All stories by Sophia Howes on BroadwayStars

Thursday, April 11, 2019

‘Michael Kahn & Friends Off the Record: The Folger Years’: A Celebration in Pictures by Sophia Howes

“I think you have to define who you are–and that definition can change–but you have to be as uncompromising as you possibly can about who you think you are, and to fight for that, in b…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:34PM
Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Review: ‘Vanity Fair’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

“I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year.” –Becky Sharp William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) is considered a great writer. Vanity Fair, despite its flaws, is h…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:28PM
Monday, February 18, 2019

Review: ‘Among the Dead’ at Spooky Action Theatre by Sophia Howes

Hansol Jung is an imaginative young playwright whose work focuses on feeling perpetually uprooted. Born in Jeonju, South Korea, she moved with her family to South Africa at the age of 6. Whe…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:07PM
Sunday, February 10, 2019

Review: ‘Nell Gwynn’ at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre by Sophia Howes

Nell Gwynn (1650-1687) was not only one of the most talented actresses in Restoration Theatre, but also one of the most beloved. That was because “pretty, witty” Nell, as diarist Samuel …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 06:29PM
Sunday, January 13, 2019

Review: ‘Equivocation’ by Bill Cain at Silver Spring Stage by Sophia Howes

It is 1605. The Gunpowder Plot, in which a group of disaffected Catholics attempted to blow up King James I, his wife, his children, and all the political and religious leaders of the age, h…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:50PM
Monday, December 17, 2018

Review: ‘Kings’ at Studio Theatre by Sophia Howes

Kings at Studio Theatre is both entertaining and thought-provoking in every sense. Beautifully acted and directed, it reminds us that politicians, even though it may be hard to believe at ti…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:50AM
Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Review: ‘An Inspector Calls’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, as directed by Stephen Daldry, represents the best of international theatre. The play combines the chocolate-box delights of an Agatha Christie mystery…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:16AM
Thursday, November 22, 2018

Review: Aquila Theatre presents Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ at George Mason University Center for the Arts by Sophia Howes

New York-based Aquila Theatre has been hailed by The New Yorker for its innovative staging of the classics. Founded in London in 1991, the company has a regular season of productions as well…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:32AM
Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Talking Shakespeare with Ted van Griethuysen at the Shakespeare Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

How do you interview a legend? This was the question I pondered on the way to the Lansburgh Theatre to interview Ted van Griethuysen, one of the finest actors of his generation. Shakespeare…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:27PM
Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Review: ‘Macbeth’ at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre by Sophia Howes

In  January 1666, famed diarist Samuel Pepys saw a performance of the William Davenant Macbeth and called it a “strange perfection.” The production that just opened at the Folger Th…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:32PM
Sunday, August 26, 2018

Dangereuse: The“Wow” Effect: Free-for-All ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

First-rate Shakespeare for free is one of the most valuable gifts the Shakespeare Theatre offers the DC community. The two-week run of Romeo and Juliet is a reprise of director Alan Paul’s…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 07:59PM
Sunday, July 29, 2018

Review: ‘Macbeth’ at 4615 Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

Why do people commit evil, and once they have started, why can’t they stop? Now, as always, it is a question worth asking. Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, is an exploration…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:17PM
Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Party On! ‘Will on the Hill’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

Romeo and Juliet, Beatrice and Benedick, and even (don’t say it) Macbeth were on hand for a Shakespearean love fest on Monday night, all to benefit the wonderful education programs the Sha…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 05:40PM
Thursday, May 17, 2018

Review: ‘Saint Joan’ by Bedlam Theater Company by Sophia Howes

Long before he wrote about her, George Bernard Shaw referred to Saint Joan as one of those “half-witted geniuses, enjoying the worship accorded by all races to certain forms of insanity.�…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:38AM
Saturday, May 5, 2018

Review: ‘Hamlet’ by the Royal Shakespeare Company by Sophia Howes

The fabled Royal Shakespeare Company brought its Hamlet to the Kennedy Center this week, in a production fully worthy of its glittering reputation. The RSC Hamlet is lavish, bursting with fr…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:37PM
Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Review: ‘Titus Andronicus’ at Synetic Theater by Sophia Howes

“A work of art has value only if tremors of the future run through it…” — André Breton (1896–1966) French writer, poet, and founder of Surrealism. Artistic Director P…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:10PM
Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Review: Druid’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

