126 stories by "Ben Demers"
Dreams are, by and large, a random jumble of thoughts and experiences remixed by our subconscious. They may not make a lot of sense, but they certainly leave an impact. That's largely how I …
As gaming and virtual reality become ever more ingrained into popular culture, it's about time that some creative minds brought it into the world of theater. In the interactive escape drama …
From Shakespeare to "Arrested Development", when family and large inheritances mix, things are bound to get messy. Arcturus Theater Company's adaptation of August Strindberg's surrealist The…
At their best, fairytales allow adults and children alike to gently explore lessons of life, love, and loss, while safely ensconced in a cushion of abstraction. At their worst, they enable u…
Before Prospero, Miranda, Ferdinand, and even Caliban…there was Sycorax. In One Word More, writer and performer Annalisa Dias offers a bold, mind-bending vision of Shakespeare's The Tempes…
Among the pivotal works of modern literature, novels like “Infinite Jest” and “Finnegan's Wake” have proven so dense, so abstract, so impenetrable as to be nearly …
As the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe continues to spiral, Mosaic Theater Company of DC goes beyond the headlines to diagram hopeful refugees caught in a web of chaos, burea…
"I am large. I contain multitudes." Walt Whitman's words in "Song of Myself" aptly describe Aaron Davidman's chameleonic turn in Wrestling Jerusalem, a whirlwind solo tour through the protra…
"What happens to a dream deferred?…Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?" wondered poet Langston Hughes in his 1951 work "Harlem". Over sixty years later in …
For years, psychologists have marveled at the power of music to rebuild memory, aid recovery from brain injury, and even fight Alzheimer's disease. In The Requiem, talented young playwrig…
Shakespeare is great as straight drama or as total parody; indeed both Royal Shakespeare Company and Reduced Shakespeare Co coexist happily next door to each other. The goofy, frequently puz…
Barenaked Comedy brings together the "bar arts" of burlesque and standup comedy for an endlessly entertaining evening. This bawdy, adult showcase has a truly random assortment of talented pe…
The "play within a play" device is a tough trick to pull off, even for the likes of Shakespeare. XY Players’ Experimental offers up a trippy tale about actors trapped in a murderous sc…
With DC ramping up for yet another presidential tilt, it's a great time to sit back and laugh at the whole circus. To Err is Falstaff!! inventively blends Aaron Sorkin-esque humor and pacing…
Sometimes the world inside our heads is a lot brighter than the real world outside. In Jennifer Faletto's affecting Domestic Animals, a young woman tries to embrace her fractured new life, e…
The tumultuous personal lives and demons of Hemingway, Mailer, and many of our greatest writers can sometimes overshadow their indelible literary achievements. In American Lit, playwright Ja…
… a thrilling physical showcase with heart and laughs to spare. Cirque du Soleil plus Superheroes. That's the easiest way to quickly describe the wildly inventive Flying V Fights: Hero…
A razor-sharp critique of media and justice in post 9-11 America In this age of 24/7 media witch hunts and instant mass outrage, any national security issue can morph into World War II…
Love and Botany sprouts six unique tales of plants, romance, and unlikely connections. CulturalDC has married some unlikely theatrical bedfellows for its ongoing Source Festival, and none mo…
The 6 short plays grouped into "Mistakes & Media" take on 24-7 Internet & media culture with wit, weirdness. Our modern culture of ubiquitous screens, 24-7 information, and infinite …
Ripped from the pages of Maxim and Cosmopolitan, Round House Theatre's rollicking satire "NSFW" offers a timely, raunchy, and deeply affecting look at the media's objectification of women. I…
Forum Theater's affecting rendition of Young Jean Lee's polemical The Shipment doesn’t dance around the truth, but opts instead to rip the Band-Aid off the raw, tragic, funny, and bewi…
In the jarring very still & hard to see, playwright Steve Yockey injects dark Japanese folklore into Stephen King's mold of creeping horror, set far too close to home. Rorschach Theatre'…
Ghost stories need a few key elements to truly scare: constantly building tension, atmospheric lighting and music, a cast that knows when to get out of the way, and just enough backstory to …
What if you bought a one-of-a-kind Picasso, and then a friend revealed it wasn't really one-of-a-kind? Would you accept the truth – or cling to ignorance like a warm blanket? In Theate…
