‘Venus’
Through Oct. 4
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
641 D St., NW
$20– $105
Woollymommoth.net

Meet Beth. She’s an art-house film projectionist. Cocky yet awkward, and a bit of a player, she’s exceedingly fond of international cinema and women. Her current interest is Nicole, a pretty librarian with an obsession for order and safety. Romance seems unlikely. 

Written by Los Angeles-based playwright Steve Yockey, “Venus” pits odd against odder, and similar to some of his past works, what’s frightening is also funny. 

When Beth (Kimberly Gilbert) crashes a “not fun” book club (currently reading Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying”), she succeeds in bagging a date with the group’s poised, and –according to Beth – “imminently fuckable” member Nicole (Regina Aquino). 

The pair climbs into Beth’s beloved vintage gold Mercedes (or “sort of rust colored,” says Nicole) and head into the night. They reach an isolated hilltop to star gaze and share a Thermos of spiced rum. Charmed by the surprise outing, Nicole warms up to her new friend, but that soon changes when Beth corrects Nicole on some planetary specifics, and lets it slip that she’s taken other women on this same exact date. 

Away from age (40 or so), the pair couldn’t be more ill matched. Whether it’s personal style, temperament, approach to dating, they’re chalk and cheese. Beth’s romantic M.O. is spontaneous, whereas Nicole’s dating app profile is “always clean, organized, and up to date with recent pictures and current information.” And she never makes the first move. 

“Venus” is perceptively staged by out director Reggie D. White who specifically selected Yockey’s newest play for his directorial debut as Woolly’s new artistic director, and it’s a spectacular launch. The out playwright and director, and the terrific two-person cast, successfully lean into the work’s dark comedy without denying past heartbreaks. 

The actors play off each other compellingly, capturing precisely what’s both disturbing and funny about Yockey’s creations. Nicole (Aquino) isn’t particularly concerned about the horrors she visits upon her date, and while Gilbert’s Beth might fall into the most dreadful situations, she handles them with detached wit. It’s hilarious. 

The dialogue is spoken to each other, to us, to themselves. Words might switch from conversational to rapidly delivered monologues about varied things like well-meant instructions that Nicole once received from her father on how to box and bury things that upset her. 

Costume designer Danielle Preston captures the women’s carefully chosen attire. Nicole is dressed boho prep with a conservative silhouette, flat shoes, and interesting artisanal jewelry. Beth is a bit hit or miss: wide-legged pants, black thick-soled, black boots, and on trend frames– all the sort of things that might look cool. 

After the date, Beth drops Nicole at her immaculate, meticulously mid-century curated house. Beth tells us that she’s not averse to a clean home, but other than Susanna, a goldfish in the kitchen, this house with its collection of precisely placed handstitched pillows, looks entirely unlived in; other than the alarming contents of a mysterious drawer, it might be a show home. 

And while Beth has made a few moves that her date didn’t entirely dodge, the evening has come to an end. Nicole has a Scholastic book fair in the morning, so she gives Beth the old heave-ho. Nicole likes a clean exit. 

What ensues is a one-sided obsession with grand floral gestures, incessant texts, and some stalking. Just when you think one couldn’t grow any madder and that the other is the voice of reason, the script flips. They take turns at being the most neurotic or easily triggered. 

Also, each in turn encounters an unseen woman wearing a red raincoat, a sort of physical manifestation of fear. How said interactions work differently for each of the daters, explains a lot. 

But to say more would be a spoiler. With its myriad twists and turns, there are so many possible spoilers, scores of them, that might ruin the experience of an absolutely glorious 90-minute uninterrupted traipse through the madly unexpected.

So ably written and acted, you’ll leave believing that you’ve seen the vintage car, been inside a pristine house, and visited a hilltop. But you didn’t.

Giselda Esstrada’s scenic design includes a raised black platform backed by a dark circle broken into segments, above hang lanterns, globes, pendant lights, and lamps raised and lowered to great effect by lighting designer Nic Vincent. One of the more significant orbs is singled out as a green-hued celestial body. The ground is a blanket of clunky gray gravel. 

