All stories by John Stoltenberg on BroadwayStars

Monday, February 28, 2022

Perisphere Theater opens a powerful and poetic ‘Blue Door’ by John Stoltenberg

A profoundly illuminating play about a Black man who lives in the glare of the white gaze.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:42AM
Wednesday, February 23, 2022

A gripping drama of love and blood pulses through ‘Phlebotimist’ at 1st Stage by John Stoltenberg

In a dystopian near future, a twentysomething romance heats up steadily alongside a chilling public health crisis.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:22AM
Sunday, February 13, 2022

Exegesis of a sexy Jesus: A look at love in ‘A.D. 16’ by John Stoltenberg

A magnificently entertaining and beautifully profound new musical has opened at Olney. Here's what love's got to do with it.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:27AM
Monday, February 7, 2022

A rap with RJ Brown, the slave player in ‘White Noise’ at Studio by John Stoltenberg

You cannot watch his performance in this shocking role without feeling agitated and aghast — and he was willing to talk about it.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:46PM
Wednesday, February 2, 2022

‘Compulsion’ at Theater J aches with memory of a harm beyond telling by John Stoltenberg

The teenage diarist Anne Frank appears as a puppet; an author tries to pull strings to stage her story.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:13PM
Tuesday, January 25, 2022

‘White Noise’ is a shock to the system in stunning staging at Studio by John Stoltenberg

It’s as if Suzan-Lori Parks scalds and skins the body politic in one fell swoop.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:55PM
Monday, December 20, 2021

‘A Strange Loop,’ a hit at Woolly, heads to Broadway by John Stoltenberg

Michael R. Jackson’s 'big, Black and queer-ass American Broadway show' will open in spring 2022 at the Lyceum Theatre.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:22PM

What’s ‘Once Upon a One More Time’ doing at the Shakespeare? by John Stoltenberg

There's got to be more to it than a cool chance to groove on the oeuvre of Britney Spears. | Column by JOHN STOLTENBERG

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:02AM
Sunday, December 5, 2021

‘A Strange Loop’ at Woolly Mammoth is a knockout smash by John Stoltenberg

Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize–winning musical sings of a singular poet’s journey from self-loathing to self-respect.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:52PM
Tuesday, October 26, 2021

A Q&A with Matthew Gardiner on his new gig at Sig by John Stoltenberg

"What is important in this moment for Signature," says its new artistic director, "is how we are creating a culture of consent going forward."

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:48AM
Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Spooky Action’s unrealistic ‘Realistic Joneses’ is a complete treat by John Stoltenberg

The text keeps us off-kilter in a way that tickles us silly even as a sobering undercurrent churns.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:40AM
Wednesday, September 8, 2021

‘Working’ rocks Black Lives Matter Plaza with a musical that matters by John Stoltenberg

A gutsy and gifted project called Working in DC puts on an ebullient show to remind us of the everyday dignity of work.

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:49AM
Sunday, June 6, 2021

Post-Play Palaver: A double take on ‘Blindness’ at STC by John Stoltenberg and Sophia Howes

Post-Play Palaver is an occasional series of conversations between DC Metro Theater Arts writers who saw the same performance, got really into talking about it, and decided to continue their…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:49PM
Saturday, May 15, 2021

Rep Stage radio play ‘Ghost/Writer’ is some mind-blowing writing by John Stoltenberg

Playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi mixes romance and vengeance and packs volumes of truth into stunning poetic dialog. The post Rep Stage radio play ‘Ghost/Writer’ is some mind-blowing writi…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:14PM
Sunday, May 9, 2021

Mike Daisey mansplains by John Stoltenberg

Men behaving badly is a masterplot in life and art as old as time, and Mike Daisey has given it a doozy of a twist. Not ten minutes into his one-night-only monologue Scott and Andy and All t…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:43PM
Saturday, April 3, 2021

The reopening long shot by John Stoltenberg and David Siegel

It’s been quite the terrifying year for us connected to the performing arts. An absolute scary time that began in mid-March 2020 as theaters went dark, lit only by their ghost lights. And …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:43PM
Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Trans Lives and Theater as Change Agent: A Q&A with Dane Figueroa Edidi and Natsu Onoda Power by John Stoltenberg

