Something You Did at Theater J

Something You Did

Theater J
1529 Sixteenth Street, NW Washington

A stellar student from a good family, Alison Moulton is serving her third decade behind bars for an anti-war action she participated in as member of a ‘60s radical group that resulted in the death of an African American police officer. Now petitioning for parole, she’s visited by the daughter of the slain officer. But her fiercest detractor comes in a former comrade turned neo-conservative pundit, media star and best-selling author. Gene Biddle (Rick Foucheux) argues against his former partner while implicating another group member, now a current public official residing in the White House, for a past association with the radical terrorist group. Smear politics, 60s revisionism, the realities of a wasted life in prison, and the desire to rejoin society form the driving, conflicting forces in this “fluid and eloquent play about the divisions in American culture and politics” (The New York Times) “Willy Holtzman has done the nearly impossible: In SOMETHING YOU DID, he finds a fresh way to discuss modern terrorism.” (Time Out ) A highly engrossing work, newly updated.

Thru - Oct 3, 2010

Wednesdays: 7:30pm

Thursdays: 7:30pm

Saturdays: 8:00pm

Sundays: 3:00pm & 7:30pm

Price: $35-$55

Show Type: Drama

Running Time: 1hr; 340mins no intermission

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Something You Did Reviews

Average Rating based on 8 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...While Holtzman keeps his drama to a tight 90 minutes, the going gets sluggish as the characters drag mountains of sordid cultural and personal baggage into full view; it's a whole lot of back story to heave into conversations. That may be part of what's keeping Eleanor Holdridge's cast from fully sinking their teeth into one another's necks. The performance is oddly cautious for nearly an hour, even though the play is crafted as a series of crossfire faceoffs."

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- Nelson Pressley

Washington Examiner - Recommended

"... Although “Something You Did” is slightly schematic, it is well-written, its tight, spare dialogue not containing an extraneous word or line. It raises provocative and subtle questions about accountability and guilt. And it does precisely what its author intended it to do: 'take aim at the paradoxical nature of American political life.'"

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- Barbara Mackay

MetroWeekly - Somewhat Recommended

"...Something You Did is a strong piece of theater that nicely demonstrates the considerable strength and flexibility of its cast. While the cumbersomeness of some of the play's material occasionally makes its presence felt onstage, the actors show a brilliant determination to lift the very important ideas at the center of the work up for consideration, dialogue and debate."

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- Tom Avila

WeLoveDC - Recommended

"...There’s nothing wrong with Something You Did. At 90 minutes without an intermission it blows by quickly and delivers a number of moments of pathos and humor. Getting to spend time with the sneaky and curmudgeonly Arthur is almost reason enough to go by itself. It’s the frustrations of unrealized potential that takes away from the experience. By not committing to either being about the process or about the morals it ends up serving neither, and that’s a shame."

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- Don

Washington City Paper - Recommended

"...As Alison and Arthur, actors Deborah Hazlett and Norman Aronovic are more than agile enough to negotiate these tin-eared turns of phrase. Their castmates are largely spared them, with one huge exception: Poor Aakhu Freeman, playing the daughter of the cop Alison unwittingly helped kill, is given nothing to do but suffer nobly when she answers Alison’s letter with a visit."

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- Willy Holtzman

BrightestYoungThings - Recommended

"...In his writing, Holtzman appears to take a non-partisan approach. Alison and Eugene are both extremists in their own right, and, in the end, they both seem a little silly -- admitting themselves that they are simply “political animals trying to be human.” For the most part, that’s a good thing. But, at times, the plot gets lost in political banter. The cheap shots and soap box speeches get tiring. There’s also a blundering meeting between Alison and the slain officer’s daughter, Lenora Renshaw, which unfolds awkwardly and doesn’t quite succeed in delivering the strong emotional impact one would expect from such an encounter."

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- Andrea

Washington Jewish Week - Highly Recommended

"...Director Eleanor Holdridge keeps her five actors in check -- the fluorescent-lit prison library isn't a place for pyrotechnics, but for careful consideration before speaking -- especially for Alison, who is up for possible parole. Deborah Hazlett seems like a fallen angel in her prison jumpsuit, an unexpected felon: She tutors other inmates, shelves books, advises her companion, a correction officer, on how to plead out of a traffic violation. But are her intentions and good deeds enough to mollify the board -- and the victim's daughter -- to consider her release?"

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- Lisa Traiger

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Like many of the best shows produced at Theater J, Something You Did is an unabashed examination of moral ambiguity and sociopolitical contention, acted with brains and zeal by a pitch-perfect cast.

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- Hunter Styles

Something You Did at Theater J