Arts & Entertainment
Women Crush Wednesdays is new monthly happy hour
Monthly event at Trade for LBT women born out of ‘mutual need’
The July gathering of Women Crush Wednesday, a new monthly happy hour for LBT women. (Photo courtesy Rebecca Pilar Buckwalter-Poza)
The sudden closing of Phase 1 last year provided an opening some local lesbians are taking advantage of.
Women Crush Wednesday, a new “laid-back” happy hour for LBT women, happens monthly at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) and was born out of what its organizer says is mutual need.
“It’s not filling a void per se,” says organizer Rebecca Pilar Buckwalter-Poza. “I think it’s providing a different setting.”
Jacob Noel, who is on staff at Trade was talking with Buckwalter-Poza about a desire to get more women into the bar. Buckwalter-Poza, a lesbian, felt there was a need for a casual queer female space in D.C.
Buckwalter-Poza finds that most queer female events post-Phase have been “sporadic, formal or late night.” There are events like Ladies’ Tea and networking or professional events hosted by GLASS and Q Street. Buckwalter-Poza says what makes this event different is the generally consistent nature and midweek early evening start time.
Buckwalter-Poza pitched the idea to Noel who put her in contact with a manager and thus Women Crush Wednesday was born. She describes the partnership between the two as “organic” and says Trade’s central location is part of its appeal.
The inaugural event took place in June with a crowd of around 40 women of all colors and queer identities who stayed for hours. It was well received with “a lot of enthusiasm” especially for an event with limited promotion.
In keeping with the laid-back vibe there is a “mix off” at every event where attendees submit drink recipes and the two best drinks become the specials for the night based on popular vote. Last month’s included “the Cukes to Watch Out For” which combines cucumber, ginger beer, vodka and lime.
As the event progresses, Buckwalter-Poza hopes it remains a space where queer women can build community and make connections. Buckwalter-Poza and Nikki Keown, the organizer of the lesbian happy hour LezLink are working together on a new quarterly event for queer women in D.C.
Women Crush Wednesday is monthly, but time and date consistencies will develop over time. For more information on the next event, visit the Women Crush Wednesday group on Facebook.
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’
