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.

Of Most Rare Note

Can a working actor get famous in one of Shakespeare's least-famous plays? In this week's Washington City Paper, available wherever finer alt-weeklies are given away gratis, I profile the hardworking and versatile titan of stage and stage Mr. Ian Merrill Peakes. He's currently appearing in the Folger Theatre's Timon of Athens, the "Hey Bulldog" of the Shakespearean canon.

We Can Do This Like Brutus: Julius Caesar and How We Got On, reviewed.

Thony Mena, Kashayna Johnson, Manu Kumasi, and Alina Collins Maldonado in Forum's How We Got On. (Noe Todorovich)

Louis Butelli and Anthony Cochrane in Julius Caesar. (Jeff Malet)

My reviews of Folger Theatre's Julius Caesar and Forum Theatre's production of Idris Goodwin's How We Got On are in today's Washington City Paper.

The Motherfucker with the Limp: Folger's Richard III, reviewed.

Drew Cortese is a supervillain for the ages. (Jeff Malet)

No one was more excited than I was when the Folger Theatre announced that Drew Cortese -- a standout player from Studio's The Motherfucker with the Hat last year -- would play Richard III. The show is good, but not the radical reinvention I'd hoped it might be.  Read all about it in today’s Washington City Paper.

Wrecks & Effects: Folger's Twelfth Night and Taffety Punk's The Golem, reviewed.

(Scott Suchman/Folger Theatre)​

No, Elvis Costello has not embarked upon a mandolin tour with Steve Nieve. That's Louis Butelli as Feste, whose performance is one of the highlights of the Folger Theatre's new production of Twelfth Night, which I review in today's Washington City Paper along with Taffety Punk's spooky The Golem. Grab yourself a copy wherever finer alt-weeklies are given away for free.