remains resonant on both page and stage. Viewers of all ages willing to immerse themselves in the fantastic and mythical will find much to enjoy in the Logos Theatre’s adaptation of Lewis’ tale and its reminder that even the coldest and darkest of winters eventually turn toward spring.

Running Time: Approximately two hours and 40 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission with presentation from event sponsor Compassion International.

UPDATE: Back by popular demand, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe returns from August 29 through October 19, 2025, presented by The Academy of Arts Logos Theatre, performing at the World Stage Theater on the fifth and sixth floors of the Museum of the Bible, 400 4th Street SW, Washington, DC. Tickets ($59–$85) are available for purchase online, at the Museum, or by calling (866) 430-MOTB.

For a limited time, exclusive free backstage passes are available with code FREEBSP. Backstage passes after the final show each day include:

A meet and greet with the cast
An up-close experience with the puppets
A behind-the-scenes look at how the production was made

This offer is available only for opening-weekend shows, August 29 to September 1, 2025, and there are only 50 backstage pass tickets per show.

A Q&A with Yisak Estifanos (age 8) about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

From his handwritten notes, and our post-play conversation. Lightly edited for clarity. —Hannah Estifanos

Would you like to introduce yourself? What do you enjoy about going to see plays?

My name is Yisak Estifanos, and I am eight years old. I like going to plays because they are very dramatic. The first play I saw was The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show at Imagination Stage when I was little. Since then, I’ve been to Imagination Stage again, Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo, and the Museum of the Bible, where I just saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by the Logos Theatre.

Who were your favorite characters in the play and why?

I liked Aslan because he reminds me of Jesus. And I liked the wolves, because wolves are some of my favorite animals and they were very scary in the play.

Were there parts of the play that were exactly as you imagined the story when we read the book? Were there parts that surprised you?

I really liked how they made the wardrobe, especially how it had a lion and flying horses carved into it. The wardrobe looked just like I imagined.

I was surprised that instead of reindeer, they used wolves for the White Witch’s sleigh. And I was surprised that they made it Christmas in spring!

Are there other details you noticed about the play that you’d like to share?

They made an illusion [at the beginning]: they had one train car and made it look like more.

They made it look like birds were flying by putting them on the people’s shoulders.

They walked through the aisle to make it look like [the characters were taking] a long trip, and they made it look like the aisle was a forest.

They created a language [for Aslan and the White Witch] to keep their conversation secret.

What ages would you recommend this play for?

From young kids up to grandparents!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 

PRINCIPAL CAST
Peter Pevensie: Brinton Stratton
Susan Pevensie: Bethany Bliss
Edmund Pevensie: Emmett Yopp
Lucy Pevensie: Alice Johnson
White Witch: Nicole Stratton
Professor: Noah Stratton
Father Christmas, Oreius: David Smith
Mr. Tumnus: Sam Singleton
Mr. Beaver: Christian Lamas
Mrs. Beaver: Jennifer Swain
Maugrim: Harrison Winkley

ENSEMBLE CAST
Lucy Pevensie Alternate, Ensemble Cast: Ivy Jones
Mrs. Macready: Lydia Miller
Margaret, Ensemble Cast: Jane Shanks
Betty, Ensemble Cast: Katrina McMindes
Older Susan, Ensemble Cast: Hope Barr
Tree Puppeteer, Older Edmund, Ensemble Cast: Jared Yopp
Stilt Trees: Jeremy Singleton, Nathan Sorgius, Allison James
Flying Trees: Kathryn Popkin, Amelia Guy
Butler, Fox: Elijah Parker
Dwarf, Aslan Puppeteer: Jonathan Overstreet
Aslan Puppeteer, Ensemble Cast: Justin Swain
Tree Puppeteer, Aslan Puppeteer, Ensemble Cast: Ben Pilgrim
Aslan Puppeteer, Older Peter, Ensemble Cast: Berend Sandersfeld
Spring Dancer, Ensemble Cast: Bethany Guerrero, Brooklyn Guerrero
Bird Puppeteer, Ensemble Cast: Naomi Colon
Spring Dancer: Rachel Sorgius
Bird Puppeteer, Spring Dancer, Ensemble Cast: Erin Campagna
Creature, Ensemble Cast: Kristen Goodfellow
Giant, Ensemble Cast: Simeon Miller
Hag, Ensemble Cast: Jennifer James
Bird Puppeteer, Spring Dancer, Older Lucy, Ensemble Cast: Anna Gardner Herren
Wolf, Ensemble Cast: Zachary Bentley
Ensemble Cast: Abigail Pierce, Miles Coleman, Michael Ingraham, Briana Yopp

PRODUCTION TEAM
Writer, Director, and Choreographer: Nicole Stratton
Set Design: Jesse Gould
Costume Design: Lucy Parker, Lydia Miller, Sean Basto, Sylvia Jackson, Emily Bailey, Nicole Stratton
Makeup Design: Rachel Maciejack, Rachel Sorgius
Lighting Design: Sam Singleton
Sound Design: Olivia Singleton, Kathryn Popkin
Prop Design: Kayla Goodfellow
Marketing: Jennifer Swain, Allison James
Graphic Design: Liz Preston, Jeremiah Gould
Visual Effects: Jeremiah Gould
Media: Jennifer James, Ben Maciejack, Joe Butler, Matt Hainsworth, Naomi Swain, Ariel Hopkins
Puppetry: Justin Swain, Jesse Gould, Zak Minor

TECHNICAL CREW
Stage Crew Manager: Jeremy Singleton
Costumes Manager: Lucy Parker
Lighting Technician: Nathan Weaver
Live Audio: Ashley Hallam
Sound/Puppet Voice Technician: Olivia Singleton
Prop Manager: Kristen Goodfellow
Makeup Manager: Rachel Sorgius
Dressers: Kathryn Popkin, Briana Yopp, Amelia Guy

The post ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ enchants at Museum of the Bible appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Since Sesame Street first appeared on public television in 1969, it has educated and entertained generations of children. Multiple generations — from the excited toddlers dressed as their favorite characters to the parents and grandparents who brought them to the show — were in attendance this week at Sesame Street the Musical at the Kennedy Center, and director Jonathan Rockefeller aims to deliver something for everyone.

As you enter the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, a series of parody Broadway posters line the walls, including Bath to the Future – The Musical (starring Ernie in his beloved bathtub), Les Macarons (starring Cookie Monster), The Fraction of the Opera-ah-ah (starring the Count), and Waiter (starring Grover) among the highlights. Literally and figuratively over the heads of most of the children walking into the theater, the parody posters appear later as part of the set (Tyler Schank, scenic designer) and establish from the beginning that Sesame Street the Musical is not only a show for kids, but a playful send-up of theater itself with plenty of self-referential humor for the adults in the audience to enjoy.

Opening with the beloved Sesame Street theme song, Sesame Street the Musical features a pre-recorded score of classic songs from the show, numbers that Rockefeller refers to as “deep cuts,” and original songs written by Nate Edmondson in collaboration with Broadway composers Tom Kitt and Helen Park. (Edmondson also serves as the show’s sound designer.) A talented ensemble of puppeteers (Mecca Akbar, Julia Feinberg, Yanniv Frank, Joe Newman-Getzler, Natalie Michaels, Vickie Oceguera, Molly Penny, Dustin Scully, Matteo Villanueva, and Anthony White) strategically hidden behind the walls of the set, operate the cast of puppets in sync with the recorded voices of the Muppet stars. That the layers of sound design function near-seamlessly in tandem with the puppetry — with the occasional miscue (such as when voices were difficult to hear over the music during the original number “Hey! We’re in a Musical!”) quickly corrected — is a testament to the skill of the ensemble and crew.

The musical functions as a revue, loosely tied together by a frame story in which the Muppets are trying to stage a musical but have forgotten to book a guest star. When Olivia (Olivia Bernábe), the only non-puppet actor in the performance, wanders onto the set in search of their seat, they are recruited as the “special guest” and taken on a journey to learn to sing, dance, choose a costume, overcome their nerves, and perform with confidence. The frame story was lost on my Sesame Street-loving three-year-old, who asked if Olivia was “the mama,” but the familiar Muppet musical numbers delighted him, especially “Elmo’s Got the Moves,” featuring Elmo dancing with several pairs of golden puppet shoes; “C is for Cookie,” starring Cookie Monster with a set of anthropomorphized puppet cookies that he attempts to eat; and “Rubber Duckie,” with Ernie and his duckie blissfully “splashing” on stage as a bubble machine blew bubbles into the audience. The Count’s disco-flavored “Number of the Day” (complete with disco ball at stage right and dazzling lighting by Malory Hartman) was another crowd pleaser, although very young or especially sensory-sensitive children may be overwhelmed by the pulsating lights and beats.

My son’s all-time favorite Sesame Street character is Oscar the Grouch, and Oscar does not disappoint in the musical. Popping up from his trash can for the first time following Olivia and Rosita’s duet “Sing After Me,” Oscar prevents the musical from turning too saccharine with his appearance as the “critic-at-large” for the “New Yuck Times.” As a display of his newspaper headlines appears as a backdrop (“Stinky! Rotten! Trash! Scram!”), Oscar announces to the audience, “You better not be enjoying yourselves or else I won’t have anything to write about!” as he launches into his number “I Love Trash,” accompanied by a cast of trash puppets including a broken umbrella and a dilapidated trombone. The irony that I laughed harder at Oscar than at anything else in the show at a performance I was there to review is not lost on me.

While Oscar would undoubtedly have found the moment too “nice” for his liking, the song “Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)” for me best summed up the spirit of the musical (and of Sesame Street). In solo verses and a shared chorus, Cookie Monster and Grover sing of their pride in being “fuzzy and blue.” When an orange Martian wanders on stage, they notice its difference (“You’re not fuzzy and blue — you’re orange!”) but quickly update the song to include the newcomer. Just as Sesame Street has evolved over the years while remaining true to its identity, as Rockefeller notes in an interview in the Kennedy Center’s CENTER magazine, Cookie Monster and Grover keep singing on beat, proud of being fuzzy and blue — while making space for the Martian to join the chorus and belong. As the Muppets take the stage in our nation’s capital at a time where questions of American identity and who is welcome in America take center stage in national news, the United States can learn much from Sesame Street about remaining true to itself while being welcoming to newcomers and willing to evolve.

