With all of London anguished by fear that Hitler’s war will soon reach their city, atheist physician Sigmund Freud invites Oxford professor C.S. Lewis into his study for a lively debate, addressing questions like: Does God exist? Do humans possess an innate moral conscience? How can a believer adequately explain the quandaries of war, pain, sickness, and death?

Such is the opening scene of Mark St. Germain’s production, Freud’s Last Session; with performances scheduled at Washington DC’s Jewish Community Center Theater J through July 6. The 80-minute play features just two actors and one set; the parquet wood-floored study of Freud, adorned with a carefully arranged bookshelf, floor to ceiling drapes, and an examination couch — which becomes an object of jest throughout.

While an entertaining interplay of opposing worldviews, the lack of an organic exchange of ideas can make the sequences seem too contrived at times — particularly for those familiar with C.S. Lewis’ and Freud’s canon of work, from which their debate heavily draws.

Rick Foucheux’s admirable portrayal of Freud stands out, with the psychoanalyst’s constant questioning halted only by the painful, oral cancer-induced coughing fits that leave him with a bloody rag in his hands; yet nonetheless determined to proceed in defense of all things proven by facts, logic, and empirical observations. He calls Darwin a personal “saint” and derides C.S. Lewis — a hailed scholar and one-time atheist — for being swept up in the “fairytale” of religion.

For his part, Todd Scofield, playing the part of Lewis, deftly calls out the seeming contradictions in Foucheux’s rigid opposition to religious belief; among them the assemblage of religious artifacts carefully arranged on Freud’s desk, as well as the physician’s own admission that he drew comfort from reading the Christian-themed epic, Paradise Lost.

Still, it’s hard not to notice Lewis’ character as the less dynamic of the pair; stiffer both in movement and in speech. As an admirer of the famed literary scholar and member of the Oxford writing group the Inklings, of which J.R.R. Tolkien was also a part, I felt Lewis’ role seemed too defensive and less reliant on the wit and confidence that compelled the 20th century writer to produce a swath of heavily praised Christian writings and apologia.

There were other details from Lewis’ own life that seemed appropriate to introduce, yet were not discussed in the play; among them the fact that his mother — Flora Hamilton Lewis — suffered her own fatal bout of cancer, an experience believed to influence C.S. Lewis’ later conversion. While Lewis does surmise that Freud’s declining health could be leading him to reconsider a belief in God, perhaps in light of his mortality, the close-to-heart experience from Lewis’ childhood was never mentioned.

It’s the painful cancer that seems to drive a wedge deeper in Freud’s resistance to Lewis’ claims that moral consciousness and religious belief are inclinations inscribed on the human heart from birth.

“Is killing me God’s revenge?” asks an exasperated Freud, to which C.S. Lewis confesses, “I do not know.”

For Freud, all circumstance, all decision-making, all belief, can be explained through a logical interpretation of one’s own life experiences. In the case of Lewis, Freud explains away the Oxford writer’s flight to Christianity as a desperate attempt to resolve adolescent “daddy issues,” since Lewis was never close to his biological father from birth.

Another of Freud’s notable lines in the play illustrates this point: “Religion has made the world his nursery.” The pronoun his emphasizes another contention of Freud’s; that religion is an oppressive tool of patriarchal institutions determined to wield power.

Despite the spirited opposition, Lewis does continue to nudge Freud nearer to agnosticism. After sharing a story about a time he spent sick in the hospital, aided by a diminutive man, Freud suggests that there has never been a better joke than that — “an eminent intellectual, saved by a dwarf,” to which Lewis replies, “If it was a joke, who made it?”

But in a play focused on speech and debate, it was an unspoken act that seemed to speak the loudest, and in effect, draw the two men closer than any words they shared. Throughout the play, as Freud was repeatedly interrupted by writhing pain, he tells Lewis that his daughter Anna is the only person he entrusts to remove his mouthpiece and clean it to help assuage the pain.

But as the cancer becomes too much to bear, Lewis steps in, helps the suffering man to his desk chair and proceeds to remove the prostheses. While the play ends relatively unceremoniously — with a simple shake of the hands — it’s hard not to think that exchange trumped the rest.