Even with its two, or maybe three, particularly (and personally) dreaded scenarios, it’s unstoppably pleasing. There’s nothing not to like about “Venus.” 

Leaves have scarcely turned, but throughout the DMV, the fall theater season is well underway.

In Arlington, Signature Theatre got a jump on the season with Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Merrily We Roll Along” (through Nov. 1). Told entirely in reverse chronological order, this story of three longtime friends spans the years 1957 to 1976 moving from the trio’s cynical middle-aged present back to their happy and hopeful salad days.

Filled with great promise when it opened in 1981, the original production closed after just 16 official performances despite a terrific score glutted with great tunes like “Our Time,” “Good Thing Going,” and “Not a Day Goes By.” Over the years, the show was tweaked and reimagined, ultimately redeeming itself as a massive Broadway hit revival in 2023.  

Signature’s production, directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, features out actors Jason Gotay (Rafa from the “Gossip Girl” reboot) and Signature vet Jake Loewenthal playing, respectively, sellout composer Franklin Shepard and loyal lyricist Charley Kringas. Melanie Field plays witty and increasingly alcoholic Mary Flynn, the third prong of the complex little friend group. Sigtheatre.org

Woolly Mammoth Company has opened with playwright Steve Yockey’s “Venus” (through Oct. 4), a tragicomedy about two women whose first date goes terribly wrong. The lesbian daters are played by Kimberly Gilbert and queer-identified actor Regina Aquino. Woolly’s new artistic director Reggie D. White directs. Woollymammoth.net 

At Round House Theatre in Bethesda, August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” continues its compelling exploration of racism, exploitation, and artistic integrity. Helmed by director Lili-Anne Brown, the production runs through Oct. 18. The 10-actor cast includes Yao Dogbe as Levee, a young firebrand trumpeter, and out actor Nicole Michelle Haskins as the queer titular blues legend. Roundhousetheatre.org

Broadway at the National (National Theatre) is ushering in a spate of hit Broadway shows this fall. The musicals include “Dirty Dancing” (Sept. 29–Oct. 4), “Maybe Happy Ending” (Oct. 6–11), and ABBA’s “Mama Mia!” (Oct. 27–Nov. 15) featuring charming out actor Victor Wallace as successful architect and divorced father of two Sam Carmichael. Broadwayatthenational.com  

First introduced to theatergoers by MetroStage at the Kennedy Center’s Page to Stage Festival in 2019, Sherman Yellen’s “Cousin Bella–The Whore of Minsk” is the riveting story of Bella, who as a young Jewish woman living in Czarist Russia was sold into prostitution by her stepmother. Later rescued, she immigrated to America, where she lived out the rest of her life in New York.

Now with a shortened title, “Cousin Bella” is going to MetroStage at The Lyceum (Alexandria’s History Museum) as a staged reading for one night only on Sept. 22. Again, Adrienne Nelson plays Bella, but this time, she’s joined by out DMV favorite Michael Russotto as Sherman. MetroStage.org

Hard to believe, but this year marks four decades since the film release of “Little Shop of Horrors.” 

To celebrate the anniversary, Ellen Greene (the actor who created Audrey, the show’s sweet and sexy florist, both on stage and screen) is doing a nationwide tour that includes a night at D.C.’s historic Lincoln Theatre (Friday, Sept. 25).

Greene’s appearance offers fans the opportunity to experience the 1986 cult horror/comedy/musical classic alongside its iconic star. Before the screening, Greene will take part in a live Q&A and perform Audrey’s signature song – what else — “Somewhere That’s Green.” Thelincolndc.com

At Olney Theatre Center, the season opens with the regional premiere staging of “Some Like It Hot” (Sept. 18–Nov. 8) directed by Jason Loewith with choreography by Karla Puno Garcia.

Adapted from the classic 1959 Billy Wilder film starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, the Tony Award-winning musical by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (the guys who gave us “Hairspray”) brings the jokes, music, more dance and adds gender identity, self-discovery, and racial representation. 

