EVENT CATEGORIES
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ART
Oct. 5 to 31
Interface: A Cross-Genre Exploration
Mixed-media works by Korean artists Gene Kim, Seung Yun Shin and Seungjo Jeong parse our everyday digital media frontier where communications — between users and systems, objects and images, or memories and mechanics — are increasingly complex. Showcasing about 20 diverse works that mix genres and experiment with new forms, Kim, Shin and Jeong attempt to break down the traditional artistic expression framework. Each confronts familiar challenges of modern life, often stemming from the onslaught of technological change: distinguishing what is real from copies or images from actual objects, translating one’s memories into digital formats, or simply recognizing the function of specialized devices and their components. These artists try to engage with viewers on these issues by reminding us of easy-to-overlook core principles that remain constant, such as environment, nature and the individual.
Korean Cultural Center
Oct. 6 to Jan. 6
Churchill’s Shakespeare
A towering leader during World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was also a lifelong admirer of Shakespeare. Compelling materials from Cambridge’s Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill’s home Chartwell, and the Folger collection show the man himself and trace Shakespeare’s influence on his speeches and ideas.
Folger Shakespeare Library
Oct. 14 to Jan. 13
Nordic Impressions
“Nordic Impressions” is a major survey of Nordic art spanning nearly 200 years and presenting 53 artists from Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as the self-governing islands of Åland, Faroe and Greenland. The exhibition celebrates the incredible artistic diversity of Nordic art, from idealized paintings of the distinctive Nordic light and untouched landscape to melancholic portraits in quiet interiors and mesmerizing video works that explore the human condition.
The Phillips Collection
Through Oct. 14
Collection of the Art Museum of the Americas
The OAS AMA | Art Museum of the Americas announces the second in a series of exhibitions accompanying “Collection of the Art Museum of the Americas of the Organization of American States, curated by Adriana Ospina. Initiated five years ago, the project aims to rethink the study of the historical and cultural legacy of the Art Museum of the Americas, beginning with a comprehensive catalogue of the permanent collection. The catalogue highlights key pieces of the AMA art collection, representing fundamental artistic trends that have developed in Latin America, including new figuration, geometric and lyrical abstraction, conceptual art, optical and kinetic art. Over the years, the museum has provided valuable support in the expansion of the academic field of modern and contemporary art of Latin America and the Caribbean in the United States.
OAS Art Museum of the Americas
Oct. 14 to Jan. 20
The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy
Chiaroscuro woodcuts — color prints made from the successive printing of multiple blocks — flourished in 16th-century Italy, interpreting designs by leading masters such as Raphael, Parmigianino and Titian, while boasting extraordinary craft and their own often striking palette.
National Gallery of Art
Oct. 24 to Sept. 29
Good as Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women
In the cities of the West African nation of Senegal, stylish women have often used jewelry as part of an overall strategy of exhibiting their elegance and prestige. Rooted in the Wolof concept of sañse (dressing up, looking and feeling good), “Good as Gold” examines the production, display, and circulation of gold in Senegal as it celebrates a significant gift of gold jewelry to the National Museum of African Art’s collection.
National Museum of African Art
Oct. 24 to May 20, 2020
Waterfall
The Hirshhorn presents the largest site-specific exhibition to date by the acclaimed abstract painter Pat Steir. An expansive new suite of the artist’s signature “Waterfall” paintings spans the entire perimeter of the museum’s second-floor inner-circle galleries, extending nearly 400 linear feet. The 28 large-scale paintings, when presented together as a group, will create an immense color wheel that shifts hues with each painting, with the pours on each canvas often appearing in the complementary hue of the monochrome background.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through Nov. 12
Mark Bradford: Pickett’s Charge
For his first solo exhibition in D.C., acclaimed artist Mark Bradford debuts a monumental site-specific commission inspired by Paul Philippoteaux’s 1883 cyclorama depicting the Battle of Gettysburg. Covering the curved walls of the Hirshhorn’s Third Level Inner Circle, “Pickett’s Charge” presents 360 degrees of abstracted historical narrative.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through Nov. 18
Recovered Memories: Spain and the Support for the American Revolution
“Recovered Memories” showcases Spain’s support for the American colonies prior to and during the Revolutionary War, and also highlights notable Spanish figures whose lives impacted the emerging new country. The exhibit takes the visitor on a chronological journey of Spanish-American relations beginning with Spain’s own Age of Enlightenment during the reign of Charles III, through the times of European and American revolutions, and ending with the technological advancements at the turn of the 20th century.
Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain
Through Nov. 25
Bound to Amaze: Inside a Book-Collecting Career
Curator Emerita Krystyna Wasserman assembled NMWA’s collection of more than 1,000 artists’ books over a 30-year period. This focus exhibition celebrates her vision and features 20 notable artists’ books from the museum’s expansive collection.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Through Nov. 25
Water, Wind, and Waves: Marine Paintings from the Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch rose to greatness from the riches of the sea. During the 17th century, water was central to their economic and naval successes, but was also a source of pleasure and enjoyment. This exhibition explores the deep, multifaceted relationship the Dutch had with the water, including their gratitude for the sea’s bounty and their fear of its sometimes destructive power.
National Gallery of Art
Through Dec. 16
Studio 54 Forever
Studio 54 was and arguably remains the world’s most iconic discotheque. It opened in 1977 in New York City as disco music was reaching its peak. The establishment attracted celebrities, politicians, artists, and the cultural avant garde. On the Studio 54 dance floor, everyone was a star. Take a journey back in time through the lens of acclaimed Swedish photographer Hasse Persson, whose images provide an intimate, sometimes provocative look at the cultural moment that would become the stuff of legend.
House of Sweden
Through Dec. 16
Without Provenance: The Making of Contemporary Antiquity
Artist Jim Sanborn provides a critique of the contemporary art market that sells stolen or forged antiquities. The artist’s imagined world, which would make complete sense to an ancient Roman, is one wherein the skilled artist-craftsmen of contemporary Cambodia (who we now call forgers and who muddle the art market) would be understood to be what they are: gifted copyists. Their works would be bought for what they are — copies — and valued for what they offer: powerful evocations of the artistic genius of Khmer art of the distant past.
American University Museum
Through Dec. 25
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts
More than 300 works of art from the museum’s permanent collection are on view within this exhibition. Working in media as diverse as wood, ceramics, drawing, jewelry, mixed media, sculpture, painting, photography, printmaking, and video, these works of art reflect the visionary ideas and styles developed by men and women from more than half of Africa’s 55 nations. The installation is organized around seven viewpoints, each of which serve to frame and affect the manner in which African art is experienced.
National Museum of African Art
Through Dec. 31
Corot: Women
Camille Corot is best known as the great master of landscape painting in the 19th century. His figure paintings constitute a much smaller, less well-known portion of his oeuvre, but arguably are of equal importance to the history of art. Dressed in rustic Italian costume or stretched nude on a grassy plain, Corot’s women read, dream, and gaze, conveying a mysterious sense of inner life. His sophisticated use of color and his deft, delicate touch applied to the female form resulted in pictures of quiet majesty.
National Gallery of Art
Through Jan. 6, 2019
Sense of Humor
Humor may be fundamental to human experience, but its expression in painting and sculpture has been limited. Instead, prints, as the most widely distributed medium, and drawings, as the most private, have been the natural vehicles for comic content. Drawn from the National Gallery of Art’s collection, this exhibition celebrates this incredibly rich though easily overlooked tradition through works including Renaissance caricatures, biting English satires, and 20th-century comics.
National Gallery of Art
Through Jan. 6, 2019
Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen
Trevor Paglen is an award-winning artist whose work blurs the lines between art, science and investigative journalism to construct unfamiliar and at times unsettling ways to see and interpret the world. This is the first exhibition to present Paglen’s early photographic series alongside his recent sculptural objects and new work with artificial intelligence.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Through Jan. 13
Fabergé Rediscovered
Designed to delight and surprise, the treasures created by the firm of Carl Fabergé have inspired admiration and intrigue for over a century, both for their remarkable craftsmanship and the captivating stories that surround them. The fascination with Fabergé continues to uncover new discoveries about the storied jeweler to the tsars and his remarkable creations. This exhibit unveils recent research and explore how the 2014 discovery of a long-lost imperial Easter egg prompted new findings about Hillwood’s own collection.
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Through Jan. 13
Rachel Whiteread
As the first comprehensive survey of the work of British sculptor Rachel Whiteread, this exhibition brings together some 100 objects from the course of the artist’s 30-year career, including drawings, photographs, architecture-scaled sculptures, archival materials, documentary materials on public projects and several new works on view for the first time. Throughout her celebrated career, Whiteread has effectively recast the memories of these locations and objects to chart the seismic changes in how we live, from the late 20th century and into the 21st.
