author: Erin Tarpley
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Marlene Dietrich was a legend of the Silver Screen, but she was by no means a monolith.Â
Before the curtain rises, the audience is presented with a loop of a 1930 screen-test the notorious star filmed for The Blue Angel: the film that would eventually launch her into international acclaim. While shown without sound, this three-minute loop gives the audience an accurate preview of the many faces of Marlene Dietrich.Â
One of the newest companies to grace the DC Theatre Scene—
ExPats Theatre, founded by Karin Rosnizeck— is getting their footing under them
after a performance at the Capital Fringe Festival this past summer. With an
extended version of their production of Surfacing: An Inventory of
Helplessness, ExPats Theatre sets up shop in The Atlas Performing Arts
Center— in Theatre Lab I— for a weeks to test the waters. The piece, written by
Austrian playwright Julya Rabinowich and translated into English by Karin
Rosnizeck,
People say you can’t get used to some things, but you do. Washington DC is used to the fact that there is a dedicated, professional theatre setting continual flight to the voices of women at Venus Theatre in Laurel, Maryland. But how much of what you hear is ever actually true? Hear this, Washington DC— the 55th script of Venus Theatre, Fur by Migdalia Cruz, which launches Season Sweet16: Groovy Young Things,
Words are everything. Everyone wants everything and words are everything. The profundity of such statements and similar can be found in Venus Theatre’s edgiest work to date. Concluding their 14th season with their 50th production, Venus is proud to present Virus Attacks Heart, a new work by Shannon Murdoch. In alignment with the company’s mission statement of setting flight to the voices of women, this production features a strong female character coping with life in the face of mortality.