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Folger Shakespeare Theatre Returns with a Delightfully Raucous The Winter’s Tale
The Winter’s Tale
Folger Shakespeare Theatre
at The Folger Shakespeare Library
Jordan Wright
November 15, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 It’s birthday party time! The cast of Folger Theatre’s The Winter’s Tale in a celebratory mood. (Photo/Brittany Diliberto) After a three-year wait, Folger at last revealed its redesigned entrance and reception space to theatregoers. Don’t worry. The theatre looks the same with its beautiful walnut coffered walls and upper seating gallery. Modernizing the Folger Library is still ongoing and is on target to be completed next year.
It’s Karen Ann Daniels’s first season as Artistic Director and if this is any mark of her guidance, we are in for a treat. The Winter’s Tale is a dramedy from Shakespeare’s First Folio of 1623. Considered both a romance and a comedy, it is so much more, especially in the capable hands of Director Tamilla Woodard, who breathes new life into both its dramatic and its comedic side.
 Perdita (Kayleandra White) and Florizel (Jonathan Del Palmer) share a quiet, intimate moment (Photo/Brittany Diliberto) The play opens with a fancy birthday party for Leontes eight-year-old son before morphing into an edge-of-your-seat crime drama. Who did what? What are their intentions? Who’s innocent? Who’s to blame? Who’s going to die? Who’s lying? Who will stand by King Leontes (Hadi Tabbal) even when he’s obviously gone bonkers accusing Queen Hermione (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy) of being impregnated by his best pal, Polixenes (Drew Kopas)? Insert huge eyeroll here. It seems the king has cuckolding on the brain. It turns out, the men go along with him. And although they try mightily to dissuade him from murdering his wife, along with his beloved young son, Mamillius (the adorable and talented Clarence Payne), and the yet unborn babe, their lives are also in danger. The women believe Queen Hermione’s innocence and fight mightily and eloquently for her honor. Paulina (Kate Eastwood Norris), her ally, refers to the king’s delirium as “his tyrannous passion”. And that’s putting it mildly. She gives him holy hell on a plate.
Leontes’ cupbearer, Antigonus (Stephen Patrick Martin), agrees to murder the baby, but his heart aches and instead he leaves her in the forest during a hurricane. When the Shepherd (also Martin who now looks like Big Hoss from the TV show, Bonanza) finds her and takes her in, he names her Perdita (Kayleandra White). Did Shakespeare know it translates to little lost girl in Italian? After she has grown to be a beautiful young woman, Polixenes’ son, Forizell (Jonathan Del Palmer) falls head over heels for the abandoned princess.
 The roguish peddler Autolycus (Reza Salazar) sings a happy tune (Photo/Brittany Diliberto) For the entirety of Act I we are on tenterhooks – gripped by the murderous plot and riveted by the suspense. By the time intermission comes, we don’t want to leave our seats after Leontes has ordered the deaths of his wife, his son and the unborn child.
Act II is a 180. When Time announces that 16 years have passed, the plot switches to raucous comedy, in the goofiest, zaniest, laugh-your- buns-off way. Watch for cowboys and cowgirls doing the Electric Slide at a sheep shearing hoedown; the Shepherd’s no-nothing, goofball son, Camillo (Cody Nickell), and the whole lot of them now speaking with a Southern twang; and a wacky, bicycle-riding, gypsy pickpocket, Autolycus (Reza Salazar) who fires up the audience with a call-and-response “Heigh-ho!” By now, we are on the floor writhing in hysterics. The audience needed stitches after all the shenanigans.
This is a terrific cast of notable locals and Broadway veterans. Standouts are the absurdly hilarious Nickell – a super scene stealer; the marvelous charisma of the statuesque Crowe-Legacy; the undeniable acting chops of Tabbal; and our beloved local actor Norris, who pulls out all the stops to portray both fierceness and humanity.
The humor and switcheroo unpredictability of this play is the very thing that makes it so indelible. In the immortal words of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, “Go with the flow.” All the better to enjoy yourself!
 Music and dance at the sheep-shearing festival in Bohemia (center pictured l to r: Sabrina Lynne Sawyer, Reza Salazar, Kate Eastwood Norris; Kayleandra White, far right) (Photo/Brittany Diliberto) Children Richard Bradford and Clarence Payne share the role of Mamillius and Time, and Shepherd’s Son is played by Nicholas Gerwitz. Sabrina Lynne Sawyer is in the ensemble.