Running Time: Approximately 70 minutes without intermission.

Sesame Street the Musical plays through August 31, 2025, presented by Rockefeller Studios, performing in the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St NW, Washington, DC. Purchase tickets (starting at $45) in person (the Hall of States Box Office is open Monday – Saturday 10 am – 9 pm and Sunday 12 pm – 9 pm), by calling the box office at (202) 467-4600, online, or through TodayTix. Sensory-friendly performances are available Sunday, August 10, and Saturday, August 30, both at 3:30 PM.

Best enjoyed by ages 2+
View the digital program here.

The post A joy for generations in ‘Sesame Street the Musical’ at Kennedy Center appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

As my eight-year-old son and I took our seats alongside parents and children from tots to teens in Adventure Theatre MTC’s intimate Glen Echo space for its summer production of The Lightning Thief – TYA Version, storm clouds rolled in above the New York cityscape projected on a screen between Greek-style columns. The sounds of thunder and sirens gave way to the opening musical number as the cityscape shifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where middle school misfit Percy Jackson and his classmates are on a class trip with their eccentric teacher, Mr. Brunner, expounding on Greek mythology from his wheelchair. When a chaperone transforms into a black-winged Fury and attacks Percy, and the ensuing incident results in Percy being expelled from school (his sixth expulsion in six years), Greek mythology leaps from the museum to life and sets in motion a grand adventure where Percy discovers who he is (the son of sea god Poseidon!) and joins in a quest to retrieve Zeus’s missing lightning bolt and prevent a war between the gods.

Adapted from Rick Riordan’s 2005 fantasy-adventure novel The Lightning Thief, which has inspired multiple sequels, a film adaptation, a Disney+ series, and a full-length Broadway musical, The Lightning Thief – TYA Version, now playing at Adventure Theatre MTC, presents the story on stage as it was introduced off-Broadway in 2014: as a one-act, one-hour musical. Joe Tracz’s book (directed by ATMTC artistic director Kurt Boehm) condenses Riordan’s nearly 400-page novel, with 16 pop-rock songs by Rob Rokicki (music directed by Elisa Rosman) advancing the plot and providing most of its emotional reveals.

Jeremy Crawford plays Percy Jackson with his heart on his sleeve. “Impudent” in his own words, irrepressible, and impulsive, Crawford’s Percy vents his frustration against his absent father, his lazy, demanding stepfather, the schools he has been expelled from, the world that he doesn’t fit into as an often-bullied child with ADHD and dyslexia. Underneath it all, however, he longs to “be a good kid, a good son … good enough for someone” and to find somewhere he belongs, as he sings powerfully in the punk-flavored number “Good Kid.”

Like Percy, Annabeth Chase (Brigid Wallace Harper), daughter of Athena (goddess of wisdom) and an unnamed history professor, has a chip on her shoulder against her divine and human parents. Harper captures Annabeth’s toughness and constant desire to assert her competence over Percy: “You don’t even know how to hold a sword!” Yet she, too, has a vulnerable side, expressed beautifully in her solo “My Grand Plan.”

The remaining members of the cast of seven each play multiple roles. Jordan Essex delivers comic relief in his dual roles as Percy’s best friend and sidekick, the satyr Grover, and Mr. D (also known as Dionysus, Greek god of wine), the world-weary, sardonic director of Camp Half-Blood, the summer camp for demigods like Percy and Annabeth. Cayla Hall plays Percy’s mother, Sally, with calm strength and fierce loyalty, while also appearing as several of the story’s mythical monsters. Trenton Beavers, appearing in the role of camp counselor Luke for the first time on July 7, the day we attended, stands out as Ares, god of war, swaggering onto the stage in black leather jacket, pants, boots, shades, and Afro pick (costumes by Bailey Hammett). Hammett’s costumes particularly shine in Christian Montgomery’s multiple roles as Mr. Brunner, revealed to be the centaur Chiron (complete with horse’s tail), Hawaiian shirt-clad surfer dude Poseidon, and Hades, god of the underworld.

Fitting all of this action into one act and one hour requires heavy lifting from ATMTC’s cast and crew, and they are up to the task. Director Boehm, choreographer Ashleigh King, and fight choreographer Ryan Sellers use every inch of the stage (and its aisles) and keep the cast moving near-seamlessly through the play’s nonstop action. Hailey LaRoe’s projections on a screen at center stage move the plot from New York City to the fictitious Camp Half-Blood to Las Vegas to Los Angeles as Percy, Grover, and Annabeth race across the country on their quest.

The relentless pace that a one-hour version of the play requires means that some of the memorable moments of Riordan’s novel are condensed or eliminated, and some of the decisions Percy faces along his journey are made abruptly. The ending — revealing the true identity of the titular Lightning Thief — feels particularly rushed as a result. However, ATMTC’s production captures the narrative arc of the story, along with the emotional arcs of its main characters, and delivers a highly entertaining Lightning Thief full of theatrical magic and visual and verbal humor for both children and their parents to enjoy.

Running Time: Approximately 60 minutes, without intermission.

The Lightning Thief – TYA Version plays through August 17, 2025, at Adventure Theatre MTC (ATMTC), 7300 MacArthur Blvd, Glen Echo, MD. Tickets are $27, with group, field trip, and birthday party rates available. Purchase tickets online or call the box office at 301-634-2270.

The show is recommended for ages 5 and up.

This production features flashing lights, fog, and moments of theatrical combat. Parental discretion is advised for young heroes sensitive to such effects.

The Lightning Thief – TYA Version
Book by Joe Tracz
Music & Lyrics by Rob Rokicki
Adapted from the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Directed by Kurt Boehm

CAST
Percy Jackson: Jeremy Crawford
Annabeth: Brigid Wallace Harper
Grover: Jordan Essex
Luke: Jimmy Bartlebaugh
Sally Jackson: Cayla Hall
Clarisse: Caroline Graham
Mr. Brunner: Christian Montgomery
Swing/Luke as of July 7: Trenton Beavers
Swing: Alexandra Lopez
Swing as of July 7: Bryan Stopak

PRODUCTION CREW
Director: Kurt Boehm
Choreographer: Ashleigh King**
Music Director: Elisa Rosman
Fight Choreographer: Ryan Sellers
Set Designer: Megan Holden
Lighting Designer: Lynn Joslin*
Projections Designer: Hailey LaRoe
Costume Designer: Bailey Hammett
Resident Props Designer: Andrea “Dre” Moore
Sound Designer: Brandon Cook
Stage Manager: Shannon Saulnier
Assistant Stage Manager: Mercedes Blankenship
Director of Production: Michael Burgtorf
Technical Director: Jax Penland
Production Manager/Dramaturg: Dom Ocampo
*Member of United Scenic Artists Local USA 829
**Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

SEE ALSO:
Adventure Theatre MTC embarks on an epic quest with ‘The Lightning Thief’ (news story, May 28, 2025)

The post ‘The Lightning Thief’ at ATMTC crackles with energy and excitement appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration established the Federal Theatre Project to fund live entertainment and employ out-of-work theater artists during the Great Depression. One of the Federal Theatre Project’s first initiatives was the creation of “Living Newspapers” — collaborating with journalists in creating stage works drawn from speeches and newspaper headlines of the day. The first Living Newspaper, Arthur Arent’s Ethiopia, an account of the Italian invasion of Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia and the global response, was set to open in January 1936. When the Living Newspaper’s creators attempted to obtain a recording of one of FDR’s speeches to conclude the play, the Roosevelt administration issued a directive that “no one impersonating a ruler or cabinet shall actually appear on the stage,” effectively censoring a work that featured multiple world leaders (including Benito Mussolini) and cabinet members. Ethiopia was canceled after a single dress rehearsal and never appeared on the American stage — until now.

Nearly 90 years after Arent’s Ethiopia was shut down by the FDR administration, IN Series mounted the first production of Ethiopia as the final installment in its 2024/25 season, Illicit Opera, featuring works banned at the time of their creation. Two weeks prior to opening night, in an eerie echo of 1936, the National Endowment for the Arts under President Donald Trump’s administration canceled its funding for the show. Yet IN Series, with the support of private foundations and donors to its emergency “Save ETHIOPIA” campaign, soldiered on to open the production on schedule last weekend in Theater Alliance’s pop-up space at The Westerly at DC’s Southwest Waterfront. (The production moves to Baltimore Theater Project from May 30 to June 1.)

IN Series’ version of Ethiopia, directed by Artistic Director Timothy Nelson, presents Arent’s Living Newspaper as the first act, with a second act written in response by Sybil R. Williams, playwright, dramaturg, and director of African American and African Diasporic Studies at American University. Each of the cast members (Ezinne Elele, Elise Jenkins, Madison Norwood, Shana Oshiro, Daniel J. Smith, Nakia Verner, and Marvin Wayne) moves fluidly between multiple roles, with all save Oshiro appearing in both acts. In a testament to the cast’s flexibility and IN Series’ determination that the show must go on, when Oshiro lost her voice during opening weekend, Norwood voiced many of her lines from stage right while Oshiro performed her characters through mime, conveying wordless emotion through her expressive face and movements.

The first act moves quickly between the Ethiopian highlands, the League of Nations in Geneva, and the cities of Europe and the United States, conveyed by newspaper headlines and black-and-white photographs projected behind the actors (Hailey LaRoe, projections designer). Rakell Foye’s costumes feature simple white button-down shirts and dark-colored pants and skirts for the cast in the first act, with sashes denoting the country each actor represents in the League of Nations meetings. Smith stands out as Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, appearing before the League in a navy-blue coat bedecked with military medals. As world leaders from France, England, and the USA refuse to take meaningful action in support of his country when Italy invades Ethiopia, Smith as Haile Selassie addresses both the diplomats on stage and the audience off it with regal posture and piercing gaze as he says, “It is far better to die on the field of battle, a free man, than to live as a slave!”

