To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the beginning of NextStop, we are remounting the very first production we ever presented as a professional theater! The 39 Steps is a hysterical comedy based on one of Alfred Hitchcock's first hit films. It is the thrilling saga of a handsome, yet unassuming gentleman who gets swept up in the high stakes world of international espionage. Not only do four actors play dozens of characters, in this bold new production, our brave cast will be flipping a coin just 5 minutes before each performance to see who plays which role! Every night will be a completely new adventure, featuring daring escapes, speeding trains, plane crashes, and plenty of mistaken identities, you won't want to miss this one of a kind production of The 39 Steps!

In a world of forbidden love, faith and desire collide when a devout priest and a captivating Havana pianist from his parish form an alluring connection.

Prepare to be thrilled, chilled, and moved! For Halloween, Olney Theatre is home to a modern horror story of family, migration, and the spirits that haunt us. It's 2007, and Thai-American brothers Max and Visarut haven't had a single case for their paranormal investigation business since they opened. Finally, their first customer arrives: Delia, a Black woman who thinks a Thai-speaking ghost is haunting her house for reasons unknown. Max is happy to sign her up for a deluxe investigation package, but when the brothers visit Delia and her husband Felix at home, strange things begin to happen.

"It's funny till it's not." -Harold Pinter. First staged in London, 1960, Pinter's first success still has the power to surprise, entertain, and unsettle audiences. Soon after a pair of working-class brothers allow a boastful vagabond to temporarily stay in their decrepit London house, they've each separately offered the man a job as caretaker. Trapped in their own individual worlds of dreams and delusions-they're soon at odds as kindness and loyalties give way to cruelties unleashed and lies exposed in this bitingly funny psychological exploration of life's menace and absurdity.

Adapted from the well-loved novel, this critically acclaimed play takes us on a journey with two young Jewish boys as they navigate the complexities of their relationships with each other, their families, and their religion. Set against the backdrop of 1940s Brooklyn, The Chosen is a timeless story about the universal struggles of growing up and finding one's place in the world.

Poetry, stagecraft, daring acrobatics and technologies come together in a spectacle exploring the precious balance between humans, animals and the world we share. As they navigate the phases of evolution, our main female protagonist Future and our characters learn that their actions have the power to shape the world. Inspired to collaborate, they come together to rebuild our planet piece by piece, creating the world we all want to live in. Fueled by the power of invention, the hope of the youth and the importance of empathy, ECHO invites the audience to participate in a universe of color, wonder and infinite possibilities.

Words are powerful...books can transform. Sparks fly when Zan, an angry high school student, is forced to work off his community service assignment helping ailing, but feisty librarian Dorothy. With seemingly little in common, this unlikely pair may find deep meaning in each other's life experiences... if they can only find the right words.

You are cordially invited to a meeting of The Drunk Shakespeare Society. In a hidden speakeasy, five classically-trained actors assemble for their sacred ritual. One actor takes five shots of whiskey and then attempts to perform a major role in a Shakespeare play. Hilarity and mayhem ensue as the remaining sober actors attempt to keep the play on track. Every night is different depending on who's drinking ... and what they're drinking! Drunk Shakespeare is a New York Times' Critics Pick and "the best thing to ever happen to the theater" according to Slate Magazine. Craft cocktails are served throughout the show.

Adriana manages the housekeeping staff at a Cancún resort, 200 miles and a world away from the home she left. Sarah, sister of the bride and the self-declared disaster of the family, is just trying to keep it together at this destination wedding. When a storm floods the roads and forces the women together, a series of misunderstandings breaks open the secrets both women have taught themselves to ignore. A bilingual play with Spanish and English supertitles, Espejos: Clean is a potent look at isolation, the power of being seen, and the ways people can grow around their own damaged places.

Sammi Cannold (Forbes' 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment) helms this groundbreaking revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Tony Award-winning rock opera. In a production The Boston Globe hails as "EXCEPTIONAL...A new generation's take on Evita," the story of Eva Perón's meteoric rise to First Lady of Argentina is brought to life with heart and spectacle.

Playwright Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band) is rehearsing her newest show about her father (which she has not told him about), when he joyfully bursts through the doors and interrupts the actors. After he later goes missing, the younger Yee must embark on a quest through San Francisco's famous Chinatown, beyond the iconic Dragon's Gate, through a bustling maze of alleys and magical portals, to find him before it's too late.

A 19th century hospital, La Salpêtriere, became famous as a center for the treatment of hysteria. Women were sometimes "treated" in demonstrations that were open to the public. Kelsey Mesa's play follows a new inmate patient from her mysterious arrival in the hospital through the many absurd practices by its doctors, to her ultimate fight to reclaim her life.

To celebrate National Recovery Month, Martin Sheen and Melissa Fitzgerald bring their virtual production of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters to the Kennedy Center, performed live for the first time!

Stephen King's Misery follows successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon, who is rescued from a car crash by his "number one fan," Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive in her secluded home.

