Cambodian Rock Band

July 19 - August 27, 2023

By Lauren Yee
Featuring Songs by Dengue Fever
Directed by Chay Yew
A Signature Theatre Production
In Association with Alley Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and ACT Theatre/5th Avenue

"Good old rock ’n’ roll, Cambodian-style. Clap your hands, everybody, and sing along!"

— The New York Times

It’s 2008 and a father-daughter duo are heading to Phnom Penh; she to prosecute a notorious Cambodian war criminal, he 30 years after escaping then-Communist rule. In a psychedelic theatrical extravaganza set to some of the country’s most popular rock music, including from Dengue Fever, Cambodian Rock Band shines a light on the country’s vibrant ’70s rock scene and how an entire generation of musicians was purged by the Khmer Rouge, as it brings long-buried family secrets back to life.

POTUS

October 13 - November 12, 2023

By Selina Fillinger
Directed by Margot Bordelon

"Grade A! You will laugh until your face hurts."

— Entertainment Weekly

When the Commander-in-Chief publicly calls his wife a “See You Next Tuesday,” all H-E-Double Hockey Sticks breaks loose. In this searingly funny Broadway hit, POTUS follows how seven women of dramatically different backgrounds minimize the damage done by male arrogance and political posturing, in an endearing homage to the women who keep things running behind the scenes. 

Swept Away

November 25 - December 30, 2023

Book by John Logan
Music and Lyrics by The Avett Brothers
Directed by Michael Mayer
Choreographed by David Neumann
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.

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

Born into slavery in North Carolina, Anna Julia Cooper was a visionary Black feminist and educator in the late 19^th/early 20^th centuries, and only the fourth African American woman to earn a doctoral degree. Tempestuous Elements—the 11^th in Arena Stage’s Power Play cycle—shines a light on Cooper’s tumultuous tenure as Principal of Washington, D.C.’s historic M Street School where she fought to keep Black education alive, despite the racism, gossip and sexism that threatened to consign her efforts to obscurity.

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.