“Nothing is funnier than unhappiness,” says Nell in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. Druid’s production of Waiting for Godot at the Shakespeare Theatre Company proves the truth of this stat…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:20PM
Monday, April 9, 2018

Review: Molière’s ‘Don Juan’ by Taffety Punk Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

There is always a good reason to see Tonya Beckman perform, and she is a superb Don Juan. Her rendition of the famous seducer is beguiling but at the same time horrifying, like watching a pa…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 09:41AM
Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Review: ‘Alabama Story’ by the Washington Stage Guild by Sophia Howes

“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” – James Baldwin Southern humor, gentle charm, and the awkward…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:17AM
Thursday, March 15, 2018

Interview: Aaron Posner on Directing ‘The Winter’s Tale’ at Folger Theatre by Sophia Howes

It was a real pleasure to interview Aaron Posner, acclaimed playwright and director, who is directing Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, which opened at the Folger Theatre on March 13.…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 01:30PM
Sunday, February 18, 2018

Dangereuse: The Two Noras: ‘Noura’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Women’s Voices Theater Festival) by Sophia Howes

Noura, the story of a Chaldean Christian refugee from Iraq, is a magnificent production. The acting is first-rate, the technical aspects flawless, the whole experience complex and full of de…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:47PM
Thursday, February 8, 2018

Review: ‘Something Rotten!’ at the National Theatre by Sophia Howes

Something Rotten! at the National Theatre reminds us of why we loved theater in the first place. The Broadway show received ten Tony nominations, and this national tour is pure joy. The cast…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 10:45AM
Thursday, January 25, 2018

Review: ‘Hamlet’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Hamlet, directed by Michael Kahn, is a rich, multi-layered interpretation of a uniquely great play. Hamlet is central to the Western literar…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:29AM
Monday, January 22, 2018

Review: ‘Waxing West’ at 4615 Theatre Company (Women’s Voices Theater Festival) by Sophia Howes

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” So said F. Scott Fitzgerald, at the end of The Great Gatsby. Waxing West, by Saviana Stanescu, is the st…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 03:11PM
Saturday, January 20, 2018

Post-Play Palaver: ‘The Way of the World’ at Folger Theater (Women’s Voices Theater Festival) 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 10:14AM
Monday, January 15, 2018

Review: ‘The Way of the World’ at Folger Theatre (Women’s Voices Theater Festival) by Sophia Howes

The Way of the World, a deft satire of the mating habits and financial vicissitudes of the 1%, arrived at the Folger Theatre last night. It was a hilarious evening. Theresa Rebeck’s comedy…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 04:54PM
Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Review: ‘Holiday Cheer!’ at National Chamber Ensemble by Sophia Howes

The National Chamber Ensemble’s Holiday Cheer! on December 16 was a celebration of great music. The charming and witty Artistic Director and leading violinist, Leonid Sushansky, sees each …

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:20AM
Thursday, November 23, 2017

Dangereuse: ‘Twelfth Night’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company – Present Mirth Hath Present Laughter by Sophia Howes

Many consider Twelfth Night Shakespeare’s supreme achievement in comedy. It is also one of his most popular and frequently produced plays. George Bernard Shaw, who hated Shakespeare, descr…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:02PM
Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Review: ‘Hamlet’ at Aquila Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

Straight Outta Denmark Hamlet has a storied history, and the title role is one of the greatest in Shakespeare. It is also universally parodied:  the BBC’s 60 Second Shakespeare tabloid re…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 11:37AM
Monday, October 23, 2017

Review: ‘Digital Eye: Interactive Event Merging Theater Explores Privacy in the Digital Age’ at Blind Whino SW Arts Club by Sophia Howes

 Big Brother Really, Really Likes You Your online identity does not belong to you. Digital Eye, a transatlantic theater project that was presented Monday and Tuesday, October 16-17, at Blin…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 12:15PM
Friday, October 20, 2017

Dangereuse: ‘Emilie’ by Lauren Gunderson at WSC Avant Bard by Sophia Howes

Emilie Our Contemporary Emilie du Châtelet, scientist, mathematician, lover of Voltaire, genius, is a perfect example of the power of women in the 18th century and today. Many of the chall…

SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 02:38PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards