Magic & Loss; Round House Theater's "The Tempest," reviewed.

Nate Dendy, Eric Hissom, and Meagan Graves in an illusion-spiked The Tempest. (Scott Suchman)

The Vegas-birthed production of The Tempest at Round House Theatre through mid-January has plenty to recommend it: jaw-dropping stage illusions, haunting Tom Waits songs, a truly beastly Caliban performed by two actors sweating in tandem. Co-adapters Aaron Posner and Teller have had to do some clear-cutting to make room for all this good stuff, but it’s a fair trade, says I, in my Washington City Paper review.

Love, American Style: Folger's "The Merry Wives of Windsor," reviewed.

The cast of Aaron Posner’s ERA-era Merry Wives dances the night away. (Cameron Whitman)

The new bellbottoms-era Merry Wives is your last chance to see Aaron Posner direct some of his (and my) favorite actors—and some welcome new faces—at the scheduled-for-renovation Folger Theater for two years. Would’ve been even groovier sans intermission, but it’s fun. Here’s my Washington City Paper review.

When They Stop Looking at Us: "Fairview," reviewed.

Chinna Palmer in the Woolly Mammoth production of Jacke Sibblies Drury’s Fairview. (Teresa Castracane)

When I saw Woolly Mammoth Theater Company's production of Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present... in 2014, it was the worst show I'd ever seen. Five-and-a-half years later, it still is. So to say that I liked Woolly's production of Fairview, Drury's Pulitzer Prize-winner that made its debut last year, better than her previous work is of little value. But I liked it a lot. I appreciated it, more like.

I do understand that my approval is not required. It never is. My Washington City Paper review is here.

The Once and Future Prince: Botticelli in the Fire, reviewed.

Jon Hudson Odom and Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan (Scott Suchman)

Canuck Renaissance Man Jordan Tannahill's Renaissance fantasy Botticelli in the Fire is the quintessence of what several speakers at Monday night's tribute to retiring Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company co-founder Howard Shalwtiz referred to as "a Woolly play." I tend to like those, and this one I happened to love. Here's my Washington City Paper review.

Rome, If You Want To: Folger’s Antony and Cleopatra, reviewed.

Robbie Gay, Cody Nickell, Nigel Gore, Chris Genebach, and Anthony Michael Martinez as Roman soldiers. (Teresa Wood)

My Shakespeare professor at James Madison University, Ralph Cohen, told us Antony and Cleopatra was his favorite Shakespeare play. Robert Richmond's new production for the Folger Theatre, with Cody Nickell and Shirine Babb in the title roles, took me back to my salad days. I reviewed the show in this week's Washington City Paper. Individual issues are free but the paper is currently for sale. It's all very confusing.

Storm Front: Baby Screams Miracle, reviewed.

Kate Eastwood Norris and Cody Nickell pray together. (Scott Suchman/Woolly Mammoth)

On Baby Screams Miracle, a 2013 play by Clare Barron at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, directed by Woolly founder Howard Shalwitz.

There're Two Things About Mary: The Widow Lincoln and Mary Stuart, reviewed.

Mary Bacon & Caroline Clay as Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley in The Widow Lincoln.

My reviews of The Widow Lincoln, a world premiere play from writer James Still at Ford's Theatre, and of the Folger Theatre's new production of Mary Stuart, are in tomorrow's Washington City Paper, and also right here.

FURTHER READING: My review of Still's prior Lincoln play for Ford's, The Heavens Are Hung in Black, from 2009. And my 2010 review of WSC Avant Bard's Mary Stuart.

It Takes a Lotta Gull: Stupid Fucking Bird, reviewed

The A-List: Cody Nickell, Kate Eastwood Norris, Kimberly Gilbert and Rick Foucheux in Stupid Fucking Bird.

Of the stage productions that've moved me most in the five years or so that I've been semi-professionally paying attention to theatre in DC, a suspiciously high percentage of those have been directed by Aaron Posner. (His 2009 version of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Folger Theatre remains my favorite thing that I've ever seen in a playhouse.)

Posner is the playwright, not the director, of Stupid Fucking Bird, his-flippant-but-faithful rejiggering of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, which opened at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company this weekend. (Woolly Mammoth founder Howard Shalwitz is its director.) The result is pretty goddamn delightful, as I aver in today's Washington City Paper, available wherever finer alt-weeklies are given away for free.