Theater District

It's Dex, with a special announcement about an upcoming show! Fate? Love? Can two actors who've never seen the script figure out such massive forces in our lives? That's what Oedipus in Seattle, by Savannah Reich, wants to figure out.

More information and tickets at Oedipus at Seattle.

Kimberly Gilbert was one of the very first actors I learned about when I moved to DC in the fall of 2019, and it’s easy to see why she’s held in such high esteem. Over her 20+ year career, starting with an MFA from the STC Academy, she has worked with companies large—Round House, Woolly Mammoth—and small—Taffety Punk—and everything in between on an impressive range of plays and roles, including Mercutio and Marie Antoinette.

In our conversation, she is genuine, open and, her word, a little ‘gooberish.’ But also wise and funny. I’ve never heard someone describe the relationship between DC theater and DC politics like Kimberly does, nor have such compassion and respect for the upcoming generation of theater makers.

Follow her on Instagram at @the_kimmah.

Stefan Sittig does not hold much back, and that’s great for listeners. He is open, honest, and charming—not always the most prevalent traits in show business folks—about the twists of turns of his life and career, from a childhood overseas to trying to make it as an actor and dancer in DC as the industry itself shifted through the 1990s to 2010s.

Today, he is a working choreographer, fight director, and more, working in the DMV’s ‘Off-Broadway’ spaces. He is also the author of Latinidad in Musical Theatre, an illuminating look at the contributions of four amazing Latine artists to musical theater, out now from Methuen Drama.

Join Stefan for a signing event May 21 at 7pm at One More Page Books! Or, June 4 at 7:30pm at Drama Book Shop in New York City!

Follow him on Instagram at @stefansittig, and check out his blog, “A Life in the Theatre.”

If you're a theater maker or theater goer--or both--in DC right now, you probably have some thoughts and feelings about the changing arts journalism landscape, including the layoffs at The Washington Post to the proliferation of online reviewers and content creators. These shifts are exactly why I'm excited to have the chance to talk to today's guests. Elgin Martin and Nicole Hertvik of DC Theater Arts, the most comprehensive theater journalism platform in the DMV.

Nicole is a longtime writer and leader at DCTA. Elgin is its newly minted executive director. The two of them are admirably open and transparent about the growth, the opportunities, and the challenges facing theater journalism as a field and DCTA as a organization right now.

After this conversation, I have little doubt that these two will not only keep but strengthen arts coverage in DC.

Visit dctheaterarts.org–and follow the organization at @dctheaterarts—for more.

Read “As sweeping layoffs diminish WaPo theater coverage…” by Teniola Ayoola

Disclosure: I have both written for and paid for advertising with DCTA

Listening to Danisha Crosby, I’m reminded of the immeasurable value of theater education both for anyone who goes to a summer theater camp or an afterschool workshop and also for society as a whole. Through theater we can learn so many of life’s most valuable skills and lessons, including collaboration, empathy, and critical thinking.

Thankfully students of all ages have been able to do that under the leadership and guidance of Danisha, the Director of Education at Round House Theatre, an organization she’s worked at for over 30 years in capacities from production to artistic to education.  

Given the length and breadth of her career, Danisha is able to connect the past to the present and the future, which is really important for an industry and artform that has impermanence at its core. As much as things change, plenty of great things that perseveres, one of which is the value of people getting together to tell necessary stories.

Alexander Weiss, a member of Round House’s Teen Performance Company, joins us to discuss just such a story, the upcoming TPC production of At the End of the World at the end of March 2026.

Learn more about Round House’s Teen Takeover Weekend—March 27 to March 29, 2026--featuring At the End of the World and Mission Improv-ible, an afternoon of improv comedy from The Roundlings.

Follow Round House on Instagram at @roundhousetheatre.

I’m not sure who has permission to pass out the label “legendary,” but if I can presume for a moment, musician and artist KOKAYI is legendary. The native Washingtonian is a grammy-nominated artist, MC, a pioneer of DC hiphop, an in-demand jazz musician, an amazing spontaneous composer and preeminent improvisational vocalist, a published author, an exhibited photographer, a sought-after producer and mentor—his accomplishments in any one of those fields would be enough to earn the title of “legend.”

