Category Archives: We Love Arts

Entertainment, Penn Quarter, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Oedipus el Rey

Oedipus El Rey at Woolly Mammoth

Jocasta and Oedipus (Romi Diaz and Andres Munar)
by Stan Barouh for Woolly Mammoth, used with permission

Oedipus. We all know the myth. Ill-fated to kill his father and marry his mother. The solver of the riddle of the Sphinx. Pride before fall. Blinded at the end.

Now take that myth, rattle it in Zeus’s dice cup, and roll it out into a barrio in LA. Throw in gang culture, incarceration, full nudity and onstage bloody eye gouging – not to mention desecration of the Bible and forced heroin use – and you have yourself quite the reinterpretation of the Greek myth.

It’s rare that I see a play whose audacity leaves me speechless. Not every re-imagining of familiar myth is successful, but playwright Luis Alfaro grounds his firmly in machismo and folklore, and it works. Backed by the stark prison of a set by Misha Kachman, all clanging iron and cutting wire, and a haunting musical mix by composer Ryan Rumery weaving the power of industrial with wistful ballads, Oedipus el Rey dares you to be shocked. The worldly audience at Woolly Mammoth, long used to boundary breaking, laughed a bit nervously at press night as the opening scenes unfolded with the Coro (the traditional Chorus) speaking rhythmically in Chicano accents and asking repeatedly “quien es este hombre?” while Oedipus (Andres Munar) holds plank for what seems like forever. Imagine the reaction when he and Jocasta (an absolutely riveting Romi Diaz) strip down to their tattoos and make out. And as for that eye gouging… when the eyes hit the floor, my jaw did too.

Those last two are probably the elements you will hear about the most, because they are shocking, even in our blase times. The ancients described these moments in words, but they were never shown onstage. But don’t let that deviation from the classical norm overshadow what is essentially a deeply poetic, moving play. It contrasts the fear of the futility of escaping your fate with the desire to be more than what you are seen to be, by your peers, by your parents, by yourself. The universal human desire to soar above the dirty hard world we live in, to be “un rey.”

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: On the Razzle

Michael Glenn, Matthew McGloin and Ashley Ivey in Constellation Theatre Company's "On the Razzle." Photo credit: Daniel Schwartz

Imagine polishing off several bottles of bubbly with your ditzy old Aunt. That’s the kind of delightfully dizzy night you’re in for with Constellation Theatre Company‘s madcap production of Tom Stoppard’s On the Razzle. There are more groaning puns and twisted tongues here than I can possibly quote. The completely ridiculous wordplay seems endless, gorging itself on a verbal box of chocolates until the farce bursts at the seams. You’ll feel like a goose stuffed with foie gras. Yes, I meant to mix those metaphors. That’s the beauty of the evening.

To lovers of Broadway musicals, the plot will be familiar. It’s Hello, Dolly! without Barbra Streisand, I mean, without the matchmaker. Stoppard based his play on the Viennese comedy that Thornton Wilder used to write the play Jerry Hermann used to write the musical – deep breath – it’s this kind of whirligig origin that director Nick Olcott calls “an analgram of stunning originality and blatant theft.” It’s no surprise this production is set on a revolving stage. The usual brilliant Stoppard wordplay is itself a swirling waltz, with malapropisms building on themselves in an excess of tomfoolery.

You could just sum it up as a play about two guys trying to pick up girls by pretending to be high rollers. Somehow, in a town gone mad for tartan, with the help of a wooden horse named Lightning, they become made men. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed, We Love Arts
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Have a Say in SAAM’s 2012 Art of Video Game Exhibition

Photo courtesy of
‘BrySi | Bryan Simon’
courtesy of ‘Joriel “Joz” Jimenez’

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is inviting the public to help select the video games that will be included in its upcoming exhibition “The Art of Video Games,” which opens in Washington, DC on March 16, 2012. Voting is taking place online beginning today and running through April 7. A valid e-mail address is the only requirement to vote.

The exhibition is the first to explore the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies. Chris Melissinos, founder of Past Pixels and collector of video games and gaming systems, is the curator of the exhibition.

