Andrew White - Page 10

Cultural DC's production of Samuel Beckett's Happy Days offers audiences a fresh look at a play that has become a legend in theatre circles, not least because of its unprecedented demands on the actress who has to perform the lead role. How refreshing it is, then, to see Karen Lange's resilience in the role; she understands that Winnie's quest for survival is what gets her up every morning like clockwork, and drives her with only an occasional glimmer in her eyes of the panic that most of us would feel.

With the brilliant work of Constellation Theatre, Bill Irwin's irreverent spirit is alive and well in their current production of 'Scapin,' adapted from Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin ('Scapin's Tricks'). It's not one of those moldy old comedies where you try to laugh like your distinguished ancestors might have laughed back in the day-It works because the production rocks, but also because the original author Moliere stole some of the best material from his stage-mates in the Italian Commedia dell' Arte, who were standup before there was standup, and whose sight gags and stock characters laid the foundation for every sitcom you love today.

Just when you were about to pack it in because of the miserable weather Synetic Theater has come up with a joyous, raucous celebration of love-and jazz-in its latest Shakespeare adaptation. Twelfth Night, perhaps the Bard's most beloved comedy, is realized here as a manic and slapstick-ridden romp through the Roaring Twenties. Featuring classic tunes from the early jazz era, director Paata Tsikurishvili has set the action in a silent-era Hollywood sound stage. His wife, Irina, heads a stellar cast that channels the best of 1920's screen comedians, to brilliant effect.

Have you seen enough of Scrooge, His Imperial Crankiness? Are you ready for another take on the old tale? Herndon, Virginia's Next Stop Theatre has just the thing: a production of 'Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol' a one-man marvel performed. As performed by the lithe and wily Ray Ficca, Marley takes us through the trials and tribulations of being not just Scrooge's long-suffering partner, but also his eternally-suffering guardian angel.

The folks at Theater J have done us a huge favor by bringing back David Lutken and his band, so that we can have another visit with the great American songwriter and activist Woody Guthrie. Staged as an evening of down-home music, complete with opportunities for audience participation and sing-alongs, we can sit in on Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie and see America through the eyes of one of its most accomplished artists.

We are now well into the second wave of Vaclav Havel productions, where his work is being re-examined from a variety of perspectives-experiments which, in and of themselves, are a testament to his staying power. Ambassador Theater's current production of 'Protest' at the Mead Theater Lab marks the culmination of a year-long celebration here in Washington, D.C. of the playwright-President's legacy. Under the direction of Gail Humphries-Mardirosian audiences can now witness a fascinating re-interpretation of what is perhaps Havel's deepest, most confessional work on life under an oppressive regime.

If your appetite for Shakespeare's history plays was whetted by PBS's recent series "The Hollow Crown," be of good cheer; King John is now receiving a solid production by the WSC Avant Bard. A rare gem, King John is a must for Shakespeare enthusiasts, not least because the play's complex plot renders it extremely difficult to stage. You will have the rare treat of seeing this unjustly neglected piece in fine form.

With 'Unplugged,' the youthful Flying V company helps us to commune with our long-lost idols, and offers us an often-amusing and touching version of their possible afterlives. Jason Schlafstein has assembled yet another multi-talented talented cast, who provide us with the music as well as the dramatic action. Consisting of two one-acts, 'All Apologies' by Hunter Styles, and 'Me and the Devil Blues' by Seamus Sullivan, the production will be a treat for anyone who loves the music-with the bonus that we get to hear selections from some of Rock's most memorable songs. In one amusing case, we get to hear a dead star cook up another tune or two.

What do you get when you mix an iconic book and film series featuring a magical boy-hero with two shamelessly goofy stand-up comedians, a well-heeled crowd and a host of antsy kids? You get roughly an hour and a half of mayhem featuring silly string, super-soakers, beach balls and cheap stuffed animals (some with removable heads-ouch). What on earth this has to do with J. K. Rowling's famous franchise is anyone's guess, but it's as good an excuse as any to get silly.

Director Stephen Nachamie has taken great care to give Olney audiences as authentic an experience of the original show as possible and packed the cast with genuine Broadway gypsies. The results are joyful, invigorating and touching, right down to the mis-steps and mistakes (carefully choreographed, mind you) that add the all-important element of spontaneity, the illusion that you're watching a crew of dancers desperate for work, willing to do anything to land the gig.

Given the high stakes involved in discussing transgender issues Forum theatre could have staged a traditional play. The passivity of the experience, however, would have given audiences an out-we could have walked away discussing "those people" and "their problems," shrugged them off and gone back to our lives. But writer and director Natsu Onoda Power has chosen instead to implicate all of us, and by involving us in the action she has made "The T Party" all the more challenging and invigorating.

Flying V Theatre, which we last saw with their loose and loopy 'Pirate Laureate of Port Town,' has created an unforgettable evening of theatre that touches you in more ways than you imagined possible. The standing ovation I witnessed last weekend was well deserved, and I hope is just one of many for the run of this show.

Under the taut and subtle direction of Shirley Serotsky and graced with a tremendously talented class, Theater J's The Hampton Years is nothing short of a triumph. Local playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton has given us a vital part of our history back-the humble but compelling beginnings of two towering figures in African-American art, John Biggers and Samella Lewis, who studied under Austrian refugee Viktor Lowenfeld at Virginia's Hampton Institute.

Audiences, prepare to be enthralled; Constellation Theatre's poetic staging of the ancient Sumerian epic “Gilgamesh” is an absolute delight for the eyes and ears. With its original poetic dialogue, its brilliant costuming and choreography, not to mention an original world-music score performed live, you have a truly fascinating evening in store for you.

Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell have established Happenstance as one of the most inventive, genuinely spontaneous companies in town. Their sources of inspiration are diverse, likewise the shows that develop (literally) before our eyes. Based on the principle of physical improvisation, their brand of Devised Theater (quite distinct from that bane of critics, the "work in progress") can give you the delight of witnessing artists in the process of discovery, development and revision. The results are often confusing and challenge us to abandon our innate desire to make sense of things, inviting us simply to let the ensemble go about their wonderful work.

Opening as it does at the tail end of the Lenten season, Keegan Theatre seems to be offering 'Behanding' as a welcome antidote to the awe and reverence of the season (are you dreading the family Seder before it's even started? Sick to death of Easter eggs and plastic grass? Suffering from Pope Francis fatigue already? Have we got a show for you …). Although not without its moments of drag and indecision the production is still guaranteed to leave you rolling in the aisles at the utter shamelessness of it all.

Lee Blessing's Cold-War drama 'A Walk in the Woods' is given a beautiful new staging by Bethesda's Quotidean Theatre, with a stand-out performance by Brit Herring as the American negotiator.

The National Theatre of Norway's modern, pared-down 'Hedda Gabler' recently at the Kennedy Center, as part of the Nordic Cool festival, caught some local print critics off guard. There has been some grumbling about the lack of Victorian-era sociological context. This complaint assumes Hedda's problems belong to a bygone era, and have little to do with us--ridiculous. Moreover, audiences and artists alike don't deserve the cod-liver oil treatment. We don't expect jazz musicians to give us note-for-note renditions of Louis Armstrong's Hot Five recordings, no matter how great they were. So we should stop demanding that actors remain forever under the thumb of antiquated scripts whose dialect is so different from our own. We need to be able to breathe new life into the classics, experience Hedda as our contemporary, and this production does so brilliantly.

The year, roughly speaking, is 1300; the city, definitely Rome. An ambitious political exile from Florence, stripped of everything he ever owned or hoped to achieve, stews in the Eternal City disgusted with the civil wars and political infighting around him. All he has to his name is a solid classical education and a gift for writing poetry in the language of the streets--Italian. Finding himself with a lot of time on his hands, Dante Alighieri nurses his pain and his burning desire for revenge, and converts them into nothing less than a classic of World Literature.

If I could grab you by the shoulders, Dear Reader, look you square in the eye and tell you “See this play—now!” I would. Forum Theatre's accomplished and deeply moving production of Bill Cain's “9 Circles,” now at the Round House Theatre's Silver Spring stage, is that good. And that necessary.