Theater

Trending Today

These Were the Most-Performed High School Musicals of 2015/2016

Creepy, kooky and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

September 30, 2016

Cool Finds

Researcher Unearths a Trove of New Shakespeare Documents

Archival papers show the Bard was interested in improving his social status

July 1, 2016

Is There Such a Thing as a “Bad” Shakespeare Play?

More than four hundred years after the Bard’s death, the quality of his works is still a fluid scale

April 22, 2016

Four Hundred Years Later, Scholars Still Debate Whether Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” Is Anti-Semitic

Deconstructing what makes the Bard’s play so problematic

April 21, 2016

Smithsonian Best Small Towns 2016

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2016

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, our top picks this year are all towns close to America’s natural splendors

April 18, 2016

Cool Finds

A New Copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio Was Found in a Scottish Library

Only a few hundred copies still survive

April 7, 2016

Trending Today

Three Things to Know About Judi Dench’s Theater Career

The acclaimed actor’s career spans decades

April 5, 2016

Cool Finds

The Strange Career of “Mack the Knife”

As old Macheath is inducted into the National Recording Registry, here’s a look back at his long musical life

March 24, 2016

Cool Finds

A New Production of “King Lear” Features 18th-Century Special Effects

The Bristol Old Vic’s thunder run hasn’t been used since 1942

March 11, 2016

Cool Finds

78 Years Ago Today, BBC Aired the First Science Fiction Television Program

And no, it wasn’t ‘Doctor Who’

February 11, 2016

Go Down the Rabbit Hole in This Fantastical French Park

A clown’s surreal playground is now open to the public

December 1, 2015

American Ingenuity Awards

Meet Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Genius Behind “Hamilton,” Broadway’s Newest Hit

Composer, lyricist and performer, Miranda wows audiences and upends U.S. history with his dazzlingly fresh hip-hop musical

November 12, 2015

The Woman Who Built the Waldorf of the Catskills

Despite her humble origins, Jennie Grossinger learned to play the role of hostess

November 2, 2015

Trending Today

These Brave Playwrights Want to Rewrite Shakespeare

“They have been at a great feast of languages, and stol’n the scraps.”

October 12, 2015

Urban Explorations

A Long-Forgotten, Underground Tunnel in D.C. Is Finally Getting Some Fresh Air

The 75,000-square-foot space underneath the city’s Dupont Circle will become an impressive new art space

May 18, 2015

Smithsonian Best Small Towns 2015

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2015

From sea to shining sea, our top picks for the most amazing American small towns to see this year

April 16, 2015

Urban Explorations

The Curtain Hasn’t Closed Quite Yet on America’s Longest-Running Puppet Theater

Though its namesake died last year, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater is still hosting performances for audiences of all ages

April 10, 2015

Dame Angela Lansbury Makes A “Spirit”-ed Return to the Stage

Noël Coward’s timeless play brings the actress back to the D.C. theater where she got her start 58 years ago

March 24, 2015

There is Nothing Elementary About a New Sherlock Holmes Adaptation

Tony-award, winning playwright Ken Ludwig says he’s injecting Indiana Jones cinematic adventure into the theatrical experience

January 16, 2015

The Racist History of Peter Pan’s Indian Tribe

Even in the early 20th century, though, critics saw Tiger Lily and her fellow “Picaninnies” as caricatures

December 2, 2014