This viscerally expressed desire for freedom by the African peoples of the world unites Arent’s first act with Williams’ response, which illuminates the response of African Americans (and diasporic Africans worldwide) to Ethiopia’s struggle against Italy’s attempted colonization. Where the first act plays out in the black and white of 1930s newspapers, the second act springs to life in brilliant color. The set design (by Tsedaye Makonnen, Adrienne Gaither, and Kathryn Kawecki) shifts to include latticework evoking the traditional meskel (cross) designs of the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and a backdrop of Ethiopian textiles. Verner takes center stage in the second act as Mayme Richardson, an African American opera singer from Michigan who traveled the world and performed for Emperor Haile Selassie and his wife, Empress Menen. Captivated by the “spirit of freedom, untrammeled freedom!” that she felt on Ethiopian soil, Richardson spread the word to Black people in the United States and in the Caribbean of a land grant offered by the Emperor to the African diaspora in appreciation of their support for the Ethiopian resistance to the Italian invasion. Oshiro plays Chloe, a fictional descendant of Richardson’s who begins to explore her African heritage through uncovering the story of her ancestor’s travels and adopts the Ethiopian name Tsehay (meaning sunshine). She is guided by a pan-African chorus (Elele, Jenkins, and Norwood) who appear wearing beads, sashes, and headwraps in green, gold, and red, and quoting Rastafarian prayers, weaving in yet another Black diasporic thread linked to, and inspired by, Ethiopia.

Janelle Gill’s musical score is the thread that ties both acts — and the many expressions of Blackness contained in the play — together. From African American spirituals sung by the cast, to Ethiopian masenqo played by Woretaw Wubet, to Rastafarian nyabinghi drumming by Baba Ras, to literal drumbeats of war accompanying the Living Newspaper headlines, Gill’s score adds depth to the storytelling at every turn. That she performed at the piano dressed all in white and with her head covered in the traditional netela headscarf, as Ethiopian women do in church, further underscored the feeling that a sacred story was being told on stage.

Playwright Williams noted in a recent interview that this production of Ethiopia “is really a first draft, and there are many threads that I am still weaving.” The historical, political, cultural, and artistic threads are so numerous that some may be easy to miss, and audiences could have benefited from more comprehensive director’s or playwright’s notes in the program or opportunities for Q&A. A planned talkback at the performance I attended on Saturday was scrapped when the show ran nearly 30 minutes over its stated time.

Ethiopian American mixed media artist Mygenet Tesfaye Harris, whose works (along with ceramic artist Ayda Biru’s) were displayed in the lobby at the DC performances, noted that the collection she chose to accompany IN Series’ production is titled “Wax & Gold” after an Amharic phrase deeply embedded in Ethiopian literary and cultural tradition and referring to “unseen complexities and symbolism … below the surface.” Williams’ (and IN Series’) expansion of Arent’s original Living Newspaper is a richly layered work of art that explores the unseen complexities and symbolism beneath the original 1930s headlines and prescient warnings against fascist aggression, to illuminate the ancient culture and history of Ethiopia itself and the complexities of the pan-African movements it inspired. Wax and gold, indeed.

Running Time: Approximately two hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission.

Ethiopia played from May 16 to 18, 2025, presented by IN Series, performing at 340 Maple Drive (DC Waterfront/Wharf), Washington, DC.

Ethiopia plays May 30 to June 1, 2025, at the Baltimore Theatre Project
45 W Preston St, Baltimore, MD. Tickets (general admission, $30; student, $20) are available online.

The program for Ethiopia is online here.

Ethiopia
A Living Newspaper by Arthur Arent
A New Play by Sybil R. Williams
With New Music by Janelle Gill

Stage Director: Timothy Nelson
Music Director and Composer: Janelle Gill
Costume Designer: Rakell Foye
Set Designers: Kathryn Kawecki
Design Artists: Tsedaye Makonnen and Adrienne Gaither
Lighting Designer: Alberto Segarra
Projections Designer: Hailey LaRoe
Stage Manager and Lightboard Operator: Mikayla Talbert
Production Manager: Paige Washington
Technical Director: Megan Amos

FEATURING
Ezinne Elele
Elise Jenkins
Madison Norwood
Shana Oshiro
Daniel J. Smith
Nakia Verner
Marvin Wayne

MUSICIANS
Jabari Exum, Dave Foreman, Baba Ras, and Woretaw Wube

SEE ALSO:
A look inside ‘Ethiopia,’ a world premiere Living Newspaper at IN Series
(interview by artistic director Timothy Nelson with playwright Sybil R. Williams, May 12, 2025)

The post IN Series revives once-banned play ‘Ethiopia’ and adds revealing response appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

While summer is fast approaching and camps across the region are filling up, openings remain in several of the area’s most exciting theater camps. DC Theater Arts staff have curated a list of theater summer camps and classes available for children and teenagers within a 30-mile radius of DC. (Let us know if we’ve missed any!)

(Originally published in February 2025. Updated May 12, 2025. All information is current as of May 12 update; visit individual camp websites for up-to-the-minute updates.)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Arena Stage
Ages: 8-15
Dates: 3-Week Session: July 7 – July 25 (sold out; join the waitlist!); 2-Week Session: July 28 – August 8 (limited spaces remaining)

Hosted on the beautiful grounds of Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, Camp Arena Stage is a full-day, multi-arts summer camp. It is a place to explore, discover, and create with the encouragement and guidance of professional artists and educators. Campers choose their own schedules from a long list of classes in theater, dance, music, visual art, filmmaking, and writing.

GALA Hispanic Theatre
Ages: 14-19
Dates: Year-round; check website for updates

Paso Nuevo is GALA’s free, year-round program offered to high school students during Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. This is a bilingual, inclusive theater education program incorporating acting training, playwrighting, and mentorship. Students can earn community service hours, receive performance stipends, go on field trips, and train for future employment and leadership opportunities.

The Keegan Theatre
Ages: Rising grades 1-3
Dates: June 23 – August 22 (limited spaces available!)

Come PLAY at Keegan this summer! Students build their theater skills through an immersive exploration of design, movement, music, games, and more. Every week is a new adventure so you can join for one week or many! Sibling discounts and before and after care are available.

National Children’s Theatre
Ages: 6-11
Dates: 1-week sessions between August 4-22 (spaces available!)

At this new camp on Capitol Hill, creative drama exercises, theater games, art projects, lessons in performance fundamentals, and play rehearsals are designed to inspire The Eight Acting Habits of Mind. Weekly themes include Heroes and Mythical Beasts, Knights and Mighty Spellcasters, and Adventurers and Magical Creatures. Limited scholarships and after care are available. 

Studio Acting Conservatory Young Actors Program
Ages: 10-17
Dates: Session 1: June 23 – July 11; Session 2: July 15 – August 2
Spaces still available for both sessions! Placement auditions June 14.

Classes meet daily for three weeks. Students will spend their mornings training in Voice, Movement, and Musical Theater. Using the tools taught in these classes, the Young Actors will work together to create original ensemble pieces. Afternoons are spent cultivating their acting skills with one of our most experienced faculty members. This includes playing theater games, exploring improvisations, and developing monologues and scenes from modern and classical plays. Need-based scholarships are available; half of all Young Actors receive scholarships to train in the Summer Intensive.

Theater J
Ages: Rising grades 2-9
Dates: 3-week session June 30-July 17; 1-week sessions between July 21 – August 8. Spaces still available!

Theater J presents a spectacular summer of musical theater camps. The 3-week program (culminating in a performance of The Wizard of Oz) is ideal for young artists who want to dive into the world of musical theater and experience the magic of being in a fully produced show with lights and costumes. One-week camp themes include Summer Spooktacular, Kids in Charge, and Fairy Tale Fantasy. Member and returning camper discounts available.

The Theatre Lab School for the Dramatic Arts
Ages: Rising grades 1-8 (Summer Acting Camp); ages 13-19 (Summer Teen Institute)
Dates: 1, 2, or 4-week sessions between June 16 – August 22. Spaces still available!

The Theatre Lab offers serious theater training, taught by experienced teachers and theater professionals, in a unique environment that’s friendly, supportive, and incredibly fun. Summer camp offerings range from improv to global theater, storytelling, and culture to Shakespeare. Summer Teen Institutes (audition required) offer intensive instruction in musical theater, acting, and performance. Scholarships and before and after care are available.

Visionaries of the Creative Arts
Ages: Rising grades 5-12
Dates: July 7-11. Limited spaces available.

Visionaries of the Creative Arts (VOCA) presents a one-week creative arts camp for Deaf and hard of hearing youth at Cardozo High School in collaboration with Imagination Stage. Activities include theater, dance, ASL storytelling, and visual arts.

MARYLAND

Adventure Theatre MTC (Glen Echo, MD and Rockville, MD)
Ages: Rising grades 1-6 (Summer Musical Theatre Camp); Rising grades 7-12 (Summer Musical Theatre Training Program)
Dates: 2 or 3-week sessions between June 23 – August 22
Summer Musical Theatre Camp: spaces available for August 18-22 mini-session; accepting waitlist for other weeks. Summer Musical Theatre Training Program: limited spaces remaining.

Summer Musical Theatre Camp (Glen Echo, MD) offers daily instruction and rehearsals with props and costumes, music, movement, and scene-work. Your child’s experience will culminate in a performance of a full, youth-appropriate show for friends and family. Summer Musical Theatre Training Program (Rockville, MD) provides students with foundational and expanded understanding of technique in ballet, jazz, music, and acting – and includes a trip to see a Washington, DC area or Broadway production! Need-based scholarships are available.

Arts Barn (Gaithersburg, MD)
Ages: 5-16
Dates: 1-week sessions between June 23 – August 15
Limited spaces available for Musical Scenes Jr. (AM session, 7/21-7/25); One Act Play (6/23-6/27); and Teen Intensive: Wandering Through Wonderland (8/4-8/8). All others waitlist only. 