Set Design by Raul Abrego, Jr.; Costume Design by Sarah Cubbage; Lighting Design by Max Doolittle; Sound Design and Original Music by Matthew M. Nielson; Choreography by Joya Powell.
Highly recommended. A treat for the soul and the funny bone!
Through December 17th at Folger Shakespeare Theatre, 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information visit www.Folger.edu or call the box office at 202 544-4600.
A Powerful Cast Heads the Heart-Stirring Ragtime at Signature Theatre
Ragtime
Signature Theatre
Jordan Wright
November 6, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Bobby Smith (Tateh), Emerson Holt Lacayo (The Little Girl) and the cast of Ragtime at Signature Theatre (Photo by Daniel Rader) Thirty-three performers make up this extraordinary ensemble in Signature Theatre’s heart-stirring musical set at the turn of the 20th century. It brings together a most unlikely confluence of characters whose lives intersect in extraordinary ways as their paths help to change the course of history in this new age. Adapted from writer E. L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel, Ragtime won four Tony Awards and proved not only its longevity but its indelible attraction to all audiences. The story focusses on the intersecting lives of three distinct elements of American society from that glittering period – Black Americans, on the rise as a strong middle class in Northern cities; upper class White Americans who enjoyed a luxe life of money and privilege; and newly-arrived Jewish immigrants living in dire conditions on the Lower East Side of New York while struggling to assimilate against all odds.
The desire to assimilate, to succeed, and to find acceptance defines all societies. As Jean Paul Sartre put it when writing on the human condition, “Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.” This is a story of those people who stepped outside of their comfort zone to show humanity to those who have less. It is also a story of love, empathy, acceptance, success and sacrifice.
 Nkrumah Gatling (Coalhouse Walker Jr.) and Awa Sal Secka (Sarah) (Photo by Daniel Rader) They were capitalist foe and union organizer, Emma Goldman (Dani Stoller), a reformer from the days when child labor was the norm and harsh working conditions prevailed; Harry Houdini (Edward L. Simon), the Jewish immigrant who became the world’s most famous magician; and Evelyn Nesbitt (Maria Rizzo), the great beauty who carved out her vaudeville career on a velvet swing while paramour to a millionaire. Iconic Americans Booker T. Washington (Tobias A. Young), the great African American orator and presidential advisor, the financier J. P. Morgan (Todd Scofield) and even Henry Ford (Douglas Ullman Jr.) are featured in this story too. In Doctorow’s sweeping American saga, ordinary people become extraordinary people as their lives intersect and they are tested for their capacity to love.
Harkening back to the turn of the 20th Century, when ladies of a certain class carried parasols and wore stiff corsets under voluminous dresses, Ragtime was a new sound that crossed over into polite white society bringing the music of Black America into the living rooms of White America. This sultry, sexy rhythm coupled with lyrics that were of a coarser nature than most Whites were accustomed to hearing, was sweeping the nation and a certain Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Nkrumah Gatling), influenced by famed pianist Scott Joplin, was introducing that catchy, mournful sound to a wider audience.
 Nurney, Ariel Friendly, Keenan McCarter, Nkrumah Gatling, Jordyn Taylor, Theodore Sapp, and Kara-Tameika Watkins (Photo by Daniel Rader) In this story Father (Bill English) is off on a polar expedition with Admiral Peary when his wife, Mother (Teal Wicks), discovers a Black newborn abandoned in her garden and goes about finding the boy’s mother. “I never thought they had lives besides our lives,” she confesses. When at last she and her brother Edgar (Jake Loewenthal) find Sarah (Awa Sal Secka), she offers her and the baby the comfort of their home – allowing her humanity to overtake her Victorian rigidity and against Father’s strong disapproval.
Known as one of the most important musicals ever to grace Broadway, this production does Composer Stephen Flaherty’s and Lyricist Lynn Ahrens’ material (thirty-three numbers backed by a 17-piece orchestra!) justice with a strong and interconnected cast who sing their faces off. The ensemble’s voices reflect the powerful emotions of this poignant story of hope, redemption, a fight for human rights and a call to justice.
