Arts & Entertainment
Standouts from the stage
Gay-fueled creativity abounds on local theater scene
Gay actress Delia Taylor as Winnie in WSC’s ‘Happy Days’ featuring the imaginative set design work of Tony Cisek, also gay. (Photo courtesy WSC Avant Bard)
The fall theater season is here. With that comes a deluge of new productions and for one longstanding local company, a new name. What was the Washington Shakespeare Company is now WSC Avant Bard, a clever adjustment better fitting the troupe’s mission to boldly interpret the classics.
WSC’s season opens with Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days” (through Sept. 25). Mostly a monologue, the 1961 absurdist work spotlights Winnie, an upbeat, chirpy woman who passes her days chatting endlessly while becoming increasingly immobilized in the hot sun in the middle of nowhere. And yet she remains cheery, unfazed by her situation. As Winnie, Delia Taylor, who’s gay, brings intelligence, sensitivity and a lot of humor to the tough role.
Beckett calls for his heroine to be stuck in a mound and most productions comply with some sort of sandy or rocky pile, but not here. Set designer Tony Cisek, also gay, takes another tack ingeniously locking Winnie into endless yards of fabric. Trapped in her dress like a little doll in a giant doll cake, she sits atop her sartorial prison talking, arranging her cocktail hat and rummaging through a capacious satchel in search of necessities ranging from a toothbrush to a long barreled pistol. Her confined world is backed by an endless curve of beautiful blue sky.
Splendidly staged by director Jose Carrasquillo (gay too), the surprisingly poignant production comments on optimism and the fleeting nature of life. Carrasquillo also displays terrific timing as Winnie’s uncommunicative, slug-like husband Willie who makes his home in a hole behind his wife’s skirts. (wscavantbard.org)
Up-and-coming No Rules Theatre Company kicks off its season with Diane Son’s “Stop Kiss” (through Oct. 2) at the H Street Playhouse. It’s the story of two young women who are brutally assaulted after kissing in public. Acclaimed local actor Holly Twyford (who’s gay) makes her directorial debut. (norulestheatre.org)
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s gay artistic director Michael Kahn begins his season with a world premiere production of Jean-François Regnard’s 1708 farce “The Heir Apparent” (through Oct. 23) adapted by the brilliant David Ives. (shakespearetheatre.org)
Venus Theatre opens with the world premiere of “The Stenographer” (through Sept. 25) by Greek playwright Zoe Mavroudi. The two-hander featuring local bi actor Frank Britton and Amy Rhodes is essentially a tale about writing and what happens when writing implicates the writer. Housed in an intimate storefront venue in Laurel, Md., Venus’ mission is to foster the voices of women and children in the theater. (venustheatre.org)
Ganymede Arts may have closed its doors, but the LGBT-centric company’s former artistic director Jeffrey Johnson remains active. In October, Johnson and singer/songwriter Tom Goss (both gay) are joining forces for two nights of music titled “Under the Covers” (Oct. 21-22) at the Black Fox Lounge. The show offers a rare chance to see Johnson perform as himself and not his pink-haired alter ego. (pinkhairedone.com).
The Studio Theatre starts off with “The Habit of Art” (through Oct. 16) by Alan Bennett, the gay playwright who wrote “The History Boys.” Based on a fictional meeting between poet W.H. Auden and composer Benjamin Britten (both Brits, both gay), the 2009 work is described as “wistful and filthily funny.” The strong cast includes a talented trio: Ted van Griethuysen, Patxon Whitehead and gay actor Cameron Folmar.
In November, Studio’s gay artistic producing director Serge Seiden stages German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig’s “The Golden Dragon” (Nov. 2- Dec. 11), a comic look at people whose lives are interconnected by a Chinese restaurant. The five- person cast (including the terrific Sarah Marshall, who’s — you guessed it — gay) cross age, race, and gender to play 15 characters. (studiotheatre.org)
At Gala Hispanic Theatre, Spain-based gay director José Luis Arellano-García is staging “¡Ay, Carmela!” (Sept. 15-Oct. 9), the story of a vaudeville team forced to perform for Franco’s fascist troops during the Spanish Civil War. According to Gala’s associate producing director Abel Lopez, “The playwright [José Sanchis Sinisterra] pays homage to gay Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca by referring to him in a scene when Carmela speaks about meeting Lorca in the afterlife. The similarities surrounding Lorca’s assassination by the fascists and Carmela’s execution are striking. Both stood up for their beliefs and paid dearly for it.” (galatheatre.org)
The green-eyed monster is poised to stride the boards at Folger Theatre. Staged by Robert Richmond, the company’s “Othello” (Oct. 16–Nov. 27) features Owiso Odera in the title role, and reunites members of the creative team behind last season’s “Henry VIII” including celebrated gay designers William Ivey Long (costumes) and busy Tony Cisek (sets). Zehra Fazal who’s best known for her one woman tour de force “Headscarf and the Angry Bitch” plays Bianca. (folger.edu)
Signature Theatre’s fall season begins with two musical premieres: “The Boy Detective Fails” (through Oct. 16), the story of a kid sleuth who grows up to investigate the mystery surrounding his own sister’s death. It’s staged by Joe Calarco and composed by Adam Gwon (both gay). “The Hollow” — based on Washington Irving’s classic tale — is staged by Matthew Gardiner and composed by Matt Conner (also both gay).
Next up at Signature, E. Patrick Johnson performs his one-man play “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South” (Sept. 13-Oct .9). In this new work based on his acclaimed book, Johnson, chair of the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, relays his own story and those of a dozen other men he’s interviewed and come to know.
And later in the season, Signature’s gay artistic director Eric Schaeffer stages the musical “Hairspray” (Nov. 21-Jan. 29) adapted from John Waters’ 1988 Baltimore-set flick about big girls, big hair and racial segregation. In what might prove a stroke of casting genius, Schaeffer has tapped radio personality Robert Aubry Davis to play Edna, everyone’s favorite plus size house frau. We’ll just have to wait and see. (signature-theatre.org)
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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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Queer highlights of the 2026 Critics Choice Awards: Aunt Gladys, that ‘Heated Rivalry’ shoutout and more
