Arts & Entertainment
D.C. arts briefs: July 20
Night Out at the Kastles, Rufus at Wolf Trap and more

Lesbian-directed film part of conference
The National Association of Social Workers is holding a National Hope Conference including a film festival on Monday at 7 p.m. at the Marriott Wardman Park (2660 Woodley Road N.W.).
The three films included in the festival are “Kings Park: Stories from an American Mental Institution” by lesbian filmmaker Lucy Winer, “From Place to Place” by Paige Williams and Matt Anderson and “What Love Is: Pathfinders” by Ted Bogosian.
Winer’s film shows her visit back to a mental hospital that her parents had her committed to as a teenager. She interviews former patients and staff and showcases how the state of mental health care has changed.
“From Place to Place,” is about 18-year-old Cody who’s been in 17 foster homes in seven years. The film shows his struggles to connect with his birth family and avoid slipping into drugs and crime.
Bogosain’s film follows an organization that provides holistic and compassionate care to people with cancer and other serious illnesses.
For tickets visit the Film Festival registration table at the conference. For more information, visit socialworkers.org.
Team D.C. presents Night Out at the Kastles
Night Out at the Kastles is tonight at 7 p.m. at the Waterfront Tennis Center (800 Water St.). The Kastles are playing the Orange County Breakers.
Team DC, Washington’s gay sports connection, began the Night Out Series with Night Out at the Nationals, inviting members of the LGBT community go together to a game. Now the series has spread to several sports teams including the Kastles, Mystics and United.
The Kastles are a World TeamTennis that was started in 2008 and has several big name players such as Serena and Venus Williams.
Grandstand seats are $15 and chairback seats are $30. For more information, visit teamdc.org.
Wainwright and Michaelson coming to Wolf Trap
Rufus Wainwright is pairing up with indie sensation Ingrid Michaelson at Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna) Tuesday at 8 p.m.
On Wainwright’s most recent album, he put pop music aside and focused on other interests and recent personal events such as the birth of his daughter, the death of his mother and engagement to his partner, Jorn Weisbrodt.
Michaelson’s music has been featured in TV shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “One Tree Hill.” Her most recent albums is “Human Again,” released on her own independent record label Cabin 24.
Tickets range from $30-$75. For more information, visit wolftrap.org.
DJ Merrill performing at the MOVA Lounge
DJ David Merrill is playing MOVA Lounge on Thursday night at 9 p.m.
He’s a D.C.-based DJ who plays the latest cutting edge beats, progressive, tribal, trance and electro-house. He is a resident DJ at “Code,” D.C.’s largest gear fetish party, and the “Club Queer,” radio show. He has played at clubs and special events in D.C. and throughout the East Coast, including Town Danceboutique, Cobalt, the Green Lantern and the main stage at D.C. LeatherPRIDE.
Admission is free. For more information, visit movalounge.com.
Theater
‘We Are Gathered’ a powerful contemplation of queer equality
Arena production dives fearlessly into many facets of same-sex connection

‘We Are Gathered’
Through June 15
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
$70-$110
Arenastage.org
Aptly billed as a queer love story, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s terrific new play “We Are Gathered” (now at Arena Stage) dives deeply and fearlessly into the many facets of a same-sex connection and all that goes with it.
McCraney’s tale of two gay men’s romance unfolds entertainingly over two acts. Wallace Tre (Kyle Beltran), a tense architect, and his younger partner Free (Nic Ashe), a campy and fun-loving musician with a deep sense of quiet and peace are contemplating marriage after five years together, but one of the two isn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of imminent matrimony.
At 14, Wallace Tre (nicknamed Dubs) first learned about gay cruising via renowned British playwright Caryl Churchill’s seminal work “Cloud Nine.” It was an intoxicating introduction that led Dubs to an exciting world of sex and risk.
Soon after, a nearby park became a thrilling constant in his life. It remains a source of excitement, fun, danger, and fulfillment. The local cruising zone is also a constant in McCraney’s play.
One memorable evening, Dubs experienced a special night in the woods, a shadowy hour filled with exhilaration and surprise. That’s when Dubs unpredictably learned something he’d never felt before. That night in the park, he met and fell madly in love with Free.
In addition to being a talented playwright, McCraney is the Academy Award-winning Black and queer screenwriter of “Moonlight,” the 2016 film. He’s happy to be a part of WorldPride 2025, and grateful to Arena for making space for his play on its stage. McCraney says he wrote “We Are Gathered” as a contemplation of queer marriage and the right for same-sex couples, like opposite-sex couples, to marry anywhere in the United States.
For Dubs, it’s important that Free speak openly about how they met in the park. He’d like Free to share the details of their coming together with his supportive grandparents, Pop Pop (Craig Wallace) and Mama Jae (out actor Jade Jones). As far as they know, their grandson met Dubs at a lovely gathering with a nice crowd assembled under a swanky canopy. When in truth it was a park busy with horny guys cruising beneath a canopy of leafy verdure.
Understandably, Free is more than a tad embarrassed to reveal that he enjoyed al fresco sex with Dubs prior to knowing his boyfriend’s name. Clearly, in retrospect, both feel that their initial meeting is a source of discomfort, tinged with awkwardness.
There is a lot more to “We Are Gathered” than cruising. Dubs and Free are ardently liked by friends and family. Both are attractive and smart. Yet, they’re different. Free is quite easy going while Dubs is, at times, pricklier.
While Free is part of a happy family, Dubs’s people aren’t entirely easy. He grew up with a strung-out mother and a cold father (Kevin Mambo). Yet, his sister Punkin (Nikolle Salter), an astronaut, is very caring and close to him. While she doesn’t necessarily like “the gay stuff,” she very much wants to live in a world where there’s room for her gay brother.
Adeptly directed by Kent Gash, the production is memorable, and it’s not his first collaboration with McCraney. Ten years ago, Gash, who’s Black and queer, staged McCraney’s “Choir Boys” at Studio Theatre, another well-written and finely staged work.
“We Are Gathered” is performed in the round in Arena’s cavernous Fichandler Stage. The space is both a forest and various rooms created by designer Jason Sherwood and lighting designer Adam Honoré. It’s a world created by elevating a circular platform surrounded by charming street lamps both hanging overhead and lining the perimeter.
Ultimately, what takes place in “We Are Gathered” is a party, and something even more; it’s a paean to marriage, and a call to a sacrament.
Out & About
Justice-centered theater production comes to D.C.
Mexican Cultural Institute to host ‘La Golondrina’

The Mexican Cultural Institute will host “La Golondrina” on Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at its location on 2829 16th St. NW.
“La Golondrina” is a theater production that aims to elevate the conversation around hate crimes and the urgent need for dialogue and healing. It is also a powerful and deeply moving story that brings to the stage the emotional legacy of the Pulse nightclub shooting. The play explores that tragedy through an intimate encounter between two characters, Amelia (Luz Nicolás) and Ramón (Victor), whose connection unveils grief, love, and the enduring shadow of homophobia.
Tickets for this event are available on the Cultural Institute’s website.
Out & About
Celebrate Pride with a thoughtful book club
Second edition of ‘Books and Wine’ held at Urban Grape DC

Meet the World Image Solutions will host the second edition of “Books and Wine” on Thursday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m. at Urban Grape DC, a Black- and woman-owned winery in Washington, D.C.
The featured authors are: Beautiful Lawson, Chanele Ramos, and Pamela Coleman. All will read from works that reflect love, resilience, and queer identity across genres. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
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