111 stories by "Roger Catlin"
Judging from the news headlines nearly every week, race relations in the U.S. remain a social minefield that is difficult to navigate. One of the most direct intersections of race and cultur…
As William Shakespeare hits his 450th birthday this week, what better way to celebrate it than at the Folger Theatre, the classiest showcase for the Bard in town and possibly the nation. On …
One of the realizations from the brash, surreal play Moth, by Melbourne’s Declan Greene, is that teenagers are pretty much the same in Australia as they are in America " for bett…
Because he was witness to history — Jimmy Carter’s 13 day peace summit between the heads of Israel and Egypt in 1978 — former White House Communications director Gerald Raf…
The more than a dozen productions that make up the World Stages International Theater Festival in Kennedy Center, most are listed for mature audiences. Others are listed for those at least t…
There must be a reason that most fusty drawing room dramas of yore stay buried in the past. J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, currently being revived by the St. Mark’s Players…
The “spoonful” symbolizes both the innocence of childhood and the sinister swirl of drug addictions. Think Mary Poppins’ merry “Spoonful of Sugar,” or Willie Di…
The famous quote: “Some look at things that are, and ask ‘why.’ I dream of things that never were and ask ‘why not?’” is often associated with…
The epic quest for a white whale in Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick seems an apt subject for an epic staging, operatic in its intentions and soaring in its scale. … thi…
The physical space used by the Spooky Action Theater is a good reflection of how the innovative company works. Seemingly with every show, they find a new way to turn the subterranean space a…
The circus today has morphed in a couple of directions: to the streamlined arena fare of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey and the gymnastic spectacles of Cirque du Soleil and their …
With the recent announcement that “Peter Pan” would be the next live musical for NBC this year, Bill Murray flying into David Letterman’s show in costume this week, and Lea…
Sarah Ruhl is one of the most interesting playwrights in the country these days, with popular works like Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Clean House, and In the Next Room, all of which h…
A big crowd gathered at Signature Theatre in Arlington earlier this week — not necessarily for the opening of Holiday Follies, the annual Christmas cabaret, but for the start of pre…
The most performed operas usually reflect stories of long ago times and foreign cultures, which can sometimes be distancing for an audience. Â There is no such problem in A Family Reunion,…
Great composers have to start somewhere and, for Giacomo Puccini, it was a one-act called Le Villi. He submitted it for a competition. It didn't win or place. Still, he reworked it, added to…
Let us now praise the Quotidian Theatre Company, which dedicates itself to classics, and crafts performances so good they remind us why the works are considered classics in the first place. …
Delightful is probably not the expected adjective for a show called Cabaret Macabre, except probably for those who have seen earlier editions of the show by Happenstance Theatre. At a time w…
The Washington National Opera is celebrating the bicentenary of Wagner and Verdi this season, and to honor the latter, artistic director Francesca Zambello has chosen what she called one of …
In the early 1970s, Tennessee Williams’ best work was decades behind him. A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie (now in yet another acclaimed revival on Broadway), and Cat on a…
Red Speedo, a taut play about athletic competition at Studio Lab, itself begins with its own athletic contest: climbing several flights of stairs to the performance space. Â Once up there,…
There may not be a better musical focus for a jukebox musical than the sounds of Memphis’ plucky Sun Studios in the 1950s, where Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Ca…
Maria Braun was a character borne of pluck and determination, whose civil wedding was interrupted by bombs of World War II, but not invalidated by it. Â She insisted the officiant sign the…
The problem with building an opera around a star is that sometimes, the star will falter. So even as the cover of the Washington National Opera Playbill of Tristan and Isolde shows Debora…
Back in the 17th Century, theater in Spain was so rich, even the intervals between acts were entertaining. Sketches performed in the streets to engage with passerby led to their becoming par…
