Dramatic stories make the way to the DC stage

SOULS OF BLACK MEN RENEWED IN "RESURRECTION""Resurrection"
By Daniel Beaty
The Arena Stage
August 29th through October 5th

This unique performance was created by the author of "Emergence-SEE!," Daniel Beaty, who won the 2007 OBIE Award for Outstanding Writing and Performance and dazzled Arena Stage audiences last summer with a sold-out run of the show. He returns to Arena with a talented cast of six actors, as well as Oz Scott, who originally directed "For Colored Girls... on Broadway."

The performance also features live, mixed music by Daniel Bernard Roumain and Elan Vytal (aka DJ Scientific), a Haitian-American composer who fuses classical violin with a variety of unlikely soundscapes.

"I have always been interested in exploring issues surrounding black men. When I read the Urban League's 2007 Report, it became clear to me that it was time to focus on writing this play," said Beaty.

As a special supplement to the performance of Resurrection, Arena Stage has arranged a series of post-performance discussion panels featuring local and national resources to discuss the issues raised in Daniel's play. The panels will speak immediately following the performance on September 2nd and include 100 Black Men of Greater Washington and the Northern Virginia Urban League; September 3rd's discussion will include Rachel Vassel, author of "The Daughters of Men: Portraits of African-American Men and their Fathers"following the 7:30 p.m. performance; and on September 6th a panel of African-American clergy led by Rev. Jonathan Newton, Minister to Young Adults at Ebenezer AME Church, will follow the 2:00 p.m. matinee performance.

There is no charge to attend the panels, however seating is limited. To guarantee a seat, please buy tickets to the performance of Resurrection and then stay to hear the lively and thought-provoking panel discussions.

LINCOLN THEATRE PARTNERS WITH ARENA STAGE FOR "WISHFUL DRINKING"

"Wishful Drinking"
By Tony Taccone
Featuring Carrie Fisher
The Arena Stage
September 5th through September 28th

Arena Stage welcomes best-selling author and Hollywood personality Carrie Fisher to the Lincoln Theatre for her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking," staged by renowned director Tony Taccone and produced by Jonathan Reinis Production in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

"I was essentially raised in my mother's nightclub act, so it's very natural for me to do what most people find unnatural - get on stage and tell stories," Fisher remarks. "I always say, 'if my life weren't funny, it would just be true - and that's unacceptable.' So please come to see my show, otherwise I'll end up talking about myself alone in the dark. Again!" said Fisher.

"Wishful Drinking" kicks off Arena's collaboration with the historic Lincoln Theatre in Northwest, D.C., for the two-year festival, ARENA RESTAGED. Arena's theater campus at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue, S.W. is under construction to build the $125 million Mead Center for American Theater, set to open in 2010. During the construction, Arena will continue to perform at Arena Stage in Crystal City, in addition to the Lincoln.

ROMANTIC COMEDY ENTERTAINS CENTERSTAGE AUDIENCE

"The Matchmaker"
At Centerstage
September 10th Through October 12th

CENTERSTAGE will launch its 2008-09 Mainstage season with Thornton Wilder's American classic, "The Matchmaker," a romantic comedy of mistaken identities, inappropriate hook-ups, and the constraints of class. With characters and a story best known for the play's subsequent adaptation into the Jerry Herman musical, "Hello, Dolly!," "The Matchmaker" will be directed by CENTERSTAGE Artistic Director Irene Lewis, and will feature several of the theater's regular acting collaborators in the cast.

Caitlin O'Connell, in the title role as matchmaker Dolly Levi, will be making her tenth appearance at CENTERSTAGE, after memorable performances in "Oh, Pioneers!," "A Doll House," and "Othello."

Artistic Director Irene Lewis has staged more than 50 productions for CENTERSTAGE since assuming the theater's artistic reins in 1991. As The Matchmaker opens in September, she will welcome a new leadership partner in Managing Director Debbie Chinn, most recently of California Shakespeare Theater, who begins her position as CENTERSTAGE's administrative leader on September 15th.

SIDNEY HARMON HALL'S "ROMEO & JULIET" TO FEATURE PERIOD COSTUMES, MUSIC

New Sidney Harmon Hall production opens Shakespear Theatre Company season
"Romeo & Juliet"
At The Shakespeare Theatre
September 9th Through October 12th

The Shakespeare Theatre Company opens its 2008-2009 season with an all-male production of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", directed by STC Associate Artistic Director David Muse. This production will feature the first usage of the "Thrust Configuration" in the dazzling new Sidney Harmon Hall, the production will also feature period costumes and music influenced by the Renaissance to explore theatre traditions common in Shakespeare's time.