Anacostia Playhouse

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Thank You

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Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Words cannot express how truly grateful and humbled we are by the sheer volume of support and care we have received over the past few days. When we returned to the Playhouse the day after Christmas to discover we had been burgled, it was a blow. Not only did we have to process the physical shock of being victims of a crime, we were faced with the harsh realities that come with a break-in. As with all nonprofits, resources are limited, and the financial and tangible losses were significant. 

We have spent over five amazing years Anacostia. It is both our work and home. And it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience and the best community we could wish for with our Ward 8 neighbors being partners and friends. In no way will this incident will disrupt our ability to bring quality arts programming to the community. We will continue to be a home for performers, theater companies and all artists to showcase their craft. 

We are so honored that so many amazing people thought enough of us to give so generously of their time and money. Please know that every cent of the funds raised will be used thoughtfully and responsibly. Your gift will not only replace everything was stolen but will allow us to make security improvements, install new doors and come back better than ever.  

So from the entire Anacostia Playhouse family—everyone who performs, designs, works, and volunteers—thank you. Thanks to you, the show will go on! 

Adele Robey

PLAYHOUSE CLOSED due to Covid until Further Notice

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COVID 19 ANNOUNCEMENT
For the safety of our patrons, staff and artists, and keeping in line with the mayor’s guidelines, the Anacostia Playhouse will shut down operations until further notice.

It is an incredibly difficult decision to close our doors, even for what we hope
is a short time, but the health and well-being of the entire Anacostia Playhouse
extended family is our highest priority.

With that, we know the following will be canceled or postponed:
Theater Alliance’s This Bitter Earth, the monthly Shakespeare for the Young Puppet Show, The Anacostia Playhouse New Play Festival Silenced Voices and the upcoming Young Playwrights’ Theater production Silence is Violence.

During the time we are closed we will be doing a deep cleaning and disinfecting of the building. Although we will generally not physically be in the office, please feel free to leave us a voicemail or send an email. As soon as we have any details on reopening or any cancellations, we will announce them here and on all of our social media platforms.

Meanwhile, please be careful and stay well. Adhere to the guidelines of hand washing, staying home if not feeling well, covering your cough or sneeze and avoiding crowds. Check in often with Mayor Bowser’s corona virus updates at
coronavirus.dc.gov.

We hope to see you in the theater as soon as possible.

PS: As you can imagine, closing the theater and canceling performances inflicts a severe financial hardship on small arts organizations such as the Playhouse. Please consider a gift to help us weather this storm and support the artists, technical personnel and staff who call us home.

Donate here http://www.anacostiaplayhouse.com/support/

 

 

Note from the Playhouse

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We’re still in this together. All of us.
All of us here at the Playhouse hope that you and your family are doing well and most importantly are finding ways to bring joy into your lives. While the theater is currently closed and will remain so per the Mayor’s orders, we want you to know that we are counting the days until we can throw open the doors and welcome everyone back. We can’t wait to turn that ghost light off and get the theater lights on and at full!
But even though we are on hold, the rent and the bills are not. While we hope to receive some governmental support, nothing is certain as the needs across the board are so great. If helping with a donation to the Playhouse is an option for you at this time, please accept our deepest gratitude. As you can imagine most performances scheduled at the Playhouse have been postponed or canceled. But when we reach that light at the end of the tunnel we look forward to bringing back our new play festival, housing countless performances and theater companies from throughout the city, and providing camps and performances for youth and families.
A special message to the doctors, nurses, grocery clerks, delivery drivers, pharmacists, caregivers, first responders, and everyone else working in an essential business and sacrificing for all our safety: we say thank you. Words cannot express the debt of gratitude owed to you. We hope you can join us this next season when we will be offering free tickets and special discounts to all members in these fields to show our thanks.
Lastly, we would like to pass on some words of encouragement recently quoted by the Stella Adler acting school, which were written by Harold Clurman in his book The Fervent Years to describe his time in the Great Depression. We hope you find some encouragement and inspiration from these words.
“The strength I drew from this period of apparently aimless ambling through the dark of depressed areas in place and spirit was crystalized for me one day when I was struck as if by a miracle of conversion with the feeling that no matter how bitter things became for me, personally, professionally, economically I would never allow myself to be destroyed from within; it would never get me down; I would sustain all kinds of disappointment and distress without ceasing to believe, to hope, to love…
Theater is all about community, gathering, celebrating, connecting.
All the best from all of us at the Playhouse and we can’t wait to see you in the lobby.

How you can support Anacostia Playhouse through COVID-19

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Theater is all about community, gathering, celebrating, connecting.
We can’t do that in the traditional way right now. But we can remind you of the great work done at the Anacostia Playhouse, by us and by all of the companies and artists who perform here, and assure you that it will be back. Like the old saying goes,
“The show must go on.” And we have faith that it will.
Although our city is reaching out to help us in this time, we need your help, too. It’s really important now as our beloved community of Anacostia and all of Ward 8 is especially fragile and making sure we can assure the future of the arts here is vitally important.
Please consider a gift of any size to help us all weather this storm and support the artists, designers, technical personnel and production staff who call us home.
Meanwhile, please be careful and stay well. Adhere to the guidelines of hand washing, staying home if not feeling well, covering your cough or sneeze and avoiding crowds. Check in often with Mayor Bowser’s corona virus updates at
   PS: The photos are from the Playhouse’s 2018 Helen Hayes Recommended production of Douglas Turner Ward’s Happy Ending. If you were there, you laughed yourself silly.
If you missed, it we look forward to bringing you more of this kind of fantastic and important work well into the future. Photos courtesy of Jabari Jefferson.

