(Part 2)
Hello, play-goers! I hope you all had a good Labor Day and are still rocking’ your white pants and holding onto summer. The new theater season is in full swing, and I’m here with some previews of shows to see in DC and NYC this fall. There are some great works coming in both cities, so take a look and get out and see something! Let me know what you pick and your personal review by replying to this email.
DC Previews
Ink at Round House Theatre (now thru 9/24)
This well-reviewed play concerns one of Rupert Murdoch’s first journalistic enterprises, turning The Sun into a tabloid. Those fascinated by journalism and the politics of the media will surely enjoy this.
Monumental Travesties at Mosaic Theater Company (now thru 10/1)
The premise of this DC-focused, brand new play is super intriguing: What happens when a Black performance artist stows the head of the Lincoln statue in Capitol Hill in his white neighbor’s shrubbery? I’m interested in this because I have enjoyed other work involving the playwright, PSALMAYENE 24, and Mosaic is an up-and-coming theatre that performs at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street.
My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion at Woolly Mammoth (9/11-10/8)
An octogenarian resists Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through increasingly fantastical methods. I am super intrigued by this play, which seems to employ magical realism to tell a very timely story about the ongoing war. It stars Holly Twyford, a talented DC-area actor.
Evita at Shakespeare Theatre Center (9/5-10/15)
We all know this show and its iconic moments, but have you ever actually seen it? I haven’t. Here’s our chance, in a much-praised production that originated at American Repertory Theater at Harvard University.
King of the Yees at Signature Theatre (9/12 - 10/22)
This theater is one of the most consistently good in Washington, and this show looks neat. Here’s the blurb from Signature’s website: “Playwright Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band) is rehearsing her newest show about her father (which she has not told him about), when he joyfully bursts through the doors and interrupts the actors. After he later goes missing, the younger Yee must embark on a quest through San Francisco’s famous Chinatown, beyond the iconic Dragon’s Gate, through a bustling maze of alleys and magical portals, to find him before it’s too late.”
The Wiz at The National Theatre (10/24 - 10/29
I have never seen a professional stage production of this wonderful musical, but we are in luck, friends: a brand new Broadway-bound production is making a stop here in DC. Catch it while it’s here—8 performances only!
POTUS at Arena Stage (10/13-11/12)
This was on Broadway last season and reviewed as a raucously funny play about the women surrounding the president keeping everything running. I think it will play especially well here in DC, where everyone knows someone who has a version of this job—and someone as obnoxious as the fictional president portrayed here.