The Man Trap: STC’s The Taming of the Shrew and Mosaic Theatre’s When January Feels Like Summer, reviewed.

Vaughn Ryan Midder and Jeremy Keith Hunter in “When January Feels Like Summer” (Stan Barouh)

Lynette Rathnam and Jason B. McIntosh in “When January Feels Like Summer.” (Stan Barouh)

Shravan Amin and Jeremy Keith Hunter in “When January Feels Like Summer” (Stan Barouh)

The cast and audience at the intermezzo of “The Taming of the Shrew.” (Scott Suchman)

The cast of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar. (Scott Suchman)

Rick Hammerly as the Contessa, Peter Gadiot as Petruchio, Maulik Pancholy as Katherina, and Oliver Thornton as Bianca in “The Taming of the Shrew.” (Scott Suchman)

Maulik Pancholy as Katherina and Peter Gadiot as Petruchio in “The Taming of the Shrew.” (Scott Suchman)

Directors have reckoned with the misogyny of The Taming of the Shrew in many ways. Ed Sylvanus Iskandar’s fix — cast only men, and let the female characters express themselves via covers of old songs from Duncan Sheik, a man — is at least, and most, strange. I review Iskandar’s perplexing boys-only Shakespeare Theatre Company Shrew in today’s Washington City Paper.

Apples to Apples, Dust to Dust: Sorry and Regular Singing, reviewed.

My review of Sorry and Regular Singing, the latter two entries in Richard Nelson’s Apple Family quartet, is in today’s Washington City Paper. I reviewed the the first pair, That Hopey Changey Thing and Sweet and Sad, when the same director and cast staged them here in Washington two years ago. If I’ve little more to say now than I said then, it’s only because the strengths of the magnificent whole are also the strengths of its magnificent component parts.

Freud Where Prohibited: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Freud’s Last Session, reviewed, plus some Frank (Britton) discussion.

Patrick Bussink and Maboud Ebrahimzadeh

Brian Hemmingsen and Scott McCormick

Julie Garner and Jim Jorgensen

Julie Garner, Brian Hemmingsen, Scott McCormick, and Maboud Ebrahimzadeh

In today’s Washington City Paper, I review two plays that mull over free will and the existence of God, both of which feature Sigmund Freud as a character. The better of the pair, Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, features a towering performance from Frank Britton as Pontius Pilate.

Around 2:15 Tuesday morning, after he’d left the cast party that followed Judas‘ opening-night performance, Britton was assaulted and robbed by four or five unidentified attackers near the Silver Spring Metro stop. He underwent surgery at Holy Cross Hospital to treat a broken cheekbone. Britton does not have medical insurance. A crowdfunding campaign to cover his hospital bills (donate here) has raised over $45,000 so far.

Our Pottymouthed Year: 2013 on the DC Stage, Assessed.

Drew Cortese and Quentin Maré in Studio’s “The Motherfucker with the Hat,” a 2013 highlight. (Teddy Wolff)

We’re wrapping up a highly rewarding and admirably trend-resistant year on DC’s stages, as I aver in this week’s Washington City Paper.

More Plays About Gatherings and Food: (Half of) The Apple Family Plays, reviewed.

Ted van Griethuysen, Elizabeth Pierotti, Sarah Marshall, Kimberly Schraf, and Rick Foucheux in “That Hopey Changey Thing.” (Photo: Teddy Wolff)

The Studio Theatre is staging two of Richard Nelson‘s four Apple Family Plays, the last of which had its world premiere at the Public Theater in New York only last Friday, in repertory. The pair at Studio are That Hopey Change Thing and Sweet and Sad. My review of both is on Arts Desk now, and will show up in print in next week’s City Paper. Happy Thanksgiving.

Yippie kai yay, Motherfucker with the Hat: Studio’s trash-talking triumph. Plus, Kafka on the Shore

Drew Cortese and Quentin Maré talk hats.

Embarrassing admission: I didn’t realize until after I’d filed my review of Studio’s superb production of The Motherfucker with the Hat that its playwright, Stephen Adly Guirgis, is the selfsame motherfucker who wrote The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, the best thing I saw on a DC stage in 2008.

Also reviewed: Spooky Action’s Kafka on the Shore, DC’s second Frank Galati-scripted stage adaptation of a Haruki Murakami story or novel in four months.  This one is looser and more wobbly than the last one. Your mileage may vary.