Like the film, the action kicks off in Prohibition-era Chicago when Joe (Jacob Tischler) and Jerry (Tavis Corderll), two straight musicians, witness a mob hit. Averse to being bumped off, they leave town as the newly hired members of an “all-girl band” fronted by the irresistible Sugar Kane (Mot Walker). Laughs and drag ensue. Olneytheatre.org

Spooky Action Theater in association Solas Nua present “Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights” (Sept. 24 – Oct. 18). In this re-imagining, Irish Palestinian playwright Hannah Khalil reclaims the classic “Arabian Nights” through a new feminist lens replete with compelling storytelling by its all women cast of five. Spookyaction.org

The Shakespeare Theatre Company presents “Frida…A Self Portrait” (Oct. 8 – Nov. 8), a stage portrait of Mexican painter and queer icon Frida Kahlo. Written and performed by Brazilian actor Vanessa Severo, the play is set on the eve of Kahlo’s death, exploring her pain, passion, and extraordinary life through a powerful, intimate lens. Shakespearetheatre.org 

At 1st Stage in Tysons, the season opens with British playwright Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” (Oct. 8-25), a play sophisticated in subject and structure. Pinter uses a non-linear timeline spanning the years 1968 to 1977, moving mostly backward from the end of a seven-year affair to its beginning. The adulterous love triangle involves Emma (Katrina Clark), Robert (Shawn Sebastian Naar), and Jerry (played by excellent out actor Jaysen Wright). Alex Levy directs. 1ststage.org

In time for Halloween, Creative Caudron Stage in Falls Church presents “Monsters of the Villa Diodati” (Oct. 8 – Nov. 1), a Gothic-style musical created by local married collaborators Matt Conner (composer) and Stephen Gregory Smith (playwright/lyricist).  

The applauded work dramatizes the stormy Geneva summer of 1816 when poet Lord Byron challenged his guests to come up with their best scary tales. Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” were among the better results. Creativecauldron.org

In Rehoboth Beach, Del., Clear Space Theatre Company’s anticipated annual production of “The Rocky Horror Show” (directed by Wes Drummond and choreographed by Shondelle Graulich) is returning to the stage for the Halloween season. (Oct. 9–31).  Clear Space invites theatergoers to “revel in a deliciously decadent rock ‘n’ roll party where nothing is sacred, everything is extra, and liberation is the main event.” (Late night audience participation performances every Saturday night.) Clearspacetheatre.org 

The first of Arena Stage’s autumn offerings is the Step Afrika! premiere of “The Fruits of Our Labor” (though Nov. 1), a powerful, celebratory production focused on resilience and the unfinished American experience expertly performed by the company’s tremendous step dancers. 

Later at Arena, it’s playwright Eric Bentley’s extremely time “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been” (Oct. 17– Dec. 6), directed by Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro. “This docudrama drops you into the tense world of the 1940s House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings, where fame offered no protection and political pressure could end a career.” Arenastage.org

For a bit of Strathmore family fun, AMP presents Disney Pixar’s “Coco Live-to-Film Concert” (matinees on Oct. 31, Nov. 1), a special event for Día de los Muertos where the full animated film Coco is screened on the big screen while its culturally rich score by Michael Giacchino is performed live by the 20-member Orquesta Folclórica Nacional de México.  Strathmore.org  

In an amusing essay about microaggressions, David Sedaris shares that whenever he and his partner Hugh browse antique stores in England, the shop owners invariably look them over and ask, “Are you dealers?” His usual retort: “No, just homosexuals.”

Playwright JB Miller treads similar terrain with “The Last Victorian,” his new play that kicks off the fall season at Washington Stage Guild with a world premiere production (Nov. 19- Dec. 13) directed by Laura Giannarelli. 

In this dark comedy, two failed British antique dealers, same-sex partners in both business and in life, unbelievably inherit the world’s oldest person. When issues of price and provenance come to the fore, the pair turn on each other, and soon it seems the old lady might take charge. Stageguild.org 

And to help make the much of the above markedly more affordable, there’s Theater Week. Organized by Theatre Washington, the more than seven days of deals and entertainment is a multi-week regional celebration launching the local fall theater season that runs from Sept. 24 to Oct. 11, featuring discounted tickets priced at $25, $45, and $65 for more than 25 productions alongside a lineup of free community events. For details and participating companies go to Theatrewashington.org.

‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
Sept. 9-Oct. 18
Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway
Bethesda, MD 20814
$50 and up
Roundhousetheatre.org

Among the Black blues women of the 1920s and 1930s, being “in the life” wasn’t uncommon. Self-supporting and often on the road, they followed the Great Northern Migration to places like Chicago and Harlem, where they lived independent lives, made music, enjoyed same-sex relationships, and partied with like-minded ladies. 

Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, best known as the “mother of the blues,” fit the bill. A big star, Ma toured the country and sold hit records nationwide. She lived an openly bisexual life. 

In 1925, hosting an “indecent” all-female party at a Chicago apartment, landed Ma in jail, but blues singer Bessie Smith, Ma’s protégée and erstwhile girlfriend, promptly bailed her out. Three years later, Ma released a popular track whose lyrics included “Went out last night with a crowd of my friends / They must’ve been women, ’cause I don’t like no men.” 

She was also a woman who knew her value. Ma’s voice was a powerful passport. 

Ma Rainey is the ultimate force of strength and resistance in August Wilson’s 1982 play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” the first of the late playwright’s brilliant Century Cyle, a collection of mostly Pittsburgh-set plays that chronicle the 20^th century African-American experience.

Poised to kick off a month-long run at Round House (Sept. 9-Oct. 11), the production (co-produced with Olney Theatre Center) is directed by Lili-Anne Brown and features out actor and powerhouse vocalist Nicole Michelle Haskins making her Round House debut as Ma Rainey. 

Set in a Chicago recording studio in 1927, the drama follows Ma, her Black band members and white producers as they try to record a new album of her sons. Tensions over artistic control, racial exploitation, and personal ambitions come to the fore. Amid the difficulties and a fair bit of humor, arises a serious clash involving hotheaded young trumpet player Levee (Yao Dogbe) who wants to alter musical arrangements on the titular song. 

Playing blues icon Ma Rainey wasn’t on Haskins’s radar. Because the bulk of her work is in musical theater, Haskins never foresaw being tapped to do a Wilson play. 

“It’s kind of like Shakespeare. Not restrictive but respected; not everyone gets a ticket to the party. So, I figured that I just wouldn’t pursue that,” she says matter-of-factly. 

However, fate would dictate differently. Haskins and director Brown are longtime friends and collaborators. They recently worked together on “The Color Purple” at Chicago’s prestigious Goodman Theatre where Haskins played Sofia, another powerful Black woman who, not unlike Ma, is navigating life in a patriarchal white world. 

When the opportunity came up to play Ma at Round House, Brown encouraged Haskins to audition. She did and got the part.  “I’m so grateful to be working with a wonderful director like Lili-Anne, especially during my introduction to Wilson’s work. He is a theater god, and I’m swept every day.” 

And is it special to be queer and playing queer? “For me, it’s special to play any role where there is an impassioned Black woman who sticks to her guns and fights for the things she deserves. Her sexuality is the icing on the cake.” 

The production adheres to Wilson’s text and the text describes a woman who is in a relationship with another woman. Though her sexuality is provocative, it’s not the only thing about her that’s compelling. She’s also portrayed as an artist, businesswoman, and a loving aunt. 

Haskins, a New York-based actor who made her name on the Chicago theater scene, grew up in Detroit. At 12, she became involved with the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit; after high school she went on to earn a BFA at Detroit’s Wayne State University. Detroit is also where Haskins learned storytelling: “It’s very natural for a Detroit native to greet people on the street. There’s an expectation to be open to someone else’s story and to share your own. I’ve done this many times.” 

Queer characters are famously underrepresented in Wilson’s work. “I see that, but do we really know for sure? After the first day’s read through of the play, some of the actors, for different reasons, wondered if in addition to Ma, perhaps one or two of the other characters might be queer too. Now wouldn’t that be interesting? That’s something I’d like to see.”