Category Archives: We Love Arts

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Krapp’s Last Tape

John Hurt in the Gate Theatre’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape. Photo by Tom Lawlor.

There are moments when economy, especially in words, must suffice.

(Shakes head. Backspace, backspace. Types.)

John Hurt. Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett. Produced by Dublin’s Gate Theatre, at Shakespeare Theatre Company this weekend only. 55 minutes.

55 minutes of your life spent watching a master actor perform a master playwright’s reflection on the absurdity of life, memory and regret.

(Shakes head. Backspace, backspace, backspace. Types. Rubs chin. Sighs.)

Words leave me. Just the memory of Hurt’s haggard face under hard white light, the deep black of time surrounding him like a Francis Bacon painting.

Words leave me. To be haunted by a performance you cannot describe… feels liberating, to be defeated by time, by memory.

(Shakes head. Backspace. Stops. Stares at the floor. Mutters, “Idiot.” Types.)

Krapp’s Last Tape in limited engagement through December 4 at Shakespeare Theatre Company, located at 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. Closest Metro stop: Gallery Place/Chinatown (Red/Yellow/Green lines), Archives/Navy Memorial (Yellow/Green lines). For more information call 202-547-1122.

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Equivocation

Anthony Heald as Shag, Gregory Linington as Armin and Richard Elmore as Richard in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2009 production of Equivocation, directed by Bill Rauch. Photo by Jenny Graham

A lawyer in love with a Shakespearean scholar might find the perfect date night with Equivocation. Or a politician whose best friend is a Jesuit. Bill Cain’s play is a thicket of ideas about theater, politics and morality. His language manages to be natural, almost casual, despite the rich quotations of Shakespearean text and the monumental characters debating the difficult question of how to remain true to your ideals, and the truth itself, in dangerous times.

Equivocation has received accolades since its 2009 world premiere by Oregon Shakespeare Festival, one of the country’s pre-eminent theater companies, and it’s now in performance by that company at Arena Stage. Cain wrote the play in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when he started noticing a rise of disturbing doublespeak. He went back further in time to hold the mirror up, exploring what happens when a playwright is induced to produce propaganda about current events – in this case, being asked to dramatize the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to glorify King James I’s role. It’s fascinating how references to the Gunpowder Plot has resurfaced recently – V for Vendetta and Occupy Wall Street – as the mirror of history is turned back on itself again and again. Cain is interested in the propaganda of words, so he uses the ultimate wordweaver as the unlucky protagonist – Shakespeare himself. Continue reading →

We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Synetic’s Romeo and Juliet

Natalie Berk  as Juliet and Alex Mills as Romeo, photo by Graeme B. Shaw

Synetic Theater is closing out their Speak no More triptych with Romeo and Juliet. Their take on Shakespeare’s classic tale of thwarted young love is presented – as always – without dialog, relying on staging and dance to convey the story. Or are they presenting dance and framing it within a story? I keep waffling about what answer key to grade the production on, and my level of satisfaction with it depends on which one I’m inclined to use at that moment.

Grading on dance and visual appeal is a slam dunk win. If you like dance and it’s your primary reason for being there you’re golden. There’s nothing I can say about this production that Jenn hasn’t said in half a dozen past reviews. Irina Tsikurishvili’s choreography is lovely. Anastasia Simes’ set and costumes are lovely without being overly complicated. It’s hard to find a flaw with this production as a dance performance.

I’m less thrilled with this as a theatrical production. Parts of the story come through wonderfully; in particular Alex Mills and Natalie Berk have a chemistry that sparks. They convey the lovers’ arc from initial fascination and infatuation through a gleeful young love and eventual heartbreak with an almost palpable connection.

Continue reading →

Thrifty District, We Love Arts
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Theater Ticket Deals Aplenty

Photo courtesy of
‘Manhattan Day coupon or ticket’
courtesy of ‘The Field Museum Library’

Is there anything for sale anymore other than via coupon? If there is it’s not theater.

