Washington City Paper

Krapp’s Last Tape Is a Confounding, Profounding Tile of D.C.’s Current Beckett Mosaic Helmed by the company’s founder Robert McNamara, Scena Theatre’s production is both efficient and believable.

Scena Theatre founder Robert McNamara gives a “courageous, fully persuasive performance” in Krapp’s Last Tape. Samuel Beckett’s hour-long monologue “reckons with the insoluble questions of aging, decay, mortality, and humankind’s tragic gift.” Chris Klimek’s review:

My Body, My Festival Is Back and Bigger Than Ever Yaya Bey, Nourished By Time, Bartees Strange, and others will play the 9:30 Club on May 28 to raise money for abortion access in D.C.

My Body, My Festival is back with a one-night-only show at 9:30 Club on May 28 featuring Yaya Bey, Nourished By Time, Bartees Strange, and more. All proceeds go toward the DC Abortion Fund. Details here:

Spooky Action Shakes Up D.C. Theater for Black History Month with Tambo & Bones Tambo & Bones, Dave Harris’ treatise on race in America, comes to life under Ashleigh King’s insightful directing,

Spooky Action’s tiny black box theater turns into a full-blown rap concert as Tambo and Bones figure out how to escape the minstrel show they’re stuck in and become “real people.”

Critic James Mae reviews Tambo & Bones, on stage through March 7:

Ballou High Football Standout Nearly Missed His Shot Due to Eligibility Requirements Students are disqualified from athletics if they miss too many classes. But what if sports are the main thing tying them to school?

At Ballou High School, star athlete Javon Poole was off the field for two years—ineligible because his attendance slipped.

He was already carrying more grief than most teenagers ever imagine. But with the help of his coach, Poole found his way back. Full story:

How to Make a Killing Is a Throwback Thriller With a Nasty Finish Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, Ed Harris, Jessica Henwick: Writer-director John Patton Ford made a B movie stacked with A-list talent.

“It’s a B movie stacked with A-list talent.” Critic Chris Klimek reviews A24’s How to Make a Killing, an old-timey thriller about how Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) ended up on death row.

Moonlighting: D.C. Rental Housing Administrator Solicits Landlord Clients For His Side Gig Terrance Laney was put on leave after City Paper asked about the potential conflict of interest in his dual roles.

As a rental housing administrator, Terrance Laney is tasked with enforcing tenant rights. He also runs a private law firm that advertises compliance services for landlords.

After we contacted DHCD about the potential conflict of interest, Laney was put on leave. Full story:

Lender That Helped Fund Slumlord Sam Razjooyan Was Warned About Alleged Fraud. They Loaned Him Millions. A whistleblower has accused Red Oak Capital of shoddy vetting and reckless lending. Razjooyan received more than $40 million from the private lender. Where did all that money go?

The D.C. AG is suing the real estate lender that helped fund slumlord Sam Razjooyan’s empire.

Last year, we reported on a former Red Oak employee that blew the whistle on the firm’s reckless lending and named Razjooyan as a uniquely problematic applicant. Full story:

Little Miss Perfect at Olney Theatre Vies for Virality Joriah Kwamé knows how to craft a moment, but despite a strong cast and songs, the musical needs more work to reach sustained perfection.

Little Miss Perfect follows a high school senior navigating college admissions, queerness, and her own conception of perfection.

Joriah Kwamé's musical features a “witty score and up-to-the-minute zingers,” writes D.R. Lewis. But, at times, falls “victim to its own desire for virality.”

Ekko Astral Frontwoman Jael Holzman Files Peace Order Petition Accusing Former Bandmate of Making Threats An uncontested order requires recently departed Ekko drummer Miri Tyler to stay away from Holzman for six months. But Tyler denies threatening anyone.

Ekko Astral’s Jael Holzman accused former bandmate Miri Tyler of threatening her in a poem shared to social media. Now Tyler, who denies threatening anyone, is under an uncontested peace order.

It’s not the first time acrimony among Ekko Astral has become public. Taylor Ruckle has the story.

At Washington Stage Guild, a Happy Days Like All Others. For Better and Worse. The company’s sturdy revival, directed by Alan Wade, is a showcase for one of WSG’s founders, Lynn Steinmetz.

In every adaptation of Happy Days since 1961, the play’s not-quite-only character is buried in a mound of earth.

“So it remains,” writes Chris Klimek. But the lead, one of WSG’s founders, carries the production on her back.

RIP
Rev. Jesse Jackson , photographed for @wcp.bsky.social , 1990

Theater Alliance, IN Series, and 4EYE Film Center Form a New Creative Alliance The Arts Hub will bring the three organizations together under one roof in Southwest and promises to enrich the city’s cultural landscape.

Theater Alliance, operatic theater company IN Series, and 4EYE Film Center are forming the Arts Hub, a new creative alliance in Southwest D.C.

Read about their vision for the 9,000-square-foot space and the D.C.-based creatives working to center social responsibility over profit:

Meet the Only Runner on Cardozo Education Campus’ Girls Cross-Country Team Daryerly Yriarte is managing school, a part-time job, English classes, and the internal struggle to just keep running.

Cardozo’s girls cross-country team is the smallest high school sports team in D.C.: Daryerly Yriarte, a junior, is the only runner.

She’s managing school, a part-time job, English classes, and the internal struggle to just keep running. Full story:

Pillion Gives the Gay Leather Community the Rom-Com Treatment This weekend you have your choice between two sexy movies with hot leading men. Why not pick the kinkier and sweeter one.

“Wuthering Heights” and Pillion have more in common than you may think, writes critic Alan Zilberman. “Both feature a tall, chiseled, improbably handsome man indulging his idea of unconventional romance and eroticism.”

