Good grammar is essential to the D.C. judicial history lesson that is 'Trying' by Celia Wren

Joanna McClelland Glass's 2004 play gets an intimate, workmanlike production from 1st Stage.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 5:24pm on September 25, 2019[SHARE]

In this Kit Kat Klub, there's a little less sleaze but just enough sizzle by Celia Wren

"Cabaret" at Olney Theatre Center captures a society's disastrous and willful moral myopia.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:54pm on September 4, 2019[SHARE]

Lynn Nottage's comic 'Fabulation' maps a slide down the social ladder by Celia Wren

As a fallen P.R. star, actress Felicia Curry drives the satire.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:06pm on August 28, 2019[SHARE]

In 'Volta,' Cirque du Soleil riffs on street sports by Celia Wren

Great visual beauty trumps mysterious wispy narrative.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:48pm on July 29, 2019[SHARE]

Jane Hawkins takes center stage in Synetic's reimagined 'Treasure Island' by Celia Wren

The action-driven troupe adapts Robert Louis Stevenson's classic.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:12pm on July 24, 2019[SHARE]

A little earnest absurdism about bodily functions goes a long way in the Welders' 'LadyM' by Celia Wren

New show implies that the stigmatization of menstruation is part of a broader tradition of oppressing women.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:42pm on July 16, 2019[SHARE]

Too much monotone in 'Bright Colors' at Studio Theatre by Celia Wren

The one-man rant is admittedly funny, but too often feels like a single overstretched idea.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:48pm on July 15, 2019[SHARE]

Anxious men and other world-builders at CATF 2019 by Celia Wren

This year's edition of the nationally renowned Contemporary American Theater Festival in West Virginia features six works, including four world premieres.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:18pm on July 9, 2019[SHARE]

Angst and comedy among the Olympians in 'Pantheon' by Celia Wren

Happenstance Theater stages a rewarding, if not entirely flawless, riff on Greek mythology at Joe's Movement Emporium.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 1:36pm on June 24, 2019[SHARE]

'Prufrock' puts a new dance spin on T.S. Eliot by Celia Wren

A director and a choreographer stage a landmark modernist poem.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:48am on June 13, 2019[SHARE]

No shoo-in success for two new plays about female artists by Celia Wren

The play "#solestories" is flawed but displays ingenuity and vigor that are lacking in "Gwen & Ida."

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:24pm on June 12, 2019[SHARE]

Greek tragedy continues to have its moment in fierce new keys by Celia Wren

'Klytmnestra' and 'Fragments of Sappho' riff anew on ancient tales.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 4:24pm on May 28, 2019[SHARE]

'Sooner/Later' weaves rom-com premise into bittersweet family portrait by Celia Wren

Local writer Allyson Currin's play is often funny, ultimately moving and occasionally slack.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:42pm on May 22, 2019[SHARE]

'On Display' movement installation examines body image by Celia Wren

"We make decisions together," choreographer says of artists with and without disabilities.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:24am on May 16, 2019[SHARE]

'On Air' at Creative Cauldron is a tuneful, engaging tour through little-known history by Celia Wren

The new musical is based on the real-life couple who launched America's first radio station.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:42pm on May 15, 2019[SHARE]

'Member of the Wedding' is Southern Gothic looking for flavor by Celia Wren

1st Stage revives Carson McCullers's tale of an awkward adolescence.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:33pm on May 14, 2019[SHARE]

'Fame the Musical' gets an added Latin accent by Celia Wren

Dreamers will be central to Luis Salgado's new production at GALA Hispanic Theatre.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:06am on May 2, 2019[SHARE]

Constellation Theatre conjures up a sensory-rich 'White Snake' by Celia Wren

But at Faction of Fools, a slapstick murder mystery falls flat.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:06pm on May 1, 2019[SHARE]

'Native Son' gets a 90-minute stage adaptation, with a Black Rat in Bigger's ear by Celia Wren

The 1940 novel boils down into a fever dream.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:25pm on April 3, 2019[SHARE]

'Columbinus,' re-creating the 1999 Colorado high school shooting, remains disturbingly relevant by Celia Wren

Incisive performances define the play, which was drawn from interviews.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:00pm on April 1, 2019[SHARE]

Suzan-Lori Parks's 'Topdog/Underdog' gets a sharp revival by Celia Wren

Two black actors play brothers named Lincoln (for the president) and Booth (the assassin).

SOURCE: Washington Post at 2:40pm on March 21, 2019[SHARE]

The Yiddish classic 'The Jewish Queen Lear' gets an English debut at Theater J by Celia Wren

A once-popular adaptation finds its way back to the stage.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 10:52am on March 14, 2019[SHARE]

A plot that twists on Rembrandt and a rhino by Celia Wren

Playwright Heather McDonald returns: 'It's a lot easier to emerge than reemerge.'

SOURCE: Washington Post at 11:01am on March 7, 2019[SHARE]

Two plays set at the intersection of race and violence in America by Celia Wren

'Blood at the Root' examines strife at a high school; 'Twilight' takes place amid the 1992 L.A. riots.

SOURCE: Washington Post at 3:13pm on March 5, 2019[SHARE]

New Joe Calarco drama 'Separate Rooms' debuts at emerging 4615 Theatre by Celia Wren

Good acting fleshes out a premiere from the author of "Shakespeare's R&J."

SOURCE: Washington Post at 12:24pm on February 28, 2019[SHARE]