Among the Arts Barn’s many summer camp offerings are a wide array of weeklong theater camps, including Musical Scenes Jr. (ages 5-7), Musical Showcase and In The Kingdom of Silly Stories (ages 7-9), Improv Ensemble and Songs from the Stage (ages 9-11), One Act Play and Broadway Bootcamp (ages 11-13), and Teen Intensive: Wandering Through Wonderland (ages 14-16).

BlackRock Center for the Arts (Germantown, MD)
Ages: Rising grades 1-5 (InspireArts Camp); Rising grades 3-8 (Performing Arts Camp)
Dates: 1 or 2-week sessions between June 30 – August 22
Spaces still available!

InspireArts Camp features one-week sessions immersing campers in visual art, music, theater, and dance centered and interpreted through a theme. Young artists create art projects, learn new songs, dances, and will act in different skits. Performing Arts Camp: Script to Stage will guide campers through creating and performing an original show on stage over 2 weeks. Sibling, veteran, and Montgomery County Public Schools staff discounts available, along with before and after care.

Joe’s Movement Emporium (Mt. Rainier, MD)
Ages: 5-12
Dates: 1-week sessions between June 23 – August 22

Camp Joe’s offers one-week sessions for elementary school-aged children to explore world art traditions through performing and visual arts disciplines. Throughout the summer, students will spend 2-4 hours in motion each day. Children experience dance, step, vocals, drama, percussion, creative movement, outdoor play, visual arts and so much more! Financial aid and after care (limited spots) are available.

Lumina Studio Theatre (Silver Spring, MD)
Ages: 6-12+
Dates: 1, 2, or 3-week sessions between June 23 – August 9
Spaces still available for all camps except Folk Tale Camp.

Lumina Studio Theatre offers the following summerstock camps: Theatre Magic Camp (ages 6-8), Folk Tale Camp (ages 8-11), Mystery Camp: The Electric Cave (ages 9+), and Quest Theatre Camp: Radio Days (ages 12+). All camps teach acting skills and include theater games and outdoor play. Folk Tale Camp, Mystery Camp, and Quest Theatre Camp participants will rehearse in and perform an original play. Early bird discounts (through March 1) and financial aid are available.

Maryland Ensemble Theatre (Frederick, MD)
Ages: 5-16
Dates: 1-week sessions between June 16-August 1
Musical Theatre Session III (6/23-6/27) sold out; spaces still available in all other camps!

Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s popular and regionally acclaimed Fun Camp returns! Offerings include Tiny Stages (ages 5-6), Creating Theatre (ages 7-11), Musical Theatre (ages 7-11 and 12-16), Costume Design, Improv/Comedy Jam, and Performance Project (ages 12-16). Scholarships are available, and payment plans are offered at the discretion of the registrar.

Olney Theatre Center (Olney, MD)
Ages: Rising grades 4-12
Dates: 2-week sessions between July 7 – August 15
Limited spaces remaining in Summer Audition Studio (8/4-8/15); all other camps waitlist only

Sing, dance, write, act, and learn during Olney’s two-week long summer programs, taught by local DMV professional theater artists. Offerings include Summer Stock (grades 4-6, currently waitlist only), Musical Theatre Intensive (grades 7-9), and Summer Audition Studio (grades 10-12).

Ovations Theatre (Rockville, MD)
Ages: Rising grades 3-10
Dates: 1-week mini camps July 7-11 and July 14-18; 2-week production camp August 4-15
Spaces still available!

Ovations’ camps are jam-packed with rehearsals, arts and crafts, games, and master classes that will take your musical theater dreams to new heights. Enjoy themed mini camps (Pop Stars or Broadway) or a 2-week production camp featuring the songs of Frozen.

Round House Theatre (Bethesda, MD and Silver Spring, MD)
Ages: Rising grades K-12
Dates: 1 or 2-week sessions between June 16 – August 22
Spaces still available!

Campers entering grades K-3 will go on weekly themed theatrical adventures through acting, design, and movement. Campers entering grades 4-6 will explore filmmaking or playmaking in 2-week sessions, with improv-themed mini camps (3-5 days) also available. Campers entering grades 6-12 may choose from 1 or 2-week sessions featuring playmaking, filmmaking, improv, standup, or musical theater. Sessions will be held at Round House Theatre in Bethesda and at its Education Center in Silver Spring, with after care available in Silver Spring.

Young Artists of America (College Park, MD, and Olney, MD)
Ages: Rising grades 3-12
Dates: June 21-26 (overnight intensives); June 28-July 10 (day camps); July 12-25 and July 13-24 (overnight camps)
Overnight conservatories July 12-25 and July 13-24 waitlist only; spaces available in all other camps

Young Artists of America offers three Summer Performing Arts Intensive day camps: Kids Academy (grades 3-5), Junior Academy (grades 6-9), and Senior Academy (grades 9-12), as well as overnight musical theater intensives for grades 7-9 and 10-12. Each camp offers two weeks of classes in acting, dance, and voice, culminating in a stage production. Day camps will be held at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, MD, and overnight camps at the University of Maryland, College Park.

VIRGINIA

Alexandria Children’s Theatre (Alexandria, VA)
Ages: 6-12
Dates: 1-week sessions June 9-13, June 16-20 (sold out!) and August 4-8; 2-week sessions June 16-27, June 30-July 11, July 14-25 (sold out!) and July 28-August 8

Alexandria Children’s Theatre presents camps at Burgundy Farm Country Day School + Episcopal High School in Alexandria again this summer, packed with theater games and culminating in performance at the end of camp. Themes include Hogwarts, Under the Sea, and The Sparkle of Believing. All camps will also include swimming each day and lunch is provided at Episcopal camps. Partial camp options available for the week of June 9. Payment plans and partial scholarships are also available. 

Creative Cauldron (Falls Church, VA)
Ages: Rising grades K-8
Dates: 2-week sessions between June 9 – August 15
Musical Theater Camps waitlist only; spaces available in Legends of the Sea and A Forest of Stories.

Creative Cauldron presents two summer Arts Adventure Camps filled with storytelling, drama, music, movement, and visual arts: Legends of the Sea (June 9-20) and A Forest of Stories (June 23-July 3). The Cauldron’s wildly popular Musical Theater Summer Camps are back as well, immersing campers in music, choreography, scenic, costume, and lighting design. Themes include Broadway on Broad Street (July 7-18), Disney on Broadway (July 21-August 1), and Stage to Screen (August 4-15). Need-based scholarships, sibling discounts, before and after care are available.

Educational Theatre Company (Arlington, VA and Falls Church, VA)
Ages: Rising grades preK-12
Dates: 1, 2, or 3-week sessions between June 16 – August 22
Spaces still available!

From half day camps for preschoolers to multi-week teen intensives, Educational Theatre Company has a camp for everyone! Topics include acting, film, directing, improv, playwriting, Shakespeare, musical theater, and more. Camps are held at multiple locations in Arlington, as well as at Falls Church Meridian High School. Scholarships and extended-day care are available.

Encore Stage & Studio (Alexandria, VA and Arlington, VA)
Ages: 3-15
Dates: 1-week sessions between June 16 – August 22
PreK camp sold out 6/30-7/3 and available afternoons only 7/28-8/1; spaces available for all other camps and weeks.

Encore Stage & Studio offers PreK camp (ages 3-5), featuring song and movement, music and rhythm, storytelling and crafts; Elementary camp (ages 5-9) featuring movement, character creation, problem solving centered around fun themes from Disney to Transformers; Scenes for Tweens (ages 9-12) with themes from Broadway Bootcamp to Heroes vs. Villains to Costume and Makeup Design; and Stage Door and Tech Camp (ages 12-15) giving students a glimpse of what it’s like to work as a theater professional. Camps are held in multiple locations in Arlington and Alexandria. Scholarships are available for all camps.

George Mason University’s Community Arts Academy (Fairfax, VA)
Ages: 5-18
Dates: 1-week sessions between June 16 – August 2
Summer Musical Theater Adventures, Middle School Improv Comedy Workshop, and Middle School Musical Theater Workshop waitlist only; spaces available in all other camps.

Acting for Young People (AFYP), the theater program of Mason Community Arts Academy, has provided actors of all ages with professional-level training in a supportive and fun environment since 1997. This year’s summer camp offerings include Weekly Acting Camps (ages 5-18), Summer Musical Theater Adventures (ages 7-10, waitlist only), Middle School Improv Comedy Workshop (ages 10-13, waitlist only), Middle School Musical Theater Workshop (ages 11-13, waitlist only), Musical Theater Performance Bootcamp (ages 13-18), Summer Advanced Actors Showcase (ages 13-18), and High School Musical Theater Intensive (ages 14-18). Limited scholarship funds are available.

Little Theatre of Alexandria (Alexandria, VA)
Ages: 3 years through rising 8th grade
Dates: 1-week sessions between June 2 – August 22
Spaces still available in multiple camps!

Little Theatre of Alexandria offers a wide variety of half-day and full-day summer camps for children from tots to teens, exploring skills ranging from playwriting and puppetry to improv and Broadway. Campers can also choose from fun weekly themes including Act Out! D&D Edition, Disney Favorites, or Jedi Academy. Named to Northern Virginia Magazine’s Best Summer Camps of 2024! Payment installment plans are available.

Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre (Alexandria, VA)
Ages: Rising grades 1-8
Dates: 2-week sessions between June 16 – August 15
Spaces still available in multiple camps!

Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre is offering eight weeks of summer camps in 2025! Each session of camp is two weeks long and has a morning and an afternoon session. The morning session of camp runs from 9:30am-12:30pm and is drama based. The afternoon session starts at 1pm and ends at 4pm and includes both drama and musical theater. Children can register to attend just the morning session, just the afternoon session, or both! Themes include Back to the Future (June 16-27), Page to Stage (July 7-18), Cartoon Mania (July 21-August 1), and Totally TV (August 4-15). MVCCT also offers four one-day acting workshops June 30-July 3. Early bird and sibling discounts are available.

STARS Performing Arts (Great Falls, VA)
Ages: Rising grades 3-9
Dates: 2-week sessions July 7-18 (waitlist only) and July 21-August 1 (spaces still available!)

STARS Performing Arts offers high-quality training for serious young actors. Students work with professionals to hone their acting, singing, and dancing skills to produce a full (junior-length) musical in just 2 weeks. All students enrolled in camp will be cast in the show, or may choose to be on tech crew. Scholarships are available.

Sterling Playmakers (Sterling, VA)
Ages: 8-18
Dates: July 21-August 9 (spaces available!)

Sterling Playmakers presents Rising Stars Summer Camp. Campers will learn acting, singing, dancing, and technical theater, culminating in a performance of Shrek: The Musical Jr. on August 8 and 9. Sibling discounts are available.

Synetic Theater (Arlington, VA)
Ages: Rising grades 2-12
Dates: 1-week sessions between June 23-August 22; 3-week session July 21-August 8. Spaces still available!

Synetic Theater offers two summer camps for 2025. Youth Summer Camp: Myths in Movement (rising grades 2-9) journeys into the iconic stories of Orpheus and Eurydice, Hercules, and Medusa. Using elements of mime, dance, physical theater, and the power of their imaginations, campers will create powerful characters, unravel timeless morals, and bring ancient myths to life. Summer Teen Conservatory: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (rising grades 9-12) offers hands-on, rigorous training in Synetic’s distinctive approach to acting and physical theater, including mime, dance, clowning, acrobatics, and stage combat. The Conservatory culminates in a performance of Synetic’s wordless version of Shakespeare’s classic. Scholarships are available for both camps.

Traveling Players (Tysons, VA)
Ages: Current grades 2-5
Dates: 1-week sessions June 23-27 and July 14-18 (spaces still available); 2-week session August 4-15 (sold out).

Traveling Players offers two weeklong Acting Studio Camps for children in current grades 2-4, and a two-week Players Studio Camp for children in current grades 3-5. Both camps teach acting, improv, and stage combat, and culminate in a showcase performance. Financial aid, multiweek and sibling discounts, and after care are available.

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

Imagination Stage (Bethesda, MD, Rockville, MD, and Washington, DC)
Ages: 4-18
Dates: 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5-week sessions available between June 9 and August 22. Spaces still available in multiple camps; all others waitlist only. 

Imagination Stage offers summer camps in acting, musical theater, performance, dance, and filmmaking. Camps are held at four different convenient locations (Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD, Primrose School in Bethesda, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD, and American University in Washington, DC). Pick your favorite or mix and match each week to create a memorable summer experience that fits your schedule! Financial aid and before and after care are available.

Camp Levine (Bethesda, MD, Falls Church, VA, and Washington, DC)
Ages: 4-18
Dates: Session 1: June 23-July 11; Session 2: July 14-August 1
Camp Levine at THEARC (SE DC) is full; spaces available in all other camps (ages 6-18 only at Falls Church).

Camp Levine is a 3-week summer day camp that provides an engaging, fun-filled artistic experience for children of all musical backgrounds and levels of ability! Grounded in the philosophy of nurturing the “total musical child,” children develop skills for creative expression through singing, dancing, playing instruments, musical theater, creating visual art, and enjoying a variety of games and activities. From morning sings to final performances, campers learn new skills, gain confidence, and create lasting friendships – all while enjoying the bliss of summer. Before and after care is available.

Shakespeare Theatre Company (McLean, VA, and Washington, DC)
Ages: 6-18
Dates: 1, 2, and 3-week sessions available between June 23 – August 16. Limited spaces remaining for ages 12-14 and 15-18; all other age groups sold out.

Every summer, Shakespeare Theatre Company gives students between the ages of 6 and 18 the chance to dive into the world of one of the most celebrated playwrights in history: William Shakespeare. Camp Shakespeare offers two-week sessions for youth (ages 6-11) and teens (ages 12-18). Returning teens can audition for a three-week Intensive. Scholarships, sibling and military discounts, and after care are available.

The post A guide to DC-area theater summer camps (updated) appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Originally performed in a National New Play Network rolling world premiere across several American cities in 2023, Kareem Fahmy’s American Fast makes its DC regional debut at Theater Alliance, being performed for the first time, as the playwright notes, “during the intersection of Ramadan and March Madness.”

The intersection of Ramadan and March Madness sets up the central tension for the play and its main character, Khady Salama (Gigi Cammaroto). Khady, an Egyptian-American senior point guard at an unnamed university, is eager to pursue a national championship (and the attention of WNBA scouts) when her mother, Suzan (Raghad Makhlouf), reminds her that the tournament coincides with the Ramadan fast, where observant Muslims abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset.

SUZAN: God wants you to fast so you can win!
KHADY: I can’t win if I’m fasting!

While Khady would prefer to keep the fast — and her mother — at a distance and focus single-mindedly on her pursuit of the national championship while keeping her private life private, Suzan soon flies halfway across the country and shows up at her daughter’s dorm room to “help her keep the fast.” When Suzan shows up at a press conference for Khady’s team at the start of the tournament and announces that her daughter will be fasting during the games, Khady’s media-savvy Coach (Renee Elizabeth Wilson) realizes that she can harness the moment to draw national attention to her team and her university.

Before long, Khady is internationally known by her full name, Khadija (previously used only by her mother), and billed as the first female basketball player to compete in March Madness while fasting for Ramadan. While she is initially uncomfortable with being held up as a role model for young Muslim girls and women everywhere, Khady, a “textbook narcissist” in the words of her boyfriend and fellow basketball star Gabe (Travis Xavier), also craves the spotlight — even as it threatens to consume her.

Audiences for American Fast have courtside seats to this fast-moving drama in Theater Alliance’s intimate pop-up space at The Westerly in Southwest DC. Nadir Bey’s scenic design requires minimal moving of props (Isabel Simoes deCarvalho, props designer) and set pieces as the action moves between the basketball court, the locker room, Khady’s dorm room, and a bar where she shares moments with Gabe — including some of the play’s most revealing conversations. Sound designers Brandon Cook and Sayf Turkomani combine a soundtrack of Arabic music (delightfully sung along to by Makhlouf in some of her domestic scenes as Suzan) with club hits in the bar and the sounds of the basketball court — sneakers squeaking across the hardwood, a referee’s whistle, the buzzer. On opening night, cheers from the audience frequently drowned out the piped-in crowd noise during the basketball scenes!

At times, American Fast feels like watching an ESPN 30 for 30 feature on stage, with snippets of on-court action (delivered in stylized solo fashion by Khady) interspersed with dramatic monologues from each of the four characters. However, the play is at its most explosive — and most powerful — in its most intimate and interpersonal moments, as each of its characters struggles to reveal their true self amid the roles they are expected to play. Coach feels the expectation of the university’s administration and their wealthy donors that she deliver the national championships as a coach that she once won as a player. Suzan swells with pride over Khady’s successes and expresses deep shame at her daughter’s failures, explaining that in Islam, “the mother is responsible” for the fate of her child. Gabe, the son of Black American Muslim converts, and Khady, the daughter of Egyptian Muslim immigrants, struggle with the expectations of their families and the religion they were raised in, and with their sense of never having had a choice in the religious identity their parents passed down to them — an identity that both question as they come of age.

While Coach shares her relief that social media did not exist when she was a college basketball star, Gabe and Khady’s generation comes of age under the scrutiny of social media, which adds to Khady’s ever-present sense of being watched. Watched by her coach and university, who are concerned with maintaining the school’s reputation and financial standing; watched by her mother, who appears on FaceTime in the wee hours of the morning to remind her daughter of the start of Ramadan and then moves herself into Khady’s dorm room; watched by WNBA scouts and sportscasters as the tournament progresses; watched by an ever-growing number of fans and “haters” analyzing and commenting on her every move on social media; and watched by the all-seeing eye of God. Hailey LaRoe’s projections of Suzan on FaceTime, of a fictionalized ESPN SportsCenter broadcast, of social media posts, and of the “Eye of Providence” representing the divine gaze powerfully create the fishbowl that Khady lives in — and is soon drowning in.

Under Reginald L. Douglas’ direction and brought to life by the outstanding performances of Cammaroto, Xavier, Makhlouf, and Wilson, American Fast moves at a thrilling pace without sacrificing emotional intimacy, keeping audiences invested in both the on-court and off-court drama while well-timed and well-delivered humor keeps the story from collapsing under its own weight. Opening at the intersection of Ramadan, March Madness, and Women’s History Month, and speaking to broader questions of intergenerational conflict, immigrant family dynamics, religious and personal identity, and so much more, American Fast is both timely and timeless in the themes it explores. Get your tickets fast!

Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission.

American Fast plays through April 13, 2025, presented by Theater Alliance performing at The Westerly, 340 Maple Drive SW, Washington, DC 20024. Showtimes are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, with 3:00 pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets ($40) can be purchased online, from the box office at boxoffice@theateralliance.com, or at (202) 241-2539. Discounts are available for students, seniors, active and retired military, East of the River neighbors, and industry professionals; details here.

The digital program for American Fast is available here.

COVID Safety: Masks are optional.

