Theatrical Selections

A free, politically-charged play reading series presented by

• ARENA STAGE
• THE KENNEDY CENTER
• SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
• SIGNATURE THEATRE
• STUDIO THEATRE

“When the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly out of hand we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a cure. There is nothing new in the story. It is as old as the sibylline books.”

—Winston Churchill, House of Commons, May 2, 1935

Mondays, October 3–November 7

Backroom dealings, larger-than-life figures, meteoric rises to power, and society at the boiling point. In the weeks leading up to the election, join five D.C. theatres as they consider political moments from burgeoning fascism in the 1930s to partisan horse-trading in modern America. Much may have changed since some of these plays were written in the early 20^th century, but much remains unsettlingly familiar.

Watch on the Rhine (1941)
by Lillian Hellman
October 3, Arena Stage

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1941)
by Bertolt Brecht
October 17, Shakespeare Theatre Company

A Face in the Crowd (1957)
by Budd Schulberg
October 24, Signature Theatre

Warrior Class (2012)
by Kenneth Lin
October 31, The Kennedy Center

Ivanka (2016)
by Joshua Harmon
November 7, Studio Theatre