The website offers participants a chance to vote for 80 games from a pool of 240 proposed choices in various categories, divided by era, game type, and platform; winning games will be displayed in the exhibition as screen shots and short video clips. The website includes an online forum where gaming enthusiasts can campaign for particular games and voice their opinions about the selections. The games on the voting site were selected for their graphic excellence, artistic intent, and innovative game design. Results will be available online in May. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Daily Feed, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Carpetbagger’s Children

(Seated) Kimberly Schraf as Cornelia, Holly Twyford as Sissie, and Nancy Robinette as Grace Ann in the Ford’s Theatre Society production of Horton Foote’s “The Carpetbagger’s Children,” directed by Mark Ramont. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

It’s no surprise.

Much like everybody else around Washington, I am not locally born and raised. I was born in Lowell, Massachusetts and grew up in the neighboring town of Chelmsford. Before the city gained attention as the setting of The Fighter, it was known as a historic mill city  and one of the centers of the Industrial Revolution. Everything from canal tours to textile museum visits were regular rites of passage for the local school-aged children. While it was fun to ride in a boat through locks, learning about the finer points of looms and wooden dynamos were not the most entertaining of topics.

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Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Arts
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The Washington Performing Arts Society Presents: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis


Photo by Rachel Levitin

Jazz – and Country/Bluegrass – are the dominant proprietors of modern “Made in America” music and that’s something worth holding on to. In its inception, Jazz defined an era of youth during tumultuous times. That was its claim to fame. That’s what got it notice. That’s what shot it to the forefront of popular culture during World War II.

Jazz defined an era of uncertainty. It ushered in a voice for the speechless. It provided a musical and mental solace for people who wanted to feel something beyond a war being fought or a job lost or anything besides the monotony of their daily routine. Jazz was the sanctuary and swing was the medium. Throw in a little Blues for a cherry-on-top flourish and by golly you’ve got yourself a true American portrait – an American testimonial.

If Jazz was personified, its equivalent would be akin to the likes of the always effervescent, charismatic, and talented Louis Armstrong. The New Orleans trumpet player, born in 1901, wasn’t the first Jazz trumpet player in the history books but he is an icon of the genre. Wynton Marsalis is a Louis Armstrong for the new millennium. Continue reading →

Special Events, The Daily Feed, We Love Arts
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February Events at SAAM

Photo courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

Tired of being cooped up in the house as winter rolls along? Now’s the best time to visit several of the area museums we’re fortunate to have here in DC. The Smithsonian American Art Museum has some great events lined up for winter visitors. All events are at the SAAM, located in Penn Quarter adjacent to the National Portrait Gallery.

Rockman Film Series: Silent Running
Feb. 3, 6 p.m.
The second of three classic but rarely screened sci-fi films shown in conjunction with “Alexis Rockman: A Fable for Tomorrow,” Silent Running tells the story of a scientist trapped on Saturn with two robots as his only companions after a mission to protect the last Earthly botanical specimens goes awry. Starring Bruce Dern, directed by Douglas Trumbull.

Body and Soul with the Thad Wilson Orchestra
Feb. 5, 3 p.m.
Oscar Micheaux’s 1925 silent film, accompanied live by the Thad Wilson Orchestra. Body and Soul features the legendary Paul Robeson in his screen debut, playing an escaped prisoner pretending to be a minister in a small Georgia Town. Limited seating available; free tickets are required and available in the museum’s G Street Lobby beginning at 2:30 p.m. Presented in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery.

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Comedy of Errors

(L-R) Dromio of Syracuse (Nathan Keepers) and his master, Antipholus of Syracuse (Darragh Kennan), in The Comedy of Errors, on stage at Folger Theatre through March 6, 2011. Photo: Carol Pratt.

Life can get far too serious sometimes. So can theater. Whatever happened to pratfalls? How about seeing a guy get a wet willy? Who doesn’t love a clown?

If you’re at all down lately, The Comedy of Errors at the Folger Theatre will perk you right up. It’s full of the childish pleasures of old-fashioned clowning and mercifully uncomplicated (apart from Shakespeare’s pesky plot concerning two sets of identical twins, of course!). I actually debated writing a review that would consist of just three words: “Sweet. Simple. Good.”