There’s a nice flex deal running right now for seats at Woolly Mammoth for the remainder of the season. 6 tickets to use in whatever combination you like – take 6 friends to see the Second City show or take your sweetie to the next 3 shows. At $150 it’s only a hair above $20 a seat which is a big cut off face value.

You can do that well via various day-of deals but this is a nice buy-and-be-done way to get seats. The only exclusions listed are pay what you can and opening nights or New Year’s Eve – any seat still for sale 24 hours or more out and you can use these. I’ve grabbed this deal and am going to take my visiting family to see Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies after xmas.

Studio also has a package deal – seats for all three upcoming shows. You can even be anti-social and only by for and take yourself. Hey, you’re not supposed to talk during anyway, right?

Alternately they’ve got plenty of deals for specific shows at other theaters. The touring Spamalot at the Warner. Or Hairspray at Signature in Shirlington. You, Nero at Arena – a deal you don’t have to wear a toga to get. Traveling show Elephant Room at Arena. Studio’s Golden Dragon, and a bunch more that have the misfortune to get excised because I’m tired of typing. Go look for yourself.

Special Events, We Love Arts
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Discount Theater for the Price of Silly

Photo courtesy of
‘Ready to take flight (IMG_2633a)’
courtesy of ‘Alaskan Dude’

Alternate title: Audience Participation Has Gone Too Far

Arena Stage has apparently been dipping into the Thanksgiving cooking sherry; Previews for their new show You, Nero are starting on Saturday and they’ve decided to encourage you to get into the spirit – they’re running pay what you can deals… provided you show up in a toga.

You’ll get to dull the pain of embarrassment – or perhaps just the chill – with $2 PBR as well. I has no idea Pabst was Roman and that’s about $3 more than a PBR is worth as far as I’m concerned, but hey, cheap beer.

The only really obnoxious part of this light-hearted promotion is that they’ll sell two tickets to each person in a toga, allowing one of you to look like a normal human. Well, a normal human accompanied by some dweeb in a bedsheet.

If you’ve never gone out and tried theater during pay what you can previews this would be a fun Thanksgiving weekend outing for you; PWYC tends to be full of all the other theater folk from town and they’re very enthusiastic. For a show obviously going for the fun angle – to the point where they’re letting you bring your booze into the theater itself – that should make for a good energy.

Previews and PWYC will continue through 12/4 so if you can’t get your turkey-stuffed keester off the couch this weekend you’ll still have a little time. Confirm showtimes and dates at the at the Arena link above.

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Beertown


Photo by Clinton Brandhagen

When I asked a friend of mine if he wanted to come see Dog and Pony DC’s production of Beertown with me he replied, “No thanks- it doesn’t look like my type of thing.”

He’s right- if you expect to simply sit quietly through a show then Beertown isn’t for you.

However if you are ready to partake in a potluck dessert spread, slap on a nametag, and participate in some rousing discussion then I cannot recommend Beertown enough.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Interviews, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Cirque du Soleil Skip Roper Adrienn Banhegyi & Quidam

Title : Zoé, John, Target Picture credit : Matt Beard Costume credit : Dominique Lemieux ©2011 Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil’s travelling show Quidam is coming to the Verizon Center this week (November 16 to 20). This particular show’s premise is: “A young girl’s escape into a world of imagination.” That leaves room for some provoking theater combined with acrobatics, live music, and a killer light show (among other things).

Skip Roper Adrienn Banhegyi, 28, took the time to talk about Quidam over the phone, giving We Love DC the 411 about what makes this Cirque du Soleil show special.

