You know you’re going to be in for a night when the characters in the program don’t actually have names. Buckle up, bicycle kick, and get ready to go for— goal— with The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe now officially open at Spotlighters Theatre as the last main-stage show of their 61st season. Directed by Lanoree Blake, this 90-minute, no-intermission, theatrical exploration gives you glimpses into the lives of teenage girls and their indoor-soccer-dominated world.
“Madness is that much closer to death”
As Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) said in
Point Break, “It will sting a bit,
but, uh, it’s for your own growth, bro.” Sweat
written by Lynn Nottage, playing at Spotlighters Theatre, is the slap in the
face that we need. It does what we all too often fail to do when it comes to a
political or social issue; it humanizes the situation. We read the paper, watch
the news, scan social media,
Sometimes, it’s all in the
timing. When the circles of life coincide with your best efforts, everyone
wins. There is a history of shows that premiered to little or no hoopla, but
when revived later in a different political or social climate, felt way more
relevant and meaningful. The most popular example is Kander & Ebb’s classic
musical Chicago. Opening in 1975
under the direction of Bob Fosse and starring dual leading legends Gwen Verdon
and Chita Rivera,
Beware of thinking too much; enjoy the little things. Beware of missing your opportunity to see Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; enjoy the little theatre in Silver Spring that’s putting it on. Beware of Christopher Durang’s deranged approach to Chekhov; enjoy The Highwood Theatre’s interpretation of this edgy new dark comedy. Beware critics who spend too long opening their review; enjoy instead the actual production at The Highwood Theatre.
Behaving well gets you nowhere. Courtesy is a waste of time. In the end we’re all like children, bashing each other’s teeth in with sticks to settle our differences. Or that’s what Yasmina Reza would have us believe with her Tony Award-Winning dramadey God of Carnage, now appearing at the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre as the final production of the 52nd season. Directed by Greg Bell, this engaging socio-civilized drama devolves at an alarming rate into comic outbursts that truly capture human nature at its finest: debased,