Arena Stage

The 2022-2023 season was Arena Stage's 73rd year in operation. Arena Stage is the voice of american theater resident in our nation's capital. Focused on american artists, our productions are innovative and representative of stories from across the country. We nurture new plays and reimagine classics. We celebrate our democracy and diversity through a multitude of voices in our productions and community engagement programs to inspire people to action. We produce all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, entertaining, deep and dangerous in the american spirit. Challenges continue to arise as we navigate the continuing repercussions of the covid-19 pandemic. In this season Arena produced seven shows while continuing to provide robust community engagement programs. The season included: "american prophet", by charles randolph wright and marcus hummon, about the life of famed abolitionist frederick douglass; philip barry's "holiday" directed by anita maynard-losh; a new piece curated and commissioned by molly smith of monologues from eight women playwrights about the impact of the supreme court's overturning of roe v. wade with "my body no choice; a presentation of "sanctuary city", by martyna majok about two immigrants trying to establish a place for themselves in america; the breakout hit "ride the cyclone", brooke maxwell and jacob richmond's quirky musical about death and life; a world premiere power play, "the high ground", by nathan alan davis, exploring the impact of the 1921 tulsa race massacre; hungarian director and filmmaker janos szasz directing tony kushner's award-winning Drama "angels in america, part one: millennium approaches; and concluded with a second world premiere power play, "exclusion", by kenneth lin with wry insights into the world of filmmaking and hollywood.we also continued supporting our next generation of artists and creators with camp Arena Stage and the allen lee hughes bipoc fellowship program. Camp Arena Stage returned to in-person at georgetown visitation's campus during the summer of 2022 allowing young artists to learn and hone their craft as well as explore new areas of creation. The allen lee hughes bipoc fellowship program restarted and reclaimed its roots as a professional training program for early career individuals who self-identify as bipoc (black, indigenous, and people of color). 13 fellowships were completed.the dc ticket partnership offers deeply discounted tickets to dc public school students. This season 933 students from 22 schools attended. Arena Stage teaching artists lead pre- and post-show workshops and extensive study guides are prepared for the students.arena continued voices of now (von), an internationally recognized, devised theater program where ensembles of middle-school, high-school, and adult artists work together to create autobiographical plays and films. These fast-paced, collaboratively written, physical pieces pose significant social questions relevant to the ensemble of artists and their communities. The voices of now festival 2023 was held in the kogod cradle. This season there were nine voices of now ensembles working in the program: five schools in dc and fairfax county, and four community-based ensembles including a decades-long partnership with the wendt center for loss and healing.