208 stories by "Anne Valentino"
The mood as audience members were leaving Studio Theatre following the production of Bruce Norris's "Downstate" was somber to say the least. Given the play's themes and several of the events…
Playwright Alexis Scheer seems to possess uncanny insight into what it means to exist with a foot in two different worlds, or more, depending on how many feet you can muster. The characters …
Always putting on a show full of spirit, heart, and an abundance of feel-good vibes, the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington DC (GMCW) delivers yet again with their holiday extravaganza. Presente…
The Coil Project's newest "Strange Tales" installment brings four new short plays with equally bizarre, sometimes macabre, and definitely unconventional twists to the stage of Capitol Hill A…
Musicals don't get much darker than "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." Stephen Sondheim's 1979 show, based on a 19th-century penny dreadful, reveals the secret life and diabol…
Joshua Harmon's 2024 Tony-nominated, epically expansive script, "Prayer for the French Republic," investigates the horrors of the Holocaust, albeit as more of a side note than headline, hold…
The intellectualism of Tony Kushner's work can sometimes obscure the bigger-picture themes and stories and yet, it is this intellectualism that brands his work as distinctly of its time in a…
Following a sold-out Off-Broadway run in 2023, York Walker's acclaimed "Covenant" has come to Theater Alliance. Described as "Southern gothic meets the blues," the show offers some soulful s…
Marlene Dietrich is perhaps best known as a symbol of the ever-so distinctive brand of talent and glamour that epitomized the heyday of "Old Hollywood." German-born, Dietrich came to the US …
Getting a new play off the ground takes a great deal of work. Playwright Marshall Logan Gibbs and director Maxwell Wolf seemingly hit the ground running with "MonstÓ r (Or, #MeToo Brute),"…
"Night Sky," a new play by Pipeline Playwright Patricia Connelly at Aldersgate Church Community Theater (ACCT), tells the story of Julia (Patricia Nicklin) who, now in her seventies, must gr…
Dramas about high school students often center on the catastrophic issues that trouble younger generations today. These are generally bigger-picture issues. While certainly incredibly worthw…
A prominent part of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston has become an acclaimed artistic figure helping define a literary generation and pave the way for those who would follow. Laure…
Eboni Booth won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with her play "Primary Trust" and is currently being presented at Signature Theatre. It's a rather intimate play that investigates the theme…
Two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award-winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins returns to his DC roots with "The Comeuppance." This being only the third production of this play, it centers on…
With a 2023 world premiere on Broadway, it would seem that "Jaja's African Hair Braiding" is already bound to become a canonical part of American theatre. The first leg of its tour kicks off…
Immediately, the set design of GALA Theatre's "The 22+ Weddings of Hugo" whisks you into a quasi-paradisiacal realm in which anything seems possible despite the obstacles and detractors that…
Presidential elections have this way of bringing out the claws. The desire to win, the need to have one party decimate the other"people's baser instincts tend to emerge, even in the nicest o…
Caryl Churchill's work has this uncanny way of harnessing the big picture questions of history, science, and philosophy and distilling them down to what these kinds of questions mean for hum…
Faction of Fools Theatre Company specializes in a type of theatrical practice known as commedia dell'arte. Most prevalent in Italy during the Renaissance, this art form leans heavily on stoc…
Aleshea Harris' "Is God Is" has been hailed as "high-octane carnage," a mythic journey, and the ultimate revenge fantasy. After seeing Constellation Theatre's production, I can attest that H…
Through music, dance, and pure emotion, the cast and crew of "Long Way Down" tell a penetrating story that stays with you long after you leave the theatre. Olney Theatre Centre's premiere of…
Rock operas really are their own special breed of show, comprised of vivid costumes, powerful, edgy songs, and very often a heavy dose of fantasy and adventure. The Baltimore Rock Opera Soci…
Northern Ireland's c21 Theatre Company, in conjunction with The Keegan Theatre, is currently presenting "Expecting" by Irish playwright Charis McRoberts. Described as a "poetic one-act play"…
Eva Perón's story is the stuff of movies, books, and, yes, even ghost stories. The meteoric rise of Evita from Argentine "showgirl" to beloved political figure has been comprehensively do…
