SPOOKY ACTION THEATER
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2017-2018

​The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs


​by Carole Fréchette, translated by John Murrell

directed by Helen R. Murray, artistic director of The Hub Theatre

May 17 - June 10, 2018

From the award-winning French Canadian playwright and her acclaimed translator.

In The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs, Grace finds herself irresistibly drawn to a mysterious and forbidden room. She has everything - a mansion, a maid servant, and an adoring husband who makes no demands save for one... she cannot go into the small room at the top of the stairs. Grace has everything - including the insistent call of one little room and the life-changing mystery it holds.
Winner - Helen Hayes Award for outstanding supporting actress in a play: Tuyet Thi Pham!
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​Stage Manager - Katie Bücher
Set Design - Jonathan Dahm Robertson
Lighting Design - Brittany Shemuga
Costume Designe - Amy MacDonald
​Sound Design - David Crandall
Props Design - Amy Kellett
All photos by Tony Hitchcock
See full slideshow
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Starring
Michael Kevin Darnall*
Carolyn Kashner
Tuyet Thi Pham*
Casie Platt
Mindy Shaw
*Member of Actor's Equity Association appearing under contract
This production sponsored in part by 
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​The Quebec Government Office
and by The Kennedy Center's Kenan Fellowship program
​with thanks to Gregg Henry

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Winner - Helen Hayes Awards for
Outstanding original play adaptation: Natsu Onoda Power
​Outstanding set design: Natsu Onoda Power and Danny Carr
Outstanding sound design: Roc Lee
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Production Manager - Joel Hobson
Stage Manager - Katie Bücher
Lighting Design - Adam Bacigalupo
Sound Design - Roc Lee
Costume Design - Deb Sivigny
Props Dsign - Coalan Overman Eder
Set Design - Natsu Onoda Power
Projection Design - Danny Carr
Production Assistant - Bailey Nassetta
AD/ASM - Jesse Goodwin
REVIEWS
The Lathe of Heaven
adapted by Natsu Onoda Power
​​from the book by Ursula K. Le Guin
At Georgetown Jan 25 - 27, 2018
At Spooky Action Feb 15 - Mar 11
directed by Natsu Onoda Power, associate professor of Theater and Performance Studies at Georgetown University
Tributes to Ursula K. Le Guin
Starring
Erica Chamblee*
Matthew Marcus
Matthew Vaky*
*Member of Actor's Equity appearing under contract
and an ensemble of Georgetown University theater students including
Mark Camilli, Vanessa Chapoy, Jonathan Compo, Michaela Farrell, Kate Ginna,
Adrian Iglesias, and ​Maddy Rice with understudy Cristina Ibarra
The Lathe of Heaven was presented in partnership with Georgetown University's department of performing arts and was performed at the school's Davis Performing Arts Center as part of Washington DC's Women's Voices' Festival in January of 2018.

The production and all elements, from cast to set, were moved to Spooky Action Theater for a four-week run beginning on February 15th, 2018.

​​A classic tale of speculative fiction. Blessed – or cursed – with dreams that actually alter reality, George Orr comes under the hand of a doctor eager to exploit this amazing phenomenon. Together, Doctor Haber decides, they will remake the world.  Danger!  Dreams won’t be trained or coerced. As the good doctor uses his patient to tinker with reality, unintended con-sequences cascade and increase. Finally, the world itself begins to dissolve. In one last leap, the dreamer risks all – and a maelstrom of change resolves in a final reality where, unexpectedly, lost love may be regained and balance restored.
The Hoya interviews Natsu Onoda Power
DC Theatre Scene with Natsu
theatreWashington's Take Ten with Natsu
A Proud part of
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Production sponsored by Pete Miller and Sara Cormeny

In Fall of 2017, Spooky Action hosted the visiting production:

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"Gypsy Madonna" Image by Szentandrassy Istvan
​“Where does the light come from when it’s dark?” asks Bernadette, a fierce, bi-racial orphan girl who has survived abandon-ment at birth, abuse by institutions, and being marginalized by her society. Inspired by true events, this empowering coming of age story follows Bernadette as she conjures love, purpose, and hope from a barren landscape. This harrowing, hyper-poetic play explores how the most vulnerable need to become the most resilient.
​
Experience the DC premiere of this contemporary Hungarian - Romanian play which brings together a new, dynamic ensemble of local and international theater artists. Join us to meet playwright Andras Visky, the Tennessee Williams of Transylvania, who will be in attendance at select performances.
Check out the DC Theatre Scene interview with the production team:
Insights from Inside I Killed My Mother
​Opening Saturday 9/16 at 8:00pm
Sunday 9/17 at 3:00pm & 8:00pm
Saturday 9/23 at 8:00pm
Sunday 9/24 at 3:00pm & 8:00pm
Monday 9/25 at 8:00pm
Thursday 9/28 at 8:00pm
Friday 9/29 at 8:00pm
Closing Saturday 9/30 at 8:00pm


2 hours including a 20 minute intermission

Starring:
Erica Chamblee
Kevin Thorne II
Domonique Gay
Karoline Huber
Mediombo Fofana
Ivan Zizek
Jesse Marciniak

Designers:
Zsuzsanna Magony - Set & Costume
Bruce Wiljanen - Light & Production
Jesse Marciniack - Sound

Production Team:
Bryanda Minix - Assistant Director
Laura Schlatmeyer - Stage Manager
Olivia Haller - Dramaturg
Hegedus Laszlo - Musical Consultant

Learn more about András Visky

​
"How can you not be affected by an act of such supreme and protective loneliness?”
   Brant Brantley – The New York Times  

Already praised and presented internationally, I Killed My Mother brings a distinctly European flair to DC in its Washington  premiere.  Romanian ethnic-Hungarian playwright András Visky, though new to Washington theatergoers, is one of the most esteemed contemporary playwrights of Eastern Europe. I Killed My Mother is the story of Bernadette, born in Ceausescu's Romania. Exposed to cruelty and neglect as an orphan in early childhood, Bernadette still embodies a strong sense of morality and self-respect, as well as the capacity to love and forgive. Together with her first love, Clip, she survives abandonment and institutionalization by conjuring a spiritual landscape of hope and order. Her empowering coming of age story (based on true events) is a quiet yet captivating theatrical witness, revealing the compelling personal truth behind the shocking tabloid images that made headlines 20 years ago.

where we are

Spooky Action Theater
1810 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: (202) 248-0301

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  • About Us
    • Our Team and Board
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Contact Us
    • Past Productions >
      • Professor Woland's Black Magic Rock Show
      • Stew Stewart in Concert
      • Frontieres sans Frontieres
      • Agreste (Drylands)
      • Sonnets for an Old Century
      • Maple and Vine
    • Join Our Mail List
  • Shows
    • Tickets
    • Current Show
    • Cabaret Series 2025
    • 2024-25 Season
    • 2023-24 Season
    • Calendar
    • Gallery
  • Support Us
    • Our Funders
  • New Works
    • Upcoming New Works
    • Previous New Works
  • Community
    • Ukrainian Solidarity
    • Art All Night
    • Theater Week
  • Education
    • Pig Iron Workshop
    • After School Program
  • News
  • Work with us