The first thing you notice upon entering the theater is Tony Cisek’s gorgeous set, like the waiting hall of a Victorian train station seen through the eyes of a passenger on the Yellow Submarine. Its antic colors instantly telegraph that you’re in the circus world of comedy, and thankfully, that’s just what we need. Next up is director Aaron Posner’s framing device – the presentation by British director Timothy Tushingham (Bruce Nelson) of a rough-cut documentary on his dysfunctional players, the Worcestershire Mask & Wig Society, earnestly touring the States. This preamble doesn’t really do much other than put you in the proper frame of mind to laugh, and to accept the British accents and anachronisms the actors use throughout the rest of the production.

But it’s sweet, and funny, and again – isn’t that what you need right now? I’m tired of being jaded. I enjoyed my time in Ephesus, where everyone knows your name but has no idea exactly who you really are…  Continue reading →

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

Philip Goodwin in Tynan at the Studio Theatre. Photo credit: Carol Pratt

Anyone who arrives at self-knowledge through desperation is the raw material for a great play.
— Kenneth Tynan

Watching Tynan reminded me that I should make sure my journals get burned at my death (oh wait, what about that online diary in the cloud? too late!). No matter how we are in life, the voice we give free rein to in our diary is by its nature egocentric. Does it make for good drama?

Richard Nelson and Colin Chambers adapted The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan into a one-man play, helmed in this special engagement by beloved DC actor Philip Goodwin at the Studio Theatre. It’s a monologue of choice (and not-so-choice) moments from the last ten years of Tynan’s life, a man many consider the greatest theater critic of the last century. There’s a heavy resignation in listening to the musings of a dying man, and this adaptation is more a conventional staged reading than anything approaching the revolutionary theater Tynan championed. Unless of course, you think it’s subversive to hear all about his fascination with canings and an anal fixation to rival the Marquis de Sade’s – there’s a lot of that to listen to in this adaptation. As the impresario behind Oh! Calcutta and the first person to drop the f-bomb on the BBC in 1965, Tynan was a famous proponent of obscenity, so it isn’t completely out of place.

If you have a theatrical background there are fun anecdotes of personalities like Olivier to keep your interest, and if you are familiar with Tynan’s work, enough of his philosophy comes through to inspire. But if you know nothing about him, I’m not sure you’ll get anything more than a sad sense of a once-brilliant man being wrung thin by sickness, debauchery and the end of life.

And where’s the relevance in that? (Tynan would’ve spanked me for asking that!) Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: STOMP at Warner Theatre

Not one word was uttered on stage during Tuesday’s debut performance of STOMP at D.C.’s Warner Theatre. That’s when I realized STOMP is a communication tool. This unique blend of musical theatre stage presence combined with choreographed percussion, movement and physical comedy is more expressive than a singular conversation.

What started as a street performance in the UK has grown into one of the biggest international performance sensations of the last two decades, selling out shows in over 350 cities and 36 countries. STOMP takes all of the fun stuff that annoyed your parents when you were a kid and makes it socially acceptable. Why is it socially acceptable? Because it’s art!

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Arabian Nights

Maureen Sebastian and David DeSantos in the Arena Stage production of The Arabian Nights. Photo by Stan Barouh.

There are two types of perfume. One kind hits with a ravishing force. You recognize the top notes instantly, as they drag you down an olfactory lane whether you want to or not. The other kind is subtly layered, ingratiating itself into your memory with a more delicate air. I expected Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of The Arabian Nights to be a powerful whiff of rose attar or sandalwood, instead, it’s more elusive, like night jasmine on the breeze.

Meandering metaphor? Well, yes, and that seems to be the play’s point. After almost three hours of stories intertwined with stories, you might feel like you are on the hunt for that beautiful scent. This isn’t a play intending to make a political statement about our continuing entanglement with the Middle East, or even a social statement about women’s rights. I may have wished for those things, and felt sorely disappointed when I didn’t get them, but perhaps that desire for “relevance” was misguided. I didn’t fully appreciate the production’s intention until a few days after seeing it, when an image of rolling bodies in white like ghostly sheaves of paper in the wind re-entered my mind.