National Gallery of Art
Through Jan. 21
Japan Modern: Photography from the Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck Collection
Celebrating the Freer|Sackler’s recent acquisition of a major Japanese photography collection, this exhibition features a selection of works by groundbreaking 20th-century photographers. Whether capturing evocative landscapes or the gritty realities of postwar Japan, this presentation focuses on Japanese artists’ search for a sense of place in a rapidly changing country. The images highlight destinations both rural and urban, in styles ranging from powerful social documentary to intensely personal.
Freer Gallery of Art
Through Jan. 21
Japan Modern: Prints in the Age of Photography
When photography arrived in Japan in the mid-19th century, traditional woodblock printmakers were forced to adapt their craft to keep pace with the new medium. This exhibition explores Japanese artists’ reactions to the challenges of modernity, examining the collapse of the traditional woodblock-printmaking industry in the face of the printing press and photography, and then tracing the medium’s resurrection as an art form, through which printmakers recorded scenes of their changing country in striking new ways.
Freer Gallery of Art
Through Jan. 21
No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man
Each year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, a city of more than 70,000 people rises out of the dust for a single week. During that time, enormous experimental art installations are erected and many are ritually burned to the ground. Cutting-edge artwork created at Burning Man, the annual desert gathering that is one of the most influential events in contemporary art and culture, will be exhibited in the nation’s capital for the first time this spring.
Renwick Gallery
Through Jan. 29
Vested Values
“Vested Values,” a selection comprising more than 40 works of various Mexican contemporary artists, explores the representation of nature and its sociocultural environment. Each of the works reveals how particular methods of production, implementation and execution of contemporary art can offer a complex impression of the diverse elements that define a society, which in turn promotes a continuous dialogue on both experience and perception. Each of the works originates through an arrangement with Mexico’s Tax Administration Service that allows Mexican artists to pay their taxes with their artwork. Today, artists can pay their income tax using media that ranges from digital art to photography.
Mexican Cultural Institute
Through Feb. 3
Sean Scully: Landline
Sean Scully’s “Landline” series, which first captivated international audiences at the 56th Venice Biennale, will make its museum debut at the Hirshhorn, featuring never-before-seen artworks from the renowned series. With thick, gestural brushstrokes and loose bands of color, the works look toward the land, sea, and sky (and the indistinct lines between them) to navigate the elemental relationships that compose our world.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through September 2019
Shaping Clay in Ancient Iran
Potters in ancient Iran were fascinated by the long-beaked waterfowl and rams with curled horns around them. This exhibition of ceramics produced in northwestern Iran highlights animal-shaped vessels as well as jars and bowls decorated with animal figures.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
DANCE
Oct. 18 to 20
Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker: Dog without Feathers (Cão Sem Plumas)
Since founding her own company in 1994, Brazilian director/choreographer Deborah Colker has been inspired by her experiences as an athlete to combine physically daring feats with visually striking designs — and redefine the rules for what can and can’t be done in the world of dance. Tickets are $29 to $79.
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
DISCUSSIONS
Wed., Oct. 3, 12 p.m.
A Quiet American: Edward Lansdale in the Philippines and Vietnam
Historian and author Max Boot discusses his new book “The Road Not Taken,” which chronicles how Edward Lansdale, a U.S. Army officer and advisor to Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, pioneered a successful “hearts and mind” strategy to combat the Huk insurgency in post-World War II Philippines and Vietnam. For information, visit www.usphsociety.org/category/events/.
Georgetown University Intercultural Center
Thu., Oct. 4, 4 p.m.
Czechs and Slovaks on Their Difficult Road to Peace and Independence
The Czech and Slovak Embassies jointly commemorate the centennial anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia with the opening of this exhibition and lecture with historians Kevin McNamara and Michal Kšinan. Delve into period photographs and newspaper clippings, accompanied by historical analysis, to fully understand the enormous scale of the quest for independence. Reservations are required; visit www.mutualinspirations.org or additional details.
Woodrow Wilson Center
Thu., Oct. 11, 6 p.m.
New Direction: Italian Contemporary Art in the United States
Italy is synonymous with history. We visit Rome and Naples and see remnants of an ancient civilization. But Italy has a modern side, too, that comprises exceptional contemporary artists that art lovers should have on their radar. Curator Ilaria Bernardi, artist Massimo Bartolini and Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu, co-founders of Magazzino Italian Art, will discuss contemporary Italian art, focusing on complex new ideas, specifically within the context of the United States. For registration information, visit https://iicwashington.esteri.it/iic_washington/en.
