Arts & Entertainment
Family drama
Tender Roundhouse show well paced, acted
MaryBeth Wise as Mary and Ray Ficca as Bill in Roundhouse Theatre’s production of ‘How to Write a New Book for the Bible.’ (Photo by Danisha Crosby)
‘How to Write a New Book for the Bible’
Through May 5
Roundhouse Theatre
4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda
$10-$61
240-644-1100
roundhousetheatre.org
When his elderly mother Mary learns she has just six months to live, middle-aged Bill is forced to make a big decision: Go back to his life as a writer and Jesuit priest in the city or do what he thinks is the right thing — move in with mom and see her through to the end. Being the consummate dutiful son, Bill opts for the latter and during this cathartic time filled with scary pain, stretches of welcomed mundaneness and glimmers of joy, he grows even more appreciative of the stalwart mother he already loves.
In his latest work, the intensely autobiographical “How to Write a New Book for the Bible” (now at Roundhouse Theatre), playwright Bill Cain recounts the wide-ranging details of his 82-year-old mother’s death from liver cancer while also celebrating his life spent as the younger son in a mostly functional family.
The story takes place in Mary’s upstate New York apartment with frequent flashbacks 40 years prior to the Cain’s apartment in Queens. Speaking to the audience, Ray Ficca as Bill, warmly draws us into the world of his family, assuring everyone that the unfolding tale — at turns sentimental, funny, touching and occasionally starkly real (bring a hanky) — is true.
During development, the playwright dubbed this work “The Mom and Dad Play.” Yes, the lifelong love affair between sensible Mary (MaryBeth Wise) and her easier going spouse Pete (Mitchell Hébert) who could cut a rug and enjoyed a three scotch night out, is important to “Bible,” but a more apt working title might have been “The Cain Family Play.” In addition to the parents, both Bill (the play’s protagonist) and his older, athletic brother Paul (Danny Gavigan) are integral to the story. While Paul is deemed more physically capable by the parents, his clumsy but bright little brother Bill is still perceived as the favorite, setting the boys up for a mild, long ongoing rivalry. Nonetheless, the playwright’s respect and affection for his barely flawed characters is clear. Cain loves his family dearly.
Mary’s mantra is simple: life is tough, but if you work very hard it gets better. When Paul was a little boy he saved his pennies to buy a model from the hobby shop. At the register, he came up a nickel short. Mary refused to front him the five cents. She wanted to teach her son a lesson. She did — as soon as he comes of age, he’s off to Vietnam (a transformational military experience, compellingly played by Gavigan) and later raises a family faraway in Texas. But like all Cain family fights, Mary and Paul’s is eventually sorted out and put to rest.
Out actor MaryBeth Wise is extraordinary as Mary, fast forwarding 40 years, shifting from middle to late years, uncannily acquiring the rheumy eyes and slow gait that come with old age and sickness. As Bill, Ficca effectively portrays the frustrations and satisfactions concomitant with end-of-life caregiving. The remainder of the cast is equally good. Besides playing father and son, Hébert and Gavigan also effectively fill in as various annoying health professionals. Hébert additionally takes on a pair of smaller female roles, playing a recently bereaved hairstylist and Mary’s thoughtful, best friend Paulette.
With “Bible,” producing artistic director Ryan Rilette makes his Roundhouse directing debut. His smooth staging along with Daniel Conway’s deceptively simple, moving set; Colin K. Bills’ smart lighting design; and superb sound by Eric Shimelonis come together beautifully to support Cain’s time-travelling, quick scene-changing script.
Though Cain’s play is amusing and endearing, its center is about loss and pain. Ever the good son, Cain the playwright instructs that a bad situation can be made better- definitely a lesson worth sharing. His mother would be proud.
WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2025 WorldPride Parade was held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7. Laverne Cox and Renée Rapp were the grand marshals.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Robert Rapanut)
Theater
A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan stars as Duke Orsino
‘Twelfth Night’
Through June 22
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan (they/them)loves tapping into the multitudes within.
Currently Keegan plays the melancholic Duke Orsino in Folger Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.” Director Mei Ann Teo describes the production as “sexy, hilarious, and devastating” and full of “elegant kink.”
Washington-based, Keegan enjoys a busy and celebrated career. Her vast biography includes Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Helen Hayes Award, Best Actress) and Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, both at Round House Theatre; Diana Son’s Stop Kiss directedby Holly Twyford for No Rules Theatre Company; and Contractions at Studio Theatre, to name just a few.
In addition to acting, Keegan works as a polyamory and ethical non-monogamy life and relationship coach, an area of interest that grew out of personal exploration. For them, coaching seems to work hand in hand with acting.
WASHINGTON BLADE: You’re playing the lovesick Orsino in Twelfth Night. How did that come about?
ALYSSA KEEGAN: The director was looking to cast a group of actors with diverse identities; throughout auditions, there were no constraints regarding anyone’s assigned sex at birth. It was really a free for all.
BLADE: What’s your approach to the fetching, cod-piece clad nobleman?
KEEGAN: Offstage I identify as completely nonbinary; I love riding in this neutral middle space. But I also love cosplay. The ability to do that in the play gives me permission to dive completely into maleness.
So, when I made that decision to play Orsino as a bio male, suddenly the part really cracked open for me. I began looking for clues about his thoughts and opinions about things like his past relationships and his decision not to date older women.
Underneath his mask of bravura and sexuality, and his firmness of feelings, he’s quite lonely and has never really felt loved. It makes sense to me why his love for Olivia is so misguided and why he might fall in love with the Cesario/Viola character.
BLADE: As an actor, do you ever risk taking on the feelings of your characters?
KEEGAN: Prior to my mental health education, yes, and that could be toxic for me. I’ve since learned that the nervous system can’t tell the difference between real emotional distress and a that of a fully embodied character.
So, I created and share the Empowered Performer Project. [a holistic approach to performance that emphasizes the mental and emotional well-being of performing artists]. It utilizes somatic tools that help enormously when stepping into a character.
BLADE: Has changing the way you work affected your performances?
KEEGAN: I think I’m much better now. I used to have nearly debilitating stage fright. I’d spend all day dreading going onstage. I thought that was just part of the job. Now, I’ve learned to talk to my body. Prior to a performance, I can now spend my offstage time calmly gardening, working with my mental health clients, or playing with my kid. I’m just present in my life in a different way.
BLADE: Is Orsino your first time playing a male role?
KEEGAN: No. In fact, the very first time I played a male role was at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va. I played Hipolito in Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy.
As Hipolito, I felt utterly male in the moment, so much so that I had audience members see me later after the show and they were surprised that I was female. They thought I was a young guy in the role. There’s something very powerful in that.
BLADE: Do you have a favorite part? Male or female?
KEEGAN: That’s tough but I think it’s Maggie the Cat. I played the hyper-female Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House. In the first act she didn’t stop talking for 51 minutes opposite Gregory Wooddell as Brick who barely had to speak. That lift was probably the heaviest I’ve ever been asked to do in acting.
BLADE: What about Folger’s Twelfth Night might be especially appealing to queer audiences?
KEEGAN: First and foremost is presentation. 99% of the cast identify as queer in some way.
The approach to Shakespeare’s text is one of the most bold and playful that I have ever seen. It’s unabashedly queer. The actors are here to celebrate and be loud and colorful and to advocate. It’s a powerful production, especially to do so close to the Capitol building, and that’s not lost on any of us.
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A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