But don’t think that he’s done, either. KOKAYI is still building his legacy, drawing on the lessons and stories of the past for the benefit of the present and the future. It’s very Shakespearean, as is his deep love of words.

DC theater audiences will get two opportunities to hear KOKAYI’s work in the Spring of 2026—Folger’s production of As You Like It, and the musical Young John Lewis at Mosaic with Psalmayene 24. We discuss his work on both shows, his respect for playwrights and theater artists, as well as some big ideas about creativity, collaboration, and the sounds of DC itself.

Follow KOKAYI on Instagram, and listen to some of the bops, jams, and tunes Karen Ann Daniels sent him on this Inspiration Playlist.

And if you need it, brush up on the history of Go Go Music.

Karen Ann Daniels has so many skills, talents, and experiences, she could break LinkedIn. A performer, singer, songwriter, adaptor, educator, director, and leader, she has been the artistic director and director of programming at the Folger Shakespeare Library since fall 2021. 

In January 2023, she launched the Reading Room, a new works festival dedicated to showcasing how contemporary artists and scholars are thinking about and tinkering with Shakespeare and his ideas, breathing new life into the Bard's work. We discuss how her team finds, curates, and supports projects, as well as how audience members can actively participate in the creative process themselves. She discusses the 2026 offerings, future directions the festival might take, and her upcoming Folger directorial debut, As You Like It in Spring 2026. 

Learn more about the 2026 Reading Room, follow the Folger Library on Instagram, and Karen Ann while you're at it. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Elizabeth Dinkova is "an itinerant director, writer, and creator originally from Sandanski, Bulgaria." Her artistic ventures--as a student, director, adaptor, leader, and educator--have taken her from Oregon to DC, New Haven to Atlanta, back to DC, and more. Now the artistic director of Spooky Action Theater, Beth brings her bold theatricality, incisive thinking, and compassionate nature to classic plays, new works, operas, and more. She shares her thoughts on: balancing leadership and collaboration; the intersections of art and activism; the value, challenges, and opportunities of making art; making an artistic home for immigrant artists; new ways to connect DC theaters; and more. 

Learn more about Beth on her website, elizabethdinkova.com, follow her on Instagram at @elizabethdinkova, and check out Spooky Action's website, spookyaction.org.  

Find Aria Velz's diagram of DC theaters here. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Alexis of DC Theater Social and Em of DC Theatre Goer join me for a very fun and very real conversation about seeing theater in the DMV. From intentional accessibility to diverse artistic choices, there is plenty to celebrate about our region's offerings. We discuss the Disney-to-theater-kid pipeline, theaters' efforts to welcome genuine audience reactions, how to balance trying to see and do everything, and what we want to see more of (and less of) on our stages. There are plenty of shout outs, plus a chimera of a new play idea that tops our holiday wish lists. 

Learn more about DC Theater Social (why not join them for an upcoming outing?!), and follow DC Theatre Goer, too. Sign up for Em's weekly theater listing at DC Theatre Goings. 

Read Dominique Morisseau's Rules of Engagement. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district

Ryan Sellers is a product of DMV theater, and DMV theater is a product of Ryan Sellers. The actor, mover, choreographer, writer, and director has made an impressive career in his hometown, appearing (and falling) on stages for audiences of all ages: Synetic Theater, Adventure Theater, Arts on the Horizon, Only Make Believe, Olney Theatre Center, Spooky Action,  Signature Theatre, and many, many more. His work has earned him multiple Helen Hayes nominations and two wins. He opens up about saying ‘yes’ to as many opportunities as possible, honing his craft, and building a character. Plus the origins of Candy Boizzzzz! 

 Follow Ryan and his backstage antics at @mrsupersock. 

Send Dex a text!

Be sure to follow and connect with the show on Instagram: @theater_district