Embassy of Italy
Fri., Oct. 19, 6:30 p.m.
Frontaliers Disaster: An Evening of Swiss-Italian Comedy and Conversation
A hugely popular comedy series from Italian-speaking Switzerland, “Frontaliers” is a lighthearted tale of culture, identity and unexpected friendships. Bussenghi is an Italian mechanic who is always late to his job in Switzerland because of his bickering with the Swiss border guard Bernasconi. Through the daily squabbles of this odd pair, we learn about the cultural traditions of Italy and of Switzerland, two countries that are connected by language and geography, although they sometimes seem like two different worlds. The Embassy of Switzerland and the Italian Cultural Institute host a screening of favorite “Frontaliers” webisodes, as well as selected scenes from the feature film “Frontaliers Disaster” accompanied by a panel discussion. For registration information, visit https://iicwashington.esteri.it/iic_washington/en.
Embassy of Switzerland
GALAS
Tue., Oct. 2, 6 p.m.
40th Annual Ambassadors Ball
The annual National MS Society Ambassadors Ball, a premier event in the D.C. fall social season for the past 39 years, has raised more than $20 million to support the National MS Society. The 40th Ambassadors Ball is co-chaired by Japanese Ambassador Shinsuke J. Sugiyama and welcomes congressional members, ambassadors, business and philanthropic leaders and their spouses to honor the diplomatic corps for their charitable activities and humanitarian endeavors. Tickets start at $600; for information, visit www.nationalmssociety.org/Chapters/MDM/Fundraising-Events/Ambassadors-Ball-(1).
The Anthem
Fri., Oct., 12, 6:30 p.m.
50th Annual Meridian Ball
Now in its 50th year, the Meridian Ball brings together members of the public and private sector to celebrate Meridian’s ongoing efforts to prepare leaders for a complex global future. Guests have the option of choosing between an intimate ambassador-hosted dinner or the White-Meyer dinner on Meridian’s campus. Following the dinners, guests from both the ambassador-hosted dinners and White-Meyer dinner gather for dancing, dessert and conversation at Meridian House. For ticket information, visit www.meridian.org/programs/ball/.
Meridian International Center
Fri., Oct. 16, 8 p.m.
Synetic Theater’s 12th Annual Vampire’s Ball
This year, the Vampire’s Ball will follow a performance of Synetic’s adaptation of Washington Irving’s classic American ghost story “Sleepy Hollow.” At this year’s party, guests will dance the night away (music courtesy of Resident Composer and Halloween DJ, Konstantine Lortkipanidze), enjoy a special Halloween cocktail at the open bar, munch on light appetizers and enjoy the annual costume contest. Tickets are $60 to $75.
Synetic Theater
MUSIC
Tue., Oct. 2, 6 p.m.
Italian Color: Duo Emy Bernecoli and Elia Andrea Corazza
“Italian Color” is a musical journey across time, presenting rare and refined compositions that defined the history of Italian classical music for piano and violin, from the baroque to present day. The program will be performed by violinist Emi Bernecoli and pianist Elia Andrea Corazza and include Antonio Vitali’s “Ciaccona,” a famous masterpiece for violin; an unpublished “Sarabanda” (1897) by Ottorino Respighi; and “Un diavolo sentimentale” (A Sentimental Devil, 1969), an eccentric and sparkling piece. For ticket information, visit https://iicwashington.esteri.it/iic_washington/en.
Embassy of Italy
Thu., Oct. 4, 7 p.m.
Concert and Reading from ‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane’
The Austrian Cultural Forum presents a performance of “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” with Grammy-nominated pianist Mona Golabek as a closing event to her Kennedy Center show. Set in Vienna in 1938 and London during the Blitzkrieg, “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” tells the true and inspiring story of Lisa Jura, a young Jewish pianist whose dream of making her concert debut at the storied Musikverein concert hall is dashed by the onset of World War II. Admission is free; for information, visit http://acfdc.org.
Embassy of Austria
Mon., Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m.
De Maeyer-Kende Duo
Praised for interpretive sensitivity and precision, prize-winning Belgian duo Jolente De Maeyer (violin) and Nikolaas Kende (piano) joined forces in 2002 and continue to triumph at home and abroad. Tickets are $150, including buffet and wine; for information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Belgian Ambassador’s Residence
Mon., Oct. 8, 6 p.m.
