Trying
By Joanna McClelland Glass
Directed by Alex Levy
September 19 – October 20, 2019
Regional Premiere
This two-hander explores the author’s real experience working for Francis Biddle at his home in Washington, DC from 1967-1968. Judge Biddle, Former Attorney General of the United States under Franklin Roosevelt and Chief Judge of the American Military Tribunal at Nuremberg is notoriously hard on his staff as he tries to cement his legacy. Can the old, Philadelphia aristocrat and his young, Canadian assistant bridge the generational divide and come to understand one another in this “comic and touching” play (The New York Times)?
Airness
By Chelsea Marcantel
Directed by Christina Coakley
December 5-29, 2019
Regional Premiere coproduction with Keegan Theatre
When Nina enters her first air guitar competition, she thinks winning will be easy. But as she befriends a group of charismatic nerds all committed to becoming the next champion, she discovers that there’s more to this art form than playing pretend; it’s about finding yourself and performing with raw joy. Airness is “unmitigated pleasure… filled with dignity and delight” (Chicago Reader).
The Royale
By Marco Ramirez
Directed by Paige Hernandez
January 30- February 23, 2020
Regional Premiere coproduction with Olney Theatre Center
Jay “The Sport” Jackson dreams of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but in the racially segregated world of boxing in 1905, the odds are stacked against him. When a crooked boxing promoter hatches a plan for “the fight of the century,” “The Sport” might land a place in the ring with the reigning white heavyweight champion. Inspired by the real-life experiences of Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight world champion, The Royale “captures both the beautiful frenzy of boxing and the (sadly still relevant) volatile state of race relations in America” (The Telegraph).
A New Brain
By William Finn and James Lapine
Directed By Kate Bryer
March 26- April 19, 2020
From the Tony Award-winning authors of Falsettos comes an energetic, sardonic, and comical musical. Gordon collapses into his lunch and awakes in the hospital, surrounded by his nearest and dearest. Prior to his medical malady his career had him composing pop jingles for children’s television, but when what was thought to be a life-threatening neurological disorder turns out to be treatable, Gordon is grateful for a 2nd chance to create his own art. “Among the many joys of A New Brain […] is finding the extraordinary in the mundane and the humor in the most dire situations” (Pittsburgh Post Gazette).
The Waverly Gallery
By Kenneth Lonergan
Directed by Alex Levy
May 7- June 7, 2020
In the 2019 Tony Award nominee for Best Revival of a Play, Gladys, the elderly matriarch of the Green family, has run an art gallery in a small Greenwich Village hotel for many years. The management wants to replace her less-than-thriving gallery with a coffee shop. Always irascible but now increasingly erratic, Gladys becomes a cause for concern to her family. By the Academy Award winning writer of Manchester by the Sea, this poignant, wacky and heartrending production is “deeply theatrical and often deeply funny” (The New York Times).
1st Stage
1524 Spring Hill Road
Tysons, Va 22102
(703) 854-1856
