(Photo © T. Charles Erickson)
With many of the area’s big houses in mid-runs, it is left to the smaller troupes to host this month’s opening night festivities. But remember, good things often come in small packages.
For example, the Studio Theatre is presenting Hilda, French playwright Marie Ndiaye’s disturbing examination of a woman’s fixation on the woman she hires to take care of her children in the new Metheny Theatre (October 5-23). The Round House Theatre is offering Martin Crimp’s translation of Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist play The Chairs, about a couple who host a reception for imaginary/invisible guests, in its new black box venue in Silver Spring (Opens October 17). And Horizons Theatre kicks off its season with founder Leslie Jacobson’s The Body Project, based on workshops and interviews about America’s “obsession” with perfecting the female form (October 20- November 3).
A few shows that have played major stages around the country are finally coming to town. Rorshach Theatre has the area debut of Amy Freed’s hilarious The Beard of Avon, based on the idea that William Shakespeare may not have written all of those wonderful plays (Casa del Pueblo of Calvary Methodist Church, October 19-November 19); Didactic Theatre presents Bright Ideas, a comedy about parents who are desperately trying to get their kid into the perfect school. (DC Arts Center, October 21-November 13); and Theater J serves up String Fever, a critically praised comedy exploring the connection of issues both serious and mundane (October 27- November 27).
The area also welcomes three Canadian works: In For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, playwright Michael Tremblay creates a mother who actually supports her son’s wish for a life in the theater (MetroStage, October 12-November 27); You Are Here is Daniel MacIvor’s study of a woman trying to describe her life while people from her past appear to explain how they saw it. (Theater Alliance, October 13-November 13); and Washington Stage Guild borrows the Arena Stage’s 14th St Annex for If We Are Women, Joanna McClelland Glass’ look at intergenerational links between four women from one family (October 27-November 27).
Of course, one can’t forget the area’s larger theaters. Olney Theatre Center is reaching back to 1939 for Morning’s at Seven, Paul Osborn’s look at four sisters living quietly in small town America — that is until one of their sons brings a mysterious fiancée into the house. (October 5-30). There’s also Kyle Donnelly’s revival of Garson Kanin’s classic comedy Born Yesterday, at Arena Stage with Jonathan Fried as Harry Brock and Suli Holum as his girlfriend Billie Dawn. And Ken Ludwig’s Leading Ladies, starring John Astin, Charlotte Rae, and Karen Ziemba, may be brand new, but the plot feels old: it’s about down-at-the-heels theater folk who will literally do anything for a buck.
More seasoned theatergoers may also enjoy Friends and Lovers, based on the Eric Jerome Dickey story of friends who become something more than that (Warner Theatre, October 11-16). Elsewhere, Folger Shakespeare Theatre is staging the Bard’s Much Ado About Nothing (October 27-November 27); and the Keegan Theatre is back from Ireland with their production of Tennessee Williams’ classic drama A Streetcar Named Desire (Church Street Theatre, starting October 27).
Theatergoers both young and old will probably enjoy Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical version of the famed biblical story about sibling rivalry starring Broadway veteran Patrick Cassidy in the title role. (Warner Theater, October 18-23). Also, Imagination Stage, the nationally recognized children’s theater and education center in Bethesda, Maryland is presenting the American premiere of a classical version of Cinderella, accompanied by some of Mozart’s early music. Imagination Stage suggests you should be at least five years old to appreciate this timeless story, which runs until November 6.
