Swept Away

November 25, 2023 - January 14, 2024

Book by John Logan
Music and Lyrics by The Avett Brothers
Choreographed by David Neumann
Directed by Michael Mayer
By Special Arrangement with Matthew Masten, Sean Hudock, and Madison Wells Live

"ELEVATES A TRAGEDY TO MYTHIC PROPORTIONS, REVERBERATING ALL THE WAY INTO YOUR CORE!"

— San Francisco Chronicle

When a violent storm sinks their whaling ship off the coast of New Bedford, Mass., the four survivors face a reckoning: how far will they go to stay alive? And can they live with the consequences? With music and lyrics from The Avett Brothers (“America’s Biggest Roots Band,” Rolling Stone), whose 2004 “Mignonette” was inspired by an 1884 shipwreck and the struggle of four men to survive, Swept Away is an electrifying, soul-stirring new musical exploring how facing tragedy can open the door to forgiveness… if only we’ll let it.

Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show

December 8 - 17, 2023

By Step Afrika!

The world’s first holiday show incorporating the African American tradition of stepping, Step Afrika!'s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show is a feast for the eyes and ears. You’ll laugh, you’ll sing, and you’ll dance—yes, dance, along with Step Afrika!’s award-winning dancers on Arena’s fabulous Fichandler Stage!—as “DJ Nutcracker” sets the tone for a joy-filled, toe-tapping evening that’s a family-friendly holiday “stepstravaganza” like no other.

Mindplay

January 19 - March 3, 2024

Created and Performed by Vinny DePonto
Written by Vinny DePonto and Josh Koenigsberg
Directed by Andrew Neisler
Produced by Eva Price

a love letter to the imperfect mind

Drama Desk Award–nominated theatermaker and mentalist Vinny DePonto guides us on an entirely new theatrical event in which your thoughts play a leading role. A “warmly inviting, nostalgia-ridden, gem of a performance” (BroadwayWorld), Mindplay masterfully blurs the line between illusion and reality. Escape into the expansive beauty of imagination and bask in the ephemeral and surprising nature of memory.

Tempestuous Elements

February 16 - March 17, 2024

By Kia Corthron
Directed by Psalmayene 24

"A big chunk of hidden history…and hidden D.C. history"

— Molly Smith

Tempestuous Elements reveals the struggle of educational luminary Anna Julia Cooper as she fights for her students’ rights to an advanced curriculum. In a scandal orchestrated by the government, her tenure as principal of  D.C.’s historic M Street School is sabotaged by her colleagues and neighbors leading Cooper's professional and personal relationships to become fodder for innuendo and social ostracization. Witness the journey of this formidable Black feminist’s fight for educational equity, freedom, and legitimacy at the turn of the 20th century.

Unknown Soldier

March 29 - May 5, 2024

Book by Daniel Goldstein
Music by Michael Friedman
Lyrics by Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein
Directed by Trip Cullman
By Special Arrangement with Hunter Arnold

"The unknown soldier is someone everyone can release their sorrow towards."

— Molly Smith

Cleaning out her grandmother’s home, Ellen Rabinowitz discovers the photograph of an anonymous soldier tucked away in a box of keepsakes. And so begins Unknown Soldier, a sweeping, elegiac musical from Daniel Goldstein and the late Michael Friedman on a woman’s journey to unearth the secrets of her family’s past… and which will chart her future.

The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence

June 6 - July 14, 2024

By Step Afrika!

"A show that needs to be experienced: a blend of incredible movement, rhythms and singing."

— DC Theater Scene

Using its hallmark style of percussive dance-theater, Step Afrika!’s The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence tells the story of one of the largest movements of people in United States history, when millions of African American migrants moved from the rural South to the industrial North in the 1900s to escape Jim Crow, racial oppression, and lynchings. Inspired by Jacob Lawrence’s iconic 60-panel “The Migration Series” (1940-41), this signature work from the award-winning dance company uses the images, color palette, and motifs in the painting series to tell this astonishing story through pulsating rhythms and visually stunning movement.