Theater
FALL ARTS 2016: ‘Cloud Nine’ for theater lovers
‘Angels,’ ‘Carousel,’ ‘Urinetown’ and much more on D.C. stages
The oft-revived ‘Angels in America’ is on stage through Oct. 30 at Round House Theatre. (Photo courtesy Round House)
With its scores of transporting theatrical offerings there’s something to suit all tastes: original works, national tours of recent Broadway hits and retooled chestnuts. Here are a few.
At Gala Hispanic Theatre, Helen Hayes Award-winning out director José Luis Arellano stages the world premiere “Cervantes: El último Quijote (The Last Quixote)” in Spanish with English subtitles (through Oct. 2). The new drama focuses on the most tempestuous periods in the great Spanish writer’s life and the furious creativity of his final years. The top notch cast includes Luz Nicolas and out actors Eric Robledo and Erick Sotomayor.
Ford’s Theatre’s “Come From Away,” (through Oct. 9), the uplifting Broadway-bound new musical tells the story of how a small Canadian town cared for 6,579 airline passengers stranded there on 9-11. The cast includes the exceedingly talented out Broadway veteran Jen Colletta.
Round House Theatre and Olney Theatre Center are co-producing out playwright Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning work “Angels in America: Part I: Millennium Approaches & Part II: Perestroika” (through Oct. 30). Set in mid-‘80s New York, “Angels” explores sexuality, religion and politics at the beginning of the AIDS crisis. A strong cast includes local out actors Tom Story, Jon Hudson Odom, and Sarah Marshall who plays — among other parts — Mormon matron Hannah Pitt, executed spy Ethel Rosenberg and an Orthodox rabbi.
At Studio Theatre, out director Michael Kahn is staging Caryl Churchill’s “Cloud Nine” (through Oct. 16), the work that put her on the map. This gender-bending experimental comedy is set both in Victorian era colonial Africa and post-sexual revolution 1970s London. The cast includes talented out actor Holly Twyford.
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s out associate artistic director Alan Paul is helming a much anticipated “Romeo & Juliet.”(Sept. 13-Nov. 6). After directing especially well-received musicals “Kiss Me, Kate” and “Man of La Mancha,” this is Paul’s first Shakespeare production at STC.
Theater Alliance presents the regional premiere of Kimber Lee’s “brownsville song (b-side fortray)” (Sept. 15-Oct. 9). Directed and choreographed by Paige Hernandez, Lee’s hopeful drama centers on life in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn where a senseless act of violence kills a young man and leaves his family to deal with the grief.
“Urinetown” (through Oct. 9) has come to Constellation Theatre. The Tony Award-winning musical is about a town whose dire water shortage prompts its plucky population to rise up against the evil corporation that has put a ban on private toilets. Constellation’s artistic director Allison Arkell Stockman directs this seriously funny satire.
With “The Last Schwartz” (through Oct. 2), Theatre J puts the spotlight on family dysfunction. Deborah Zoe Laufer’s absurd and thoughtful comedy follows the woes of a splintering Jewish family whose chances of coming back together appear slim to none. The production marks the D.C. area directing debut of the company’s out artistic director Adam Immerwahr.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company’s season opener, an absurdist comedy titled “Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops” (Sept. 12-Oct. 9), features five women all named Betty who according to Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz “represent a wide range of feminine archetypes, each of whom feels trapped in a box of some kind.” The magic of the play lies in the transformative power of bringing them together around an absurd theatrical project and witnessing how they discover their truest selves by engaging with other women who are totally different.” Penned by Jen Silverman, the world premiere is directed by Mike Donahue and boasts a fine cast including Beth Hylton, Dorea Schmidt, Natascia Diaz, Kate Rigg and Felicia Curry as the Bettys.
Signature Theatre opens the season with local playwright Audrey Cefaly “The Gulf” (Sept. 13-Nov. 6). Billed as a provocative comedy, it’s the story of a lesbian couple played by Rachel Zampelli and Maria Rizzo whose fishing trip goes wrong when their boat breaks down and they become stranded far from shore. “The Gulf” is staged by out director Joe Calarco.
Maria Rizzo and Rachel Zampelli in ‘The Gulf’ at Signature Theatre. (Photo by Christopher Mueller)
Theater J is offering “The Last Schwartz,” an “absurd and thoughtful comedy about a dysfunctional Jewish family,” through Oct. 2 and “The Christians,” a “big play about faith in America and the power of religion to unite or divide” from Nov. 16-Dec. 11. Drag ensemble the Kinsey Sicks return for “Oy Vey in a Manger” there Dec. 20-28. Details at theaterj.org.
Helen Hayes-winning out actor Rick Hammerly is directing Alfred Uhry’s “Driving Miss Daisy” (Sept. 28-Nov. 6) as the Riverside Theater in Fredericksburg, Va. This tender exploration of the relationship between an elderly white woman and her black chauffeur in Atlanta stars Karen Grassle, best known as patient and resourceful Ma from TV’s “Little House on the Prairie.”Hammerly reports Grassle is lovely.
