173 stories by "Ravelle Brickman"
She Sings Light, written by Claudia Rosales-Waters and directed by Josh Sticklin, is one of four 'curated' shows in the 2019 Capital Fringe Festival. That means that this highly symbolic dra…
Improv, as any actor knows, is harder than it looks. And dramatic improv"in which actors invent their roles as they go, expanding on a basic situation in ways that are both comic and sad"is …
There's not much to laugh at in politics today. Nor is it easy to make fun of diversity, gender, Putin, or Pepsi. But that doesn't prevent the team of talented comedians at Second City "…
When the actor playing Blackbeard first appears on stage at the Signature Theatre in the new musical bearing his name, smoke literally curls out of his matted black hair. It's a terrifying l…
When Farrell Parker steps out onto the black box stage at The Writer's Center in Flying V's version of We're Gonna Die, something explodes. Light and sound"literally"erupt. And while much of…
What does a 200-year-old literary classic have to do with the chaos of the US Congress today? A lot, according to Jason Loewith, Olney Theatre Center's Artistic Director, who has adapted Fri…
Actors, by definition, play all sorts of roles. But for Jennifer L. Nelson"a theater veteran who's been working on stage and off ever since she landed in DC at the age of 22"the multi-taskin…
Laura Giannarelli is a woman of many roles. A founder of Washington Stage Guild, she's been a fixture of the DC stage for almost four decades. She's been the mother-in-law from hell in Gulf …
It took a little over 120 years. But"thanks to Theater J"Jacob Gordin's wildly popular Yiddish drama, celebrated as The Jewish Queen Lear, has made it onto the English-language stage. The pl…
From the moment she enters"decked out in widow's weeds and descending a carpeted stairway"Nancy Robinette commands attention. That's not unusual, since this actor"awarded the 2018 Helen Haye…
Nell Gwynn – as brash and bawdy as a play could be – has arrived on Capitol Hill. And what a triumph it is! The play, which had a successful run in London's West End and won Brit…
One of the scariest moments in Kleptocracy –Â Kenneth Lin's drama about the struggle for power in post-Soviet Russia – occurs when the shadow of a tiger prowls the length of an…
Gulf View Drive is the third and final play in Arlene Hutton's highly-acclaimed Nibroc Trilogy, which opened this week to waves of laughter and applause at the Washington Stage Guild in down…
The verdict is in. God is not dead. And rumors of his death, to paraphrase Mark Twain, have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, the deity"He, She or That Which Transcends All Else"is alive an…
Talley's Folly – now in its final week at GALA Hispanic Theatre on 14th Street – is a waltz. Meaning, it's not a salsa. And it's not a hustle, a tango or even a hot pasodoble. On…
The role of Otto in Paula Vogel's Indecent"the Tony Award-winning play at Arena Stage"is an actor's dream. The play, about a Yiddish melodrama that scandalized Broadway nearly a century ago,…
One of the most remarkable things about D.C. theater is its abundance of good plays, professionally produced and performed, yet often staged in places that are, to put it mildly, a bit odd. …
Michael Bobbitt gets around. This master-of-all-trades, whose adaptation of Aida is now playing to sold-out audiences at Constellation Theatre, has danced, directed and choreographed his way…
When Rick Foucheux, the award-winning actor whose work has dazzled DC audiences for 35 years, decided to retire last year, it wasn't because he was tired of the stage. He just wanted to focu…
"Born Yesterday is a winner." Those are the words of my colleague, David Siegel,  whose review of the gloriously effervescent comedy that just opened at Ford's Theatre is full of super…
In case you haven't heard, there's a disembodied voice floating above the seats at the Round House Theatre this month. The voice belongs to Timothy Douglas, an award-winning director whose w…
"The moon is down; I have not heard the clock." Those words"spoken by 10-year-old Owen Peakes in the Folger Theatre's startling new production of Macbeth"send a faint tremor through the pack…
Imagine a cluster of windows without walls, set against a backdrop of doors. And imagine a stage with a floor whose texture resembles sand. Those are just a few of the images"improbable as t…
Although it is aesthetically pleasing"beautifully designed and performed"up your aesthetic has nothing to do with aesthetics, per se. Instead, the production"which opened at the Blind Whino …
Imagine a classroom decorated for a birthday party. On the table is a cake, party hats, paper napkins, and plates; a banner is tacked on the wall. Ambling back and forth in this classroom is…