El Septeto Santiago
Founded in Santiago de Cuba’s famed Casa de la Trova in 1995 by Tres guitar virtuoso Fernando Dewer, El Septeto Santiago has since earned its designation as Cuba’s foremost son music ensemble.
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
Thu., Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Washington Performing Arts: Hanzhi Wang
Prepare to have your expectations defied and your ears delighted by the sound, technique, texture and repertoire of the accordion, in a performance by young Chinese accordionist Hanzhi Wang. Tickets are $45.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Fri., Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Andrzej Wiercinski, Piano
Andrzej Wierciński was born in Poland in 1995 and started his musical adventure on the piano at the age of six. First prize at the National Competition for Young Pianists in Warsaw along with a slew of other awards have since expanded his following. He performs a program of Chopin, Liszt, Paderewski and Prokofiev. Tickets are $150, including buffet, wine and valet parking; for information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Polish Ambassador’s Residence
Mon., Oct. 22, 6 p.m.
Jazz Shift: Martina Fišerová
Prague-born jazz singer Martina Fišerová introduces her original songs in the concert “Jazz Shift,” meshing harmonic sophistication with unpretentious and personal expression.
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
Fri., Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Myriam Avalos, Piano
Passion and power, expression and sensitivity — words used over and over again in praise of Myriam Avalos. Her performances and master classes throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia have earned her critical acclaim as a soloist, chamber musician, clinician and pedagogue. In 2004, she was conferred the title of cultural ambassador of Peru. Tickets are $150, including buffet, wine and pisco sours; for information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Peruvian Ambassador’s Residence
Sat., Oct. 27, 8 p.m.
Vusi Mahlasela
A national treasure in his homeland of South Africa — where he is known simply and definitively as “The Voice” — Vusi Mahlasela was a powerful, rallying figure in the struggle against Apartheid and continues to serve as a worldwide messenger of peace, dignity and compassion. Tickets are $40; for information, visit www.washingtonperformingarts.org.
Sixth & I
Mon., Oct. 29, 8 p.m.
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
The Czech Philharmonic, the Czech Republic’s premier orchestra, returns to D.C. under its new music director, Semyon Bychkov, for a signature program featuring Antonín Dvořák’s triumphant “Seventh Symphony” and a rarely heard work by the 20th-century composer Luboš Fišer. For ticket information, visit goo.gl/mxTU2Y.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Tue., Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m.
Czech Republic Centennial Concert: Prague Philharmonic Children’s Choir
The Prague Philharmonic Children’s Choir, one of the most prestigious choirs in the Czech Republic, performs a special selection of Czech and international classics in celebration of 100 years of Czech independence at the Washington National Cathedral. The choir will cover such beloved songs as Dvořák’s “Ave Maria,” Schubert’s “Psalm XXII” and Bernstein’s “Gloria Tibi.” For ticket information, visit https://goo.gl/xY9v5f.
Washington National Cathedral
Tue., Oct. 30, 8 p.m.
Renée Fleming Voices: Youssou Ndour
The Senegalese singer, percussionist, and humanitarian — dubbed “perhaps the most famous singer alive” by Rolling Stone — brings his stratospheric vocals, visionary African rhythms and powerful messages of social activism and tolerance to D.C. Tickets are $29 to $89.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
THEATER
Oct. 3 to Nov. 4
Sleepy Hollow
Synetic Theater’s adaptation of “Sleepy Hollow” pulls together all the elements that made Synetic famous: Gothic horror, iconic characters and imagery, an emphasis on surreal, wordless storytelling that transcends spoken language and makes our productions something akin to live-action dreams (or nightmares, depending on the story). Tickets start at $35.
Synetic Theater
Oct. 3 to Dec. 2
King John
Secret deals. Threats of mass destruction. Shifting loyalties. Folger Theatre follows its sold-out run of “Macbeth” with “King John,” Shakespeare’s rarely performed history play chronicling King John’s turbulent reign from 1199 to 1216. Tickets are $30 to $85.
Folger Theatre
Oct. 6 to 21
Washington National Opera: La Traviata
As a courtesan, the beautiful Violetta is the life of every party, toasting to high-class pleasures alongside wealthy men. But Violetta holds a devastating secret: she is sick and dying. When the affluent Alfredo confesses his love, happily-ever-after finally seems within reach — until his father condemns his lover’s low social status. Tickets are $25 to $300.