American Fast
By Kareem Fahmy

CAST
Khady: Gigi Cammaroto
Gabe: Travis Xavier
Suzan: Raghad Makhlouf
Coach: Renee Elizabeth Wilson

CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Reginald L. Douglas
Scenic Designer: Nadir Bey
Costume Designer: Cidney Forkpah
Lighting Designer: Minjoo Kim
Projections Designer: Hailey LaRoe
Co-Sound Designers: Brandon Cook and Sayf Turkomani
Props Designer: Isabel Simoes deCarvalho
Assistant Costume Designer: Logan L. Benson
Choreographer: Siani Nicole
Basketball Consultant: Nathanael Hatchett

PRODUCTION TEAM
Stage Manager: Regina Vitale
Assistant Stage Manager: Isabella Tapia
Substitute Stage Manager: Samba Pathak
Wardrobe Supervisor: Logan L. Benson
Audio Supervisor: Allison Pearson
Electricians: Ben Harvey, Trinity Joseph, Emily Pan, Elliot Peterson

SEE ALSO:
Theater Alliance to close season with ‘American Fast’ regional premiere (news story, March 6, 2025)

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Rude Mechanicals’ new adaptation of The Seagull, running through February 1 at Greenbelt Arts Center, is not the first to reimagine Chekhov’s play in modern New York. Emily Mann’s A Seagull in the Hamptons performed at Princeton’s McCarter Theater in 2008, and Thomas Bradshaw’s The Seagull/Woodstock, NY, ran Off-Broadway in 2023. Yet The Rude Mechanicals’ version is unique in its staging of the play as a rock musical. In the words of director Melissa Schick, the Rudes turn The Seagull from “theatre about theatre into a musical about music.”

In the late 1970s/early 1980s setting of the Rudes’ adaptation, the conflict between new and old forms of artistic expression — centered in Chekhov’s original on the turn-of-the-20th-century Russian theater — is deeply believable as the rift between established music industry stars Irina Arkadina (Jaki Demarest) and Boris Trigorin (Steven Howell Wilson) and punk-rock upstart Constantine (originally written as Arkadina’s son, played in this version as her daughter by Marianne Virnelson). The lakeside estate of Arkadina’s brother Peter Sorin (Mikki Barry) is now set in rural New York, and Arkadina and Trigorin sweep into the countryside from Manhattan rather than Moscow, trading Chekhov’s horses and carriages for tour buses, limousines, and cabs. Yet Schick and Liana Olear’s adaptation is remarkable in its simultaneous fidelity to the storyline and dialogue of Chekhov’s original, to its deeply Russian sense of tragicomedy, and to its characters’ loves and longings — aided by a brilliant selection of ’70s and ’80s rock songs that capture the characters’ voices as perfectly as if they had been written for the play.

Masha (Lily Tender) embodies the punk-rock ethos. Dressed throughout the play in black dress, black fishnets, and black boots (Spencer Dye, costume designer), Masha opens the first act, as she does in Chekhov’s original, by announcing that she wears black “in mourning for my life” and telling schoolteacher Medviedenko (Kashaf Jabbar) that “you wouldn’t understand.” Masha serves as a narrator in the Rudes’ adaptation, introducing the other characters with a series of snarky one-liners. As the black curtains at center stage part, revealing a three-piece band cleverly named Chekhov’s Gun (music director Eric Honour on guitar; Diana Dzikiewicz on drums, keys, and violin; and Leah DeLano, who doubles as Masha’s mother Paulina, on bass), Masha sets the stage with a rendition of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Happy House”:

We’ve come to play/In the happy house/And waste a day/In the happy house/It never rains, never rains…

We’ve come to scream/In the happy house/We’re in a dream/In the happy house/We’re all quite sane…

Of course, Sorin’s “happy house,” like Siouxsie’s, is far from happy as the cast’s messy, unrequited love triangles, family traumas, and personal and artistic frustrations entangle and bounce off one another as the play progresses.

In this “happy house,” fame becomes nearly a character in its own right — a fickle mistress, an elusive prize, a heavy burden. Clad in sequined jumpsuits, high heels, and a platinum blonde wig, Demarest’s Arkadina is forever chasing the spotlight and the fountain of youth and is constitutionally incapable of playing a supporting role, even in her closest relationships. (In a testament to the actors’ skill and to Stephanie Davis’ touch as intimacy choreographer, both Constantine and Trigorin subtly but noticeably recoil from Arkadina’s physical affections, even as they long for her attention.) Wilson’s Trigorin is jaded by the fame his songwriting has brought him, wearied by always feeling compelled to turn his life into art instead of merely living it, and he admits to being bothered by public criticism of his work. (Listening to Trigorin’s monologue, I couldn’t help but wonder how The Seagull would translate into our 21st-century era of social media influencers, content creators, and online comment sections.) Despite seeing the banality of Arkadina’s and Trigorin’s lives up close during their vacation on Sorin’s estate, Nina (Aisling Mockler), introduced by Masha in Act I as “an aspiring rock star with a 9 p.m. curfew,” desperately wants to run away from her rural hometown and chase fame in the Big Apple. The years — and the pursuit — do not prove kind to her. Mockler’s acting and Dye’s costumes transform Nina from starry-eyed ingenue in floral peasant dresses at the beginning of the play to world-weary woman wandering home in a sparkling draped top better suited to city clubs in the final act. Yet she remains resolute in her commitment to being a singer.

Constantine, by contrast, seems little interested in fame and freely admits that her life would be happier if her mother wasn’t famous. She bitterly accuses her mother and Trigorin of making music that is merely “a vehicle for convention and prejudice!” Constantine could easily be reduced to the caricature of a tortured artist or the petulant child that Arkadina sees her as. Yet Virnelson plays the role with palpable, at times childlike, emotion beneath her prickly exterior and punk-rock aesthetic. Her unfulfilled longing to be seen and understood — not by adoring audiences but by those closest to her — propels the play to its tragic conclusion.

Director Schick shared on opening night that this punk-rock adaptation of The Seagull has been a passion project for her and Olear for years, and it shows in every detail of the production. While occasionally a note falls flat — Trigorin announcing that Constantine has challenged him to a duel, true to Chekhov’s script, feels anachronistic in late ’70s New York — the overall result is a brilliant transposition of a classic work into a fresh and original arrangement.

Running Time: Approximately two hours, including one 15-minute intermission.

The Seagull plays through February 1, 2025, presented by The Rude Mechanicals performing at Greenbelt Arts Center, 123 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD. To purchase tickets ($24, general admission; $22, senior/military; $12, child/student), call (301) 317-7964 or go online.

COVID Safety: Masks are optional.

The Seagull
Directed by Melissa Schick
Adapted by Melissa Schick & Liana Olear

CAST
Masha: Lily Tender
Medvedienko: Kashaf Jabbar
Irina Arkadina: Jaki Demarest
Constantine: Marianne Virnelson
Nina: Aisling Mockler
Boris Trigorin: Steven Howell Wilson
Peter Sorin: Mikki Barry
Eugene Dorn: Joshua Engel
Paulina: Leah DeLano
Shamraeff: Bill Bodie

CREW
Director: Melissa Schick
Assistant Director/Dramaturg/Stage Manager/Producer: Liana Olear
Music Director: Eric Honour
Lighting Design: Jeff Poretsky and Liana Olear
Intimacy Choreographer: Stephanie Davis
Technical Director: Jeff Poretsky
Curtain Engineer: Alan Duda
Window Engineer: Chris Dullnig
Additional Set Construction: Sam Kopel, Jaki Demarest, Nic Adams, Steve Cox, Joshua Engel
Costumes and Props: Spencer Dye
Sound Mixing: Matt Etner
Stage Hand: Sam Kopel
Board Op: Tabi Dickson
Lighting Assistant: Stephen Duda

BAND (Chekhov’s Gun)
Eric Honour: Electric Guitar
Diana Dzikiewicz: Drums, Keys, Violin, Arrangement Assistance
Leah DeLano: Bass
With special guest Matt Etner on Interstitial Music (Vocals and Guitar)

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Looking to celebrate the holiday season by taking in a show with your family? From theater to music to dance, the DC area is full of spectacular seasonal performances for all ages to enjoy. DCTA staff have curated this roundup of family-friendly holiday shows within a 30-mile radius of DC. (Let us know if we’ve missed any!)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Tiny Lights: Tales for Chanukah Theater J (December 7-15). Taking inspiration from the great Chanukah tales of master storyteller Isaac Bashevis Singer, Theater J’s theatrical storytellers will weave tales out of words, a few simple props, and theatrical devices—and then teach you and your young kids how to do the same!

A Magical Cirque Christmas The National Theatre (December 12-15). Embrace the holiday spirit with a variety show full of nostalgia, charm, and awe-inspiring performances for all ages.

Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show Arena Stage (December 13-22). Step back into the holiday spirit with the joyful return of Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show, where the rich tradition of African American stepping blends with the magic of the season.

A Candlelight Christmas The Washington Chorus performing at The Music Center at Strathmore and The Kennedy Center (December 14-22). Join The Washington Chorus in celebrating the 15th Anniversary of its annual “A Candlelight Christmas,” ringing in the holiday season with joy, spirit, and unity. Featuring spirited brass, a festive chorus, and extra special guests, this family-friendly concert is among the DC region’s most beloved holiday traditions.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker The National Theatre (December 20-22). A holiday mash-up for the whole family, The Hip Hop Nutcracker comes to The National for the very first time, brought to life by a powerhouse cast of a dozen all-star dancers, a DJ, a violinist, and MC Kurtis Blow.

The Spirit of Kwanzaa Dance Institute of Washington (December 20-22). The Spirit of Kwanzaa is the Dance Institute of Washington’s most popular and longest-running cultural arts and dance production (since 1995). The Dance Institute of Washington has adapted the principles of Kwanzaa to convey the struggles and creativity of the Black diaspora. The production highlights the holiday’s principles with dance, song, and spoken word.

La Fiesta de los Reyes Magos – Three Kings Day GALA Hispanic Theatre (January 5, 2025). Join in the magic of GALA’s annual Three Kings Day celebration featuring a procession through the neighborhood led by the magi, live animals, music and dance performances, and a gift for every child. A free community event.

DÍA DE LOS REYES MAGOS – The Three Kings Day Teatro de la Luna (January 6, 2025). Teatro de la Luna invites the whole family to enjoy its Three Kings Day celebration, featuring arts and crafts, theatrical performance, folkloric dance, refreshments, and the Three Kings distributing toys and books to children. A free community event, RSVP encouraged.

MARYLAND

The 36th Annual Nutcracker The Puppet Co, Glen Echo Park, MD (November 26-December 31). This time-honored seasonal celebration includes Tchaikovsky’s familiar story of Clara and her prince, with some Puppet Co. nursery rhyme spin.

