Arts & Entertainment
A dash of Basil
Gay puppet innovator dazzles with local run
Basil Twist
‘Petrushka’
March 16-25
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th Street, NW
$22.50-$50
202-547-1122
Puppeteer Basil Twist is having his work exhibited in several D.C. theaters in the coming weeks. (Image courtesy Shakespare Theater Co.)
Basil Twist’s work has been called superhuman, breathtaking and adored — not the usual words used to describe a puppet show. But then, Twist isn’t your usual puppeteer. His sophisticated approach to puppetry melds tradition with innovation and in the process takes the art form to new heights. Throughout March and April, four of his shows can be seen locally as part of “Twist Festival D.C.,” giving area audiences an opportunity to experience his magic.
The mini-fest kicks off at the Shakespeare Theatre Company with “Petrushka,” Twist’s take on the classic Russian ballet about a love triangle involving three puppets: the eponymous clown, a ballerina and a Moor. Originally commissioned for New York’s Lincoln Center in 2000, it’s a puppet show about puppets with music — Russian identical twins Irina and Julia Elkina play a reduction of Igor Stravinsky’s score on identical pianos.
And though he doesn’t perform in the show, Twist selected, trained and directed the unseen puppeteers who animate the 4-foot-tall puppets that he built. “Three puppeteers are required to operate one puppet. For me the puppet is the embodiment of a super human being,” Twist says. “The puppet ballerina soars. She can do things that a human being only wishes she could do.”
A third-generation puppeteer, Twist, who is gay and single, broke onto the scene in 1998 with his underwater, classical musical puppet show “Symphonie Fantastique” (with a festival production at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College Park). He credits his training at France’s prestigious École Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette with allowing him to think outside the traditional puppet box: “I was taught how puppetry fits into the larger world of art. It’s prompted me to collaborate and think larger and more ambitiously about the place of puppetry in the world.”
The festival’s other two productions are “Arias with a Twist,” his racy and riveting collaboration with New York cabaret and drag performer Joey Arias; and “Dogugaeshi,” a Japanese-inspired journey of images accompanied by original shamisen (Japanese lute) compositions performed by master musician Yumiko Tanaka (at Woolly Mammoth and Studio Theatre respectively).
“A good puppeteer is game, ready and willing to do whatever it takes,” says Twist, 41. “It’s not comfortable: A puppeteer must put his body in weird positions. I’ve tried to use dancers as puppeteers but because they’re so into their own bodies, they have a hard time translating movement into another object. Musicians who play guitar and piano have more success.”
Growing up in San Francisco, Twist played with puppets and made envied Halloween costumes. He loved the Muppets and dreamt of a career in puppetry or animation. He briefly attended Oberlin College where he quickly realized that Ohio undergrad life wasn’t for him. One day at the library he came across a book describing internships at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. Instantly he realized, “That’s where I needed to be. It was crystal clear to me.” So Twist left school and moved to New York City, where he still lives. Freshly determined to become a professional puppeteer, he interned in Atlanta and later studied in France. Fortunately for him, “the puppet thing has worked out, because I can’t do anything else.”
Today, the award-winning puppeteer works in a funky Greenwich Village basement studio. And while he considers himself a downtown auteur — a niche he clearly relishes — who does his own puppetry and scenic design projects, Twist isn’t averse to accepting the occasional commercial commission. Recently he traveled to San Paulo, Brazil to tweak his puppets for “The Addams Family Musical” which he created for the original Broadway production. Before heading home, he flew to Rio for Carnival. Of course, Twist says, the party was good and guys were hot, but it was the nightly Samba school competition that impressed him most. “It was like the Super Bowl meets the Oscars meets Burning Man — truly an inspiring experience that I’ll never forget.”
So, can we expect an upcoming show that features hip-shaking, scantily costumed puppets? Maybe someday, but for now, Twist is working on his version of “The Rite of Spring,” another Russian ballet, again with music by Stravinsky.
When creating a new puppet show, Twist says, “I like to think of myself as an audience member. I want to be dazzled. I want it to be very athletic and fast. I want to ask ‘How did they do that?’”
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Queer highlights of the 2026 Critics Choice Awards: Aunt Gladys, that ‘Heated Rivalry’ shoutout and more
Amy Madigan’s win in the supporting actress category puts her in serious contention to win the Oscar for ‘Weapons’
From Chelsea Handler shouting out Heated Rivalry in her opening monologue to Amy Madigan proving that horror performances can (and should) be taken seriously, the Critics Choice Awards provided plenty of iconic moments for queer movie fans to celebrate on the long road to Oscar night.
Handler kicked off the ceremony by recapping the biggest moments in pop culture last year, from Wicked: For Good to Sinners. She also made room to joke about the surprise hit TV sensation on everyone’s minds: “Shoutout to Heated Rivalry. Everyone loves it! Gay men love it, women love it, straight men who say they aren’t gay but work out at Equinox love it!”
The back-to-back wins for Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein and Amy Madigan in Weapons are notable, given the horror bias that awards voters typically have. Aunt Gladys instantly became a pop culture phenomenon within the LGBTQ+ community when Zach Cregger’s hit horror comedy released in August, but the thought that Madigan could be a serious awards contender for such a fun, out-there performance seemed improbable to most months ago. Now, considering the sheer amount of critics’ attention she’s received over the past month, there’s no denying she’s in the running for the Oscar.