 Bobby Smith (Tateh) and Emerson Holt Lacayo (The Little Girl) (Photo by Daniel Rader) Director Matthew Gardiner with his extraordinary team has assembled a brilliant crew and a cast with voices that not only complement each other but stand alone as uniquely gifted.
In all fairness I find it hard to single out one or even a few actors who shone brighter than all the rest as this is most assuredly an ensemble piece. But watch for any number sung by Wicks, Gatling, Jordyn Taylor (as Sarah’s Friend), who does a brief but deeply affecting solo turn in “When We Reach That Day”, Bobby Smith, Sal Secka and Stoller.
Highly recommended. Bring everyone you know!
 5. Matthew Lamb (The Little Boy) and the cast of Ragtime (Photo by Daniel Rader) Matthew Lamb as The Little Boy; Lawrence Redmond as Grandfather and Charles S. Whitman; Bobby Smith as Tateh; Avery Laina Harris or Emerson Holt Lacayo as The Little Girl; Keenan McCarter as Matthew Henson; Erin Driscoll as Kathleen; Gregory Twomey as Willie Conklin; Claire Leyden as Brigit.
Book by Terrence McNally; Music by Stephen Flaherty; Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; Conducted by Jon Kalbfleisch; Choreographed by Ashleigh King; Scenic Design by Lee Savage; Costume Design by Erik Teague; Lighting Design by Tyler Micoleau; Sound Design by Eric Norris; and Jonathan Keith or Maxwell Kwadjo Talbert as Coalhouse Walker III. Additional ensemble; Ariel Friendly, Nurney, Theodore Sapp, and Kara-Tameika Watkins.
Through January 7th 2024 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue in Shirlington Village, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 820-9771 or visit www.SigTheatre.org.
Remote Warfare Clashes with Humanity in Grounded at the Kennedy Center
Grounded
Washington National Opera
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
October 31, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo (center) plays Jess (Photo Credit/Scott Suchman) When a young, female top gun returns to the Air Force after raising a child on her husband’s Wyoming ranch, she finds the war game has changed dramatically since her eight years of flying F-16s. Grounded soon finds Major Jess sitting indoors in an ersatz cockpit making life and death decisions with a joystick. In this setting, remote warfare is conducted by the “chair force” – a couple of young gamers who are better suited to playing video games on the sofa. Although she dearly misses her days of dodging aircraft volleys from 36,000 feet in the sky, her husband, Eric (Joseph Dennis), is thrilled she’ll be at home each night after 12-hour shifts trailing convoys and suspicious vehicles in Iraq from the safety of a Las Vegas military base. Split screens in real time follow and target who the crew call “the guilty”.
 Willa Cook (left) plays Sam; tenor Joseph Dennis (right) plays Eric (Photo Credit/Scott Suchman) This phenomenal opera is like nothing you have ever witnessed. It combines 3-D rock concert-level visual projections with a story about computerized modern warfare. The set is made up entirely of LED panels to emphasize how the world of Grounded is inundated with digital images. The libretto is unique and contemporary – melodic and often atonal in an alluring way. And there is a romantic, and deeply human element in Jess (Emily D’Angelo) and Eric’s love story – a dichotomy against the backdrop of decisions made by proxy. If you’ve ever seen the brilliant movie Eye in the Sky starring Helen Mirren, you’ll understand how these drones, flying 10,000 feet above enemy planes, have the advantage of superseding all other aircraft. The digital technology of the production equals the story of how this detached type of warfare has replaced all human interconnectivity.
As Jess romanticizes the power her uniform gives her, the chorus, also in flight suits, stands at attention on an angled stage that is spilt horizontally. Her small apartment is revealed beneath where she lives with Eric and child, Sam (Willa Cook). That cozy set switches out to become a local bar where the flyboys carouse. In an ironic twist, where death and destruction reign, Jess finds her inability to leave warfare and its accompanying stress with the “Kill Chain” drone operators, overlapping into her home life.