Cast

• Freud: Rick Foucheux
• C.S. Lewis: Todd Scofield

Disclaimer: The purchased his own tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face currently at Theater J, is an illuminating, lively excursion into the playwright’s inner turmoil and the xenophobic suspicions evocative of a certain time in America. With fascinating, eye-catching direction and tempo set by Natsu Onoda Power, Yellow Face is an evening of self-knowing laughter that changes course after intermission, veering into the dark shadows and rude awakening of living in America when one is considered an “outsider.”

At its start Yellow Face explores Hwang’s public and private turmoil in the years after he won the 1988 Tony Award for M’Butterfly, that made him a celebrity. He “found himself anointed as a spokesperson for the Asian-American Community across the land” as Ari Roth, Artistic Director for Theater J, wrote in his program notes.

The play is seen through the eyes of Hwang’s own creation, a doppelgänger of himself, the character named DHH (played by Stan Kang, as a man one-step behind what is happening, often enough trying and failing to writing and intellectualize his way out of jams until his own life and that of his father are on the line). The play takes off from Hwang’s early efforts to lead a protest by the Asian-American Community against the casting of a Caucasian actor in the role of a Eurasian pimp in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon.

DHH is outraged that Broadway would resort to Yellow Face, the casting of a non-Asian actor playing the role of an Asian character. But he becomes more tentative and backtracks as the issue of casting is re-framed into one of artistic freedom. DHH finds himself confronted by a gaggle of characters based upon real-life individuals, who assert he stands for nothing. The characters are played by a delightfully winning ensemble of actors including Tonya Beckman, Mark Hairston, Brandon McCoy, Sue Jin Song and Jacob Yeh. The ensemble inhabit and become one with an incredibly delicious, wide range of characters that range from BD Wong, Lily Tomlin, Margaret Cho, Republican and Democrat US Senators, ex-lovers, Broadway big-wigs, student protesters and more; all with eager, total spot-on enthusiasm and effectiveness.

Hwang’s real father becomes a character named HYH, with a nuanced, emotionally sensitive performance by Al Twanmo. HYH tries to provide some insights to his son DHH about his own youthful desires to come to America from Shanghai, China. How he wanted to live his “real life, the one he was meant to live”; not the “fake life” he lived in China. “My real life was here in America” said HYH as a backdrop of American film stars such as Humphrey Bogart are projected to accentuate his feelings.

Then comes DHH’s own utter mortification when he casts a white actor (a joyful Rafael Untalan who plays the fictional character Marcus Gee with sincere, understated zeal) to play the featured role as an Asian in his own new play. How does DHH react to his own Yellow Face casting? Well, he convinces himself and others that the actor is a “Siberian Jew,” since after all, Siberia is in Asia isn’t it? DHH wants so desperately to glosses over what doesn’t quite fit. And for a while, he does just that.

After intermission, Yellow Face goes into a totally different direction, without a hint of humor. It left your reviewer trying to think of a parallel, coming up with this; the political aspects of a Kushner-like Angels in America scene with Roy Cohn and Ethel Rosenberg interrogating each other. Hwang now has us in a dramatic presentation that looks down into a pool of water to see something awful; a nasty sludge of xenophobia aimed at Chinese-Americans too easily stirred up by journalists bent on a front page byline. Hwang takes the audience on a surface journey through US politics, government investigations, international intrigue and journalistic over reach. The chilling presentation by Brandon McCoy as a creepy journalist called “Name Withheld on Advice of Counsel” made me shudder.

The set design for Yellow Face by Luciana Stecconi is a mass of floor to ceiling file cabinets along with two small play areas at each of the wings of the stage, one representing DHH’s office. Lighting design by Dan Covey and projections by Jared Mezzocchi which are a slide-show of multi-cultural faces, names and words, provide needed dramatic visual flair to successfully emphasize the goings on. Sound design by Chris Baine puts the audience in the mood with pre-show music including some Mandarin language hip-hop.

Yellow Face can seem un-cohesive at times. It can be frustrating with its unconventionally abrupt switch in tone from Act I satirical underpinnings that lighten repugnant issues, to the denser bulk of sensibilities of Act II that cut so close to the bone of playwright Hwang. But the play, especially in its arguments from a less often dramatized perspective, can lead to quite an awakening, when open to it.