“I really wasn’t expecting all of this because I thought people would like the movie, and I thought people would dig Gladys, but you love Gladys! I mean, it’s crazy,” Madigan said during her acceptance speech. “I get [sent] makeup tutorials and paintings. I even got one weird thing about how she’s a sex icon also, which I didn’t go too deep into that one.”
Over on the TV side, Rhea Seehorn won in the incredibly competitive best actress in a drama series category for her acclaimed performance as Carol in Pluribus, beating out the likes of Emmy winner Britt Lower for Severance, Carrie Coon for The White Lotus, and Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us. Pluribus, which was created by Breaking Bad’s showrunner Vince Gilligan, has been celebrated by audiences for its rich exploration of queer trauma and conversion therapy.
Jean Smart was Hack’s only win of the night, as Hannah Einbinder couldn’t repeat her Emmy victory in the supporting actress in a comedy series category against Janelle James, who nabbed a trophy for Abbott Elementary. Hacks lost the best comedy series award to The Studio, as it did at the Emmys in September. And in the limited series category, Erin Doherty repeated her Emmy success in supporting actress, joining in yet another Adolescence awards sweep.
As Oscar fans speculate on what these Critics Choice wins mean for future ceremonies, we have next week’s Golden Globes ceremony to look forward to on Jan. 11.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
It’s been a year filled with drama and music, re-imaginings and new works. There was a lot on offer in 2025, and much to enjoy. Here are 10 now-closed productions that come to mind.
On Valentine’s Day at Folger Theatre on Capitol Hill, out actor Holly Twyford served as narrator for “The Love Birds” a Folger Consort work that melds medieval music with a world-premiere composition by acclaimed composer Juri Seo and readings from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “A Parlement of Foules”
Standing behind a podium, Twyford beautifully read Chaucer’s words (translated from Middle English and backed by projected slides in the original language), alternating with music played on old and new instruments.
While Mosaic Theater’s “A Case for the Existence of God,” closed in mid-December, it’s proving a production not soon forgotten. Precisely staged by Danilo Gambini, and impressively acted by Lee Orsorio and Jaysen Wright, the soul-searching two hander by out playwright Samuel D. Hunter, tells the story of two men who form an unlikely friendship based on single-fatherhood, a specific sadness, and hope.
The action unfolds in a small office in southern Idaho, where the pair discuss the perplexing terms of a mortgage loan while delving deep into their lives and backgrounds. Nothing is left off the table.
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s spring production of “Uncle Vanya” gave audiences something both fresh yet enduring. Staged by STC’s artistic director Simon Godwin, the production put an impeccably pleasing twist on Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s classic. It ranks among the very best area productions of the year.
Featuring a topnotch cast led by Hugh Bonneville (TV’s “Downton Abbey”) in the title role, the play was set on an unfinished stage cluttered with costume racks and assorted props, all assembled by crew uniformed in black and actors in street clothes. Throughout the drama tinged with comedy, the actors continued to assist with ever increasingly period set changes accompanied by an underscore of melancholic cello strings. It was innovative and wonderful.
GALA Hispanic Theatre’s production of Manuel Puig’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman” was an intimate and affecting piece of theater. Staged by José Luis Arellano, it starred out actors Rodrigo Pedreira and Martín Ruiz as two very different men whose paths cross as convicts in an Argentine prison.
Arena Stage scored with a re-imagined and updated take on the widely liked musical “Damn Yankees.” Directed by Sergio Trujillo, the Broadway bound production has been “gently re-tooled for its first major revival in the 21st century,” moving the action from the struggling Washington Senators baseball team to the turn-of-the-century Yankees lineup. Ana Villafañe’s charmingly seductive Lola and a chorus of fit ball players made for a good time.
Also at Arena, out playwright Reggie D. White’s new work “Fremont Ave.” was very well received. A semi-autobiographical glimpse into home and the many definitions of that idea specifically relating to three generations of Black men, the work boasts a third act with a deeply queer storyline to boot.
Before his smash hit “Hamilton” transformed Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote “In the Heights,” a seminal musical set against the vicissitudes of an upper Manhattan bodega. Infused with hip-hop, rap, and pop ballads, the romance/dramedy takes place over a lively few days in the vibrant, close-knit Latin neighborhood, Washington Heights.
Signature Theatre’s exciting take on “In the Heights” featured a talented cast including out actor Ángel Lozado as the bodega owner who figures prominently in the barrio and the action.
Studio Theatre’s recent production of lesbian playwright Paula Vogel’s newest work “The Mother Play,” a drama with humor, is about a well put together alcoholic mother and her two gay children living under difficult circumstances in the less glitzy parts of suburban Maryland. With nuanced performances and smart direction, the production was terrific.
Keegan Theatre surpassed expectations with its production of “Lizzie” a punk rock opera about Miss Borden, the fabled axe wielding title character. Performed by a super all-female cast, they belted a score that hits hard on subjects like money, queerness, and strained (to say the least) family relationships.
Round House Theatre impressed autumn audiences with “The Inheritance,” a two-part drama sensitively staged by out director Tom Story and acted by a mostly queer cast that included young actor Jordi Bertrán Ramírez in a breakout performance.
Penned by out playwright Matthew López, the epic work inspired by E.M. Forster’s novel “Howards End,” explores themes of love, legacy, and the AIDS crisis through the lives of three generations of gay men in New York City.
Prior to opening, Story commented that with the production’s predominately queer cast you get actors who “really understand the situation, the humor, and the struggle. It works well.” And he was right.
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