In observance of the the 12th annual International Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31, 2021), we republish this in-depth conversation with two leading lights in DC-area theater. —John…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:55AM
Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Essential Theatre to mark MLK Jr. Day with Rosa Parks play by John Stoltenberg

In celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday, The Essential Theatre  Performances in Cyberspace will present Rosa Parks: Such a Time. Written and performed by Gwendolyn Bri…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:22PM
Thursday, December 3, 2020

1st Stage joins nationwide reading of plays against gun violence Dec. 14 by John Stoltenberg

1st Stage is proud to be participating in the #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence project, working with visionary teenage playwrights across the country who have come together to speak out ag…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:17PM
Thursday, November 26, 2020

Studio’s new audio play is an anthem for a world on the brink by John Stoltenberg

As the world collectively plans to close the door (and maybe throw away the key?) on 2020, Studio Theatre offers a reflection on this complicated, unexpected, and consequential moment in h…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:28PM
Monday, November 23, 2020

‘This Zoom Life’ could be the the best comedy web series since COVID by John Stoltenberg

These days, in lieu of live scripted comedy, I’ve learned to feel lucky whenever I find online theater that gets me LOLing all alone. To be honest, that happens rarely, and never all the w…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:45PM
Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Mosaic Theater to move on without its founding artistic director, Ari Roth by John Stoltenberg

In a meeting Tuesday night, November 17, 2020, the 26-member board of Mosaic Theater Company of DC unanimously accepted the resignation of Ari Roth, who founded the company six years ago “…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:54PM
Sunday, September 20, 2020

Can laughter be lethal?: Dr. Linsey Marr on aerosol transmission of COVID by John Stoltenberg

I first learned of Dr. Linsey Marr when I read a startling opinion piece that appeared in the New York Times July 30: As “a civil and environmental engineer who studies how viruses and bac…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:11PM
Sunday, September 6, 2020

A critic at play by John Stoltenberg

During the past seven-odd years that I’ve contributed to DC Metro Theater Arts, I’ve written about upwards of 600 shows—sometimes as the designated reviewer (when I followed criticism …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:53AM
Friday, June 12, 2020

A war-wounded woman meets myth in ‘Circular’ by Laura Shamas, livestreaming Sunday from Spooky Action Theater by John Stoltenberg

Interview by Roberta Alves Spooky Action Theater’s livestreamed New Works in Action play-reading series continues  Sunday, May 14, at 3 pm with Circular by Laura Shamas. Her heritage incl…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:25PM
Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Theatermakers of color call white theater to account for systemic racism by John Stoltenberg

The cultural momentum powering protests that followed the May 25 murder of George Floyd has galvanized a national and local movement for transformational change in American theater led by Bl…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:15PM
Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Whitney White on directing James Baldwin’s classic ‘The Amen Corner’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by John Stoltenberg

In 1955 James Baldwin had just turned 30 and had written a play about a storefront church in Harlem that he could not get produced in New York. There was “no market” for it, he was told.…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:47PM
Monday, March 9, 2020

A harrowing ‘Pass Over’ powerfully performed at Studio Theatre by John Stoltenberg

There is a drama on stage right now at Studio Theatre—Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu—so harrowing it will stop your heart. In it, Christopher Lovell and Jalen Gilbert give two of the mos…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:53PM
Sunday, March 8, 2020

Another lost female genius found, in ‘Einstein’s Wife’ at ExPats Theatre by John Stoltenberg

The history of science is studded with female geniuses snubbed by sexism. There’s biophysicist Rosalind Franklin, geneticist Nettie Stevens, chemist Alice Ball— And several such brillian…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:08PM
Wednesday, March 4, 2020

“I want to make space for women who make mistakes”: A Q&A with Dani Stoller, author of ‘Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes’ at Signature by John Stoltenberg

Dani Stoller’s world-premiere comedy Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes is funny and witty and in its own quirky way quite deep. Plus it puts the screw in screwball. Discovered in the Sig…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:32PM
Monday, March 2, 2020

‘Boys Don’t Cry’ at Dance Place rejoices in macho detox by John Stoltenberg

Boys Don’t Cry made this boy cry. It happened near the end. I had been watching a performance by the French dance company Cie Hervé Koubi. Seven shirtless male dancers, all from different…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:18PM

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