PRODUCTION HISTORY

PRODUCTION HISTORY

The Washington Stage Guild (incorporated as Theatre Downtown, Inc.) produces eloquent plays of idea and argument, passion and wit — plays from all periods of world drama enacted by a classical ensemble with a contemporary sensibility — smart theatre for a smart town.

*Denotes a World Premiere
**Denotes an Area Premiere

2026-2027 Season - Our 41st "Season of Self-Delusion"

  • THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW by John Minigan
    September 24 – October 18, 2026
    Directed by Steven Carpenter
  • THE LAST VICTORIAN* by J.B. Miller
    November 19-December 13, 2026
    Directed by Laura Giannarelli
  • CRIME & PUNISHMENT by Marilyn Campbell & Curt Columbus
    January 28-February 21, 2027
    Directed by Deidra LaWan Starnes
  • JITTA’S ATONEMENT by Siegfried Trebitsch, translated & adapted by George Bernard Shaw
    April 8-May 2, 2027
    Directed by Bill Largess

2025-2026 Season "Our 40th Season"

  • THE ONE GOOD THING by Joe Bravaco
    September 25 — October 19, 2026
    Directed by Steven Carpenter
  • ACCUSED: A VICTORIAN LADIES MYSTERY
    by Patricia Milton
    November 20 — December 14, 2025
    Directed by Morgan Duncan.
  • HAPPY DAYS by Samuel Beckett
    January 29, 2026 — February 22
    Directed by Alan Wade
  • CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA by G.B. Shaw
    April 9-May 3, 2026
    Directed by Bill Largess

2024-2025 Season "Determination"

  • FAITHLESS by Jon Klein
    September 26-October 20
    Directed by Steven Carpenter
  • SHAW’S SHORTS by George Bernard Shaw
    November 21-December 15
    Directed by Laura Giannarelli
  • ESCAPE FROM THE ASYLUM: A MADCAP MYSTERY
    by Patricia Milton
    January 30-February 23, 2025
    directed by Morgan Duncan.
  • SOFONISBA by Callie Kimball
    April 10-May 4, 2025
    Directed by Deidra LaWan Starnes

2023-2024 Season "Truths Revealed"

  • DOROTHY’S DICTIONARY by E.M. Lewis
    September 28-October 22 2023.
    Directed by Laura Giannarelli, featuring Helen Hayes Award recipient Deidra LaWan Starnes
    more
  • ARMS AND THE MAN by George Bernard Shaw
    Directed by Michael Rothhaar
    11/16 – 12/10/2023.
  • THE VICTORIAN LADIES’ DETECTIVE COLLECTIVE by Patricia Milton, directed by Morgan Duncan
    EXTENDED THROUGH MARCH 3
  • AN UNBUILT LIFE by Elizabeth DeSchryver
    April 12 – May 5, 2024
    Directed by Steven Carpenter

2022-2023 Season

ALL (press release)

  • THE GOOD DOCTOR by Neil Simon, adapted from Anton Chekhov
    September 30-October 23 2022. Press opening Sunday October 2 at 2:30
    Directed by Laura Giannarelli, featuring Lynn Steinmetz
    more
  • MAJOR BARBARA by George Bernard Shaw
    November 17-December 11 2022. Press opening Sunday November 20 at 2:30
    Directed by Steven Carpenter, featuring Laura Giannarelli
    more
  • ENDGAME by Samuel Beckett
    January 26-February 19 2023. Press opening Sunday January 29 at 2:30
    Directed by Alan Wade, featuring Bill Largess
    more
  • BEN BUTLER by Richard Strand
    March 23-April 16 2023. Press opening Sunday March 26 at 2:30
    Directed by Kasi Campbell, featuring Steven Carpenter
    more

2021-2022 Season

  • My Children! My Africa!
    by Athol Fugard
    11/11/21 – 12/5/21
  • Sam & Dede, or My Dinner with Andre the Giant
    by Gino DiIorio
    1/13/22 – 2/6/22
  • Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw
    2/25/22 – 3/27/22
    Directed by Michael Rothhaar
  • Memoirs of a Forgotten Man by D.W. Gregory
    5/5/22 – 5/29/22
    Directed by Kasi Campbell

