The Washington Post - 30.08.2019

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THE WASHINGTON POST

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019

signed for theater. Where do you

put the lights? How do you proj-

ect your lines over clinking glass-

es and ambient murmurs? How

do you use the rhymes in Noone’s

script as an asset rather than a

stumbling block?

“Laley and I have been talking

about it as a magic trick,” Daugh-

erty says. “The magician has the

advantage, because he knows

where the trick is going and the

audience doesn’t. I like that the

rhymes are not rhyming couplets.

That would feel too much like a

gimmick; it would be hard to

break that cadence. But the irreg-

ular rhyme feels more like a

conversation, more like hip-hop,

lyrical without being predictable.

It’s a character I haven’t seen

onstage speaking in a language I

haven’t heard before. If the trick

works, the audience will go,

‘Wow, that happened right before

my eyes.’ ”

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blend of disciplines.”

Daugherty will mix the drinks

while playing Finnegan, an Irish

immigrant on the fictional New

England island of Amity (made

famous by the movie “Jaws”).

Finnegan has a wife unhappy

with living in a shack without

indoor plumbing and neighbors

on edge about a fatal car accident

involving a rich teenager and an

undocumented Guatemalan.

Like the Italian immigrants in

“The Godfather,” this Irish bar-

tender turns to crime to battle the

odds against him. He c onfesses to

some unsavory behavior, but he

does lift his family out of poverty

into the American middle class.

For this show, Daugherty is

working with director Laley Lip-

pard, who has experience work-

ing on site-specific pieces for

D.C.’s playwrights’ collective the

Welders. In rehearsals, they’ve

been coping with the challenges

of working in a space not de-

ing “The Smuggler” in a pub.
“If you’re an edgier, more ex-
perimental company, it’s difficult
to afford a permanent home in
this real estate climate,” Daugh-
erty says. “But necessity is the
mother of invention, and scram-
bling to find spaces for your
shows can lead to site-specific
shows. We can offer a show on a
pier overlooking Frederick Doug-
lass’s house, or a show in a bar
where the actor will make cock-
tails for you.”
The 30 ticketholders crowding
the bar will be able to order
cocktails (without talking, via
coupons). “In an era of great
television and great restaurants,”
says Daugherty, 36, “theaters are
competing with that. It’s not that
people my age won’t pay for live
theater, but they’re looking for an
experience they can’t get some-
where else — an unusual site, a

SMUGGLER FROM 17

On Stage

OPENINGS
1 HENRY IV Shakespeare’s coming-of-age
history play stars award-winning actor
Edward Gero as Falstaff. Folger Theatre, 201
East Capitol St. SE. 202-544-7 07 7. folger.edu/
theatre. Opening Tuesday. $27-$85.
LOVE SICK A new musical with Middle
Eastern songs that tells the story of a young
wife, who learns that she has a secret
admirer. Directed by Christopher Renshaw
and choreographed by Matt Cole. Theater J,
1529 16th St. NW. 202-777-3210.
theaterj.org. Opening Wednesday. $34-$64.

ONGOING
ASSASSINS A Sondheim vaudeville that
goes through the mind of nine assassins,
including John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey
Oswald, and imagines what they would do to
inspire one another to pull the trigger or
change their life-altering decisions. Signature
Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. 70 3-
820- 9771. signature-theatre.org. Through
Sept. 29. $66-$110.
CABARET Kander and Ebb’s Tony Award-
winning musical set in 1929 finds a writer,
who arrives in Berlin for work, but gets
distracted by an affair with performer Sally
Bowles. Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-
Sandy Spring Rd., Olney. 301-924-3400.
olneytheatre.org. Through Oct. 6. $37-$99.
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL VOLTA The theatrical
and acrobatic show, directed by Jean
Guibert, is on the theme of sports and
competition. Ty sons II, 8025 Galleria Dr.,
Ty sons. cirquedusoleil.com. Through Sept. 29.
$49-$150.
DEAR EVAN HANSEN Young Evan Hansen
pens a letter and a lie that snowballs into
something worse in this award-winning show
by Steven Levenson with a score by Benj
Pasek and Justin Paul. The Kennedy Center,
2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600. kennedy-
center.org. Through Sept. 8. $79-$175.
DISNEY’S ALADDIN From the producer of
“The Lion King” comes the stage production
of the Disney favorite. The Kennedy Center,
2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600. kennedy-
center.org. Through Sept. 7. $39-$179.
FABULATION OR, THE RE-EDUCATION OF
UNDINE Once rich and successful, Undine
finds herself broke and pregnant after her
husband steals her money in this play by
Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Genius Award
winner Ly nn Nottage. Atlas Performing Arts
Center, 1333 H St. NE. 202-399-7993.
atlasarts.org. Through Sept. 22. $20-$65.
LEGALLY BLONDE Based on the hit 2001
movie, the musical chronicles the journey of
Elle Woods to Harvard Law. Andrew Keegan
Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. 202-265-3 76 7.
keegantheatre.com. Through Sept. 8. $52-
$62.

ALSO PLAYING

Prices are for the entire run of the

show; individual shows may vary.

MICHAEL KASS/CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

A scene including BMX bikes from Cirque du Soleil’s “Volta.” The show, which is playing at Tysons II through Sept. 29, is on the theme of

sports and competition.

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