Shear Madness is the interactive comedy whodunit that lets the audience solve the crime! Set in present-day Georgetown, Shear Madness engages locals and visitors alike as armchair detectives to help solve the scissor-stabbing murder of a famed concert pianist who lives above the Shear Madness unisex hairstyling salon. The show combines up-to-the-minute improvisational humor and a mixture of audience sleuthing to deliver a unique performance each night. With more than 13,500 performances at the Kennedy Center, Shear Madness is the second longest-running play in the history of American Theater. Performance Timing: 2 hours, with one intermission.

A Black man in an army uniform stands his ground atop Tulsa’s Standpipe Hill, bearing witness to the destruction and desecration of Tulsa’s Greenwood District — but other forces, both friendly and hostile, conspire to remove him. A play in conversation with Tulsa, Oklahoma’s 1921 race massacre, The High Ground offers a complex portrait of what it means to root, to resist and to proceed from devastation.

Inspired by Gayle F. Wald’s book Shout, Sister, Shout!, this new musical tells the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe—one of America’s most influential rock, R&B and gospel crossover singers and guitarists. Ambitious, courageous and uncompromisingly public, Tharpe became a pioneer of the women’s movement for racial and sexual equality and musical legend who redefined the national and international music scene in the 1930s and 40s and beyond. Dive into Cheryl L. West’s spirited, authentic and emotionally charged story about a charismatic music forerunner and the authentic roots of rock-and-roll.

Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama Angels in America is one of the great epic American plays of this past century. We meet Louis and Prior and Harper and Joe, two couples whose relationships are on the rocks; the former because of Prior’s AIDS diagnosis and Louis’ inability to cope with illness, and the latter because of Joe’s closeted homosexuality and Harper’s incessant fears and hallucinations. The brilliant Hungarian director and filmmaker János Szász will stage Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches in-the-round 30 years after its Broadway premiere.

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??”

When American conflict photographer Mia wakes up in her ex-girlfriend’s Istanbul apartment, she doesn’t recall how she got there but the contents of her camera might. A cross-cultural, time-shifting journey ensues as Mia pieces together the details of her past and wrestles with the costs of her profession. A heartfelt and suspenseful new play from award-winning dramatist Mona Mansour (Mosaic’s The Vagrant Trilogy), Unseen implores audiences to look deeper into the photographs of war and see the souls at stake.

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…

TWB presents this beloved, time-traveling fairy tale. In an illustrious kingdom from long ago, iconic fairytale characters, opulent and imaginative sets and costumes, and classical ballet will light up The Kennedy Center.

With Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi weaves a richly illuminated tapestry around traditional themes of vanity, pride, avarice, spiritual corruption and festering recrimination. In this cautionary tale, compromised morals are the order of the day. It’s hard to predict where fate’s fickle finger will point when there’s a reconciliation of past sins. But as any Verdi fan will tell you, those books always get balanced, and nobody escapes palace intrigue without a florid, dramatically scored comeuppance! From the Duke’s opening salvo bragging about his romantic conquests, Questa o quella (This woman or that one), to the famous quartet from Act III, Bella figlia dell’amore (Beautiful daughter of love), Verdi’s Rigoletto stitches together a revolutionary evening at the palazzo that will keep you on the edge of your seats.

A reluctant historian is thrown out of her element when her acclaimed book about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is optioned by a larger-than-life Hollywood mogul with a track record for making smash-hit TV shows. The professional bleeds into the personal when she finds herself weighing the historical facts against her own awakening ambitions. In a hilarious workplace comedy with teeth, tensions rise and deals are made and broken.

Virginia National Ballet presents “Life in the Fast Lane”: three riveting contemporary ballets to iconic musical selections that will have you on the edge of your seats! First on the program is Ravel’s “Bolero”, followed by “Bohemian Rhapsody”, ending with Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, with a twist. VNB’s award winning Artistic Director Rafik Hegab has choreographed all three works, which will be danced with athleticism and aplomb by VNB’s group of international professional dancers. “Bolero” is Ravel’s most famous composition, with a repeated melody that builds with different orchestration at each phrase, ending in a powerful climax. “Bohemian Rhapsody” features many of Queen’s greatest hits and some deep tracks. Prepared to be rocked! And lastly, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons will take you on a journey with its powerful rhythms and famous musical phrases, with some selections rewritten by contemporary composer Max Richter. VNB is the 2022 Winner of The Best of Prince William in 3 categories: Best Performing Arts Company, Best Choreographer, and Best Dance School.

Three Black queer men sit in an ethereal waiting room inviting audiences to join them in a whimsical theatrical experiment that is equal parts harrowing, hilarious, and hopeful. Inspired by his own HIV diagnosis and the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community, award-winning playwright Donja R. Love shines an honest light on the people behind the statistics in this “defiantly life-embracing” (The New York Times) new play.