The best way to approach The Arabian Nights, performed in the round at the Fichandler in Arena Stage’s Mead Center for American Theater, is to just drop any expectations and let the perfume take you where it will. It’s a drifting play, born of improvisation, about the healing power of myth as a mad king is shown the slow road to salvation.

But it’s not all perfumed nights and sensuality. There’s some castration. Oh, and a lot of farting. Continue reading →

Dupont Circle, Entertainment, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Return to Haifa

Raida Adon and Rozina Kambos in The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv's "Return to Haifa" at Theater J. Photo credit: Stan Barouh.

Two women are arguing about their son. One gave birth to him, the other raised him. The adoptive mother makes a cutting comment about the son being more likely to listen to her than his birth mother. Many in the audience laugh. It’s a grim laugh, low and knowing.

A women next to me says out loud in frustration and disbelief, “Why is that funny?”

It was a strange preview night at Theater J, watching the production of Return to Haifa performed by the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv in Hebrew and Arabic. Uncomfortable for some, painful for others, odd for me in my role as critic – as the talkback session afterwards becomes a bit of theater unto itself, worth investigating just as much as reviewing the play. I didn’t know what to make of the whole thing when I left. I still don’t.

Two mothers. One Jewish, one Muslim. One Israeli, one Palestinian. And their son, all of the above, or none of any of it. Questions arose at the talkback with Anton Goodman, Jewish Agency Shaliach, and Ari Roth, artistic director of Theater J, that still whirl in my head: Is it a play appropriating a beloved piece of Palestinian literature, as one member of the talkback accused? Is it a play attempting to own a dual narrative, to both celebrate and mourn at the same time, as Goodman believed? A play that makes soldiers unable to be strong for their country, as a mother in the audience feared?

What I can tell you about Return to Haifa… is that you will leave with many questions. Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet

(l to r) Lance Coadie Williams, J. Mal McCree, and Nickolas Vaughan in "Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet" at The Studio Theatre. Directed by Timothy Douglas. Photo: Scott Suchman.

Rain patters down plastic sheeting, as a man all in ghostly white speaks to a sleeping boy. He needs a message delivered to the living, on the eve of a dangerous storm that will change them all.

It’s this eerie image that begins the final play in Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s Brother/Sister Plays, described by him as “inspired by Yoruba life and traditions, steeped in Southern rhythms and cadences, and seamed shut with the fire of urban music and dance.” If you’ve seen the other two in the cycle – The Brothers Size (2008) and In the Red and Brown Water (2010), you’ll probably know who the man in white is and what he needs. I hadn’t seen either, but that didn’t impact my enjoyment of Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet.

Playing now through February 13 at the Studio Theatre, the play is set in fictional San Pere, Louisiana on the eve of Hurricane Katrina, and though the storm is never mentioned by name its presence saturates everything. Teenager Marcus Eshu (a vibrant J. Mal McCree) is trying hard to discover the meaning of his dream’s message and untangle his own sexuality without alienating his best friends. Above all – stay out of danger, avoid his mother’s wrath and become a man in the process.

He’ll have to work fast, as that rain approaches. Continue reading →

Entertainment, People, Special Events, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Let Me Down Easy

Anna Deavere Smith in Second Stage's production of Let Me Down Easy, directed by Leonard Foglia. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Twenty voices culled from three hundred interviews over three continents, all brought to life by one woman.

Baltimore native, MacArthur Award recipient, and something of a brilliant medium – Anna Deavere Smith has launched the national tour of Second Stage’s production Let Me Down Easy. Playing now through February 13 at Arena Stage, it’s a powerful exploration of the difficulties American culture has with death and disease, how we define strength, and the current inequality of our healthcare system. Its power doesn’t come from a slap, however. As a friend who came with me to press night aptly commented, “sometimes a gentle nudge to wake you up is more appreciated than a harsh shake.”

That doesn’t mean the piece doesn’t pack a punch. Embodying twenty individuals whose words are directly taken from their interviews, Smith weaves both the sadness and the hilarity of the human condition into a tone poem on what it means to face the end of life. From Eve Ensler’s uproarious theory of “who’s in their vagina?” to Joel Siegel’s dropping his clown mask as he faces cancer, it’s an experience of fascinating observations and appalling truths. Smith doesn’t hit the audience over the head with strident political activism or calls to action – it’s simply the stories that weave the message, and it’s for you to hear and be affected as you will. I find that to be very brave, and left with a feeling of being both uplifted and released at the same time.

