theater j: Last News

The Chameleon least expects it, the roof of their house caves in, and not just figuratively.Though, without question, the sudden ceiling collapse serves as a metaphor for the fragile, imperiled state of several family members and relationships inside the Golden-Kruger household in suburban Long Island.Gathered for a “Jewish Christmas” dinner of takeout Chinese, and celebrating a milestone job offer for prodigal daughter Riz (Dina Thomas), the family had already seen the mood marred by turbulent outside interruptions.But a hole in the roof is also an actual catastrophe for everyone in the house, another WTF, post-dinner disaster in a night filled with them, meant to be played for angst and laughs — the measure of which can be hard to read in director Ellie Heyman’s world-premiere production at Theater J.Despite the awkward live execution of the roof caving in on Andrew R.

Hill Rag in 1984, as a wide-eyed novice to the local performing arts scene, I remember thinking, “How much theater could there be to fill a weekly column?” A lot, it turned out.I still mourn the loss of the companies I once frequented, among them Leslie Jacobson’s Horizons and Bart Whiteman’s Source, where the work was always challenging, insightful, and fueled by passion and purpose.By the same token, I marveled at the slow but steady growth of companies like Woolly Mammoth, who went from performing in a church on G Street to operating their own gorgeous downtown space.And I was frequently left in awe by the soaring works of legendary directors like Joy Zinoman, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Michael Kahn.There was even a point in my reviewing career that I was at the Kennedy Center so often — back in the days when Peter Sellars turned the nation’s performing arts center into a mind-warping experimental playground — I used to joke it was my second home.In 40 years, I’ve watched the D.C. theater landscape evolve and only get bigger and more consequential.

One Jewish Boy (★★☆☆☆), making its U.S. premiere at Theater J.Jogging back through years of their romance to where it began, the play posits Jesse (Danny Gavigan), a nice, Jewish professor from upper-crust North London, and Alex (Alanna Saunders), a biracial, fervently progressive free-spirit from more modest means, as both a fated love match and a combustible clash of not-quite opposites.Scene after scene, the pair struggles to find their balance, and, though their sexual attraction might spark a fire at any given moment, more often than not, they simply don’t see eye to eye on things that matter to either or both of them.“There’s nothing to discuss,” Jesse declares, dismissing Alex’s objections to holding a bris for their baby boy Finn.

Hurricane Diane at Avant Bard, a staging of Tony Kushner’s extraordinary Angels in America, Part 1 at Arena, featuring Ed Gero as Roy Cohn in a role that seems custom-made for the powerhouse actor, and a production of 1776 at the Kennedy Center that includes a cast replete with performers who identify as female, non-binary, and trans. Founding fathers, indeed!The sad news, however, is that after 29 years, Rep Stage is shutting its doors. The theater, on the campus of Howard Community College in Maryland, is being closed by the university.

Fires in the Mirror, in which LaVoy personifies 26 characters, a diverse mix of residents in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights.LaVoy performs 29 distinct monologues, all drawn from interviews playwright Anna Deavere Smith conducted in 1991. The documentary play is a tour-de-force solo turn for LaVoy, an Atlanta-based performer best known for playing Noelle Ortiz-Stubbs on ABC’s One Life to Live.“I’ve run a few marathons,” LaVoy says, “and I think of this show as a 90-minute race.”It is an impressive feat of endurance and deftness, especially given how quickly and seamlessly LaVoy shifts from character to character, with only the slightest of changes in costume or appearance or lighting.Theatergoers can take away any number of insights about Black/Jewish relations from the show, but LaVoy suggests seeing Fires in the Mirror for another reason, as well.“I don’t think we are very good at listening right now,” LaVoy says.