Abraham Lincoln's head is missing. Chance, a Black performance artist, has surreptitiously removed it from the Emancipation Memorial-a Capitol Hill statue of Lincoln standing over a formerly enslaved man-and now it's in his white liberal neighbor Adam's shrubbery. This act of protest unleashes an absurdist chain of events when Adam knocks on Chance's door, leading the two men and Chance's wife, Brenda, down a path that questions how the symbols of our past impact our present. With sharp humor, hijinks, and a palpable love for DC, Helen Hayes Award-winning playwright Psalmayene 24's searing new comedy explores race, memory, and the often privileged act of forgetting.

Mulan is an artistic, choreographed re-telling of a quintessentially Chinese tale. Unlike the traditional legend of Hua Mulan, which celebrates her warrior spirit, this production also spotlights her strength in her pursuit of love and peace.

Sasha's 82-year-old mother, Olga, is on the frontlines of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, having lived in Kyiv her whole life. Olga is thrust into increasingly fantastical situations: she strategizes with President Zelenskyy, strikes Russian drones with jars of pickles, and even debates with God. Inspired by online chats with her mother, playwright Sasha Denisova brings us this new play about a family's connection and legacy amidst the present-day war and global crisis.

A play about cooperation and working together in your own community. What happens when everyone in a community decides that it's really not their job to solve the problems they see? Everything's topsy-turvy under the big top, and the monkeys have run amok at the circus! The leader of the circus tries to solve the problem, but everyone is pointing fingers, and no one wants to help: "Not my circus, not my monkeys. It's YOUR problem, YOU figure it out!" How do you solve a problem that affects everyone when no one wants to help? Can they figure it out before monkeys turn the town upside down? Best for ages 5 & up.

After their mother's death, the adult twins Simon and Janine are asked to search for their father and brother in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. As each of them navigates the clues left behind, they discover their mother got pregnant as a teenager and had to give up the child. Mother Nawal spent her lifetime searching for this son, while navigating a country torn apart by civil war. As the narrative comes to a dramatic conclusion, Lebanese-Quebecois playwright Wajdi Mouawad uses the search to tell the story of a family's efforts to come to grips with its past.

"Shear Madness" is one of the most popular entertainments in the world, delighting audiences night after night with its unique blend of madcap improvisation and spine-tickling mystery. This unique comedy-whodunit takes place today in the "Shear Madness" hairstyling salon and is chock full of up-to-the-minute spontaneous humor. During the course of the action, a murder is committed and the audience gets to spot the clues, question the suspects, and solve the funniest mystery in the annals of crime.The outcome is never the same, which is why many audience members return again and again to the scene of the mayhem.

A woman hiding in a convent helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she rediscovers her own. SISTER ACT is the feel-amazing musical comedy based on the smash hit 1992 film that has audiences jumping to their feet! Featuring original music by Tony and 8-time Oscar winner Alan Menken (NEWSIES, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS), this uplifting musical was nominated for 5 Tony Awards including Best Musical. A sparkling tribute to the universal power of friendship, SISTER ACT is reason to REJOICE!

This thrilling and timely world premiere production is part of our ongoing Ford's Theatre Legacy Commissions program. Playwright Pearl Cleage explores the election of Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first Black Mayor. Cleage sets the play in present-day Atlanta, but soon the story travels back 50 years as citizens of the city recollect and reflect upon the significance of the once-in-a-lifetime election that turned Atlanta into a progressive example of the New South. Cleage's unique theatrical voice turns Atlanta into a full-blooded character while allowing her audience to feel what it was like to be part of a true historic moment in the Southern capital city. As we mark the 50th anniversary of Jackson's election of a lifetime, explore Cleage's evocative depiction of this monumental moment, directed by Seema Sueko (Silent Sky).

A quirky love story about a married man, his wife, and his spontaneously adopted dog at a time when the man is facing a crossroads in his life. These relationships and how they affect the ultimate course of his future make it fun to watch and provide audiences with thought-provoking ideas.

Step into the eerie world of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart, where madness takes hold and the boundaries of sanity blur. In this twisted tale, an eccentric old man and his caretaker embark on a lethal dance that spirals into madness and murder. With dark humor and a haunting atmosphere, Synetic invites you to question: who is the crazy one?

Using more than 70 beautiful, larger-than-life puppets and original music, this special event follows everyone's favorite characters from four different Eric Carle books: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear;" "The Very Busy Spider;" "10 Little Rubber Ducks;" and, of course, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

For 25 years, Washington Improv Theater's experienced teams of improv comedians have taken a simple suggestion or story from an audience member and turned it into a never-before-seen comedy show. And because every performance is based on an audience suggestion, that night's show will never happen again! Our homegrown talent has gone on to SNL, The Daily Show, HBO's Insecure and The White Lotus, and more!

Witch Wartsmith (the sister of Witch Wartsmith from our Legacy and touring show Rapunzel,) hosts the annual Halloween Spooktacular and you get to vote on the winner! Part contemporary competition show, part vintage telethon, and part punpalooza, this spooky variety show will tickle your funny bone. Some of our contestants will change year to year, so come back to see old and new friends alike!

With charm, wit, and heart, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown explores life's big questions through the eyes of the Peanuts gang as they play baseball, fly kites, struggle with homework, swoon over crushes, and celebrate the joys of friendship. Growing up is serious business!