2020-2021 Season

  • A live performance of My Children! My Africa!
    by Athol Fugard 11/11/21 – 12/5/21
  • A streamed performance of Don Juan in Hell
    by G.B. Shaw
    November 25 – November 29, 2020
  • A streamed performance of The Devil’s Disciple
    by G.B. Shaw
    March 17 – March 21, 2021
  • A streamed performance of How He Lied to Her Husband!
    by G.B. Shaw
    May 19 – May 23

2019-2020 Season

  • Candida by G.B. Shaw
    September 26 – October 20, 2019
  • Hard Times by Charles Dickens, adapted for the stage by Stephen Jeffreys
    November 14 – December 8, 2019
  • Bloomsday by Steven Dietz**
    January 23 – February 16, 2020
  • Sam and Dede by Gino DiIorio**
    March 19 – April 12, 2020
    (PREEMPTED BY COVID)

2018-2019 Season

  • Summerland by Arlitia Jones
    September 27 – October 21, 2018
  • All Save One by Greg Jones Ellis*
    November 15th – December 9th, 2018
  • Gulf View Drive by Arlene Hutton
    January 17th – February 17th, 2019
  • Resolving Hedda by Jon Klein
    March 21st – April 14th, 2019

2017-2018 Season

  • Widowers’ Houses by George Bernard Shaw
    September 28 – October 22, 2017
  • A Child’s Christmas In Wales & Other Stories  adapted by Bill Largess
    November 24 – December 17, 2017
  • See Rock City  by Arlene Hutton
    January 18 – February 11, 2018
  • Alabama Story by Kenneth Jones
    March 22 – April 15, 2018

2016-2017 Season

  • “A String of Pearls,” readings of –
    – Getting Married by George Bernard Shaw, October 16, 2016
    – O’Flaherty, VC and Augustus Does His Bit by George Bernard Shaw, October 23, 2016
    – Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime adapted from Oscar Wilde by Bill Largess, October 30, 2016
  • It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play adapted by Joe Landry
    November 25 – December 18, 2016
    Reading of A Child’s Christmas In Wales and Other Stories
    December 14, 2016
  • Last Train To Nibroc by Arlene Hutton
    January 26 – February 19, 2017
    Reading of The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais
    February 15, 2017
  • Back To Methuselah Part 3 by George Bernard Shaw
    March 23 – April 17, 2017
    Reading of The Makropoulos Secret by Karel Capek, April 12, 2017

2015-2016 Season

  • Tiny Island by Michael Hollinger
    Reading of Works by Hrotsvitha, October 21
  • It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play adapted by Joe Landry
    November 12-December 13, 2015
    Reading of The Rover by Aphra Behn, December 2
  • St Nicholas by Conor McPherson
    January 28-February 21, 2016
    Reading of Rutherford and Sons by Githa Sowerby, February 17
  • The Gospel According To Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord by Scott Carter
    March 31-April 24 2016
    Reading of Works by Susan Glaspell, April 20

2014-2015 Season

  • Pen by David Marshall Grant
    October 30-November 23, 2014
  • In Praise of Love by Terence Rattigan
    January 1-25, 2015
  • Reading of The Rover by Aphra Behn, December 2
  • Back To Methuselah Part 2 by George Bernard Shaw
    February 19-March 15, 2015
  • On Approval by Frederick Lonsdale
    April 23-May 17, 2015
  • Readings of the complete Tonight At 8:30 by Noel Coward
    November 18, January 20, March 10, May 12

2013-2014 Season

  • Inventing Van Gogh by Steven Dietz
    October 31-November 24, 2013
    Reading of The Doctor’s Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw, November 12
  • The Old Masters by Simon Gray
    January 2-February 2, 2014
    Reading of The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard, January 14
  • Back To Methuselah part 1 by George Bernard Shaw
    February 20-March 16 2014
  • Reading of The Diary of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain, March 4
  • Elling by Simon Bent
    April 24-May 18 2014
  • Reading of A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch
    and JB Priestley, May 6