History fades. There may come a time, when many may not know Miss Saigon from “Miss Piggy” or Win Hoe Lee from Winn-Dixie. But the issues Yellow Face asks us to ponder are universal and all-too-sadly timeless; racial xenophobia, identity politics, family struggles.

So applause to Theater J for producing its first play focused on the Asian-American experience and expanding the reach of its repertoire. Who knows, maybe over time, a phrase used in Yellow Face to explain the unexplainable will be shown wrong, “it can’t be helped, nothing can be done.”

Note: The 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama was awarded to Tracy Lett’s August, Osage County. Finalists included Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang and Dying City by Christopher Shinn. David Henry Hwang received a 2008 OBIE Award for Playwriting of Yellow Face. In 2013 he received the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award.

Note: David Siegel Disclaimer: Theater J provided a complimentary media ticket to ShowBizRadio for this review.

• Body Awareness, August – September 2012 Schedule
• Our Class, November 2012 Schedule
• Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, November – December 2012 Schedule
• Apples From The Desert, December 2012 – January 2013 Schedule
• Boged: An Enemy of the People, January – February 2013 Schedule
• Race, February – March 2013 Schedule
• Andy and the Shadows, April 2013 Schedule
• The Hampton Years, May – June 2013 Schedule

Schedule is subject to change due to performance rights conflicts or other issues.

• Imagining Madoff, August – September 2011 Schedule
• Parade, September – October 2011 Schedule
• After the Fall, October – November 2011 Schedule
• The Religion Thing, January 2012 Schedule
• Electile Dysfunction: The Kinsey Sicks For President!, February 2012 Schedule
• New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza, February – April 2012 Schedule
• The Whipping Man, April – May 2012 Schedule
• The History of Invulnerability, June – July 2012 Schedule

Schedule is subject to change due to performance rights conflicts or other issues.

• 23 different companies received nominations.
• Shakespeare Theatre Company and the Kennedy Center each had six different productions nominated.
• Arena Stage received 23 total nominations, STC 22, Folger 19, and Kennedy Center 18
• The most nominated show was Candide, by the Shakespeare Theatre Company, with 12 nominations.

View the nominations by category or by company.

Nominations Listed by Category

Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production

• Diane Coburn Bruning, Improbable Frequency, Solas Nua
• Ben Cunis, King Arthur, Synetic Theater
• Parker Esse, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Maurice Hines, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage
• Irina Tsikurishvili, King Arthur, Synetic Theater
• Irina Tsikurishvili, Othello, Synetic Theater

Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production

• Mara Blumenfeld, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Murell Horton, The Liar, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• William Ivey Long, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Reggie Ray, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage
• Anastasia Ryurikov Simes, Othello, Synetic Theater

Outstanding Director, Resident Musical

• Toby Orenstein, Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre
• Eric Schaeffer, Chess, Signature Theatre
• Molly Smith, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Molly Smith, The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage
• Mary Zimmerman, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company

Outstanding Director, Resident Play

• Kasi Campbell, Travels With My Aunt, Rep Stage
• Joseph Haj, Hamlet, Folger Theatre
• Robert Richmond, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Howard Shalwitz, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Paata Tsikurishvili, Othello, Synetic Theater
• Paata Tsikurishvili, The Master and Margarita, Synetic Theater

Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production

• Steel Burkhardt, Hair, The Kennedy Center
• Brent Michael DiRoma, Avenue Q, The Broadway Musical, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood, The Kennedy Center
• Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center
• David Pittsinger, South Pacific, The Kennedy Center

Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical

• Maurice Hines, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage
• Marc Kudisch, Sycamore Trees, Signature Theatre
• Geoff Packard, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Nicholas Rodriguez, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Bobby Smith, Annie, Olney Theatre Center
• Cody Williams, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage

Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production

• Carmen Cusack, South Pacific, The Kennedy Center
• Jaqueline Grabois, Avenue Q, The Broadway Musical, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Caroline Sheen, Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center
• Kacie Sheik, Hair, The Kennedy Center
• Caren Lyn Tackett, Hair, The Kennedy Center

Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical

• E. Faye Butler, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Eleasha Gamble, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Carrie A. Johnson, Annie, Olney Theatre Center
• Lauren Molina, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Jill Paice, Chess, Signature Theatre
• Hollis Resnik, The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage

Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play

• Lise Bruneau, Mikveh, Theater J
• Naomi Jacobson, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Sarah Marshall, Mikveh, Theater J
• Jennifer Mendenhall, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Erika Rose, In Darfur, Theater J
• Holly Twyford, Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre

Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production

• Colin K. Bills, Antony and Cleopatra, Synetic Theater
• Colin K. Bills, The Master and Margarita, Synetic Theater
• Dan Covey, On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning, Rep Stage
• T.J. Gerckens, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Klyph Stanford, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Justin Townsend, Hamlet, Folger Theatre

Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production

• George Fulginiti-Shakar, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Jon Kalbfleisch, Sunset Boulevard, Signature Theatre
• Daniel Kluger, Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre
• Fred Lassen, Sycamore Trees, Signature Theatre
• Konstantine Lortkipandze, Othello, Synetic Theater
• Doug Peck, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Paul Sportelli, The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage
• James Sugg, Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre

Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production

• Tony Cisek, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Simon Higlett, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• James Kronzer, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Eugene Lee, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Derek McLane, The Lisbon Traviata, The Kennedy Center
• Daniel Ostling, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company

Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production

• Anthony Cochrane, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Jack Herrick, Hamlet, Folger Theatre
• Irakli Kavsadze, Othello, Synetic Theater
• Konstantine Lortkipandze, Othello, Synetic Theater
• Matthew M. Nielson, Hamlet, Folger Theatre
• Matt Otto, Johnny Meister and the Stitch, Solas Nua
• Michael Rasbury, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Tom Teasley, The Ramayana, Constellation Theatre Company

Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical

• Ed Dixon, Sunset Boulevard, Signature Theatre
• James Konicek, Annie, Olney Theatre Center
• Jeremy Kushnier, Chess, Signature Theatre
• John Manzari, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage
• Leo Manzari, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage
• Jesse J. Perez, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Larry Yando, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company

Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Play

• Louis Butelli, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Adam Green, The Liar, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Michael Tolaydo, New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza, Theater J
• Ted van Griethuysen, All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Paxton Whitehead, All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare Theatre Company

Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical

• MaryLee Adams, Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre
• Lauren ‘Coco’ Cohn, Glimpses of the Moon, MetroStage
• Jesaira Glover, Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre
• Marva Hicks, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage
• Hollis Resnik, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Jenna Sokolowski, Annie, Olney Theatre Center

Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play

• Colleen Delany, Pirates! A Boy at Sea, Imagination Stage
• Naomi Jacobson, Richard II, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• MacKenzie Meehan, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Studio Theatre
• Phylicia Rashad, every tongue confess, Arena Stage
• Dawn Ursula, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production

• Ellen Harvey, Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center
• Jodi Kimura, South Pacific, The Kennedy Center
• Marc Kudisch, Golden Age, The Kennedy Center
• Josh Lamon, Hair, The Kennedy Center
• Hoon Lee, Golden Age, The Kennedy Center

The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical

• every tongue confess, Marcus Gardley, Arena Stage
• Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), music by Zina Goldrich, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
• Sycamore Trees, book, music & lyrics by Ricky Ian Gordon, Signature Theatre
• Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), book & lyrics by Marcy Heisler, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
• The Liar, David Ives, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, musical arrangements by Deborah Wicks La Puma, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
• Sycamore Trees, book by Nina Mankin, Signature Theatre
• Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, music by Michael Silversher, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
• Pirates! A Boy at Sea, Charles Way, Imagination Stage
• Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, script & lyrics by Mo Willems, The Kennedy Center Family Theater

The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play

• Philip Fletcher, Othello, Synetic Theater
• John Glover, The Lisbon Traviata, The Kennedy Center
• Graham Michael Hamilton, Hamlet, Folger Theatre
• Mitchell Hébert, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Bill Largess, The Foreigner, The Bay Theatre Company, Inc.
• Alex Mills, Othello, Synetic Theater
• Cody Nickell, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Ian Merrill Peakes, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Johnny Ramey, Superior Donuts, The Studio Theatre
• Alexander Strain, New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza, Theater J

Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical

• Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre
• If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Adventure Theatre
• Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), The Kennedy Center Family Theater
• Sycamore Trees, Signature Theatre

Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play

• American Buffalo, The Studio Theatre
• Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre
• Othello, Synetic Theater
• Travels With My Aunt, Rep Stage

Outstanding Non-Resident Production

• Avenue Q, The Broadway Musical, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• The Last Cargo Cult, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center
• South Pacific, The Kennedy Center
• Thurgood, The Kennedy Center

Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences

• If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Adventure Theatre
• Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
• The Nutcracker, The Puppet Co.
• Pirates! A Boy at Sea, Imagination Stage
• Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), The Kennedy Center Family Theater
• The Red Balloon, Adventure Theatre

Outstanding Resident Musical

• Annie, Olney Theatre Center
• Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
• Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage
• Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre
• The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage
• Little Shop of Horrors, Ford’s Theatre
• Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
• Sweeney Todd, Signature Theatre

Outstanding Resident Play

• Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
• Hamlet, Folger Theatre
• Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
• The Master and Margarita, Synetic Theater
• New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza, Theater J
• Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre
• Othello, Synetic Theater
• Superior Donuts, The Studio Theatre

The John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company

• No Rules Theatre Company
• Factory 449: a theatre collective

Nominations listed By Company Name

Adventure Theatre

• If You Give a Pig a Pancake
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical
  • Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences
• The Red Balloon
  • Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences

Arena Stage

• Oklahoma!
  • Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production, Parker Esse
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Musical, Molly Smith
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical, Nicholas Rodriguez
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical, Cody Williams
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical, E. Faye Butler
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical, Eleasha Gamble
  • Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production, George Fulginiti-Shakar
  • Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production, Eugene Lee
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical
  • Outstanding Resident Musical
• Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies
  • Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production, Maurice Hines
  • Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production, Reggie Ray
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical, Maurice Hines
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical, John Manzari
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical, Leo Manzari
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical, Marva Hicks
  • Outstanding Resident Musical
• The Light in the Piazza
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Musical, Molly Smith
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical, Hollis Resnik
  • Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production, Paul Sportelli
  • Outstanding Resident Musical
• every tongue confess
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play, Phylicia Rashad
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, Marcus Gardley

The Bay Theatre Company, Inc.

• The Foreigner
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Bill Largess

Constellation Theatre Company

• The Ramayana
  • Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production, Tom Teasley

Factory 449: a theatre collective

• The John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company

Folger Theatre

• Henry VIII
  • Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production, William Ivey Long
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Play, Robert Richmond
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play, Naomi Jacobson
  • Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production, Klyph Stanford
  • Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production, Tony Cisek
  • Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production, Anthony Cochrane
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Play, Louis Butelli
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Ian Merrill Peakes
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play
  • Outstanding Resident Play
• Hamlet
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Play, Joseph Haj
  • Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production, Justin Townsend
  • Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production, Matthew M. Nielson
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Graham Michael Hamilton
  • Outstanding Resident Play
• Orestes, A Tragic Romp
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play, Holly Twyford
  • Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production, James Sugg
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play
  • Outstanding Resident Play

Ford’s Theatre

• Little Shop of Horrors
  • Outstanding Resident Musical

Imagination Stage

• Pirates! A Boy at Sea
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play, Colleen Delany
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, Charles Way
  • Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences

The Kennedy Center

• Hair
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production, Steel Burkhardt
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production, Kacie Sheik
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production, Caren Lyn Tackett
  • Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production, Josh Lamon
• Thurgood
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production, Laurence Fishburne
  • Outstanding Non-Resident Production
• Mary Poppins
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production, Gavin Lee
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production, Caroline Sheen
  • Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production, Ellen Harvey
  • Outstanding Non-Resident Production
• South Pacific
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production, David Pittsinger
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production, Carmen Cusack
  • Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production, Jodi Kimura
  • Outstanding Non-Resident Production
• The Lisbon Traviata
  • Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production, Derek McLane
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, John Glover
• Golden Age
  • Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production, Marc Kudisch
  • Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production, Hoon Lee