 A scene from Grounded in the Kennedy Center Opera House (Photo Credit/Scott Suchman) Author of over 30 plays and musicals, George Brant, created this piece as a play before joining forces with two-time Tony Award-winning Composer Jeanine Tesori. Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera, it is a radical departure from classical opera – in a good way. The audience was mostly young with some avid military folks. As I was walking up the aisle to the lobby at intermission, I heard an older gentleman turn to an audience member and say, “I only go to classical opera, but this is fantastic!” That seemed to be the reaction of the entire audience at this extraordinary world premiere.
Joined by the Washington National Opera Orchestra conducted by Daniela Candillari and the Washington National Opera Chorus, this thoroughly mind-and-musical immersive production will rock your world. If opera continues to source from new composers and new playwrights to tell a contemporary story that is both highly visual and deeply moving, I truly believe that opera will extend its reach to a younger audience… and it must do exactly that to survive into the next generation of audiences.
Highly recommended!!! This production is the talk of the town! I am flinging rating stars around like candy on Halloween.
 A scene from Grounded in the Kennedy Center Opera House (Photo Credit/Scott Suchman) Composer Jeanine Tesori; Librettist George Brant; Director Michael Mayer; Choreographer David Neumann; Set Designer Mimi Lien; Costume Designer Tom Broecker; Lighting Designer Kevin Adams; Projection Designers Kaitlyn Pietras and Jason H. Thompson; Sound Designer Palmer Hefferan; and Dramaturg Paul Cremo.
With Morris Robinson as Commander; Frederick Ballentine as Trainer; Kyle Miller as Sensor; Teresa Perrotta as Also Jess; Michael Butler as Kill Chain: Mission Coordinator; Joshua Dennis as Kill Chain: Ground Control; Rob McGinness as Kill Chain: Joint Terminal Attack Controller; Jonathan Patton as Kill Chain: Safety Observer; and Sergio Martínez as Kill Chain: Judge Advocate General.
Through November 13th at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Misery is a Gripping Psychological Thriller
from Dominion Stage
Misery
Dominion Stage
Jordan Wright
October 22, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 L to R: Ellice McCoy as Annie, Robert R. Heinly as Paul (Photo/Cleo Potter) Backgrounded by a mix of 1940’s film noir music with a smattering of classical piano, Misery reveals a dark plot. We expect exactly that from Stephen King’s horror novel. The play by William Goldman opened on Broadway in 2015 starring Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf long after Rob Reiner’s film adaptation starring James Caan and Kathy Bates premiered in 1990. Many of you will be familiar with this taut, psychological thriller from the movie in which Bates won a ‘Best Actress’ Oscar for her role.
Annie Wilkes (played by Ellice McCoy) has been described as bipolar, sadomasochistic, psychotic and schizoid. Annie describes herself to successful novelist Paul Sheldon (Robert R. Heinly) as his “number one fan”. “And trust me. There ain’t no number two,” she claims. These days we’d call her a stalker.
 Ellice McCoy as Annie (Photo/Cleo Potter) Annie follows Paul whenever he stays at a local inn where he writes his latest novels. One night in the middle of a huge snowstorm she notices his car has skidded off the road and he is trapped behind the wheel. Badly injured and unable to walk, she pries him out with a crowbar and takes him to her remote Colorado cabin. There, bed-ridden and unable to escape, Paul tries mollifying Annie, but she holds him hostage, demanding he write a better sequel to the Misery series he is so famous for. These days we’d call that an abduction. In her twisted mind she blames Paul for killing off her favorite character, Misery Chastain, and she tasks him with bringing her back to life in a sequel.
Veteran, local director Maggie Mumford keeps the tension at a high, edge-of-your-seat, burn rate. Yes, it’s terrifying, but you can’t look away, especially when Annie flips her inner switch and becomes a monster. McCoy and Heinly are especially effective in delivering the tension required for this terrifying two-hander.
 L to R: Robert R. Heinly as Paul, Ellice McCoy as Annie (Photo/Cleo Potter) Set and Properties Designer Peter Mumford expresses the tattered mind of a schizophrenic with patches of torn cloth hung like old clothes on an open screen behind which we can see Annie’s mood swings (and weapons!) before she enters Paul’s bedroom. To add further suspense to the spine-tingling atmosphere, Cleo Potter’s lighting design creates an eerie aura to spook even the most blasé among us.
If your taste runs to Stephen King’s sinister stories, this one’s for you.
With Danielle Taylor as Buster. Sound Design by Ruben Vellekoop; Costume Design by Anna Marquardt.
