Shakespeare Theatre Co. Play, in a Dupont Tavern

National Theatre of Scotland’s production of The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart. Photo by Drew Farrell.

This is pretty cool: the District's own Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) will be hosting a play set in a tavern, in a tavern. Yes, as in the play will be performed, for its entire run, inside of an actual tavern. 

The National Theatre of Scotland’s production of The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart will be performed at Dupont's Bier Baron Tavern. If you don't recognize the venue, it was formerly named Brickskellar, known for its rather extensive beer list. 

The STC has its own stellar venues downtown; Lansburgh Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall. But, this venture into the city seems like a win-win: the alternative space will act as a challenge for the actors with the potential of drawing new theater fans through the venue.

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart will run at Bier Baron from November 13 - December 9, 2012. Bier Barron is located at 1523 22nd Street NW. This is a pub, so if you decide to purchase tickets, remember to carry your ID; everyone's carded upon entry. Under 21? Bring a parent or guardian. And yes, adults can enjoy an adult beverage during the show.

Extracurriculars Make The Vibrator Play

Eric Hissom, Katie deBuys and Kimberly Gilbert

In the Next Room or the vibrator play is classic Woolly Mammoth.  I think they'd say the same if you asked them.  The title is quite literal; the set is predicated on two distinct rooms in a house, one of which serves as a doctor's office serving "hysterical" women.  It's a period play set just after the widespread use of electricity paved the way for heaps of inventions, including the electric vibrator.  

But it's the extra programming that make the production.  Woolly has added some neat programs to compliment the Tony nominated play (Best Play).  In the Next Room was written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Aaron Posner.  The production covers themes outside of sexuality, including relationships, marriage, commitment, motherhood, death, women's issues and race issues. 

The extras include ongoing and one-time events.  I missed last night's Audience Salon discussion with Amanda Hess and Zack Rosen.  Anyone make that?  Here are some of the other audience engagement pieces offered by Woolly:

Girls Night Out: TONIGHT!  At the theater.  Ladies, this pre-show happy hour is for you.  The folks from Passion Parties will be there, you can meet some of the cast and, if you get lucky, go home wiiiiiiiith.... a new toy.  Not a boy toy.  A toy.  Probably battery powered.

Secret Desires: Ongoing. There is a little black box right next to the snack bar.  Anyone can anonymously drop a note inside the bar revealing their, well, secret desires. I mean, people are taking this literally.  There were some crazy ones on the board at the showing I attended.  Here are a few samples.  

Post Show Discussions:  September 5 (3pm show), September 9 (8pm show) and September 12 (3pm show). An all inclusive discussion of the show --production, plot conventions and themes-- with other audience  members and Woolly staff and artists.

Antique Vibrator Display: Ongoing.  Courtesy of New York's Museum of Sex (yes, there is such a thing) the theater is displaying several antique vibrators.  Not sure what my first impression was, but let's just say I couldn't imagine any of these machines relieving anyone of any ailment... maybe creating some ailments, but not getting rid of them.  

In the Next Room or the vibrator play runs through September 26. Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is located at 641 D Street NW in downtown DC.

Have at it.  And enjoy!

Clybourne Park Deals With Familiar Issues

I had a wonderful opportunity to see a production of Clybourne Park as performed by the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Woolly Mammoth is a homegrown theater company, now in its 30th season. They are located in a beautiful, new (oh, about 5 years old?) facility on D Street NW between 6th and 7th.

Clybourne Park is the current production and it has apparently been so popular they are extending the run into mid-April. I attended a mid week show and there appeared to be just a handful of seats unfilled.

The play delineates the often artificially masked, but always obvious tensions of race, class, economics and housing which were present in post-war, 1950s America. This happened in cities all over the United States. As non-whites were eventually able to move into all white neighborhoods, white residents reacted in various ways from resistance, confusion, reluctant acceptance, encouragement and everything in between. Clybourne Park smartly illustrates this real life struggle through the eyes of fictional, but 'gosh darn they could have been plucked right out of the 50s' characters. Not at all predictable, but rooted in real history.

The second act advances to present day in the same neighborhood. Although now the neighborhood --having become predominately non-white-- faces what essentially qualify as the same issues, when a white couple is able and willing to move in. The scenarios present in the 1950s and the 2010s are analogous, but not identical. The play explores each time period on its own accord and holds the audience in high regard in that manner. We get to decide how we want to deal with the events of the play. Not be preached to.

Woven through the two acts are other seemingly mundane issues of neighborhood covenants (explicit and implicit), zoning, law, home economics and social norms. But as we know in hyper-politicized DC, those issues are neither mundane nor unimportant. Add to that a fantastic framing element which grounds the story and ensures that whatever debate happens after the play, there will always be a common ground for viewers to walk upon.

So, the question: Is Mount Pleasant Clybourne Park? Wow. I feel supremely unqualified to answer that question, but also supremely qualified to give my opinion based on my experiences. Living here for the better part of a decade, yes, I have been fortunate enough to see the changes, good and regrettable in the neighborhood during that time period. Neighborhood building is a process. An unyielding and omnipresent process. Change happens whether we plan for it or not.

