Reclaiming Power: Disability, Desire, and Resistance in Porgy and Bess

When someone mentions “opera,” what words come to mind? For many, old, white, pale, and stale would slip off the tongue. The Washington National Opera’s revival of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, which ran last month, subverts this stereotypical conception. The WNO’s Porgy and Bess is a love story of a drug-addicted woman in an abusive relationship who seeks refuge and romance with a destitute man who is physically disabled, set against the backdrop of Catfish Row, a lower-income Black-majority community in 1950s South Carolina.

Agents of Their Own Destinies: Reimagining Hamlet’s Women

Victims, enablers, or survivors? Lauren Gunderson’s new play, A Room in the Castle, at the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C., gives voice to the women of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and offers a powerful message about autonomy, agency, and hope.

Latest StoriesNorah VawterMarch 28, 2025Folger Theatre, Theatre, DC Theatre, DC, WashingtonDC

Mortality, Chaos, and Aging Millennials: ‘Comeuppance’ at Woolly Mammoth

The Comeuppance–on stage now at Woolly Mammoth Theatre–is a dark comedy with a simple premise that slowly builds tension, layers, and unexpected nuances. It is anything but simple, and the production kept surprising from beginning to end.

Latest Stories, ARTSNorah VawterSeptember 20, 2024Woolly Mammoth Theare, Woolly Mammoth, DC Theatre, DC, Comeuppance, Mortality, Chaos, Millennials

Broccoli City Festival 2024: Unity Through Music and Culture

The Broccoli City Festival 2024 ignited D.C. with unity and celebration during the final weekend of July. This year's event marked a significant upgrade as it moved to the city's newest sports venue, Audi Field, home of D.C. United.

Miguel Milló's La Vida Entre Latidos at DC's Mexican Cultural Institute

Just opened in May at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC, La Vida Entre Latidos, in collaboration with IBERO University, features the lush, high-definition photography anthological series of Mexican artist Miguel Milló (b. 1959). Best translated as “Life Between Heartbeats,” the show highlights strange and fragile figures that are the protagonists of the portraits.

Reimagined 'Company' Offers a Modern Take on a Classic at the Kennedy Center

“Phone rings, door chimes, in comes… Company?” That refrain is one of Stephen Sondheim’s greatest earworms (second only perhaps to “Bobby, Bobby baby, Bobby bubi, Robby,” etc. in the same song). And, in the shaky touring production of Marianne Elliott’s inventive reimagining of the beloved musical, playing at the Kennedy Center through March 31, it presents more like a cautious question than a confident declaration.

Latest Stories, ARTSDCTRENDINGMarch 20, 2024Kennedy Center, Company, Play, Theatre, Theater, TheaterDC, TheatreDC, DC

The Lehman Trilogy: A Bracing Sign of the Times

Whether an indulgence of the market or a rebellion against it, Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy is undoubtedly a triumph. Since its translation into English by Mirella Cheeseman and its significant adaptation by playwright Ben Power, the play has carved out a generous space in the theater world, touring and transferring between theaters across Broadway, LA, and the West End for the past seven years.

Latest Stories, ARTSCecilia MenciaMarch 4, 2024STC, ShakespeareTheatre, theater, Theatre, #theatreDC, DC, WashingtonDC

'Las Hermanas Palacios' Unravels Cuban Migration in 1980's Miami

Longing for a life beyond their exile, three Cuban sisters deal with loss and hope in GALA Theatre's Las Hermanas Palacios (The Palacios Sisters). Inspired by Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, this powerful production examines themes of longing and belonging in a vibrant 1980s Miami.

Latest Stories, ARTSCecilia MenciaFebruary 19, 2024GalaTheatre, LasHermanasPalacios, Theatre, DC, WashingtonDC, NEA