'Pericles' and a Posner 'Merchant' adaptation for Folger in 2015-16 by Nelson Pressley

The Folger Theatre will shake up its Shakespeare in 2015-16 with everything from a premiere piece using Elizabeth I's words to a new "retelling" of "The Merchant of Venice" by Aaron Posner, …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:06am on May 11, 2015☆⚑

'Marley' rising up in Baltimore by Nelson Pressley

This morning I woke up in a curfew. / Oh, God, I was a prisoner, too.Read full article >>

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:16pm on May 8, 2015☆⚑

Hamlet's 'bad' self and Kafka's bug, on compact stages by Nelson Pressley

The cool factor is fairly high in Taffety Punk Theatre Company's new "Hamlet." Taking the stage like fascist sci-fi rock stars, the cast is out to challenge you with Shakespeare's "bad" quar…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 6:16pm on May 5, 2015☆⚑

Casualties of the Black Power movement in potent 'Sunset Baby' by Nelson Pressley

Baltimore's recent unrest is more than subtext in "Sunset Baby," Dominique Morisseau's unexpectedly timely drama about hardcore hustlers trying to get out of a dead-end neighborhood. Friday'…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:42pm on May 4, 2015☆⚑

Turn off your phone. And ignore the prostitute. by Nelson Pressley

Our era's curse is the phone, but theaters have a long tradition as rowdy places. In ­17th-century France, Molière had to tolerate cocky, talkative VIPs who insisted on sitting on the st…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:49pm on April 29, 2015☆⚑

Baltimore curfew means earlier curtain times; BSO offers free concert today at noon by Nelson Pressley

Baltimore's state of emergency and 10 p.m. curfew means earlier curtain times for theaters that aren't cancelling shows (and most aren't). 7 p.m. is the new starting time this week at Center…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 9:17am on April 29, 2015☆⚑

The scene of the crime steals the show in rock musical 'Murder Ballad' by Nelson Pressley

Skip the lobby and head for the alley out back. Show your I.D. and see if your name's on the list. Get your hand stamped and then trek up the stairs to a rowdy bar on the fourth floor, becau…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:25pm on April 23, 2015☆⚑

Voices of political outsiders, from Booth to poetic radicals by Nelson Pressley

Assassination and underground resistance are the subjects of two radically different 80-minute theatrical experiments in town now, both happening in tiny labs. Actor Joe Brack is playing Joh…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:09pm on April 21, 2015☆⚑

Voices of political outsiders, from Booth to poetic radicals by Nelson Pressley

Assassination and underground resistance are the subjects of two radically different 80-minute theatrical experiments in town now, both happening in tiny labs. Actor Joe Brack is playing Joh…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:26pm on April 21, 2015☆⚑

Get Ready: "Motown" among the musicals announced for National Theatre next season by Nelson Pressley

"Motown the Musical" headlines the five shows announced for next season at the National Theatre, where 12 to 13 weeks of programming seems to be settling in as a norm. That's an upgrade from…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:46pm on April 20, 2015☆⚑

Spinning a big 'Carousel' at the Olney Theatre by Nelson Pressley

The "if" in "Carousel's" famous "If I Loved You" smolders with tension in the Olney Theatre Center's big, thoughtful, musically rich production. In the muscular Tally Sessions, director Jaso…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:10pm on April 20, 2015☆⚑

Spinning a big 'Carousel' at the Olney Theatre by Nelson Pressley

The "if" in "Carousel's" famous "If I Loved You" smolders with tension in the Olney Theatre Center's big, thoughtful, musically rich production. In the muscular Tally Sessions, director Jaso…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:05pm on April 20, 2015☆⚑

Expanding the pattern for black actresses in all-female "Blood Quilt" by Nelson Pressley

If there were plenty of rangy and surprising parts for black women on American stages, Katori Hall might not have become a playwright. But when she was at Barnard College in 2001, Hall and a…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:33am on April 17, 2015☆⚑

Chekhov's 'Vanya' rides again, with uncertain feeling by Nelson Pressley

What's the "right" way to play Anton Chekhov? With your heart on your sleeve? Morose and weepy, cued by all the fruitless yearning and bitter regret rippling through the plays? Or, because o…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 4:48pm on April 14, 2015☆⚑

Sibling drama gets a Chekhov twist in 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' by Nelson Pressley

What you get when you cross Christopher Durang with Anton Chekhov meets your best expectations from the king of anxious comedy and the master of Russian despair " gloom and guffaws. Durang s…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 6:06pm on April 12, 2015☆⚑

Linda Levy retires as Theatre Washington head by Nelson Pressley

Linda Levy announced Friday that she is retiring as president and CEO of Theatre Washington, the organization that runs the Helen Hayes Awards. Levy had spinal surgery in December, a procedu…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:25pm on April 10, 2015☆⚑

Update on injury-plagued 'The Island': Play postponed until July by Nelson Pressley

The show won't go on until the toe (and tendons) can go on. And the toe that actor Doug Brown badly cut onstage nearly two weeks ago still has not healed sufficiently for him to perform with…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:54pm on April 9, 2015☆⚑

Out of prison and into the fire of race and sex in 'Lights Rise on Grace' by Nelson Pressley

A streetwise drama about star-crossed lovers from the Chinese Capulets and the black Montagues sounds pretty rich, doesn't it? But Chad Beckim's gritty "Lights Rise on Grace" doesn't stop th…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 7:04pm on April 7, 2015☆⚑

Take a breath, Helen Hayes by Nelson Pressley

I feel hung over, and I didn't even go to the party.49 awards in 70 minutes: that was the Helen Hayes Awards last night. With presenters rapidly reading nominees' names but not the titles of…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:10pm on April 7, 2015☆⚑

A multitude of prizes speed through an expanded Hayes Awards by Nelson Pressley

The Kennedy Center's "Side Show" and Signature Theatre's "Sunday in the Park With George" tied for top musical honors at Monday night's unusually swift Helen Hayes Awards " the first awards …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:44pm on April 6, 2015☆⚑

Instrumental to Signature's success, orchestra shines in Sondheim revue by Nelson Pressley

Why did Sheryl Crow and "Chicago" composer John Kander bring their very different new musicals to Arlington's Signature Theatre this season? Lots of reasons, but none bigger than the fact th…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:51pm on April 5, 2015☆⚑

It's 'Vanya,' loosely speaking by Nelson Pressley

Why are we suddenly up to our samovars with Chekhov in general and "Uncle Vanya" in particular? Playwright Christopher Durang explains it all for you."I don't quite know," he says. The 2015 …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:07pm on April 3, 2015☆⚑

Ari Roth has a team: Serge Seiden and Jennifer Nelson join Mosaic by Nelson Pressley

Ari Roth's Mosaic Theater Company is beginning to look like a company. Roth, fired as Theater J's artistic director in December after mounting tension with the troupe's parent organization, …

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:35am on April 2, 2015☆⚑

'Island' actors injured; performances at MetroStage canceled until this weekend by Nelson Pressley

The show is not going on the next few nights at Alexandria's MetroStage as both actors in the two-person cast of "The Island" injured themselves last week. Producing artistic director Caroly…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 6:15pm on March 31, 2015☆⚑

Now you can tell whether the 'Broadway' musicals at the National Theatre are Equity by Nelson Pressley

When you see the ads and buy tickets for those musicals you've heard about touring from Broadway, you never know if the show has a cast of Equity actors " members in the union. But you still…

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:54pm on March 31, 2015☆⚑