Kennedy Center Opera House
Through Oct. 7
Like Water for Chocolate
Tita, the youngest of three sisters, falls in love with Pedro, but her mother forbids Tita to marry him. When Pedro marries the oldest sister, Rosaura, the three of them must live in the same house. To avoid temptation, Tita turns to cooking. Soon her delicacies provoke tears, laughter, burning desire and more to those who partake (Spanish with English surtitles). Tickets are $48.
GALA Hispanic Theatre
Oct. 10 to 13
World Stages: Measure for Measure
Through a series of “swiftly changing spectacular scenes” (Russia’s Teatral), Shakespeare’s classic play becomes a mirror of modern society in a dexterously crafted adaption from director Declan Donnellan. Tickets are $19 to $75.
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
Oct. 11 to Nov. 18
Aida
Brilliantly brought to life by the legendary musical duo behind “The Lion King,” “Aida” is a timeless story of star-crossed lovers set in ancient Egypt. The handsome but arrogant Radames and his soldiers return to Egypt following a successful conquest of the nation’s longtime enemy, Nubia. Having unwittingly captured the Nubian princess Aida, they force her into slavery in the royal palace. Though Radames is reluctantly engaged to the Pharaoh’s vain and materialistic daughter, he and Aida find themselves passionately drawn to each other. As their forbidden love intensifies, Aida must choose between her heart’s desire and her responsibility to her people in this production presented by Constellation Theatre Company. Tickets are $25 to $55.
Source Theater
Through Oct. 14
If I Forget
This observant, political-but-personal family drama set in 2000 centers on the dynamics of a modern Jewish family in D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood. Brought together by their elderly father’s 75th birthday, the adult children of the Fischer family squabble over what to do with their long-held and now lucrative 14th Street property, igniting debates on religion, politics and history. Tickets are $29 to $90.
Studio Theatre
Oct. 14 to Nov. 18
The Fall
As the statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes was dismantled at the University of Cape Town, seven students wrote “The Fall,” charting their experiences as activists who brought down a statue and then grappled with decolonizing what was left standing in its wake: the legacies of race, class, gender, history and power 24 years after the official end of Apartheid. Please call for ticket information.
Studio Theatre
Oct. 17 to Nov. 18
Actually
This provocative new play that explores the timely subject of sexual consent between young people. Tom, a black first-year Princeton student, and Amber, a Jewish first-year Princeton student, seem to be on the same page about where their relationship is heading, until suddenly they aren’t. What begins as a casual hook up turns into a Title IX hearing in which both students have everything to lose. Tickets are $34 to $64.
Theater J
Oct. 19 to Nov. 18
Sing to Me Now
Calliope is the last surviving Muse. Drowning in the demands of a world desperate for inspiration, she resorts to what any self-respecting Greek Goddess would do: She hires an intern. Soon it becomes clear that Calliope is burying a deeper pain, and the fate of the universe may lie in this human intern’s unlikely ability to save her. Tickets are $30.
Atlas Performing Arts Center
Through Oct. 21
Born Yesterday
In this sharp-edged satire, opportunistic tycoon Harry Brock arrives in Washington with his naive girlfriend, Billie Dawn, to game the political system. With the help of an idealistic reporter, Billie wises up and fights back to end the corruption. Political satire meets romantic comedy in a story that shows truth and justice can win the day. Tickets are $17 to $64.
Ford’s Theatre
Through Oct. 21
Turn Me Loose
This intimate and no-holds barred drama chronicles Dick Gregory’s rise as the first Black comedian to expose audiences to racial comedy. In confronting bigotry head-on with biting humor and charm, Gregory turned his activism into an art form, risking his own safety at each performance. Tickets are $40 to $95.
Arena Stage
Oct. 23 to Nov. 4
The Fever
Performed in complete collaboration with the audience, “The Fever” begins as a simple story about an ordinary party and evolves into a spellbinding examination of how we assemble, organize, and care for the bodies around us. Please call for ticket information.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Through Oct. 28
The Comedy of Errors
Two sets of twins, each with the same name — what could go wrong? Everything, apparently. Leave logic behind and delight in the confusion of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, where servants misplace their masters, wives overlook their husbands and sons forget their fathers. Call for ticket information.
Shakespeare Theatre Company
