December 12, 2024
The Washington Post
10 best plays and musicals of 2024: Rachel McAdams, ‘Oh, Mary!’ and more – The Washington Post
Column by Naveen Kumar
Reflecting on the year in theater, the most memorable part for me is obvious: the privilege I’ve had of
venturing into the D.C. scene in my new position as theater critic. If I’m allowed even one grand
entrance in life, surely this is it. My local picks are limited to what I’ve seen in the area this fall, a
thrilling array of shows that have filled me with excitement for what lies ahead.
Add middle age to the list of subjects on which playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has proved himself a national prophet. “The Comeuppance” is about much more than that, including friendship, loyalty, betrayal, trauma and, of course, Death, who takes turns inhabiting each character like a puppet. Director Morgan Green’s production at Woolly Mammoth felt like a homecoming, as the action is set in a D.C. suburb on the evening of a 20th high school reunion. (The show went on to play the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, where Green is co-artistic director.) A searing, hilarious and thought-provoking gut punch, it was an exemplary staging of a timely play by one of the best writers working today.
2. ‘Oh, Mary!’
Writer-performer Cole Escola’s demented, outlandishly fictionalized retelling of Abraham Lincoln’s final days, through the lens of his wife, Mary Todd — here, a sadistic and alcoholic wannabe cabaret star — is the success story of the year. Wholly unique, deeply stupid and spit-wine-out-your-nose funny, “Oh, Mary!” should serve as an invitation for every artist with a harebrained idea to let their imagination roam free. Not only did the show leap from downtown to Broadway, it also broke box office records and recouped its investment. In an industry rife with safe bets (starry revivals are a dime a dozen this season), Escola renews our faith that sometimes getting weird as hell not only makes a fabulous show, but also leads straight to the bank.
3. ‘Hamlet … The Rest Is Silence’
Synetic Theater’s return engagement of the Danish prince’s wrenching saga was a masterful show of precision, ingenuity and the expressive powers of movement. First staged by the company 22 years ago, the piece felt as modern and vigorous as anything I witnessed onstage this year. Like many works from Synetic, it was a staggering family affair: Co-founder Paata Tsikurishvili returned as director; his wife, Irina, reprised her original choreography while playing the role of Gertrude; and their son, Vato, devoured the title hero. For as many productions of “Hamlet” as I’ve seen, Synetic’s breathtaking spin shed fresh light on the text without uttering a word of it. Other interpreters
of Shakespeare should take note.
4. ‘Maybe Happy Ending’
It’s not every year that a robot rom-com absconds with your heart, but this adorable and refreshingly original musical from Will Aronson and Hue Park is more insightful about human connection than any love story currently on Broadway. The neighbors turned sweethearts played by Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen are more than AI made sentient: Their perspective on what it means to be alive, and to spend time in one another’s company, has an innocence and empiricism that reveals a fresh understanding of our own condition. Plus, the sleek production from director Michael Arden is impeccably designed, proof that not every story featuring advanced technology needs to present as a dizzying dystopia.
5. ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
Of all the splashy and sometimes divisive revivals on New York stages this year — we’re looking at you, “Cabaret” and “Sunset Blvd.” — the reimagination of “Cats” as a ballroom competition was by far the most inspired. It not only brought jaw-dropping vibrancy to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s curious crowd-pleaser but also achieved the previously impossible: making “Cats” make sense. Directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, the show transformed the Perelman Performing Arts Center into a raucous and immersive runway showdown, judged by none other than André De Shields as Old Deuteronomy. It was the most exhilarating fun to be had in a theater this year. (I’m still thinking about the choreography from Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles.) Expect this one to come back for another life.
6. ‘The Art of Care’
We’ve all been through … a lot. And life is not going to stop throwing curveballs. What would it look like for people to really be there for each other? And for the systems that are designed to keep us safe and healthy to actually function with our best interests as their bottom line? This devised work from Mosaic Theater was the most immediate and intimate show I saw all year, meaning every person in the room — onstage and in the audience — showed up as themselves and was respected for exactly who they are. A wide-ranging investigation of what it means to give and receive care, the piece was drawn from the performers’ own experiences. Their vulnerability inspired a level of deep introspection that I crave walking into any theater.
7. ‘Mary Jane’
Rachel McAdams was a revelation in this devastating drama by Amy Herzog about a mother caring for her chronically sick young son. I was wrecked by the play when it was presented off-Broadway in 2017, with Carrie Coon in the title role. But McAdams’s performance — one of restrained anguish masked by determined optimism — imprinted on my memory indelibly. It will undoubtedly be there the next time life calls for a brave face, whether by me or a loved one, and we have to figure out what to do next. Rare productions like this one, directed with midmorning clarity by Anne Kaufman, feel more truthful than even real life does
8. ‘Sus’
Shaina Taub brought home a Tony Award in each hand for the score and book of her musical about women’s suffrage. If it sounds like a history lesson, it is — but it’s also an invigorating hoot. Taub and the spirited cast, including Ally Bonino and Hannah Cruz, enact years of breakthroughs and setbacks in the movement for women’s rights in musical numbers that manage to surprise and delight. The show had a shaky premiere at off-Broadway’s Public Theater in 2022 but became a surprising burst of encouragement this spring — proving what artists and activists can achieve with a healthy measure of tenacity. The Broadway run concludes Jan. 5, and a national tour will begin in September.
9. ‘Romeo & Juliet’
Of the two “it’s giving Gen Z” takes on Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers that I saw this year, Folger Theatre’s bilingual, election-coded production trumped the buzzy Broadway revival, which I found to be a nihilistic mess. The theme of intoxication would have been clear with half as many key bumps, but director Raymond O. Caldwell’s staging demonstrated an “IYKYK” understanding of the everyday rhythms of today’s youth, from scrolling to slang. Casting the feuding houses as presidential campaigns could have been cringe if it weren’t perfectly tongue-in-cheek. As a ribald but grounded Mercutio, newcomer Giovanna Alcântara Drummond stood out as one to watch.
10. ‘The 22+ Weddings of Hugo’
Playwright Gustavo Ott’s green-card comedy, which kicked off his first full season as artistic director of GALA Hispanic Theatre, managed to approach the plight of undocumented immigrants with a fleet-footed sense of humor. That was back in September. The stakes for its non-U.S. natives, including serial groom Hugo (Carlos Castillo in Clark Kent mode) and his several spouses in need of papers, have skyrocketed since. As is true of the best theater, memories of this production, directed with sitcom ease by José Zayas, may only grow more poignant.