And.... well, tune in tomorrow for the rest of the answer.

No seriously, I'm saving the rest for tomorrow. So, come back and read it. Feel free to give your thoughts in the comments below though.

Union Station 9 Closed

The Union Station Theaters are closed. As of October 12. The move had been planned for quite a while but I was still surprised to finally see the yellow tape and semi-destruction going on behind the glass doors. The theatres were sold to Phoenix in 2005 when the original owners (AMC + Lowes) merged and were forced to sell off some theatres for approval.

Looks like the biggest loss will be for the National Community Church. The NCC (which runs Ebenezers Coffee) had used the church for Sunday service for 13 years. The closing also means that Northwest is now the only quadrant with a first run, commercial movie theatre.

I tried watching a movie there several times with the last being the LOTR: Return of the King, on it's its first week of release. During the move, at a pivotal moment, the lights went up and the movie went off. There was a fire alarm going sounding. We all exited, orderly-like, and learned the culprit halfway down the hallway; an overworked popcorn maker had overheated and smoked the place out. Fine, it happens. Half hour later, we're back in the theatre, but that break sort of killed the flow. And also made seeing that movie a near-four hour experience. That was the last time I saw a movie at Union Station. Not soon after, the massive Regal Gallery Place theatres opened and was much closer for people living in Mount Pleasant.

Free Shakespeare at Harman

What was popularly known as Shakespeare in the Park carries on in 2009, but this time the setting is inside: at the Sidney Harman Hall in Penn Quarter. Once a year the Shakespeare Theatre Company produces a show at no cost to patrons. This is the event which used to be held way up on 16th Street NW at Carter Baron Amphitheater. It's free for the general public. Anyone; you me, your kids, neighbors or your mother-in-law. Who ever. Enter the theatre and see a full on, A-list production at no cost. The Free For All (the official name) is one of the best mid-summer treats for us Washingtonians. I feel fortunate! Not every city has it this good.

This year's production is The Taming of the Shrew. If you don't remember the CliffNotes version of this play (I know you didn't real the whole thing in high school), here's another brief synopsis. There will be no less than 21 free shows put on by the company. The fist was last night and the final performance will be on September 12th. For the entire schedule, click here. Tickets are available on at the box office of Harman Hall (610 F Street NW), beginning two hours before the show. Last night the line stretched around the corner onto 6th Street almost making it to E Street; more than a block long. And that was before 5:30.

Tomorrow there is an extra reason to go downtown. The STC is putting on a family fun fair from 10:00am-5:00pm. There will be activities for the little ones like getting your photo taken with the Bard, crafting, games, giveaways and other demonstrations. In a bid to recreate the picnic atmosphere of past Free for Alls, you'll be can bring your own food and camp out on the west lawn of the National Building Museum, just another block down on F Street. With 21 performances, I'll be sure to get to one. I've yet to visit Harman and can't pass up a FREE chance to do so. See you there!

Capital Fringe Fest '09, With Mount Pleasant Links

The Capital Fringe Festival starts today! The annual headfirst dive into DC's thriving DIY theatre, music and arts scenes comes at the perfect time. Muggy summer days, slow news cycle, vacation time abound, plenty of unseen but accomplished talent; all motivation to get yourself inside one of the venues over the next two weeks. The Capital Fringe Festival runs from July 9 until July 26. Most of the venues are in Mt Vernon Triangle, and one is in Penn Quarter. All easy walks from the 42 bus.

One of the more intriguing looking offerings actually has a Mount Pleasant link. Cover Me In Humanness is a 60 minute dramatic production by The Zoo Project. Neighborhood resident Meghan Nesmith is part of the company and acts in the production. Cover Me... was written by Jake Jeppson and directed by Caitlin Dennis, who also took the accompanying photo of Meghan (as Beth).

A teaser for Cover Me... from The Zoo Project: In the National Gallery, a statue stirs. Everything changes when this ancient voice begs to be freed and a quiet girl stops being quiet. Four hearts murmur through air thick with technological chirps and Footloose in this mysterious new one-act.

Cover Me... will be performed at REDRUM at Fort Fringe (aka 612 L Street NW). I believe there are 5 shows, beginning tonight:

Thursday, July 9 at 5:00pm
Friday, July 10 at 5:45pm

Sunday, July 12 at 12:00pm

Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30pm

Saturday, July 25 at 2:30pm

We all knew that us Mount Pleasant types tend to be motivated, talented and a little forward. Present company excluded! Or maybe I mean included. Anyway, there are a lot of offerings form the Fringe Festival this year, so why not support some of the artists by having your first Cap Fringe Fest event be one featuring a truly local one. Here are some of my other picks for the festival, all part of the FAST music series:

July 11: DYNAMITE/LAZERBEAM: AN EVENING OF DC DJ CULTURE

July 12: RADAR JAMMING: AN EVENING WITH SOCKETS RECORDS

July 24: GHOST LIGHTNING: AN EVENING OF AMBIENT/NOISE

July 25: GRIM & GRIT: AN EVENING OF GRITTY ROCK & METAL

Full Cap Fringe Fest available here. Enjoy.