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Patricia Davis

Patricia Davis writes plays, nonfiction, and poetry. Her first play, Alternative Methods, was selected for readings at Urban Stages, Georgia College and State University, and Catholic University. Produced in the Capital Fringe and New York International Fringe festivals in 2010, it was chosen as a recommended pick by New York Theater Review and was honored with a Best Director award. With Dianna Ortiz, a US nun who was tortured in Guatemala, Patricia co-authored The Blindfold’s Eyes: My Journey from Torture to Truth, winning Best First-Time Author and Best/History Biography awards from the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada and a Best Book Award from Spirituality and Health magazine. Former director of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, she has published articles in The Nation, Counterpunch, and Hispanic, has blogged on theater for Arts America, and has written reviews for DC Metro Theater Arts and Maryland Theater Guide. Her poetry has appeared in various literary journals and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A finalist for the 2011 Beullah Rose Poetry Prize and the 2012 Blue Light Poetry Chapbook Contest, she earned an MFA in Creative Writing from American University and a BA in English from Carleton College.

Photo by Bill Hughes.

Sexism and Spunk Duel Masterfully on Stage at DC’s Keegan Theatre
Essay

Sexism and Spunk Duel Masterfully on Stage at DC’s Keegan Theatre

3 November 2016

Patricia Davis on Keegan Theatre’s production of What We’re Up Against by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Susan Marie Rhea.

DC’s Ambassador Theater Takes on Dario Fo’s They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay!
Essay

DC’s Ambassador Theater Takes on Dario Fo’s They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay!

3 May 2016

Patricia Davis on Ambassador Theater’s production of They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! by Dario Fo in Washington, DC.

From Gaza, with Love
Essay

From Gaza, with Love

25 February 2016

Patricia Davis on Mosaic Theatre's US premiere in Washington, D.C. of I Shall Not Hate, based on the life of Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish.

George is Dead but the Klunch is Up and Running
Essay

George is Dead but the Klunch is Up and Running

14 January 2016

Patricia Davis on the Klunch’s production of George is Dead by Elaine May in Washington DC.

Maytag Virgin, Quotidian Theatre's Sweet Success
Essay

Maytag Virgin, Quotidian Theatre's Sweet Success

2 December 2015

Patricia Davis on the world premiere production of Audrey Cefaly’s Maytag Virgin at Quotidien Theatre in Washington, DC.

Studio Theatre Stages a Heroic Chimerica
Essay

Studio Theatre Stages a Heroic Chimerica

15 October 2015

Patricia Davis interviews Ron Menzel, an actor in Studio Theatre's production of Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimerica in Washington, DC.

Power! Stokely Carmichael at the Capital Fringe
Essay

Power! Stokely Carmichael at the Capital Fringe

13 August 2015

Patricia Davis on Mehshaun Labrone’s Power! Stokely Carmichael at Washington DC’s Capital Fringe Festival.

1st Stage’s The Good Counselor
Essay

1st Stage’s The Good Counselor

Good, Rain or Shine

4 August 2015

Patricia Davis on Kathryn Brant’s The Good Counselor, produced by 1st Stage in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.

Teatro de la Luna’s Maria Magdalen, La Mujer Borrada
Essay

Teatro de la Luna’s Maria Magdalen, La Mujer Borrada

18 June 2015

Patricia Davis on Teatro de la Luna’s US premiere of the Spanish language solo play, Maria Magdalen, La Mujer Borrada written and directed by Viviana Cordero.

The Hub Theatre’s Bold and Offbeat Dream
Essay

The Hub Theatre’s Bold and Offbeat Dream

19 May 2015

Patricia Davis on the Hub Theatre’s production of Adam Bock’s The Typographer’s Dream in Fairfax, VA.

Grounded
Essay

Grounded

A Stunning Singular Strike at Olney Theatre

31 March 2015

George Brant’s Grounded, at Olney Theatre, is a fast-paced, suspenseful, and moving one-woman show about a drone operator’s struggle to play two roles: annihilator and mother.

Los Empeños de una Casa at GALA Hispanic Theatre
Essay

Los Empeños de una Casa at GALA Hispanic Theatre

24 March 2015

Patricia Davis on House of Desires by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz produced in Spanish with English surtitles by GALA (Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos) Hispanic Theatre in Washington D.C. 

