Actually, "Frankenstein" is the name of the asshole

Rebecca S’manga Frank and Nick Westrate create a monster. (DJ Corey Photography)

At Shakespeare Theatre Company, Emily Burns updates Mary Shelley’s 200-year-old monster mash for the tech oligarch age. My Washington City Paper review is here.

"We Are Gathered" to witness a real, legal marriage at Arena Stage

Kyle Beltran and Nic Ashe in We Are Gathered, a play that accompanies their characters’ fictional marriage with real ones. (T Charles Erickson)

I spent a beautifuly day with Jean Yoder and Rhys Price, who got married on stage in the finale of a performance of Arena Stage’s We Are Gathered. My Washington Post feature about their wedding day is here.

Balcony Scene: "John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only!"

Ben Ahlers as John Wilkes Booth in Baltimore. (J. Fannon Photography)

My Washington Post review of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner’s world-premiere play John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only! is here. Read it if you dare, you sockdologizing old man-trap!

Reactive Cultures: "Akira Kurosawa Explains," reviewed.

The assembled Kurosawas of Akira Kurosawa Explains. Creator Julia Izumi is on the right. (Cameron Whitman)

Did playwright/performer Julia Izumi really create a show about or at least named after Akira Kurosawa having seen only one of the legendary filmmaker's 30 movies?

I saw it, and I'm still not sure. For the Washington Post.

A Walk on the Wild Side: "Hedwig," reviewed.

Sawyer Smith is Singature’s new Hedwig. (Daniel Rader)

I reviewed Signature Theatre’s new revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It’s the whole nine yards! 324 angry inches! Check my math!

Prude Mechanicals, or Pore Newland Is Daid: Arena's "The Age of Innocence," reviewed.

An Archer misses the target. Shereen Ahmed and A.J. Shively in The Age of Innocence. (Daniel Rader)

Another Gilded Age, another pandemic. The time is right for another look at The Age of Innocence, more now than in 1993, when Martin Scorsese made his marvelous film of Edith Wharton’s 1920 novel. Turning in into a movie made sense. And putting it on stage? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it might’ve worked better as a musical.

My full Washington Post review is here.

Cop Show: Studio's "The Scenarios," reviewed.

Joel Ashur and Sarin Monae West in Matthew Capodicasa’s The Scenarios. (Margot Schulman)

My review of The Scenarios, a compact and brilliant new play by Matthew Capodicasa, is in the Washington Post.

"Guac," reviewed.

I struggled with Guac, anti-gun-violence activist Manuel Oliver’s tribute to his son Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, who was one of seventeen people murdered in Parkland school shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. My Washington City Paper review is here.