Junie B. in Jingle Bells Batman Smells Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s The Fun Company, Frederick, MD (November 30-December 22). Follow the feisty and irrepressible Junie B. Jones as she plays Secret Santa to her least favorite classmate, Tattletale May. Will Junie B. give Tattletale May exactly what she thinks she deserves, or will the holiday spirit force a change of heart?

A Visit From St. Nicholas or The Night Before Christmas Colonial Players of Annapolis, Annapolis, MD (December 5-15). On Christmas Eve, 1822, Clement Clarke Moore’s house is not as quiet as a mouse—in fact, everyone is stirring as the three children await the arrival of St. Nicholas.

Strathmore Children’s Chorus Presents A World of Celebration The Music Center at Strathmore, Bethesda, MD (December 6). Hear festive holiday music sung by young voices during the most wonderful time of the year! Join Strathmore Children’s Chorus as they continue to explore new and familiar melodies written for the many end-of-year celebrations observed here and around the world.

’Twas The Night Before Christmas Adventure Theatre MTC, Glen Echo Park, MD (December 6-January 5). On the night before Christmas, a mouse is stirring – because Santa missed his house last year. Join in the wild adventures of a mouse, an elf, and a spunky little girl who just will not take no for an answer.

Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet The Hippodrome Theatre, Baltimore, MD (December 16-17). With an all-star cast and live orchestra, this touring production of The Nutcracker blends world-class ballet with whimsical puppets, lavish costumes, and stunning acrobatics.

Seasons of Light Prince George’s Publick Playhouse, Hyattsville, MD (December 18-19). This signature Discovery Theater show from the Smithsonian celebrates the history and customs of Diwali (Devali), Chanukah, Las Posadas, Ramadan, Santa Lucia Day, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and the First Nations’ tradition of the Winter Solstice in an interactive extravaganza bridging communities and cultures.

An English Country Christmas Revels Washington Revels performing at Montgomery College, Silver Spring, MD (December 20-22). The 42nd annual Christmas Revels begins with caroling on Christmas Eve in the country village of Mellstock, where the festive season provides a backdrop for a story of mirth, mayhem, and merriment that will change the village and its inhabitants forever. Quirky characters, rustic tunes, pub carols, joyful anthems, and rousing dances come together in this classic tale.

VIRGINIA

Miracle on 34th Street Rooftop Productions, Manassas, VA (November 29-December 8). When a department store Santa claims he’s the real Kris Kringle, his case gets taken all the way to the Supreme Court, and a little girl’s belief makes the difference in the ‘miracle.’ With live Foley effects and a score of holiday carols, Miracle on 34th Street is a beloved musical that will melt even the most cynical of hearts.

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins City of Fairfax Theatre Company, Fairfax, VA (December 5-8). Clever traveler Hershel arrives in a village haunted by goblins who have been ruining Hanukkah celebrations for years. Can he outsmart the Goblin King and light the candles, saving Hanukkah for the village?

Jingle Bell Jam, Encore Stage & Studio, Arlington, VA (December 6-15). Full of heartwarming holiday scenes and songs, Encore’s first winter revue, Jingle Bell Jam, is the perfect way to deck the halls and bring in the holiday spirit.

Madeline’s Christmas Creative Cauldron, Falls Church, VA (December 6-22). In this musical adaptation of Ludwig Bemelmans’ classic, Madeline’s schoolmates and tutor are all sick in bed on Christmas Eve, unable to go home for Christmas to be with their families. So it’s Madeline to the rescue! And with the help of a magical rug merchant she takes her friends on a Christmas journey they will never forget.

Time for Christmas Encore Theatrical Arts Project Annandale, VA (December 7-15). Two high-tech elves trying to prove their worth and a harebrained-but-hopeful scientist accidentally throw the world into a time loop in this original holiday musical. With the same day repeating over and over, when will it ever be Christmas?

A Christmas Story StageCoach Theatre Company, Ashburn, VA (December 7-23). Based on the classic 1983 holiday movie, A Christmas Story follows nine-year-old Ralphie Parker, a daydreamer from Indiana who spends his days counting down to the most exciting day in any kid’s life: Christmas.

Aurora’s Winter Circus Adventure Dulles Town Center, Dulles, VA (December 13-29). This European-style winter circus features thrilling performances, mesmerizing lights, and whimsical delights under the big top.

The post Holiday shows for all ages to enjoy (updated) appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

The energy was palpable as young children and their families filled Imagination Stage’s Lerner Family Theatre on a Saturday afternoon for Winnie the Pooh. Several children clutched stuffed animals of the beloved bear and his friends. Most fidgeted in their seats. One little girl behind me spoke for most when she said, “I’m so excited, I can’t wait!” The set (designed by Sarah Beth Hall) so perfectly recreated E.H. Shepard’s iconic map from A.A. Milne’s original Winnie the Pooh books that as we took our seats, my two-year-old, attending his first play, pointed to the stage and shouted, “It’s the Hundred Acre Wood!”

Imagination Stage’s production, directed and choreographed by Christopher Michael Richardson, soon took the audience on a musical romp through the Hundred Acre Wood. Adapted by Le Clanché du Rand, with music by Allan J. Friedman and lyrics by A.A. Milne and Kristin Sergel, the script weaves together elements of four stories from Milne’s 1926 collection Winnie-the-Pooh. Fans of Milne’s stories will immediately recognize the play’s memorable moments. Eeyore loses a tail (and Pooh finds it). Piglet and Pooh attempt to trap a dreaded Heffalump, and to celebrate Eeyore’s birthday, with unintentionally comic results of both endeavors. Rabbit plots to force newcomer Kanga to leave the forest by kidnapping her son Roo and swapping him with Piglet, resulting in a terrified and unwilling Piglet receiving a bath from Kanga. Where each of these appear as standalone stories in Milne’s original, du Rand’s script condenses all of the action into a single interconnected story set on a single busy day in the Hundred Acre Wood, punctuated by nine musical numbers directed by Elisa Rosman.

With his lumbering movements, whimsical “bear-of-little-brain” musings, musical numbers with lyrics drawn directly from Milne (“On Monday When the Sun Is Hot,” “Cottleston Pie,” “Sing Ho! For the Life of a Bear”), and relentless optimism, Jimmy Bartlebaugh embodies Winnie the Pooh. His famous love of honey takes center stage (accentuated by Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor’s projections of honeycomb and dripping golden honey) in “Isn’t It Funny How a Bear Likes Honey?” and later when he gets his head stuck in a honey pot to great comedic effect.

The remaining characters (Christopher Robin, Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, and Roo) are played by a cast of three, each playing multiple roles. Understudy Quincy Vicks played Christopher Robin and Rabbit in the performance I attended. His bossy mannerisms and body language as he strode purposefully around the stage giving orders to Pooh, Piglet, and his numerous unnamed relatives, represented as ever-multiplying rabbits on a screen behind him during his catchy number “Friends and Relations,” punctuated throughout by energetic bunny hops, nailed the role of Rabbit. (“Friends and Relations” also brought chuckles to the adults in the audience with its cheeky tale of Rabbit’s “just one nephew” and the nephew’s “just one visitor” turning into “relations by the score” as they multiplied like — well, rabbits).

Ashley D. Nguyen plays Piglet with an often-frantic nervous energy, rapid-fire movements and dialogue, and big emotions that many children in the audience could undoubtedly relate to. Her pigtail braids, and her frequent pulling on them as a form of stimming or self-soothing in anxious moments, provided a clever take on the character. Best known as Pooh’s sidekick, and accused by Rabbit of lacking “pluck,” Nguyen’s Piglet takes charge of the plan to trap the Heffalump, and having survived the terror of being bathed by Kanga, boldly asserts her own voice in “Piglet’s Song.” Nguyen doubles as Roo, making Rabbit’s plan to kidnap Roo and swap him with Piglet a bit of an embedded joke.

Brigid Wallace Harper plays Eeyore, Owl, and Kanga. From Eeyore’s melodramatic, operatic “Sing Woe! For the Life of a Donkey” (backed by Taylor’s projected rain and storm clouds) to Kanga’s soothing lullaby “Rockabye, Rockabye, Roo,” Harper brings outstanding vocal range to her multiple roles, along with comedic presence. Her running gag of bending down and looking through her own legs for her missing tail as Eeyore brought giggles to the children in the audience. Meanwhile, Eeyore’s grumpy, sarcastic comments about Owl land especially humorously because Harper plays both roles — and despite only appearing in a single scene, her Owl is worth the price of admission!

Frank Labovitz’s costumes create a cohesive theme for the characters, with patched overalls in yellow for Pooh, pink for Piglet, light purple for Eeyore, and a multicolored patched coat for Christopher Robin. Rabbit stands out with a plaid shirt and suspenders. The animal characters are easily identified by the ears on their caps. Andrea “Dre” Moore’s props recreate some familiar and beloved elements of Milne’s stories, including Pooh’s honey pot and the balloon that Piglet attempts to give Eeyore as a birthday present. Darkness and ominous red lighting (Helen Alton-Garcia) and a popping sound effect (Madeline “Mo” Oslejsek) combine with Moore’s prop design to create a moment of high drama when Piglet falls and pops the balloon. My two-year-old talked about the balloon scene for days afterward.

A couple of early-run hiccups occurred during the opening-weekend performance I attended. Eeyore was interchangeably referred to as “they” and “he” by the other characters, while Piglet was referred to as both “she” and “he,” which came across as accidental and potentially distracting for young audiences. Nonetheless, Imagination Stage’s production draws Pooh-loving youngsters (and their parents) into the warmth and whimsy of the Hundred Acre Wood and reminds audiences of all ages why Winnie the Pooh remains beloved, 100 years after he first appeared.

Running Time: Approximately one hour, without intermission.

Winnie the Pooh plays weekends through October 27, 2024, at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave, Bethesda, MD. Tickets ($12–$46) can be purchased online, in person at Imagination Stage’s box office, or by calling the box office at 301-280-1660.

Best for ages 3+.

COVID Safety: Masks are optional.

