June 10, 2022: The Keegan Theatre is pleased to announce its 26th Season in 2022-2023, featuring 8 mainstage productions in its intimate and welcoming theater home in Dupont Circle.
“We have an exciting season planned, as we strive to continue our commitment to presenting a wide range of offerings for audiences,” says Susan Marie Rhea, the company’s Artistic Director. “Our upcoming season includes DC, regional, and world premieres, and a lineup of shows that enrich, entertain, tickle the funny bone, provoke the mind, and – most importantly – connect us to each other through the power of theater: outstanding storytelling by extraordinary artists from across the DMV.”
The season includes the world premieres of 2 newly commissioned works from DC area playwrights, 1 regional premiere, 1 DC premiere, 2 musicals, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning play:
by Paul Slade Smith
** REGIONAL PREMIERE COMEDY **
Ned Newley doesn’t even want to be governor. He’s terrified of public speaking, and his poll numbers are impressively bad. To his ever-supportive Chief of Staff, Ned seems destined to fail. But political consultant Arthur Vance sees things differently: Ned might be the worst candidate to ever run for office. Unless the public is looking for… the worst candidate to ever run for office. THE OUTSIDER is a timely and hilarious comedy that skewers politics and celebrates democracy. LEARN MORE
by William Finn
** BY TONY AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER & LYRICIST **
ELEGIES is a celebration of life and music, penned by Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist William Finn, which commemorates the lives of people both real and fictional with rousing theatricality and unforgettable songs. From Finn’s friends, to his mother, to his dogs, to the victims of the World Trade Center collapse, these characters and their stories will enchant and enrich your spirit in this stunning masterwork that celebrates the human experience and life’s infinite joys. LEARN MORE
by Matthew J. Keenan
** KEEGAN’S OWN HOLIDAY TRADITION **
An original work by Keegan company member Matthew J. Keenan, AN IRISH CAROL is an homage to Dickens’ classic – told as only the Irish can. This comic and touching play, set in a modern Dublin pub, follows one evening in the life of David, a wealthy pub owner who has lost touch with his own humanity in the interest of self-protection and material success. But on this Christmas Eve – challenged by a voice from the past, provoked by those in the present, and faced with the reality of a lonely future – David’s life may change forever. LEARN MORE
by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, & Gordon Farrell
** DC PREMIERE SERIOCOMEDY **
Jim Fingal is a fresh-out-of-Harvard fact checker for a prominent but sinking New York magazine. John D’Agata is a talented writer with a transcendent essay about the suicide of a teenage boy — an essay that could save the magazine from collapse. When Jim is assigned to fact check D’Agata’s essay, the two come head to head in a comedic yet gripping battle over facts versus truth. LEARN MORE
by Drew Anderson & Dwayne Lawson-Brown
** WORLD PREMIERE HIP HOP MUSICAL **
In a town beset by the sordid shenanigans of a prank-prone Villain, justice finally seems to be served when the celebrated Hero accuses Villain of the worst crime of all: Pushing the Button. But when the dutiful Journalist starts asking the right questions, will convicting the Villain prove to be the wrong answer? This playful and poignant parody of modern morality will ask its audiences to question their very notions of right and wrong, crime and punishment, truth and narrative. But most of all, it will beg the question: “Who Pushed the Button??” LEARN MORE
by Graziella Jackson
** WORLD PREMIERE PLAY **
In THE WILTING POINT, audiences travel with Mina Melo, the producer of the award-winning podcast Clime, back to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Southern Colorado, where she is reluctantly adapting Clime as a series for a new streaming entertainment company. The series producer wants Mina to pick up with an unsolved murder investigation, but Mina is determined to tell a story about how climate-related water shortages and drought are threatening the community’s way of life. LEARN MORE
THE WILTING POINT is one of four plays in Graziella Jackson’s ELEMENTS cycle, which explores the intersection of local communities, media representation, and the climate crisis. Keegan will present readings of Jackon’s other three ELEMENTS plays during the 2022-23 season.
by Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty
** A MUSICAL FOR ALL AGES **
A fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza for all ages, SEUSSICAL: THE MUSICAL lovingly brings to life all of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, The Cat in the Hat, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie and a little boy with a big imagination — Jojo. The colorful characters transport us from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos in a musical adventure which tests the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community… LEARN MORE
by Lynn Nottage
** PULITZER PRIZE WINNER **
Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, SWEAT tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat. LEARN MORE
Artistic teams will be announced in coming months, as will additional performances as part of the company’s new works-focused Boiler Room Series initiative. More information about the 2022-2023 Season is available online, and single tickets and tickets packages are currently available for purchase.