 L to R: Robert R. Heinly as Paul, Ellice McCoy as Annie (Photo/Brian Knapp and Natalie Fox) Through November 4th on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm by Dominion Stage at Theatre on the Run, 3700 South Four Mile Run Drive, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information visit www.DominionStage.org.
Young Frankenstein is The Funniest, Most Risque, Goofball Comedy Now Playing at The Little Theatre
Young Frankenstein
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jordan Wright
October 22, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Joshua Nettinger as the Monster; Noah Mutterperl as Dr. Frankenstein (Photo/Matt Liptak) If your taste runs to wacky sendups and zany schtick, you could do no better than Young Frankenstein at The Little Theatre. According to the program’s synopsis the comedy picks up where most tales of the famed monster leave off. This introduces us to his grandson, the young Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, a young scientist and man about town who travels to the family castle in Transylvania, bent on claiming his inheritance before racing back to his fiancée Elizabeth. With the encouragement of the adorably sexy, Inga, his grandfather’s laboratory assistant and hunchback Igor, and his grandfather’s former paramour the stern-faced Frau Blücher, Frederick agrees to stay and complete his grandfather’s experiment by bringing the monster back to life with a new and improved brain. What a life! And what a premise! When the monster is given life, we discover he’s a veritable vaudeville trooper!
 Young Frankenstein Cast in “Putting on the Ritz” (Photo/Matt Liptak) Thanks to Mel Brooks who wrote the music and lyrics and shared credit for the book with Thomas Meehan, we’ve got a rollicking musical comedy with more sight gags, double entendres, mashups and old-time burlesque jokes than you can count.
Director Frank D. Shutts II has rounded up some of the best local talent in the biz to bring his vision to the mainstage. Eighty-one actors came to the casting call – sixteen were chosen. He’s also chosen London’s West End version of the show which is more finessed than the original Broadway version. Twenty-one musical numbers backed by fourteen instruments create a big sound in the little theatre. A tricked-out stage set features a revolving library door, grand castle gates, a farmer’s wagon pulled by two “horses” and multiple surprises I want you to discover for yourself.
 Noah Mutterperl as Dr. Frankenstein (Photo/Matt Liptak) The acting, dancing and singing are excellent. As far as I’m concerned Noah Mutterperl who plays Frederick, could get on a train and open on Broadway tomorrow night. His style, indefatigable energy, talent and comic timing are spot on in every way. As for Joshua Nettinga who plays The Monster, he too could snag a lead role in a heartbeat. Performing in seven-inch lift monster shoes while pratfalling, getting up and tap dancing in top hat and tails, would grant him major street cred on the Great White Way. That doesn’t mean to throw shade on the three female leads – Claire Jeffrey as Inga who is as precious as she is hilarious, Liz Colandene as Elizabeth Benning who belts like a young Ethel Merman and Judy Lewis as Frau Blücher who is deadpan-perfect as the cigar-smoking chatelaine. Not to leave out James Maxted who plays The Hermit and croons “Please Send Me Someone” in the style of Al Jolson’s “Mammy” and Brian Ash as Inspector Hans Kemp whose chorus of Bavarian villagers rise up with torches and pitchforks in “He’s Loose”.
In the immortal words of Mel Brooks, “You’ll laugh till you plotz!” (He didn’t really say that. I did.)
 Joshua Nettinga and Liz Colandene (Photo/Matt Liptak) Ensemble – Daria Butler (Swing), Emily Carbone, Andrew Edwards, Lewis Eggleston, Odette Gutierrez del Arroyo, Patrick Kearney, Evie Korovesis, Luke Martin, James Nugent (Swing), Lourdes Turnblom.
Music Directors Francine Krasowska and Christopher A. Tomasino; Choreographer, Stefan Sittig; Dance Captain Evie Korovesis; Set Design by Robert S. Barr Jr.; Lighting and Special Effects Design by Ken and Patti Crowley; Costume Design by Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley; Hair/Wig Design by Kadira Coley; and Makeup Design by Natalie Turkevich.
Highly recommended. The funniest, most risqué, goofball comedy since the Marx Brothers spent the night at the opera!