Winnie the Pooh
From the stories of A.A. Milne
Dramatized by Le Clanché du Rand
Music by Allan J. Friedman
Lyrics by A.A. Milne and Kristin Sergel
Directed and Choreographed by Christopher Michael Richardson

CAST
Winnie the Pooh: Jimmy Bartlebaugh
Christopher Robin/Rabbit/ASM: Jordan Essex
Eeyore/Kanga/Owl/Dance Captain: Brigid Wallace Harper
Piglet/Roo: Ashley D. Nguyen
Piglet/Roo, Eeyore/Kanga/Owl Understudy: Kaeli Patchen
Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin/Rabbit Understudy: Quincy Vicks

CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Christopher Michael Richardson
Music Director: Elisa Rosman
Scenic Designer: Sarah Beth Hall
Costume Designer: Frank Labovitz
Lighting Designer: Helen Garcia-Alton
Sound Designer: Madeline “Mo” Oslejsek
Projections Designer: Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor
Properties Designer: Andrea “Dre” Moore
Resident Stage Manager: Samantha Leahan

IMPORTANT DATES
• Meet the Actors: Saturday, September 28 at 10:00 AM, Sunday, September 29 at 10:00 AM, Sunday, October 6 at 1:00 PM, Sunday, October 13 at 1:00 PM, Sunday, October 20 at 1:00 PM, Sunday, October 27 at 1:00 PM
• ASL-Interpreted Performance: Saturday, September 28 at 10:00 AM
• Sensory-Friendly Performance: Sunday, September 29 at 10:00 AM

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As the curtains parted on The Pilgrim’s Progress at the Museum of the Bible’s World Stage Theater Thursday night, the darkness, eerie lighting, and sounds of rain and thunder that opened the production echoed the thunderstorms outside. The outer storms vividly mirrored the torment of Pilgrim (Jesse Gould), who appears on stage physically struggling under the weight of a heavy burden on his back and emotionally wrestling with the decision to flee from his hometown, which he has been warned is destined for destruction. Despite his agony when his wife (Olivia Singleton) and children (Benji Hawley and William Singleton) refuse to join him, Pilgrim runs out into the rainy night, leaving all that he knows behind. The outer manifestations of inner struggles, however, will follow him throughout his journey.

Presented by the Academy of Arts Logos Theatre, The Pilgrim’s Progress was adapted from John Bunyan’s 17-century allegory by Kathryn Venegas, a master’s student in the Academy of Arts’ Conservatory program. It premiered at the Logos Theatre’s home venue in Taylors, South Carolina, in spring 2023 before going on tour. Directed by Nicole Stratton (the Academy of Arts’ artistic director), Venegas’ adaptation streamlines Bunyan’s sprawling allegory into two acts and two hours, performed by an ensemble cast of 30. (In a welcome 21st-century update, the Logos Theatre casts women in some of the originally nearly all-male roles.)

In keeping with Bunyan’s allegory, and with the European theatrical tradition of morality plays (a precursor to The Pilgrim’s Progress), most of the cast members play characters personifying virtues or vices, as indicated by their names. Most serve either to aid or thwart Pilgrim in his journey toward the Celestial City, the destination described by Evangelist (Berend Sandersfeld) early in the play. While Christian symbolism is present in the Logos Theatre’s earlier touring productions at the World Stage Theater (The Horse and His Boy in 2023 and Prince Caspian last spring), in The Pilgrim’s Progress it is front and center. Christian viewers (who undoubtedly composed the majority of the audience on opening night) will be most familiar with and stirred by the numerous biblical references, both in symbolism, allusions, and direct quotations. Yet the tale, and Logos Theatre’s adaptation of it, also contains broader resonance as a vivid example of the hero’s journey or monomyth — as seen in many stories across times and cultures.

Viewed through this lens, Evangelist (a name and role fraught with baggage in the 21st century) becomes the messenger calling Pilgrim to the adventure of his life. When Pilgrim encounters the cross in the first act, his burden (and the accusers that have been hounding him) fall away. He receives the new name of Christian, and he is given white robes to cover his shabby brown tunic and breeches (costume design by Lucy Parker), which powerfully evokes both Christian conversion and the crossing of the threshold into a new stage of adventure. For Pilgrim (now Christian), this is not the end but merely the beginning, as he has a long journey — and many trials — yet ahead of him.

The technical aspects of the production blend beautifully to bring these trials to life. In addition to playing the title role, Gould doubles as the set designer. Elements such as stepping stones, a tree, and an archway perform multiple functions along Pilgrim/Christian’s journey. Gauzy hangings (evocative of Spanish moss) in the swampy Slough of Despond and the heavy chains draping from the ceiling in Giant Despair’s gloomy castle blend with Sam Singleton’s lighting design and Logos Theatre’s original soundtrack (Caleb Smedra and Olivia Singleton) and sound design (Olivia Singleton and Kathryn Popkin) to create terrifying scenes of cinematic quality. Projections on the left and right walls of the World Stage Theater (Joe Hainsworth and Jeremiah Gould) extend the scenery off the stage and immerse audiences in the world of the play.

No hero’s journey would be complete without villains, and the villains in The Pilgrim’s Progress are perhaps the most skillfully devised aspect of the play. The demonic creature Apollyon, clad in 3D-printed mask and armor and huge clawed batwings, and the hulking Giant Despair are the stuff of nightmares. Logos Theatre’s puppetry team, led by Justin Swain, transforms Charlie Belk into both roles. One might note that the crusader-like armor worn by Christian to defend himself against these attackers resembles religious imagery carried by some of the U.S. Capitol rioters on January 6, 2021, just blocks from the World Stage Theater. Yet Christian’s struggle is personal, not political, and he uses his sword and shield only against his own demons.

Before the show opened, Academy of Arts Executive Director Noah Stratton encouraged the audience that “while we live so much of our lives on screens these days, this is a live theater production. If you want to laugh, laugh. If you want to cry or shout amen, that’s okay too.” In an age where we live so much of our lives on screens, and fight so many of our battles in our own heads, The Logos Theatre’s production of The Pilgrim’s Progress is an immersive, embodied reminder of the power of live theater to inspire us all to keep going in our own journeys — and to lend one another a helping hand along the way.

Running Time: Approximately two hours, including a 15-minute intermission.

The Pilgrim’s Progress plays through October 6, 2024, presented by The Academy of Arts Logos Theatre, performing at the World Stage Theater on the fifth and sixth floors of the Museum of the Bible, 400 4th Street SW, Washington, DC. Tickets ($54–$89) are available for purchase online, at the Museum, or by calling (866) 430-MOTB.

PRINCIPAL CAST
Pilgrim/Christian: Jesse Gould
Evangelist: Berend Sandersfeld
Faithful: Noah Stratton
Hopeful: Daphne Fortain

ENSEMBLE CAST
Pilgrim’s Wife, Angel 2: Olivia Singleton
Lady Sensuality: Allison James
Worldly Wise: Harrison Winkley
Apollyon, Giant Despair, Legality Henchman: Charlie Belk
Legality Henchman, Watchful, Hawker 5: Joe Butler
Sloth, Lord Hate-Good: Jonathan Barrows
Hypocrisy, Hawker 1: Caleb Mann
Help, Biblical Guard: Sam Singleton
Obstinate, Formalist, Biblical Father: Jonathan Overstreet
Townsperson 3, Angel: Micah Brewster
Legality, Biblical Guard, Bailiff, Townsperson 1: Ben Pilgrim
Discretion: Hope Barr
Pliable, Presumption: Asa Gueck
Prudence, Townsperson 2: Kristen Goodfellow
Talkative, Hawker 4: Jennifer James/Mary Beth Lamas (split role)
Simple, Hawker 3: Naomi Swain
Charity: Alice Johnson
Mistrust, Angel 3: Virginia Hawley
Child 1: Benji Hawley
Child 2: William Singleton
Piety: Esther Hawley
Timorous: Katrina McMindes
Hawker 2: Crystal Gueck
Townspeople: Allison James, Virginia Hawley, Alice Johnson, Ben Pilgrim, Caleb Mann, Jonathan Barrows, Joe Butler, Esther Hawley, Daphne Fortain, Mary Beth Lamas, Jennifer James, Crystal Gueck
Whisperers: Allison James, Virginia Hawley, Alice Johnson, Naomi Swain, Kristen Goodfellow, Daphne Fortain, Katrina McMindes, Brooklyn Guerrero, Bethany Guerrero, Crystal Gueck
Vanity Fairgoers: Sam Singleton, Micah Brewster, Asa Gueck, Kristen Goodfellow
Vanity Fair Dancers: Bethany Guerrero, Brooklyn Guerrero, Alice Johnson

PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Nicole Stratton
Adapted for Stage: Kathryn Venegas
Set Design: Jesse Gould
Choreographer: Gracie Gould
Costume Design: Lucy Parker
Makeup Design: Rachel Sorgius, Emily Kolchin
Lighting Design: Sam Singleton
Original Soundtrack: Caleb Smedra, Olivia Singleton
Orchestrations: David Shipps, Caleb Smedra
Sound Design: Olivia Singleton, Kathryn Popkin
Prop Design: Kayla Goodfellow
Marketing: Jennifer Swain, Allison James
Graphic Design: Liz Preston, Jeremiah Gould
Visual Effects: Joe Hainsworth, Jeremiah Gould
Media: Jennifer James, Ben Maciejack, Joe Butler, Matt Hainsworth, Naomi Swain, Ariel Hopkins
Puppetry: Justin Swain, Jesse Gould, Zak Minor

TECHNICAL CREW
Stage Manager: Olivia Singleton
Costumes Manager: Katrina McMindes
Makeup Manager: Hope Barr
Lighting Technician: Nicole Murphy
Mics: Ashley Hallam
Sound/Puppet Voice Technician: Abigail Barrows
Prop Manager: Naomi Swain

SEE ALSO:
Live theater returns to a gem of a venue at the Museum of the Bible (interview feature by John Stoltenberg, January 19, 2023)

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