Here’s what she had to say: Continue reading →

Downtown, History, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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NMAI: Hear the Song of the Horse Nation

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_0006’
courtesy of ‘bhrome’

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian opened its doors this past weekend to a new exhibition, “A Song for the Horse Nation.” The exhibition, nestled on the third floor of the museum, tells the epic tale of the how the return of the horse to the Americas changed Native culture, from lifestyle to war to art and beyond. “For some Native peoples, the horse still is an essential part of daily life,” said exhibit curator Emil Her Many Horses (Ogala Lakota). “For others, the horse will always remain an element of our identity and our history. The Horse Nation continues to inspire, and Native artists continue to celebrate the horse in our songs, our stories, and our works of art.”

To walk the exhibit’s path is to walk side by side with the conjoined path of Native and horse. Though horses were introduced to the Native Americans relatively late in North American history—the early 1700s saw the initial widespread explosion of the horse from captured Spanish mounts in the southwest—the image of Indians astride these graceful animals is one that is common to modern Americans. The “Horse Nation” quickly entwined themselves with Native communities, forever altering tribal culture and the Indian way of life.

The Smithsonian’s exhibit seeks to give us a view into that not-so-distant past. But it’s more than just a simply history lesson: subtly but surely, “A Song for the Horse Nation” reveals how interwoven both horse and man became among 38 tribal communities from the Plains and Western United States. The horse was more than a beast of burden or a tool; the animal became a part of Native culture that still resonates among the people today. Continue reading →

Downtown, Education, History, Special Events, The District, The Features, The Mall, We Love Arts
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The Song of Emil Her Many Horses

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_0027’
courtesy of ‘bhrome’

out of the earth / I sing for them
A Horse nation / I sing for them
out of the earth / I sing for them,
the animals / I sing for them.
~a song by the Teton Sioux

Emil Her Many Horses is, by first appearance, a quiet, unassuming gentleman. A museum specialist in the office of Museum Programs at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), he is responsible for the facility’s latest exhibition “A Song for the Horse Nation.” A member of the Ogala Lakota nation of South Dakota, his expertise on the Northern and Southern Plains cultures is well served and seen in the exhibit that opens to the public tomorrow.

NMAI’s latest offering is a touching and brilliant display of how the horse has deeply impacted and affected Native cultures since their introduction to the Americas in the 17th century. “The exhibit tells the history of the horse; that they were here once before, migrated to Europe, and returned as the horse we know today,” explained Her Many Horses. “They changed Native culture. The horse had a major impact on hunting, warfare, travel, spirituality. These were big changes.” Changes that extend beyond the European vision of the animal.

Seen as a beast of burden, a tool, a weapon, the horse was brought and used by European explorers and colonists early in America’s “New World” history. And their introduction, according to many Natives, was probably one of the biggest positive changes brought about by the white man.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Othello

(Center) Janie Brookshire as Desdemona and Owiso Odera as Othello with the cast of Shakespeare's Othello, on stage at Folger Theatre through December 4, 2011. Photo credit: Carol Pratt.

There’s a moment in Folger Theatre’s Othello that sums up director Robert Richmond’s insightful approach. Courtesan Bianca, transformed in this production into a saucy bellydancer played by Zehra Fazal, stands in the wind, staring at a small fluttering handkerchief. At the same time, Othello himself (a commanding Owiso Odera) struggles with the depths of jealous rage that will eventually destroy him. An innocuous piece of fabric has become a thing of horror for them both, a symbol of betrayal that will bring about murder. Something so simple, now so powerful.

That handkerchief gets talked about a lot in Othello, Shakespeare’s tragedy about the loss of reputation and love through envy and greed, but this is the first time I’ve seen it so clearly as a totem of evil. Othello’s father gave it to his mother as a magical charm with the power to possess, after all. You wish Bianca would just let the damn thing go, flying off into the wind. But she doesn’t.

None of us ever do.

