The Ninth Hour Lets Beowulf's Monster Make His Case at Dance Loft on 14

Anyone who has read Beowulf knows the basic story. A hero arrives, a monster falls, and the mead hall celebrates. Glass Canon Theatre Company wants Washington audiences to look again at that ending. The company is giving The Ninth Hour, Kate Douglas and Shayfer James's rock noir musical, its D.C. premiere at Dance Loft on 14 from November 14 through December 7, 2026. The show starts from a simple question: Grendel has been cast as the villain for more than a thousand years, but did he earn the role?

Director Savina Barini is drawn to what happens when an old tale is retold. "I think there's an interesting conversation to be had about the stories we repeat and the ways stories change in the retelling," she said. "A hero slaying a monster is a familiar, comforting story; it gets stickier when we ask what makes a hero or a monster."

The score runs from big pop anthems to aching lullabies. It follows the epic's rise to glory and its slide into ruin, and it asks what power and violence cost the winner as well as the loser. The music is also played live by members of the cast. Sam Slottow, Daniella Ignacio, and Gary DuBreuil serve as both performers and the show's band, which gives the evening an intimate, handmade feel. Music director Emily Erickson says that approach suits the source material. "Beowulf comes from a tradition of stories performed aloud, with a bard holding a room with nothing but a voice and an instrument," she said. "The concept album is very highly produced, but this production has a more acoustic feel, it calls up that oral tradition."

The movement shares that sense of fate. Choreographer Laura Artesi also performs in the ensemble. "In this show, the tension is palpable," she said. "We wanted the movement to feel almost inevitable, something the characters are caught inside rather than something they choose."

Sadie O'Conor, whose credits include Freddie: A Girl, leads the company as Beowulf. Jeremy Keith Hunter, seen in Tambo & Bones and The Royale, plays the much-maligned Grendel. Slottow plays the Bard, and Ignacio plays Grendel's Mother. Pauline Lamb, Artesi, and DuBreuil fill out the ensemble, and Hana Clarice and Julen Barini-Brown are the swings. Alongside Barini, Erickson, and Artesi, the creative team includes associate music director Daniella Ignacio, stage manager P. Vanessa Losada, fight and intimacy director Sierra Young, costume designer Anya Peregrino, lighting designer Mariah Faulkner, sound designer Chelsea Prillerman, production manager Gil Mitchell, and sound consultant Justin Schmitz.

The production fits Glass Canon's mission. The nonprofit focuses on classical work and aims to make it feel inclusive, engaging, and relevant to D.C. audiences today. Few texts are more classical than an Old English epic, and few retellings have tried to give its monster a voice set to rock music.

The Ninth Hour runs about 75 minutes and plays at Dance Loft on 14, 4618 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C. Tickets start at $30 and are available at glasscanon.org/ticketing. If you have always wondered whether Grendel got a fair hearing, this is your chance to decide for yourself.