OPENING THIS MONTH
Olney Theatre artistic director Jason Loewith helms this production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the 1961 Frank Loesser musical about an ambitious window washer who sets his sights on corporate glory. Through February 23.
Through February 23 at Theater J, Natsu Onoda Power directs Yellow Face, David Henry Hwang’s 2007 comedy about a playwright named David Henry Hwang who protests when a white actor is cast as an Asian in the musical Miss Saigon but who is then flummoxed when an actor he casts in an Asian role in one of his plays turns out to be white.
Drew Cortese (Studio’s The Motherf**ker With the Hat) returns to Washington to play Richard III at the Folger Theatre. Robert Richmond directs Shakespeare’s drama about the malfeasances of the British monarch. Through March 9.
Kathleen Turner stars as Bertolt Brecht’s battle-ax heroine attempting to survive war and personal loss in Mother Courage and Her Children, running January 31 through March 9 at Arena Stage. Molly Smith directs.
Swinging through the National Theatre February 4 through 9 is Stomp. The percussive-theater show—coming up on 23 years old—has spent the last decade playing in a new theater in Las Vegas, the Sydney Opera House, and the closing ceremony of the London Olympics.
February 5 through 23, Cultural DC presents Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days at the Mead Theater Lab. Director Jess Jung puts a contemporary spin on the surreal show about a woman buried in a dirt.
February 5 through March 2, Round House Theatre presents Seminar. The Hollywood Reporter called Theresa Rebeck’s 2011 play about a writing seminar in New York City “tight, witty, and consistently entertaining.”
Woolly Mammoth stages the epically titled We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South-West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915. One of the New York Times’ top ten plays of 2012, it features six actors telling the story of an African tribe targeted by colonialists. February 10 through March 9.
February 13 through March 9, Spooky Action Theatre presents The Wedding Dress. Rebecca Holderness directs the show by Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues.
February 18 through 23, Signature Theatre stages the world premiere of Beaches, a musical by Iris Rainer Dart, David Austin, and Thom Thomas based on Dart’s novel about two unlikely friends (it also spawned a film starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey).
In An Evening With Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin, the two Broadway veterans grace the Kennedy Center with their god-given voices. Do you need to know more? February 18 through 23.
American Idiot comes to the National Theatre February 18 through 23. The punk-rock opera about disaffected youth in Middle America—based on the 2004 album by Green Day—was called “kinetically entertaining” by the Los Angeles Times and received a Tony nomination for Best Musical.
At Forum Theatre, artistic director Michael Dove directs Pluto, Steve Yockey’s play about a mother trying to have a normal day in the face of supernatural occurrences. February 20 through March 15.
February 20 through March 16, Washington Stage Guild presents Back to Methuselah, George Bernard Shaw’s early science-fiction work looking at the span of human life on earth.
The IN Series presents The Cole Porter Project February 22 through March 9. The show pays tribute to the American songwriter, known for such standards as “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “I Get a Kick Out of You.”
ONGOING/LAST CHANCE
Impossible! A Happenstance Circus is at Round House Silver Spring through February 9.
The Old Masters is at Washington Stage Guild through February 9.
Peter and the Starcatcher continues at the Kennedy Center through February 16.
Constellation Theatre’s Scapin continues at Source through February 16.
The Tallest Tree in the Forest is at Arena Stage through February 16. Read our review.
Twelfth Night is at Synetic Theater through February 16. Read our review.
Glassheart is at Rorschach Theatre through February 16. Read our review.
The Best Man is at Keegan Theatre through February 22.
Violet is at Ford’s Theatre through February 23. Read our review.
Tribes is at Studio Theatre through March 2. Read our review.
The Importance of Being Earnest is at Shakespeare Theatre through March 9. Read our review.
Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song is at MetroStage through March 16. Read our review.