Washington audiences have a chance to contrast two great productions of Othello – Synetic’s revival of their 2010 wordless version, and now Folger’s performance of the classic text, already extended through December 4. With both, though the racial divide does play a strong part, it’s the corrosive poison of jealousy that’s explored most fully. Continue reading →

Downtown, Special Events, The District, We Love Arts
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National Geographic Live: November 2011

Photo courtesy National Geographic

For November, the folks at the National Geographic Museum have put together some great programs before the holidays, including photographers, authors, and speakers. If you’d like to win a pair of tickets to an November program, simply list the two events you’d like to attend in comments before 2pm Friday, October 28. Make sure you use a legitimate email address and your first name. We’ll contact two winners (as determined by random.org) Friday afternoon.

If you’re interested in attending one of these events, visit NatGeo’s website or their box office (800-647-5463), located at 17th and M Street, NW. Keep in mind that parking in NatGeo’s underground lot is free for any programs beginning after 6 pm.

Lost Gold of the Dark Ages: The Mystery of the Saxon Hoard ($20)
Nov 1, 7:30 pm

In July 2009, amateur treasure hunters searching with metal detectors on a Staffordshire farm made an amazing discovery: hundreds of precious gold and silver objects from the seventh century. The trove of treasures and battlefield items remains England’s most important Anglo-Saxon archaeological find—a time capsule revealing new stories from when Germanic invaders were laying modern England’s ethnic foundations. Join us for a screening of the New National Geographic Channel film Secrets of the Lost Gold, followed by a panel discussion including Caroline Alexander, author of the new Nat Geo book and magazine article about the discovery, David Symons from the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, and Deb Klemperer from the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Arms and the Man

Amy Quiggins and Michael John Casey in Constellation Theatre Company's production of Arms and the Man. Photo credit: Scott Suchman.

A play about the hypocrisy of war and romantic illusions set against the lunacy of class warfare seems like a perfect win for our Operation New Dawn, Occupy Wall Street days. No doubt G. Bernard Shaw, a playwright and critic of scathing intelligence, would’ve had something to say about these times of ours. As the International Shaw Society puts it, he was a "jesting juggler of ideas in a world of nothing but spin." Shaw (despite some wacky ideas about grammar) was devoted to the possibilities of changing society for the better, through the power of words. What would he have said about our own spin culture?

Constellation Theatre Company’s production of Arms and the Man plays up the funny frolic aspect of the satire, with bright costumes and a clever set, while missing the bitter pill hidden in the "chocolate-cream soldier" dream of its lead character. That isn’t to say it isn’t delightful, it just needs more Shavian snap.

But it does make for a charming night, in no small part due to the pairing of Amy Quiggins’ adorable Raina and Michael John Casey’s forthright Captain Bluntschli, characters whose unlikely love is guided with delicacy by director Allison Arkell Stockman.   Continue reading →

We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: A Bright New Boise

photo by Stan Barouh
Joshua Morgan, Company Member Emily Townley, Felipe Cabezas, Company Member Michael Russotto, and Company Member Kimberly Gilbert

Woolly Mammoth’s A Bright New Boise takes a look into the heart of those who seem excited to see the world come to an end and brings us along for the ride. Which you might think would be a huge and momentous ride, given that the end of everything might be kind of a big deal. But writer Samuel D. Hunter’s conclusion seems to be that its precisely because the day to day stakes are so low that someone might seek something so momentous. Not to mention final.

One person’s longing for judgment would make for pretty thin gruel, but Hunter’s script does what well-plotted emotional fiction should: tells a contained, interesting story that has echoes and implications far beyond what is purely on the page. The sketch is simple. Soft-spoken Will comes to town with a deliberately hidden past and gets a job at the Hobby Lobby. He works along side sharp and crass manager Pauline and three younger staff members, none of whom know what connects one of them to Will or his surprising past. Yet.

Continue reading →

History, Special Events, We Love Arts
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The Lincoln Legacy Project at Ford’s Theatre

Photo courtesy of
‘Rehearsal, Ford’s Theatre’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

With Republican debates underway and the growth of both Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Occupy Wall Street, it appears most of America is angry, frustrated, or confused. And we’re all pretty much broke.