The Man Behind Scena Theatre
Essay

The Man Behind Scena Theatre

Robert McNamara

10 February 2015

Scena Theatre is small but ambitious, and in spite of its relatively low profile, it has thrived in Washington for twenty-seven years.  Founding artistic director Robert McNamara is tenaciously committed to bringing new work from around the world to D.C. audiences.

Photo from How We Got On.
Forum Theatre’s How We Got On
Essay

Forum Theatre’s How We Got On

9 December 2014

Though set in 1988, the play’s insistence on the power of words, creativity, and voice as a means of self-assertion, growth, and transformation is of timeless importance and is especially relevant now.

New Play Wizard Richard Washer on First Draft and the D.C. Theater Scene
Essay

New Play Wizard Richard Washer on First Draft and the D.C. Theater Scene

6 November 2014

Richard Washer is a Washington fixture, having worked in the Washington, D.C. area for more than thirty years as a playwright, director, dramaturg, and educator. He is humble, unassuming, and quietly essential to many in the DC area who are developing new plays.

A landscape of a hilly area.
La MaMa Umbria
Essay

La MaMa Umbria

An Italian (Re)Treat

22 September 2014

All you have to do, for ten days, is look at beauty and create. If you need to talk your ideas through, you have a teacher available, ready to listen and help. If you want to hear your pages read aloud, supportive comrades will oblige, then drink wine with you at night to a chorus of crickets and cicadas, the only loud nightlife around.

Photo for Abominable.
The Hub Theatre’s Abominable Sheds Light on the Beast Within
Essay

The Hub Theatre’s Abominable Sheds Light on the Beast Within

21 August 2014

Patricia Davis reviews Hub Theatre’s Abominable, by Helen Pafumi, discussing how the play looks at violence and bullying.

Participants of the One-Minute Play Festival.
Race, Gender, Sex, and Rights Pulse Through DC’s One-Minute Festival
Essay

Race, Gender, Sex, and Rights Pulse Through DC’s One-Minute Festival

31 July 2014

Patricia Davis writes about Roundhouse Theater's first One-Minute Play Festival, which featured ninety new plays from over sixty local playwrights.

Director Stevie Zimmerman Brings Fresh Energy to DC
Essay

Director Stevie Zimmerman Brings Fresh Energy to DC

8 July 2014

Patricia Davis interviews DC-based director Stevie Zimmerman, discussing casting, directing styles, and the challenges of new work.

The Love of the Nightingale in Washington, D.C.
Essay

The Love of the Nightingale in Washington, D.C.

15 May 2014

Patricia Davis reviews the Constellation Theatre's production of The Love of the Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker

Nabil Al-Ra’ee and his daughter.
Death and Art in Palestine
Essay

Death and Art in Palestine

Nabil Al-Ra’ee and The Freedom Theatre

15 April 2014

Patricia Davis writes about The Freedom Theatre in Palestine, focusing on its controversial work with youth and its history, which includes the assassination of their founder.

Florence Foster Jenkins
Essay

Florence Foster Jenkins

The Unlikely Soprano

11 March 2014

Patricia Davis reviews 1st Stage's production of Stephen Temperley’s Souvenir: a Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins.

Two actors stand onstage facing each other, reading from sheets of paper.
Vaclav Havel’s Protest Tackles the Dangers of Conformity
Essay

Vaclav Havel’s Protest Tackles the Dangers of Conformity

16 January 2014

Patricia Davis reviews Ambassador Theater's production of Protest, written by the Czech Republic's first president Vaclav Havel, directed by Gail Humphries Mardirosian.

Image from Titus Andronicus.
Taffety Punk’s Riot Grrrls Wring Humor from Titus Andronicus
Essay

Taffety Punk’s Riot Grrrls Wring Humor from Titus Andronicus

7 November 2013

Patricia Davis reviews Taffety Punks' production of the unproducable: a humorous interpretation of Titus Andronicus, presented by the all-female Riot Grrrls.

Photo from After The Revolution.
The Cost of Truth in Theater J’s After the Revolution
Essay

The Cost of Truth in Theater J’s After the Revolution

10 October 2013

Theater J, whose mission is to produce plays that are politically engaged and thought provoking, as well as personal, passionate, and entertaining, could not have selected a better play for the current moment.