2012-2013 Season

  • Pygmalion by G. B. Shaw
    October 25 to December 2, 2012
  • Reading of Androcles And The Lion by G. B. Shaw
    November 19, 2012
  • Tryst by Karoline Leach**
    January 3 to February 10, 2013Reading of Speed The Plough by Thomas Morton
    January 14, 2013
  • Dante’s Inferno adapted by Bill Largess
    February 2 to March 17, 2013
  • Reading of Everyman by Anon
    March 4, 2013
  • The Elder Statesman by T.S. Eliot**
    April 25 to May 19, 2013
  • Reading of The Rock by T.S. Eliot
    May 6, 2013

2011-2012 Season

  • Wilder Sins by Thornton Wilder **
    November 3 to November 27, 2012
  • Reading of Even Wilder Sins by Thornton Wilder
    November 14, 2011
  • Amelia by Alex Webb*
    January 5 to February 12, 2012
  • Reading of Our American Cousin by Tom Taylor
    January 16, 2012
  • Husbands & Lovers by Ferenc Molnar*
    February 23 to March 18, 2012
  • Reading Liliom by Ferenc Molnar
    March 5, 2012
  • “Wives & Wits” – Overruled and Village Wooing, by G. B. Shaw **
    April 26 to May 27, 2012
  • Reading of St. Joan by G. B. Shaw
    May 7, 2012

2010-2011 Season

  • Darwin in Malibu by Crispin Whittell **
    October 28 to November 21, 2010
  • Magic by G. K. Chesterton**
    January 6 to January 20, 2011
  • Red Herring by Michael Hollinger**
    March 3 to April 3, 2011
  • The Apple Cart by G. B. Shaw**
    April 28 to May 22, 2011

PREVIOUS YEARS: 2010-1985

2010-2000

2009-2010 Season

  • Strange Bedfellows: Press Cuttings & Augustus Does His Bit by G. B. Shaw**
    September 30 to October 18, 2009
  • Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, adapted from Oscar Wilde by Bill Largess
    February 25 to March 28, 2010
  • The Best of Friends by Hugh Whitemore
    May 6 to May 29, 2010

2008-2009 Reading Season

  • Reading of The Lawyer by Ferenc Molnar
    October 6, 2008
  • Reading of Captain Brassbound’s Conversion by G. B. Shaw
    November 9, 2008
  • Reading of Candlelight by Siegfried Geyer, adapted by P.G. Wodehouse
    December 8, 2008
  • Reading of The Infernal Machine by Jean Cocteau
    February 9, 2009
  • Reading of Deirdre of the Sorrows by John Millington Synge
    March 16, 2009
  • Reading of Pelleas & Melisande by Maurice Maeterlinck
    April 6, 2009
  • Reading of Do We Agree? by George Bernard Shaw, G.K. Chesterson, & Hilaire Belloc
    June 14, 2009
  • Reading of Alison’s House by Susan Glaspell
    June 28, 2009
  • Reading of Break Of Noon by Paul Claudel
    Sunday, July 12, 2009
  • Reading of The Dragon by Yevgeny Schwartz
    Sunday, August 9, 2009
  • Reading of Barbellion adapted from The Journal of a Disappointed Man by Alan Wade
    August 23, 2009

2007-2008 Season

  • Opus by Michael Hollinger
    September 3 – September 30, 2007
  • Reading of Return of the Prodigal by St. John Harkin
    January 11 – January 12, 2008
  • Reading of The Best of Friends by Hugh Whitemore
    February 5, 2008
  • Reading of Don Juan in Hell by George Bernard Shaw
    February 26, 2008
  • Reading of Rising of the Moon & Spreading the News by Lady Gregory
    March 2 – March 4, 2008
  • Reading of Widowers’ Houses by George Bernard Shaw
    March 18, 2008
  • Reading of Lord’s Arthur Savile’s Crime adapted from Oscar Wilde by Bill Largess
    March 25, 2008
  • Reading of Dangerous Corner by J.B. Priestly
    April 29, 2008
  • Reading of The War with the Newts adapted from Karel Capek by Emily Solomon
    May 6, 2008
  • Reading of Mary Rose by J. M. Barrie
    June 22, 2008
  • Reading of The Voysey Inheritance by Harley Granville-Barker
    June 29, 2008
  • Reading of Hobson’s Choice by Harold Brighouse
    July 13, 2008
  • Reading of The Amorous Servant by Carlo Goldoni, translated by John Van Burek
    August 3, 2008
  • Reading of Magic by G. K. Chesterton
    August 10, 2008
  • Reading of Press Cuttings & Farfetched Fables by G. B. Shaw
    August 17, 2008

