There’s plenty of serious stuff going on in the world right now, which is why this month’s column is taking a much-needed summer vacation and suggesting you do the same by enjoying some mystery, adventure, comedy and intrigue, here on your doorstep.
Catch before Closing
“The Play That Goes Wrong,”
Keegan Theatre • June 13-July 12
keegantheatre.com
Dupont Circle’s Keegan Theatre again gives us comedic escape with the staging of “The Play That Goes Wrong.” Similar in slapstick style to Michael Frayn’s classic 1982 British farce “Noises Off” (which Keegan Theatre produced in July 2024), “The Play That Goes Wrong” features a dilettante theatrical company attempting to stage an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery play while contending with collapsing sets, errant props, feuding actors, missed cues and a multitude of other funny mishaps.
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields (founders of Mischief Theatre), “The Play That Goes Wrong” was first performed in London’s Old Red Lion Theatre in 2012. It won a 2015 Laurence Olivier Award, toured the UK, the US and Australia, ran on Broadway for two years and inspired several BBC TV series and specials.
The plot is relatively simple and truthfully ceases to matter as the play unravels: The curtain rises on the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s opening night of “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” a classic Hercule Poirot/Agatha Christie whodunnit, except produced with lot less professionalism. Hilarity ensues over the course of two acts as cheap sets crumble, props are misplaced, lines are forgotten, bad British accents start slipping and stage managers search for a missing dog while tunes from a misplaced Phil Collins CD box set blare unpredictably over the sound system.
It takes a dynamic cast to handle this much sustained and energetic action. Director Michael Innocenti has done a bang-up job of wrangling Darren Badley (Trevor), Rebecca Ballinger (Dennis), Jimmy Bartlebaugh (Max), Jared H. Graham (Jonathan), Leah Packer (Sandra), Matthew Pauli (Chris), Jackson Saunders (Robert) and Martina Schabron (Annie the stage manager). Without exception, everyone excels at making a series of catastrophic mistakes look utterly professional.
Bring your kids to this one. They’ll love it too.
On Right Now
“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,”
Olney Theatre • July 2-Aug. 23
olneytheatre.org
If you watched A24’s “How to Make a Killing” (based on the 1949 British film “Kind Hearts and Coronets” and featuring a debonair Glen Powell as Becket Redfellow and a sultry Margaret Qualley as Julia Steinway), you’ll have an idea of the plot of Olney Theatre’s new summer musical that’s closing out the 2025-26 season.
“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” centers on the misadventures of Montague Navarro, who realizes after his indigent mother passes away that he’s related to the fabulously wealthy and idiosyncratic D’Ysquith family. As only the eighth in the line of succession, there’s little hope for Monty to lay claim to the family’s wealth, but an encounter with a soused D’Ysquith relative at the top of a bell tower leads our canny protagonist down a path of treachery, polyamory and – you guessed it – murder.
This comedic musical was originally developed around 2006 and debuted on Broadway in 2013. It’s based on Edwardian novelist Roy Horniman’s 1907 book “Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal” and is famously tricky to stage, not least of all because all male members of the D’Ysquith family are played by a single actor. “’A Gentleman’s Guide’ has been on my radar ever since it won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2014,” explains Olney Theatre’s artistic director Jason Loewith. “I realized it had never been done in the DC area in a resident production because it requires an actor that can play multiple roles and it requires plenty of scenery and plenty of costumes. That’s a hard show to do!”
Ever one for a challenge, and answering the call from patrons for something light, Loewith reread the libretto and settled on Helen Hayes Award-winning Tom Story to play all seven members of the D’Ysquith family alongside Jacob Tischler as social climber extraordinaire Montague Navarro. “He’s a singular performer who’s extremely versatile and can be both a character and a leading man,” Loewith says of Story. “We’re very lucky to have him opposite Jacob as Monty Navarro.”
Directed by Eleanor Holdridge with a book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and musical direction by Christopher Youstra, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” features choreography by Ashleigh King. Sumie Yotsukura and Sadie Koopman are cast as Monty’s competing love interests Sibella and Phoebe. The musical will debut at the Roberts Mainstage, which will feature a new passerelle that extends the action into the audience in the style of old British music halls.
“A Respite for City Folk”
Olney Theatre Center’s 2026-27 season ‒ which kicks off in September with a production of “La Cage aux Folles” – takes place amid a raft of new developments and upgrades to the 88-year-old, 14-acre performing arts campus, all part of the $37 million “Staging the Future” capital campaign.
Officially designated as one of only two state summer theaters of Maryland, the Olney Outdoors series of concerts and plays performed under the open sky has always been intended, as Loewith says, “to be a respite for city folk.” Back in the 1930s, audiences from DC and New York would make the trip to Sandy Spring Road to watch actresses like Tallulah Bankhead and Olivia de Havilland tread the boards for summer stock performances, and Olney’s kept this tradition alive for over 80 years.
On your visit this month to check out “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at the Roberts Mainstage, check out the new Bernard Family Theatre (Olney’s original 1938 performance space), which has been reenvisioned as a flexible barn for not only musicals and plays but also conferences, weddings, corporate gatherings or even a bat or bar mitzvah. The sparkling new Jim and Carol Trawick Education Center, the Gana Dunlop Maker’s Center and the renovated 150-seat black box theatre space are also new attractions that’ll draw even more patrons to Olney this summer.
Upcoming Attraction
“National Treasure,”
Historic Congressional Cemetery
Showing July 17
The Historic Congressional Cemetery (laid out in 1807) is beautiful all year round, but it really comes alive in summer through executive director Mark Hudson and program director AJ Orlikoff’s outdoor programming, of which Cinematery is one of our annual favorites. There are few things more quintessentially summer in DC than relaxing among the headstones with a few drinks and a light picnic while enjoying a film. This summer’s Cinematery (themed “Dinosaurs and Declarations”) kicks off with John Turteltaub’s swashbuckling 2004 adventure flick “National Treasure.” Remember, you’ll have to leave Fido at home for this one, and blankets are better than large lawn chairs (which block the view of the screen for others). And don’t lean on the grave markers!
Tickets sell fast, so get yours now at www.congressionalcemetery.org.
