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.

I Don't Think You're Ready for This Vile Jelly: King Lear and Spark, reviewed.

Joseph Marcell and Bethan Cullinane in King Lear (Ellie Kurttz).

My review of the Globe Theater's stripped-down touring production of King Lear -- the play that inspired Ira Glass to proclaim "Shakespeare sucks"! -- is in today's Washington City Paper. I also reviewed Theatre Alliance's production of Caridad Svich's Spark.

FURTHER READING: I reviewed Synetic Theatre's wordless King Lear in 2011. And I interviewed Ira Glass, who was and remains one of my heroes, in April 2008.

Out of Her Tree: Enter Ophelia, distracted, reviewed.

Erin White, Katie Murphy, Kimberly Gilbert, and Eleni Grove in Enter Ophelia, distracted. Photo by Teresa Castracane.

I reviewed the great Kimberly Gilbert's passion project Enter Ophelia, distracted, for the Washington City Paper this week.

Planet Bard: NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage, reviewed.

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Kevin Spacey and Annabel Scholey in the Bridge Theatre Project's Richard III.

Over on The Dissolve today, I review the documentary-with-pretentious-title NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage, about the Bridge Theatre Project's globetrotting Sam Mendes-directed, Kevin Spacey-starring Richard III.

I couldn't use this in my review, but it demonstrates the Herculean rigor of my research and/or how much of my own time I'm willing to waste: In one of the film's performance clips we hear Spacey conclude a speech, “Counting myself but bad ‘til I be best.” I just saw Richard III at the Folger Theater a few months back (here's my review), and I didn't remember that line. Turns out it belongs to Richard III but comes from Henry VI, Part 3, suggesting Mendes & Co. incorporated some material from other plays into their text, a common practice. The film never mentions they did it, though.

Minutes after we watch Spacey do the line in performance, we see a rehearsal clip where he delivers it in a dead-on impersonation of President Clinton.

The Prince of Wails: Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, reviewed.

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Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Edward Gero in Henry IV, Part 1.

That's Edward Gero as King Henry IV. I found out only the other day he was in Die Hard 2: Die Harder, a film I loved in 1990 but which has not aged as well as Die Hard or even Die Hard with a Vengeance. I probably didn't talk about him enough in my tangled but enthusiastic Washington City Paper review of both parts of the Shakespeare Theatre's Company's new, Michael Kahn-directed repertory of Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2.

The Chimes at Midnight, Orson Welles' 1965 compression of the Henriad, which I probably spent too much real estate on in the review, is officially, criminally out-of-print, but you can watch it in its entirety for the time being on YouTube. Do.

The Life Despotic with Drew Cortese

Cortese and Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan as Lady Anne (Jeff Malet/Folger)

Richard Sheridan Willis as Lord Stanley (Jeff Malet/Folger)

I didn't know Drew Cortese until I saw him in The Motherfucker with the Hat at Studio Theatre this time last year, but the performance made a powerful impression. He's in Richard III at the Folger Theatre now. We talked about roads not taken and being the bad guy for a piece in today's Washington City Paper.

All photos by Jeff Malet, courtesy Folger Theatre.

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.