CANCELLED-Theater Alliance presents THIS BITTER EARTH February 22- March 22

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This Bitter Earth 

by Harrison David Rivers

February 22, 2020 – March 22, 2020

Directed by Otis Ramsey-Zöe

Jesse, an introspective black playwright, finds his lack of activism questioned by his white boyfriend, Neil, an impassioned member of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Tensions between them continue to grow with each headline announcing another extrajudicial killing. But the human heart can hold complex and often contradictory things, and the two men find themselves at a crossroads. This Bitter Earth explores the quiet revolutions of normalcy, reminding us of the intractable bind between the personal and political and the strength of love in today’s turbulent world.

For tickets click here.

Thank You to our Compass Volunteers!

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Thank you so much to our Compass volunteers Ali Cumber, Loren McKenzie, Benjamin Shtuhl, Sydney Levine, and Leanne Reisz who have been working through the pandemic on a sustainability plan to help us chart our path forward. Thanks also to the Compass Foundation for this outstanding opportunity!

CANCELLED- Shakespeare for the Young: The Tiniest Tempest March 21

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The Shakespeare for the Young puppet show, led by Annie Houston, will be performing at the

Anacostia Playhouse next on March 21.

Shows are free and are at 10:30 on Saturday mornings!

This theatrical company of puppeteers is dedicated to bringing Shakespeare to young children, ages 4 and up, through a fun and interactive experience.

Annie’s and her gang’s new show, The Tiniest Tempest, will be on stage so don’t miss it!

Based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, four puppeteers bring the characters of Miranda and Prospero, Antonio and Alonso, and Caliban and Ariel to life with their story of hurt and love as well as revenge and forgiveness. The puppets are both large-bodied and shadow puppets with actors also playing the roles of Prospero and Antonio/Alonso.

All shows feature group activities after the performance with song, movement and interactive play.

No tickets or reservations are needed.

 

Their next show, The Merry Mechanicals: Playful Players and Mischief Makers, will play on April 25!

RS/24

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Clayton LeBouef’s RS/24 makes a return visit to the Playhouse

Since its inception, the mission of the Anacostia Playhouse, nestled in the heart of the historic Anacostia community, has been to focus on producing quality and relevant works that appeal to every generation.  Keeping with this tradition, we are proud to announce that kicking off 2020 will be the return of RS/24, the riveting original work of Clayton LeBouef.  Recognized for his brilliant performances on TV, film, and stage, with roles in NBC’s Homicide Life on the Streets, HBO’s The Wire and Something the Lord Made, Mr. LeBouef’s ethereal drama explores how the lives of characters Hubie, a record shop owner and a distressed Street Worker, collide one night on a chance meeting. Each is unaware of how this encounter will play a significant role in carving out their destinies.

 

In reverence to the African Diaspora, RS/24 also draws upon ancestral wisdom, vintage music and the return of vinyl to show the connection of how African American music has shaped world culture.  Opening on January 25, 2020, RS/24 runs for three weeks at the Anacostia Playhouse.  It’s a must-see.

 

RS/24 at the Anacostia Playhouse runs for 18 performances:

 

Previews, Thursday, January 23 and Friday January 24 7:30 p.m.

 

Saturday January 25 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (Opening weekend)

Sunday, January 26 Matinee at 3:00 p.m.

Monday, January 27 (Industry Night) 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, January 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 1 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m..

Sunday, February 2  Matinee at 3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, February 7 at 7:30 P p.m.

Saturday, February 8 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, February 9 – Matinee at 3:00 p.m. (Closing)

 

 

Tickets found HERE.

$35 – General Admission

$30 – East of the River, Seniors and Students

$25 – Groups of 10 or more (Contact Anacostia Playhouse @ 202-290-2328)

 

Shakespeare for the Young presents Adventures in Arden January 25

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Based on Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Adventures in Arden been created by Shakespeare For The Young as an interactive show for 3 to 10 year olds.

Children are introduced to a puppet of William Shakespeare, who helps start the story. Large bodied puppets, small hand-held puppets, and shadow puppets help tell the story of unkindness turned to love. Set in Africa, the story takes place in both city and country, in particular in the healing forest of Arden where love between two people blossoms and forgiveness between two sets of brothers takes place. Aided by interactive play with the audience, the actors engage children’s imaginations through Shakespeare’s words, using music of many African instruments as an additional medium. A short workshop for the children follows the play. Children use their bodies and voices to explore the rhythms and beats they heard in Shakespeare’s language during the play.

This is a free event open to the public.

January 25, 2020 @ 10:30 AM at Anacostia Playhouse

 

 

For more information on Shakespeare for the Young, click here. 

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