The Kennedy Center Family Theater

• Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred)
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, music by Zina Goldrich
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, book & lyrics by Marcy Heisler
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical
  • Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences
• Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, music by Michael Silversher
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, script & lyrics by Mo Willems
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, musical arrangements by Deborah Wicks La Puma
  • Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences

MetroStage

• Glimpses of the Moon
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical, Lauren ‘Coco’ Cohn

No Rules Theatre Company

• The John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company

Olney Theatre Center

• Annie
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical, Bobby Smith
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical, Carrie A. Johnson
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical, James Konicek
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical, Jenna Sokolowski
  • Outstanding Resident Musical

The Puppet Co.

• The Nutcracker
  • Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences

Rep Stage

• Travels With My Aunt
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Play, Kasi Campbell
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play
• On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning
  • Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production, Dan Covey

Shakespeare Theatre Company

• Candide
  • Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production, Mara Blumenfeld
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Musical, Mary Zimmerman
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical, Geoff Packard
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical, Lauren Molina
  • Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production, T.J. Gerckens
  • Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production, Doug Peck
  • Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production, Daniel Ostling
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical, Jesse J. Perez
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical, Larry Yando
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical, Hollis Resnik
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical
  • Outstanding Resident Musical
• The Liar
  • Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production, Murell Horton
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Play, Adam Green
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, David Ives
• Avenue Q, The Broadway Musical
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production, Brent Michael DiRoma
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production, Jaqueline Grabois
  • Outstanding Non-Resident Production
• Mrs. Warren’s Profession
  • Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production, Simon Higlett
• All’s Well That Ends Well
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Play, Ted van Griethuysen
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Play, Paxton Whitehead
• Richard II
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play, Naomi Jacobson

Signature Theatre

• Chess
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Musical, Eric Schaeffer
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical, Jill Paice
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical, Jeremy Kushnier
• Sycamore Trees
  • Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical, Marc Kudisch
  • Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production, Fred Lassen
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, book, music & lyrics by Ricky Ian Gordon
  • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical, book by Nina Mankin
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical
• Sunset Boulevard
  • Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production, Jon Kalbfleisch
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical, Ed Dixon
• Sweeney Todd
  • Outstanding Resident Musical

Solas Nua

• Improbable Frequency
  • Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production, Diane Coburn Bruning
• Johnny Meister and the Stitch
  • Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production, Matt Otto

The Studio Theatre

• Circle Mirror Transformation
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play, MacKenzie Meehan
• Superior Donuts
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Johnny Ramey
  • Outstanding Resident Play
• American Buffalo
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play

Synetic Theater

• King Arthur
  • Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production, Irina Tsikurishvili
• Othello
  • Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production, Irina Tsikurishvili
  • Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production, Anastasia Ryurikov Simes
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Play, Paata Tsikurishvili
  • Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production, Konstantine Lortkipandze
  • Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production, Irakli Kavsadze
  • Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production, Konstantine Lortkipandze
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Philip Fletcher
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Alex Mills
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play
  • Outstanding Resident Play
• The Master and Margarita
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Play, Paata Tsikurishvili
  • Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production, Colin K. Bills
  • Outstanding Resident Play
• Antony and Cleopatra
  • Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production, Colin K. Bills

Theater J

• Mikveh
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play, Lise Bruneau
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play, Sarah Marshall
• In Darfur
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play, Erika Rose
• New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Play, Michael Tolaydo
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Alexander Strain
  • Outstanding Resident Play

Toby’s Dinner Theatre

• Hairspray
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Musical, Toby Orenstein
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical, MaryLee Adams
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical, Jesaira Glover
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical
  • Outstanding Resident Musical

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

• Clybourne Park
  • Outstanding Director, Resident Play, Howard Shalwitz
  • Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play, Jennifer Mendenhall
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play, Dawn Ursula
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Mitchell Hébert
  • The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, Cody Nickell
  • Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production, James Kronzer
  • Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play
  • Outstanding Resident Play
• The Last Cargo Cult
  • Outstanding Non-Resident Production