Laura C Harris

The “awful grace of God” (from Aeschylus----prominently displayed on Robert F. Kennedy’s grave) has been a line I all too well understand as a Catholic---in the current and intellectually thrilling production of Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Aeschylus is more than apt.  These characters are given grace in circumstances that often resemble “The Dark Night of the Soul” (St. John of the Cross). The Studio Theatre is presenting a play that grabs hold of the mind and heart with a compelling dramatic throughline for all those who have thought about the role of the sacred in a secular society.

Studio Theatre has announced the cast of the upcoming Will Arbery production, Heroes of the Fourth Turning. The play, which The New York Times called “Astonishing and riveting,” is a semi-surrealistic portrait of young people on the political right at a pivotal moment in America and in their lives.

Founding Artistic Director Vincent M. Lancisi, announced today that Everyman Theatre actors, designers, and crew are back in the rehearsal room preparing for the run of Molly Smith Metzler's 2017 play, Cry It Out. The full production will be filmed at the theatre and available virtually to stream into homes from March 1 through April 11. Lancisi will also direct the play.

With their first audio effort, Kings, Studio demonstrates the versatility of Studio’s roster of actors and sound designers.  Director Marti Lyons, already a Helen Hayes award winner, establishes her chops in a purely audio medium, and demonstrates the theatre community’s ability to turn on a dime and produce a classic form of entertainment as if they were to the manner born.  Stuff like this is truly heartening.

As millions across the country are taking to the polls, Studio Theatre will release its first audio play, an adaption of Kings, the lacerating, fast-talking political drama by Alexandria, VA native Sarah Burgess.

Tonight, at a celebration honoring theatre excellence on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered in the National Theatre's Helen Hayes Gallery for theatreWashington's announcement of nominees for the 36th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, which will be presented on Monday, May 18 at an event at the Anthem.

The city lights of Washington may typically obscure the night sky, but a portal to the cosmos has opened in downtown DC. Playwright Lauren Gunderson has gifted us a corner of the galaxy through the telescopic lens of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt's life and scientific discoveries. Leavitt's work may have been rooted in facts and figures, but SILENT SKY is bursting with imagination.

Ford's Theatre Society announced full casting and the design team for Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson, a captivating play based on the life of trail-blazing astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. The Ford's Theatre production is directed by Seema Sueko and features Laura C. Harris (Arena Stage's The Heiress, Signature Theatre's The Flick) as Henrietta Leavitt, Nora Achrati as Annie Jump Cannon, Emily Kester as Margaret Leavitt, Jonathan David Martin as Peter Shaw and Holly Twyford as Williamina Fleming. Performances are January 24 to February 23, 2020. A media performance is scheduled for January 29, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

Jackie Sibblies Drury's play, Fairview, currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, is a show that desperately calls for conversation. It's no wonder, then, that each performance is immediately followed by community discussions led by Build With, a DC-based anti-racist training, facilitation, and consulting practice focused on people, power, and partnership. While I wasn't able to stay for this event following Saturday night's performance, it is an important step in ensuring this work's complicated themes are digested in a clear way. Fairview is one of the most conceptual shows in recent memory. Not every idea can be fully explored in this production, which has a tight 100-minute run time that director Stevie Walker-Webb keeps clipping at a good pace. Nevertheless, Fairview is a necessary piece for anyone looking to dive deeper into discussions of race and identity in America.

The Pulitzer Prize winning play, Fairview, recently opened at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Find out what critics had to say!

EIGHT NIGHTS, a new play from award-winning playwright Jennifer Maisel, is having a unique introduction to audiences - a series of benefit staged readings across America. The 8 Nights of EIGHT NIGHTS series will occur on at least 8 different nights in at least 8 different cities, to raise funds and awareness for HIAS.

Theater J Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr and Managing Director Jojo Ruf announce the 2019-2020 season, welcoming home audiences to a beautiful and refreshed theater located in the newly renovated Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center on 16th Street. The season includes four plays and one musical, all being produced for the first time in DC, as well as the triumphant return of a recent Theater J hit. From an intoxicating new musical set in Tel Aviv based on the Song of Songs to the late-career masterpiece by multiple Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee, Theater J's season celebrates journeys of every kind with a provocative and ambitious slate of plays. Of the six shows, three have future runs: two in New York City and one at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

THE HEIRESS is playing at Arena Stage in Washington, DC through March 10, 2019. Finding one's voice is never easy. Socially awkward and plain Catherine Sloper has struggled her entire life under the disapproving and resentful gaze of her father. It is the unexpected visit from a suitor full of sincerity and instantaneous devotion that awakens Catherine's long abandoned hopes of true love and the opportunity for a fresh start. A devastating betrayal forces the scorned Catherine to learn how to roar, realize her truth and take control of her destiny.

Perhaps the biggest problem with 'The Heiress' is that it's difficult to invest in. It's hard to root for Catherine beyond hoping she tells Morris off, and that's more about dislike of him than support for her. After all, we can all get behind telling off a bad ex. It's just a shame that The Heiress doesn't give us the opportunity to go deeper than that.

Arena Stage presents Ruth and Augustus Goetz's melodrama, The Heiress, suggested by the Henry James novel, Washington Square. After growing up subjected to her father's disinterest and strong resentment, a young woman in the 1850s discovers what love is in her journey towards independence, growth and strength, without an impactful female role model in her life. Directed by Deputy Artistic Director Seema Sueko, The Heiress runs February 8 - March 10, 2019 in the Fichandler Stage.

Arena Stage presents Ruth and Augustus Goetz's melodrama, The Heiress, suggested by the Henry James novel, Washington Square.

Today's subject, Jonathan David Martin, came to Washington, DC after accepting a job as Associate Producer of Theater J, but he is currently living his theatre life back onstage in The Heiress at Arena Stage in the role of Morris Townsend This production, which marks his Arena Stage debut, begins performances on February 8th. It plays through March 10th in Arena's Fitchandler Stage space.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Ruth and Augustus Goetz's melodrama, The Heiress, suggested by the Henry James novel, Washington Square. After growing up subjected to her father's disinterest and strong resentment, a young woman in the 1850s discovers what love is in her journey towards independence, growth and strength, without an impactful female role model in her life. Directed by Deputy Artistic Director Seema Sueko, The Heiress runs February 8 - March 10, 2019 in the Fichandler Stage.

Arena Stage presents Ruth and Augustus Goetz's melodrama, The Heiress, suggested by the Henry James novel, Washington Square.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Ruth and Augustus Goetz's melodrama, The Heiress, suggested by the Henry James novel, Washington Square. After growing up subjected to her father's disinterest and strong resentment, a young woman in the 1850s discovers what love is in her journey towards independence, growth and strength, without an impactful female role model in her life. Directed by Deputy Artistic Director Seema Sueko, The Heiress runs February 8 - March 10, 2019 in the Fichandler Stage.