Let me down easy? Yes. That’s how I’d like to go. Continue reading →

Adams Morgan, Entertainment, People, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Dana Ellyn’s “The Art of Dating”

You can also find horny sex contacts online very easily as there are many women using adult dating.

Elephant(s) in the Room. 20″x24″ acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of Dana Ellyn.

What can be better than gaming and porn together? However, many of them are irrelevant, yet there are a few erotic games at lovedignity that can make the difference.

Read More: https://www.lovedignity.com/top-10-best-adult-games-sex-games/

Jose lays the check directly between us. He couldn’t have have centered it more accurately if he’d held a ruler. The Pilot and I glance at the pleather billfold like it’s the elephant in the room it’s about to become.
– from Rachel Machacek’s The Science of Single

Earlier this week Katie interviewed one of her favorite writers Rachel Machacek on her new book, The Science of Single. Tonight one of my favorite artists, Dana Ellyn, unveils several paintings inspired by the book at a happy hour at Tryst from 7-9pm. It’s a fun coincidence bringing all our worlds together. Coyly titled “The Art of Dating,” Dana’s work is directly inspired by quotes from Rachel’s book, as well as her own ongoing investigations into the challenging aspects of being a woman and the conflicting expectations modern society places on us (and those we place on ourselves).

“Rachel attended my painting classes a few years back while she was in the midst of researching/writing/editing her book,” Dana explains. After randomly seeing Rachel’s Facebook status about her book being completed this past September, Dana sent her a congratulatory note, to which Rachel responded with an offer of a preview copy – “The only caveat is that you have to tell lots of people :)”

Of course Dana went one better. “Would you be interested in me doing a series of paintings and/or drawings inspired by your book and we could do a joint event with art and book launch sort of thing?” she asked. And Rachel’s response? “I. Love. Your. Idea. LOVE IT.” In a way that kind of literary inspiration mirrored Dana’s banned books series. After brainstorming sessions and the involvement of Danielle Lanteigne from Tryst, the exhibit was born.

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Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Foreigner

Bill Largess, Rena Cherry Brown and Sean McComas in Bay Theatre Company’s The Foreigner (Photo courtesy Bay Theatre Company)

Outside the city limits of the District is a small gem that is a literal underground player in the DC Metro theatre scene. Located 45 minutes away in Annapolis, the Bay Theatre Company can be found in a small professional office plaza basement underneath a law office. The operation has a Mom & Pop feel that is highly reminiscent of the old county store where I would buy candy after school.

Everything about The Bay Theatre has a homey feel to it, from the cushioned Costco folding chairs to the post-show reception line where Artistic Director Janet Luby and Operations Manager Steven Strawn personally shook the hand of every patron that saw the show. The experience was much more intimate than any show I’ve seen at Arena, Studio, or Woolly Mammoth.

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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Best Of: Theater 2010

Photo courtesy of
‘theatre’
courtesy of ‘volcanojw’

2010 was a stellar year for theater in DC.

When I think back on favorite reviews this year, it’s the challenges that resonate strongest. As a former actor who’s “jumped the stalls” to become a critic, it can sometimes be difficult, knowing how hard it is to bleed your heart out on stage only to be cut up in a review. But I believe strongly in being honest and thoughtful about your opinion, no matter how stridently others may disagree with you (and to stay civil when they do!). After all, feeling passionate about theater is an emotion we should all nurture.

Fellow We Love DC theater reviewers Don and Patrick feel the same. We love theater, and strive to see as much as we can to bring you our thoughtful critiques. Though the three of us have different backgrounds – Patrick and I from both behind the curtain and onstage, Don in the audience – it’s the common desire to spread the word on the best theater in DC that drives us to write. We hope you’ve enjoyed our reviews in 2010, and we’ve pulled together a selection of our favorites to look back on and enjoy.

Let’s start with Don (who never pulls any punches!), then get Patrick’s view on his first quarter reviewing with us (we didn’t scare him away!), and I’ll caboose (because it takes me the longest to make up my mind…).