But one “avoids cliches for something more psychologically astute.” The review:

D.C. Attorney General Targets D.C. Slumlord With RICO Lawsuit, Alleging Corrupt Enterprise Across 70 Rent-Controlled Buildings Despite the AG’s lawsuit, another notorious slumlord has reappeared as a representative at a building in Razjooyan’s enterprise.

D.C. AG Brian Schwalb hit Ali “Sam” Razjooyan with a RICO lawsuit, accusing him and his family of running an illegal real estate empire.

Despite the suit, another notorious slumlord has reappeared as a representative at a building in Razjooyan’s enterprise. More here:

On Background: A New Improv-Journalism Mash-Up D.C. improv veteran Shawn Westfall and local author Dan Kois put journalists’ stories center stage at their new monthly comedy show.

On Background, a new live comedy set from D.C. improv veteran Shawn Westfall and local author-journalist Dan Kois puts journalists’ stories center stage.

More on the debut show featuring former Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema:

Where in D.C. Is Darrow Montgomery? Guess the location, win a prize!

📍We’re back with another game of Where in D.C. is Darrow Montgomery? Reply with your guesses to win some City Paper merch.

How a D.C. ‘Slumlord’ Scammed Tenants and Lenders to Build a Portfolio of Neglected Properties, According to Lawsuits and Tenant Accounts Ali “Sam” Razjooyan and his associates are accused of doctoring loan documents and tricking tenants out of their rights. While they get rich, tenants are displaced.

@wcp.bsky.social investigative reporter Suzie Amanuel has been reporting on Razjooyan and his associates since 2024, including his doctoring of loan documents and tricking tenants out of their rights as he has built a portfolio of neglected slums:

washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7541...

Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” Doesn’t Reach New Heights Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi, and their costars are the only things keeping this film from drowning in its own decadence.

Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is horny, pretty, and “has all the subtlety of a heart attack,” writes Sarah Marloff.

“Play with period, absurdity, and fashion all you want," Marloff writes. “The problem with 'Wuthering Heights' is that it can’t decide what it’s trying to be.” Full review:

On Beckett, Not Beckett, Just Beckett: How Samuel Beckett Is Speaking to D.C. One of the defining playwrights of the 20th century is having a moment as three local organizations pay homage to his work.

Samuel Beckett is having a moment in the District. Three local orgs are creating productions, homages, and responses to his work.

What is it about the absurdist, darkly humorous playwright’s work that is speaking to D.C. creatives? Full story:

D.C. Cop Charged With Scamming Pennsylvania Man on Facebook Marketplace Metropolitan Police Department Officer Christopher Bijan Shahsavar ghosted a man who paid him $2,500 for a gaming console.

A D.C. cop was charged with four felonies after scamming someone in Pennsylvania via Facebook Marketplace.

MPD is now trying to fire Shahsavar, who challenged that decision during an adverse action hearing last week. Full story:

Beats Me: Ari Lennox Takes Neo-Soul to New Heights and Jeff Draco Drops Long-Awaited New Music Early 2026 brings new music from Massie, Cryptid Summer, Cash on the Nail, Unity for the Outcasts, and RDGLDGRN.

Neo-soul from Ari Lennox, a long-awaited single from indie-pop darling Josh Draco, and a reggae-rock track from RDGLDGRN. Our music writers round up the latest in local tunes:

As Girls Basketball Participation in D.C. Declines, Ballou’s Courtney Lucas Is Reinvigorating Her Team Girls face unique barriers to athletic participation, but Coach Lucas ensures her students are supported both on and off the court

Coach Courtney Lucas “was willing to actually go through the fire to win the girls over,” says Ballou High School’s principal.

Girls face unique barriers to athletic participation, but Coach Lucas shows what support on and off the court can do. Read more:

Where in D.C. Is Darrow Montgomery? Guess the location, win a prize!

Where’s @darrow-m.bsky.social? Reply with your best guess and be entered to win a prize!

This week we’re giving two winners tickets to the DC Independent Film Festival’s Annual Forum.

Deep Holes, Rats the Size of Dogs, and Restrictive Priority: When Access to Fields Are the Barrier to Youth Sports “They’re all falling apart. I mean, I’d like to take you out to a DPR field and show you what it’s like.”

D.C. kids participate in sports at high rates, but access isn’t equitable. We’ve partnered with a class at American University to look at the barriers some kids face.

First up is a story about how the city’s failure to maintain certain fields leaves young athletes without a safe place to practice:

Trayon White Wants to Postpone His Bribery Trial Again Councilmember White is pushing to delay the start of his criminal trial until June after changing attorneys again.

Trayon White wants to push back the start of his criminal bribery trial—again. After switching attorneys for the second time in this case, he’s asking for a June 8 start date. More here:

Spot LIT: Booked for 2026 It promises to be a strong year for new releases from local authors; here are seven can’t miss titles to read between now and June.

Local authors are booked and busy in 2026. Columnist Hannah Grieco rounds up her seven most anticipated reads to add to you TBR pile:

More Bark Than Bite Constellation’s Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors Is Still a Bloody Good Time Save for its unveiled queerness, this Transylvanian count’s European sanguination feels like a product of another age.

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is not like the other vampire comedies—it’s “silly in a Muppet-y key” writes critic Chris Klimek. “Save for its unveiled queerness and the odd Amazon joke, A Comedy of Terrors feels like a product of another age.”

Theatre Washington’s Impact Report Shows a Vibrant But Imbalanced Theater Region. What Happens Next? As theaters continue their slow recovery from the pandemic, local advocates and leaders seek to tell the field’s story in dollars and cents.

Theatre Washington created a “rare opportunity to tell a story of the local theater industry in the language of dollars and cents,” writes contributor Jared Strange.

Its report examines the economic impact of DMV theater and offers new insight. Strange breaks it down:

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