At Arena Stage, out artistic director Molly Smith is staging Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel” (Oct. 28-Dec. 24) with a large cast lead by Arena veterans E. Faye Butler and talented out actor Nicholas Rodriguez. The beloved 1945 musical centered on the passionate union of bad boy carnival barker Billy Bigelow (Rodriguez) and millworker Julie Jordan, and features classic songs like “June Is Bustin’ Out all Over” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
In October, Capital Fringe presents Fringe POP (Oct.6-9), the first of a new annual project that explores ways of blending projections and live performance. Fringe POP explores how we experience public and private spaces by pairing films with 10-minute plays to create two distinctive presentations.
Broadway comes to D.C. this fall. The Kennedy Center presents the national tour of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” (Oct. 5-23). The multiple Tony Award-winning drama follows smart but awkward teenage Christopher who after being accused of killing a neighbor’s dog embarks on an investigation that leads to a life-changing adventure.”
And at National Theatre, the national tour of the multiple Tony Award-winning musical “Once” is slated for a short run (Nov. 25-27). Based on the Academy Award-winning film, “Once” is the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant whose love of music draws them into a complicated romance.
And finally, for those who aren’t yet politically sated, Washington Improv Theater presents its fourth edition of “POTUS Among Us” (Oct. 12-Nov. 6), a satire of the presidential election process where audiences help decide who becomes the next president. Wonder if any of the candidates will have orange hair?
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.
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.
Theater
Trans performer, juggler premiering one-woman show
Circus of the Self
May 29-June 6
Spooky Action Theater
1810 16th St., N.W.
Pay-What-You-Can: May 2
All other performances: $35
Spookyaction.org
For Lucy Eden, tricks have proved a way into theater.
The Oakland, Calif.-based trans performer and juggler is premiering her one-woman show “Circus of the Self” at Spooky Action Theater in conjunction with WorldPride.
Directed by Spooky Action’s artistic director Elizabeth Dinkova, the autobiographical busking show is a unique blend of circus and serious storytelling.
Juggler first met director several years ago in Atlanta. Eden explains, “She was working at a theater down the street from the juggling club where I spent a lot of time. She needed people for a street fair. I agreed. Another collaboration soon followed.”
Previously, Eden had worked mostly as a roaming performer at Atlanta corporate events and street style pre-game shows for the Braves: “Those environments were a good way to work on material, to learn what tricks make people stop their talking and turn their attention to me,” she says.
Now based in Oakland, Calif., Eden, 40, has created a 77-minute-long one-woman show infused with burlesque, expert juggling, and a personal, sometimes difficult, story.
While she hesitates to say it’s the obligation of all trans people to tell their stories, she says, “In these times, if you get the opportunity, I believe you ought to take it.”
Recently, she took a break from preparations, to talk life and showbiz.
BLADE: How exactly did you learn circus tricks?
EDEN: I’m autodidactic. I taught myself to juggle in the last semester of college. Things had gone wrong and I was looking for distraction. So, when I found a “three ball learn to juggle” kit, I never looked back. That lead to advanced juggling, unicycling, and balancing objects on my face.
Things began to look up. Today, I try to resist everything in my life going back to circus tricks, it almost always does.
BLADE: It sounds almost preordained.
EDEN: For sure. It changed everything. Circus skills force you to face your own failure. When you drop a ball, you can’t convince yourself or the audience that it didn’t happen. Performing, like life, forces you to develop capacities to deal with internal and external failures.
It teaches us not take ourselves, societal rules, or the idea of what’s success too seriously.
BLADE: Juggling at a cocktail party to baring your past before a rapt audience must be quite a stretch.
EDEN: It is, but rather than making a dramatic leap, I leveraged the fun and draw of circus to engage people in a more difficult conversation.
BLADE: Spooky Action’s website warns about “frank discussions of transphobia and mental health.”
EDEN: Well yeah, I grew up in rural Georgia in the 1990s. You can only imagine. Trans is integral to my identity, and a hot button term right now. I think everyone sees and hears a lot of things about trans people that don’t in fact come from actual trans people.
A big part of why I wrote this show and brought it to D.C. is because I really want audiences to have as intimate and revealing look at me as a trans persona as I can give them. I think it’s only through knowing that we can get beyond all the noise, misinformation, and fear mongering.
BLADE: Lately I hear a lot of artists bandying about the term “queer joy.” Woolly’s website uses the term in describing aspects of your show. What does it mean to you?
EDEN: It’s an important thingfor us all to be focused on right now, but we’re in a place where joy is hard to access. So, to me, it’s complex; it’s an important yet nuanced pursuit.
BLADE: As a part of the vast and promising WorldPride (through June 8) entertainment lineup, what makes your show stand out?
EDEN: It’s fun. I wrote “Circus of the Self” with a queer audience in mind. I spend a lot of time and creative energy performing for a general audience. I want this to be different. As far as I know, there’s nothing quite like my show out there.
There are a lot of shows that are a combination of storytelling and circus parts but they tend to be surface level entertainment. I think of this as more standup with circus layered on; it’s modeled after queer comedians like Hannah Gadsby and Tig Notaro whose work is driven more by personality than jokes.
I have tried to write a show for a queer audience. It has all the things I need to see for myself but never have.
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A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