2006-2007 Season

  • An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
    October 26 – December 1, 2006
  • The Countess by Gregory Murphy
    January 4 – February 4, 2007
  • Shaw’s Shorts by George Bernard Shaw –The Dark Lady of the Sonnets, O’Flaherty V.C., The Man of Destiny
    March 1 – April 8, 2007
  • Opus by Michael Hollinger
    April 19 – May 20, 2007

2005-2006 Season

  • If We Are Women by Joanna McClelland Glass
    October 27 – November 27, 2005
  • An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf by Michael Hollinger
    January 5 – February 12, 2006
  • Fanny’s First Play by George Bernard Shaw
    March 2 – April 9, 2006
  • The Play’s the Thing adapted from Ferenc Molnar by P.G. Wodehouse
    April 20 – May 25, 2006

2004-2005 Season

  • Pound by Sean O’Leary
    October 28 – November 28, 2004
  • Incorruptible by Michael Hollinger
    January 6 – February 13, 2005
  • You Never Can Tell by George Bernard Shaw
    March 3 – April 10, 2005
  • Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones
    April 21 – May 29, 2005

2003-2004 Season

  • The Underpants by adapted from Carl Sternheim by Steve Martin
    November 6 – December 21, 2003
  • The Family Reunion by T.S. Eliot
    January 8 to February 8, 2004
  • On the Rocks by George Bernard Shaw
    March 4 to April 20, 2004
  • Enigma Variations by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, translated by Jeremy Sams
    April 22 to May 23, 2004

2002-2003 Season

  • All the World by Ferenc Molnar
    October 31 to December 8, 2002
  • The Unexpected Man by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton
    January 9, 2003 to February 16, 2003
  • The Philanderer by George Bernard Shaw
    March 6 to April 13, 2003
  • Rose by Martin Sherman.
    April 24 to May 25, 2003

2001-2002 Season

  • A Skull in Connemara by Martin McDonagh
    October 18 to November 25, 2001
  • Memoir by John Murrell
    December 9, 2001, to January 9, 2002
  • Getting Married by George Bernard Shaw
    January 17 to February 17, 2002
  • Amphitryon 38 by Jean Giraudoux, translated by S.N. Behrman
    April 18 to May 19, 2002

2000-2001 Season

  • Ill Met by Moonlight by Michael MacLiammoir
    October 26 to November 26, 2000
  • Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw
    February 22 to April 1, 2001
  • Hughie by Eugene O’Neill
    March 4 to March 28, 2001
  • Inferno by Dante
    April 21 to May 15, 2001
  • The Memory of Water by Shelagh Stephenson
    May 31 to July 8, 2001
1999-1990

1999-2000 Season

  • The Confidential Clerk by T.S. Eliot
    October 14 to November 14, 1999
  • St. Nicholas by Conor McPherson
    December 11, 1999 to January 16, 2000
  • Hughie by Eugene O’Neill
    February 12 to March 14, 2000
  • Too True To Be Good by George Bernard Shaw
    March 23 to April 30, 2000

1998-1999 Season

  • The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold
    October 28 to November 29, 1998
  • Lucia Mad by Don Nigro
    December 30, 1998 to February 14, 1999
  • Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw
  • February 24 to April 11, 1999
  • Olympia by Ferenc Molnar
    April 21 to May 30, 1999

1997-1998 Season

  • Camping with Henry & Tom by Mark St. Germain
    October 29 to November 30, 1997
  • Anna Karenina adapted from Leo Tolstoy by Helen Edmundson
    December 31 to February 1, 1998
  • Man & Superman by George Bernard Shaw
    February 25 to April 5, 1998
  • The Rules of the Game by Luigi Pirandello, translated by David Hare
    April 22 – May 24, 1998

1996-1997 Season

  • The Late Edwina Black by Dinner & Morum
    October 30 to December 1, 1996
  • Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot
    January 1 to February 2, 1997
  • An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
    February 26 to March 30, 1997
  • Indiscretions (Les Parents Terribles) by Jean Cocteau
    April 23 to May 25, 1997

