"Macbeth," in Fiennes form

Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma as M and Lady M. (Marc Brenner)

Hype Check: There’s nothing about the Ralph Fiennes-anchored, “found” spaces Macbeth that couldn’t have happened on on the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s home court on F St. NW but it’s still a great opportunity to see 007’s boss M (!) offer a more comic take on a part 007 played only two years ago, as I aver in yer now-paperless Washington City Paper.

I have no memory of seeing this prior, contemporary-warzone-set STC Macbeth — 2017 was about 25 years ago — but evidently I didn’t like it.

Intimate Apparel: STC's "The Panties, the Profit, and The Partner," reviewed.

Kevin Isola takes a liberty with Kimberly Gilbert in The Panties. (Carol Rosegg)

For your Washington City Paper, I reviewed The Panties, the Profit, and the Purse—a series of linked David Ives comedies adapted, with shrinking fidelity, from a trilogy by the 19th century German social critic Carl Sternheim. That sounds awfully highbrow, doesn't it? Ives is better at farce than at satire, and the show is a better document of what he likes than what he thinks. I liked it, but I'd like it more if Ives would—in the words of the 21st century social critic Boots Riley—"Sho[his]Ass." As it were.

Merciless Flight: STC's Twelfth Night, reviewed.

Hannah Yelland and Paul Deo, Jr. as Olivia and Sebastian (Scott Suchman)

Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespeare play. The Shakespeare Theatre Company's Ethan McSweeny-directed production is cleverly staged on a set made to resemble an airport, but it left me cold. In my Washington City Paper review, I try to unpack why.

Visions of Diana: King Charles III and I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, reviewed.

I'm putting y'all on notice: My reviews of King Charles III—Mike Bartlett's marvelous blank verse political drama at the Shakespeare Theatre—and Studio Theatre's world premiere production of Morgan Gould's I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart are in this week's Washington City Paper.

The Man Trap: STC's The Taming of the Shrew and Mosaic Theatre's When January Feels Like Summer, reviewed.

Maulik Pancholy as Katherina and Peter Gadiot as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. (Scott Suchman)

The cast and audience at the intermezzo of The Taming of the Shrew. (Scott Suchman)

Rick Hammerly as the Contessa, Peter Gadiot as Petruchio, Maulik Pancholy as Katherina, and Oliver Thornton as Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. (Scott Suchman) 

Lynette Rathnam and Jason B. McIntosh in When January Feels Like Summer. (Stan Barouh)

Vaughn Ryan Midder and Jeremy Keith Hunter in When January Feels Like Summer. (Stan Barouh)

Shravan Amin and Jeremy Keith Hunter in When January Feels Like Summer. (Stan Barouh)

Directors have reckoned with the misogyny of The Taming of the Shrew in many ways. Ed Sylvanus Iskandar's fix — cast only men, and let the female characters express themselves via covers of old songs from Duncan Sheik, a man — is at least, and most, strange. I review Iskandar's perplexing boys-only Shakespeare Theatre Company Shrew in today's Washington City Paper.

Also reviewed: Mosaic Theatre of DC's When January Feels Like Summer, a shaky play featuring a rock-steady cast. Jeremy Keith Hunter apparently had a small role in Studio Theatre's Chimerica, a show I loved last year, but I don't remember him from that. He's brilliant in January, though.

Totalitarian Recall: 1984 and The Pillowman, reviewed.

Jim Jorgensen, Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, and Bradley Foster Smith in The Pillowman (Forum).

My reviews of the British theatre collective Headlong's adaptation of George Orwell's 1984, and Forum Theatre's new staging of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman, are in today's Washington City Paper.

Here's the trailer the 1984 Michael Radford's version of 1984 that I mention I saw at an impressionable age. I can't imagine ever saying this in any other context, but the Eurythmics soundtrack was not a good idea.

Less Is Moor: Othello, reviewed.

Screen veteran Faran Tahir in Othello at The Shakespeare Theatre. (Scott Suchman)

I reviewed the Shakespeare Theatre Company's new Ron Daniels-directed Othello, starring Jinn's Faran Tahir as the Moor of Venice, for the Washington City Paper. Jonno Roberts' Iago is the best reason to go.

Heal Thyself: The Critic and The Real Inspector Hound, reviewed.

The cast of The Real Inspector Hound (Scott Suchman/Shakespeare Theatre Co.)

I couldn't make the Monday-night press premiere of Shakespeare Theatre Company's twofer of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Critic and Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound last week, as I am teaching the Sweet Science on Monday nights this season. But I caught up with the show later in the week and my Washington City Paper review went up this afternoon. Stoppard's play, especially, makes the pain of hackery burn more than usual.