What better time, then, to look back on the legacy of a president who saw the country through its most traumatic era?

This month, Ford’s Theatre launches the Lincoln Legacy Project, a 5-year effort to create dialogue around the issues of tolerance, equality, and acceptance.

You read that right: it’s a 5-year project. And yes, they know that 5 years in DC time is about 2.5 generations of staffers moving in and out. By the time they’re finished, we’ll be entering primary debates again.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Book Club Play

Tom Story as Will, Kate Eastwood Norris as Ana, Eric Messner as Rob, Ashlie Atkinson as Jen and Rachael Holmes as Lily in Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater’s production of The Book Club Play. Photo by Stan Barouh.

Despite being an avid reader, I’ve somehow missed out on the whole book club phenomenon. Maybe it’s that whole Groucho Marx "I refuse to join a club that would have me as a member" thing. So when it came time to see Karen Zacarias’ The Book Club Play at Arena Stage, who better to bring along than a friend with intimate knowledge of not one but two book clubs, someone whose involvement was so consuming she once proclaimed she was "breaking up" with book club?

"Is this anything like your book clubs?" I whispered to my friend at intermission.

"No, not really" she laughed with a wicked insider smile, "but it’s funny."

That may neatly sum up the issues with The Book Club Play. It skims the pages, lightly playing with issues like the devolution of the literary canon (is Twilight really the Wuthering Heights of our day?), and the social dynamics of readers with different commitments and backgrounds. But even in its construct, it owes more to reality shows than literature.

It’s a funny reality show though, to be sure, with broadly sketched characters against a cartoon-colored set. It’s even divided into "chapters" announced across the bottom of the stage as the various books from the sacred (Moby Dick) to the profane (The DaVinci Code) are introduced, just like some sitcoms do. Continue reading →

Interviews, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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Juliet and the Demon Fish

Photo courtesy Juliet Eilperin and National Geographic

A first glance at the title “Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks” would probably invoke visions of bloody feeding frenzies, mouths full of razor-sharp teeth, and the sleek arrow-shaped bodies of deadly sharks. With, of course, the appropriate Jaws theme rolling around in our heads. And we couldn’t be more wrong with that impression.

Juliet Eilperin, a national environmental reporter for The Washington Post, has the spotlight this evening at the National Geographic Museum. And what she’ll be sharing with tonight’s audience will be somewhat removed from that first glimpse of her book. Despite its fearsome title, her work is more of a revelation of this sleek, deadly species that cruise the ocean’s depths (and shallows). Let’s face it: sharks have held a solid spot of fascination in our collective conscious, often as one of fear or as an image of ‘terrible beauty.’ Eilperin shines another light on sharks, however – conservation. Demon Fish strives to expose the intricacies and personalities of the shark-human relationship and reveals it’s not all about blood, teeth, and gore.

The idea bloomed after Eilperin began looking for something to write about. The oceans have had a long pull on Eilperin; they’re a subject she can fill conversations about, and for good reason. “It’s still unknown territory to humans, to a large extent, so that’s what intrigues me,” she confided. “So much of our world has been explored and documented, but when it comes to the sea, we’re still in a period of intense discovery. Also, it’s just so different from the environment in which we operate on a daily basis.” Casting about for the right angle, a colleague suggested the shark and it intrigued her enough to explore further. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Lungs

Brooke Bloom and Ryan King in "Lungs" at Studio Theatre. Photo credit: Carol Pratt.

With British playwright Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs, Studio Theatre begins The Studio Lab Series – new plays produced bare bones for $20 a ticket. It’s an admirable venture that I’m excited to watch develop.

However, this first play out of the gate isn’t particularly innovative – though if the playwright’s intention is to resurrect the existential crises of the 1980’s TV series Thirtysomething for today’s thirtysomethings, then certainly he has suceeded. Or, as one woman  put it, leaving the theater in a negative huff, "white people’s problems."

