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Patron Note:
The venue is not currently wheelchair accessible. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Content Warning:
Violence, depictions of detention/incarceration, loud noises and some strong language. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact the theater.

THE DRAGON
By Evgeny Shvarts
Adapted by Jesse Rasmussen & Yura Kordonsky​
Directed by Elizabeth Dinkova
​Featuring Gabriel Alejandro, Surasree Das,
​Raghad Makhlouf, Ryan Sellers, Fran Tapia
SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 19, 2025
(Thu-Sat 7:30pm, Su 2pm, added Wed 10/15 7:30pm)

Purchase Tickets

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Pay-What-You-Can: Sept. 25 & 26 at 7:30pm & Sept. 28 at 2pm

Industry Night: Mon, Oct. 6 at 7:30pm
Mask-Required: Thurs, Oct 9 at 7:30pm
Post-Show Discussions (after 7:30pm show):
Thurs, Oct. 2 & Fri, Oct. 10 - with members of the cast
Thurs, Oct. 16 - with Cynthia Schneider, the former Ambassador to the Netherlands and Georgetown Professor of Diplomacy and Culture

RAVE REVIEWS
"SHARP SATIRE...TIMELY AND PROVOCATIVE work...an ensemble-driven, physically stylized play that serves as both a reflection and commentary on the urgent issues facing 2025 America" - DC TheaterArts

"The Dragon is a RIVETING production, and the twin narratives provide COMPELLING explorations of power and protest." [This] SHARP new contemporary adaptation...still offers a sharp takedown of totalitarianism" - Washington City Paper

"a THRILLING and THOUGHT-PROVOKING production that is true to Shvarts’ vision, and could not be more timely or necessary. [A] timeless, and timelessly subversive, story. [Elizabeth] Dinkova’s cast fills the stage with an irrepressible energy...There are STANDOUT PERFORMANCES all around" - BroadwayWorld

Terrorized by a wicked dragon, a town gets a chance for freedom with the arrival of a confident and cocky Sir Lancelot (yes, distantly related). Sounds simple enough, right? On the surface a supernatural fairytale, this subversive play written (and banned) in Stalinist Russia offers a scorching satire of authoritarian regimes and the mechanisms they use to control people. In a sharp new adaptation centering immigrant actors, The Dragon is a witty allegory that exposes the dangers of tyranny - and would be even more fun if it were not so disturbingly relevant.
In a radical new adaptation, this production collides the original fairytale story with the contemporary realities of migrant detention. The result: an altogether new story about the freedom of the human spirit, which cannot be contained. 

AN IMPORTANT PLAY that can still speak to us today” – British Theatre Guide

“The Dragon has a great deal to say about propaganda and its construction of alternate reality” - CATO Institute

Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes, including an intermission

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