1995-1996 Season

  • A Tale of the Wolf by Ferenc Molnar
    October 30 to December 1, 1996
  • The Cocktail Party by T.S. Eliot
    January 3 to February 5, 1996
  • John Bull’s Other Island by George Bernard Shaw
    February 28 to March 31, 1996
  • Play Strindberg by Friedrich Duerrenmatt
    April 24 to May 26, 1996

1994-1995 Season

  • Old Times by Harold Pinter
    October 19 to November 20, 1994
  • The Game of Love and Chance by Marivaux, translated by William Largess & Laura Giannarelli
    January 4 to February 5, 1995
  • The Potting Shed by Graham Greene
    March 1 to April 2, 1995
  • Wonderful Tennessee by Brian Friel
    April 26 to May 28, 1995

1993-1994 Season

  • Back to Methuselah by George Bernard Shaw
    November 1993 & March 12, 1994
  • Fanny’s First Play by George Bernard Shaw
    March 5, 1994
  • John Bull’s Other Island by George Bernard Shaw
    March 19 & 20, 1994
  • Overruled & Man of Destiny by George Bernard Shaw
    April 11 & 12, 1994
  • Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw
    April 18 & 19, 1994
    Forever Ivor by Nick Olcott
    April 6 to May 1, 1994
  • Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw
    May 4 to June 5, 1994

1992-1993 Season

  • Bailegangaire by Thomas Murphy
    September 23 to October 25, 1992
  • Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
    November 11 to December 20, 1992
  • Aristocrats by Brian Friel
    April to May 24, 1992
  • The Alchemist by Ben Jonson
    January 20 to February 21, 1993
  • The Makropoulos Secret by Karel Capek
    March 10 to April 11, 1993
  • The Play’s the Thing adapted from Ferenc Molnar by P.G. Wodehouse
    April 21 to May 23, 1993
  • Forever Ivor by Nick Olcott
    April 6 to May 1, 1994

1991-1992 Season

  • Aspern Papers adapted from Henry James by Nick Olcott
    September 18 to October 20, 1991
  • Maud by Alfred Lord Tennyson
    September 29 to October 29, 1991
  • Anatol by Arthur Schnitzler
    November 6 to December 15, 1991
  • A Song at Twilight by Noel Coward
    January 22 to February 23, 1992
  • Joyce, The Music, and Magic of Joyce Grenfell
    February 16 to March 31, 1992
  • The Millionairess by George Bernard Shaw
    March to May, 1992

1990-1991 Season

  • Happy Days by Samuel Beckett
    September 26 to October 21, 1990
  • Shadowing the Conqueror by Peter Jukes
    November 14 to December 16, 1990
  • Mixed Babies by Oni Faida Lampley
    November 14 to December 16, 1990
  • Herbert III by Ted Shine
    November 14 to December 16, 1990
  • Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw
    January 23 to March 2, 1991
  • Making History by Brian Friel
    March 6 to April 7, 1991
  • The Guardsman by Ferenc Molnar
    April 17 to May 26, 1991
1989-1986

1989-1990 Season

  • A Turn of the Screw adapted from Henry James by Nick Olcott
    September 20 to October 29, 1989
  • Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward
    November 8 to December 31, 1989
  • Terra Nova by Ted Tally
    January 24 to February 25, 1990
  • First Lady by Katherine Dayton & George S. Kaufman
    April 4 – May 6, 1990

1988-1989 Season

  • The Constant Wife by W. Somerset Maugham
    October 5 to November 6, 1988
  • Figaro’s Marriage by Beaumarchais
    December 7 to December 18, 1988
  • The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles by George Bernard Shaw
    February 8 to February 26, 1989
  • Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers & Muriel St. Claire Byrne
    April 19 to June 4, 1989

1987-1988 Season

  • The Blood Knot by Athol Fugard
    September 15 to October 11, 1987
  • An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
    January 5 to February 21, 1988
  • Candida by George Bernard Shaw
    March 15 to April 10, 1988

1986-1987 Season

  • Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
    October 14 – November 9, 1986
  • Chekhov in Yalta by John Driver & Jeffrey Haddow
    January 6 to January 31, 1987
  • Translations by Brian Friel
    March 10 to April 12, 1987
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