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Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: The Kinsey Sicks

The Kinsey Sicks in "Oy Vey in a Manger," photo courtesy of The Kinsey Sicks.

What says the holiday season better than a Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet? Rambling, raunchy, rude dragapella, with no pesky plot or fourth wall realism! Singing, dancing, kvetching dragapella – the perfect antidote to any holiday-induced blues you may be harboring.

Through January 2nd at Theater J you can catch The Kinsey Sicks, who’ve been fabulously hilarious since their beginnings years ago in San Francisco. This little variety show, clocking in at about 90 minutes, features belting queens Trampolina (Spencer Brown), Winnie (Irwin Keller), Trixie (Jeff Manabat) and Rachel (Ben Schatz) satirizing popular Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs. Don’t expect much of a plot (the girls are trying to sell their home – a manger, gotten long ago from the Christ family) but do expect to laugh your ass off at some very irreverent humor.

After all, it’s called Oy Vey in a Manger. Continue reading →

We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: A Girl’s Guide To Washington Politics

Photo Colin Hovde

How good is Wooly Mammoth’s A Girl’s Guide to Washington Politics? Well let’s take a look at the buzz.

The show blasted through the theatre’s box office before the production opened, breaking every imaginable pre-sale record in the theatre’s 31 year history.

The show’s opening night was attended by not one, not two, but 12 female members of the Senate.

A lot of the buzz can be attributed to the famed Second City. The show was written and is performed by Second City talent. Those that aren’t familiar with the Chicago-based Comedy Conservatory will certainly know some of the many alumni that have walked through those hallowed halls. Notable alumni include Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Stephen Colbert amongst many others.

The Second City name and the success of their 2009 production of Barack Stars has given A Girl’s Guide very high expectations. Luckily the show delivers everything you expect: a solid sketch comedy show that follows the recipe for a great night of comedy.

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DC Arts Head South for the Winter


Eva and Adele and all other photos by Max Cook

I recently traveled to Miami to experience what is probably the most important contemporary art fair in North America.  As the sister event to Art Basel in Switzerland, Art Basel Miami Beach is held annually in early December, a time when many of us here in DC are ready to escape the chill of winter.  Sometimes called “the Olympics of the art world”, it brings together a vast quantity of art from all over the globe, more than you could ever hope to fully appreciate in four days.  The main fair in the convention center alone consists of thousands of works of art, or at least what galleries are hoping to sell to you as art.  And by “you” I mean you the celebrity, the oil tycoon, or the granddaughter of the guy who built a railroad back in the 1800’s.  Many of these buyers are looking to decorate their houses with art — that costs as much as our houses.

Some of the artists who have work on display may seem familiar, especially if you’ve been to recent exhibits at such places as the Hirshhorn Museum, the Tate Modern, or the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  If you’ve had your heart set on buying work by Damien Hirst or Louise Bourgeois, you could have found the perfect piece at Art Basel to go right next to the Lamborghini under your Christmas tree.  If a C-Class Mercedes is more indicative of your budget, the main fair is more of a “look but don’t touch” affair, much like a museum.  Luckily there are several incredible satellite fairs selling more affordable art, such as PULSE, SCOPE, and Aqua, and it was here that you could find several DC galleries selling their work.

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We Love Arts: Candide


Geoff Packard as Candide in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Candide, directed by Mary Zimmerman. Photo by Liz Lauren.

Candide is a fun, frothy, silly, perky and at all times beautiful and engaging r-

Wait, have I said “romp” this year? I’m firmly in favor of limiting certain over-used review words and “romp” for sure appears in the rogue’s gallery.

Well, let’s err on the side of caution, shall we?

Candide is fun and likeable, often clever, never fails to be beautiful, and hums along all the way through its not-insignificant almost-three-hour length. The biggest flaw it has is the description that WSC the Shakespeare Theater Company has chosen to saddle it with on the poster: “directed & newly adapted from the Voltaire by Mary Zimmerman.”

Hoo boy, well that just screams fun, don’t it?

Well, it is, and if it lacks a little bit of the depth and gravitas – another over-used review word! – that we often see on stage at the Harman, well, I’m okay with that this holiday period. Let me tell you why.

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