 Andrew Edwards, Lourdes Turnblom, Joshua Redford, Patrick Kearney, Emily Carbone (Photo/Matt Liptak) Through November 11th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com or call the box office at 703 683-5778.
POTUS is a Flat-Out, Genius, Madcap Comedy at Arena Stage
POTUS:
Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Arena Stage
Jordan Wright
October 20, 2023
Special to The Zebra
 Kelly McAndrew, Yesenia Iglesias and Megan Hill in POTUS (Photo/Kian McKellar) Nothing subtle here, folks. The title tells us everything we should expect – seven women and a nincompoop U. S. President – though I can easily see this zany comedy apply to a few other countries who shall remain nameless. You know who you are. Playwright Selena Fillinger’s POTUS cannily claims to be an amalgamation of U. S. Presidents over the centuries. So, you don’t get to choose just one. Though you’ll see a few buffoons that will seem familiar. To echo the sentiment, the set is decorated with a smattering of their iconic portraits and a glass White House is suspended high above the stage as in, “People who throw stones shouldn’t live in…” yadda, yadda, yadda. Savvy inside-the-Beltway political junkies will fall head over heels for the wisecracks… that is after you pick yourselves up off the floor. When you go, and you can’t ask for a Presidential pardon if you don’t, make sure to have your wits about you. It plays out lightening quick and you don’t want to miss one single, snappy line.
Fillinger has already garnered three Tony noms for POTUS, writes tons of network comedy shows, and promises to keep us rolling in the aisles for many years to come. Her idea of comedy is mine too – loaded with slapstick, pratfalls, parody, witty digs and wacky setups. This one has them all plus a very, very talented cast who play White House operatives, family members and insiders navigating a presidential sh*t show.
 Felicia Curry (Photo/Kian McKellar) Here’s the premise. The Prez has his typically busy daily schedule and all hands are on deck to see that he is on time and on point. These are our magnificent seven: Harriet, his Chief of Staff (Naomi Jacobson); Jean, his Press Secretary (Natalya Lynette Rathnam); Margaret, his wife – The First Lady (Felicia Curry); Chris, a journalist for the Washington Post (Yesenia Iglesias); Dusty, his dalliance (Sarah-Anne Martinez); and Bernadette, his sister (Kelly McAndrew). Just remember they hate each other until they need each other when they will fight to the death to guard the president’s reputation above all else.
The day begins at a meeting with foreign dignitaries and with POTUS dropping an insulting curse word for female genitalia in describing his wife’s mood. We don’t hear or see this gaffe, but the West Wing is on high alert trying to put out this five-alarm fire. In fact, the West Wing will be on constant high alert. Calamity is the modus operandi for these nimble spin doctors.
 Sarah-Anne Martinez, Felicia Curry, Yesenia Iglesias, Natalya Lynette Rathnam and Naomi Jacobson (Photo/Margot Schulman) Fillinger’s characters are sharply-drawn and their intersections are like watching a car crash – riveting, but disastrous, and ultimately hilarious. Here within the confines of the White House, the infighting is WWE-worthy, the barbs are as sharp as poison darts and it’s absolutely, positively delicious. Compare FLOTUS and Harriet to attack dogs. No one in their sphere of influence remains unscathed. They are the president’s gladiators and in some cases quite well-armed.
Director Margot Bordelon cleverly uses the theater-in-the-round technique on the Fichandler Stage to reflect the fishbowl that is the West Wing, employing the aisles for the breakneck chases that ensue. Trust me. No one remains unscathed. There is so much cursing I cannot provide a quote without offending delicate ears. So, dear grownups, this is a warning. Don’t bring your delicate ears, because you won’t want to miss any of the profanity.
In her choice of this sharp-as-knives political comedy, I’d say all the stars have aligned for the debut production of Arena’s new Artistic Director, Hana S. Sharif. I’ll be looking forward to her next selection.
Highly recommended. A flat-out, genius, madcap comedy!
 Sarah-Anne Martinez and Megan Hill (Photo/Margot Schulman) Set Design by Reid Thompson; Costume Design by Ivania Stack; Lighting Design by Marika Kent; Original Music and Sound Design by Sinan Refik Zafar; Dramaturg Otis Ramsey-Zöe.
Through November 12th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information visit www.ArenaStage.org or call the box office at 202 554-9006.
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