Theater J Brings The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk to DC
Beginning on October 7 and running through November 1, 2026, Theater J brings The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk to the stage. The DC premiere is written by Daniel Jamieson and directed by Theater J Artistic Director Hayley Finn.
Before the paintings, poems, and fame, Bella and Marc Chagall were two young dreamers whose love transformed the world around them. Through music, movement, and theatrical magic, their journey unfolds from a small Jewish town to a vivid landscape of imagination, devotion, and resilience. Tender, whimsical, and visually enchanting, The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk is a love story that reminds us how art and love can lift us beyond the gravity of everyday life.
The play was originally produced by the world-renowned British theater company, Kneehigh, and was hailed as “gorgeous” by The New York Times and “a heart-lifting, heart-piercing delight” by The Stage. Theater J’s production will feature live music by Ian Ross and Sarah O’Halloran and aerialist performances choreographed by Gwynne Flanagan, bringing Daniel Jamieson’s passionate words to life for the first time in DC. The play is constructed in such a way that it begins with Marc Chagall as an older man looking back on his life and telling the story of his relationship with his love and muse, Bella, through the kaleidoscope of time.
The cast of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk is centered around the characters of Bella and Marc, played by acclaimed DC actors Dani Stoller (This Much I Know, Hester Street) and Jamie Smithson (Appropriate, Frozen, At the Wedding, Arcadia). The performance also includes the unique aspects of live music performed by musicians Jeremy Allen Crawford and Katrina Michaels and breathtaking aerialist performances by Thomas Martin and Rachael Small.
Artistic Director Hayley Finn shares, “I was drawn to the play because it felt like entering one of Chagall’s paintings; it was filled with mystery, love, Jewish culture, and history, and through gorgeous imagery, movement, and music has a transcendent quality that, in my mind, is much like a shared dream. This production is truly a love letter to the theater.”
“This is an extraordinary collaboration between circus arts and live performance,” said Choreographer Gwynne Flanagan, “to have the aerialist performers not only as spectacle on stage but as part of the storytelling and the emotional narrative of the play is incredibly innovative and unlike anything that’s been on stage in DC in decades.”
The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk runs October 7 – November 1, 2026, presented by Theater J in the Edlavitch DCJCC’s Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theatre, 1529 16th St NW, Washington, DC. Single ticket prices for regular tickets start at $69.