It’s a pity the subject matter isn’t attacked in a more daring way, because Macmillan has a beautiful way with words. The natural cadence of the language, poetical vibrancy mixed with modern urgency, is definitely potent – but it’s at the service of the wrong plot. Lungs is jampacked with tired rom com characterizations about a young couple’s struggle to decide the future of their relationship. If it weren’t for the expressive sincerity displayed by the high professionalism of the actors and the direction, I might believe it to be an intentional (and rather cruel) satire on the "quarterlife crisis" movement. Especially as the plot can seem like hipster cliches on crack:

She’s the environmentalist PhD candidate, he’s the slacker musician! She’s a little bit psycho, he’s a little bit clueless! Wait, he’s the one who wants the baby? Insert Ikea and coffeeshop jokes! Watch out for the temp!

There’s not a single stereotypical moment in the lifeline of coupledom that isn’t explored here, the whole painful process of a paralyzed generation that supposedly thinks too much and acts too little. Continue reading →

Downtown, Special Events, We Love Arts
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National Geographic Live: October 2011

Demon Fish; photo courtesy National Geographic

The National Geographic Live series is back for the fall and we here at WeLoveDC want to share their great lineup of programming with you once again. Thanks to the generosity of our friends at NatGeo, we’ll be again offering two pairs of tickets for our readers to go and experience some great talks, lectures, and programs over at the National Geographic Museum.

For October, there’s some amazing photography programs, authors, and speakers – some of whom you’ll see interviewed here on the site in the coming weeks. If you’d like to win a pair of tickets to an October program, simply list the two events you’d like to attend in comments before noon Friday, September 30. Make sure you use a legitimate email address and your first name. We’ll contact two winners (as determined by random.org) on Friday afternoon. Note that not all programs are eligible for the drawing.

If you’re interested in attending one of these events, visit NatGeo’s website or their box office (800-647-5463), located at 17th and M Street, NW. Keep in mind that parking in NatGeo’s underground lot is free for any programs beginning after 6 pm.

Here’s October’s offerings… Continue reading →

Foggy Bottom, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: 30 Americans at Corcoran Gallery of Art

Kehinde Wiley, Sleep, 2008. Oil on canvas, 132 x 300 inches. Courtesy of Rubell Family Collection, Miami.


At Tuesday night’s preview of 30 Americans, a representative of the Corcoran told the story of how, in 1940, a young, female, African-American artist secretly entered a contest held by the gallery, sending a white friend to drop off the painting because she feared she would not be allowed past the building’s grand front stairs because of the color of her skin. Lois Mailou Jones won the contest and had the prize mailed to her so she would never have to show her face.

Seventy-one years later, Ms. Jones’ painting is held in the Corcoran’s permanent collection and the gallery is hosting a powerful exhibit of contemporary African-American artists which has already generated tremendous excitement in advance of the October 1st public opening.

One of the most-anticipated openings hitting the walls of DC galleries (in a season that is proving to be crowded with buzzed-over exhibits), 30 Americans brings together three decades of influential African-American artists, both household name and lesser-known, in a variety of media. The principle by which they are organized is that all seventy-six works on display (by, in fact, thirty-one American artists) grapple with the concept of identity – particularly but not exclusively race – in modern American life.
Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Mad Forest

Photo by Melissa Blackall

Entering Caryl Churchill’s "Mad Forest" is a step back into late 80’s Europe during the final years of the Cold War. Forum Theatre sets the mood just right. Pillars with busts of Nicolae Ceaușescu, the Communist leader of Romania, loom over the action like big brother. Drab fashions and chain smoking Romanians is reminiscent of a not-too-bygone era. Director Michael Dove spares no expense to create an authentic atmosphere for the show, enlisting the help of local actor Dan Istrate, a Romanian who was there during those historic days. His consultation gives the production a clear authenticity through dialects and mannerisms. If one thing is for certain, Mad Forest will take you into the poverty, oppression, and unrest of Bucharest in 1989.

Continue reading →