The Hateful Eighth: An Octoroon and To Tell My Story: A Hamlet Fanfic, reviewed.

Erika Rose and Kathryn Tkel in An Octoroon (Woolly Mammoth).

My review of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company remount of An Octoroon, the best show I saw in 2016, is here. I should've credited Gwydion Suilebhan (a Woolly staffer, though I've known him longer than he's been on payroll there) for the observation in paragraph four about police body cameras; I couldn't swear I would've thought of that if he hadn't mentioned it to me when we were chatting after the show. He's a playwright and a very smart guy, so if you're going to pilfer ideas, he's a good victim. Also, the 2016 cast isn't quite "fully intact" like I said in paragraph three; Felicia Curry is new to the remount.

I also reviewed To Tell My Story: A Hamlet Fanfic, the latest literary comedy from Washington Post humor columnist Alexandra Petri.

FURTHER READING: My 2013 profile of An Octoroon playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

Flying V Fights: The Secret History of the Unknown World, reviewed.

Noah Schaefer, Em Whitworth, and Tim German duke it out. (Ryan Maxwell)

Just because Flying V's latest fight-choreography-themed show, The Secret History of the Unknown World, is pandering to me even harder than other fight-intensive shows doesn't mean you won't enjoy it, too. Read all about it in this week's Washington City Paper. Also reviewed: Mosaic Theatre Company's U.S. premiere of Hanna Eady and Edward Mast's drama The Return.

Woolly Mammoth's Hir and Rick Foucheux's possibly-career-capping Avant Bard King Lear, reviewed.

Emily Townley and Joseph J. Parks in Hir. (Scott Suchman)

My review of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's "rich and fervent" production of Taylor Mac's family tragicomedy Hir is in this week's Washington City Paper, along with a shorter one of WSC Avant Bard's latest King Lear — which just might be the swan song of one of DC's most venerable actors, the great Rick Foucheux. Pick up a paper copy for old time's sake.

Of Most Rare Note

Can a working actor get famous in one of Shakespeare's least-famous plays? In this week's Washington City Paper, available wherever finer alt-weeklies are given away gratis, I profile the hardworking and versatile titan of stage and stage Mr. Ian Merrill Peakes. He's currently appearing in the Folger Theatre's Timon of Athens, the "Hey Bulldog" of the Shakespearean canon.

Taking Trump Literally: Building the Wall, reviewed.

Tracey Conyer Lee and Eric Messner. (Teresa Castracane/Forum Theatre)

Robert Schenkkahn's Building the Wall, a terrifyingly plausible future-history of the Trump Administration that Forum Theatre has scrambled to shoehorn into their season, is a cry of warning that requires little suspension of disbelief.

I saw the show at Arena Stage last week in the first part of its bifurcated, two-venue run. It's at Forum's Silver Spring performance space May 18-17. Go. My review is in this week's Washington City Paper, along with one of The Shakespeare Theatre's Company's more-is-less Macbeth.

Tinker, Swinger, Playwright, Spy: Or, reviewed.

Erin Weaver and Holly Twyford (Grace Toulotte)

Given that Aaron Posner's 2009 production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Folger Theatre, starring Holly Twyford and Erin Weaver (and Cody Nickell and Eric Hissom) remains one of my favorite theatrical experiences, it's a cinch I'd be susceptible to Posner's reteaming with Twyford and Weaver in Or, Liz Duffy Adams' erudite farce about seminal British playwright Aphra Behn. Here's my Washington City Paper review.

Nasty Women, Repped: Dry Land and What Every Girl Should Know, reviewed.

Yakima Rich and Emily Whitford in Ruby Rae Spiegel's play Dry Land. (Forum Theatre)

My review of Forum Theatre's "Nasty Women Rep," comprised of Ruby Ray Spiegel's Dry Land and Monica Byrne's What Every Girl Should Know, took longer to appear than it should have, but it's up now. These two shows sustain Forum's reputation for bold, timely work, and I recommend them—Dry Land, especially.