Upcoming Local Arts Events to Celebrate the Holiday Season
The Studios At 307 Artist Community
OPEN STUDIOS CELEBRATION!
SAT, DEC 7 FROM 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Studios at 307 • 307 E. Annandale Rd, Falls Church, VA Located inside Art and Frame of Falls Church.
City Of Falls Church Holiday Events
Toys for Tots, Managed by the Police Department: Donate by Thursday, December 5 at 6 p.m. Santa’s Ride Toy Drive, Donate by Monday, December 9. Bring new, unwrapped toys to a donation box located in the City Hall lobby.
Moravian Stars, Saturday, November 23, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Cherry Hill Farmhouse, 312 Park Avenue. Registration Required: Please contact Holly Irwin at hirwin@fallschurchva.gov or call 703-2485171 (TTY 711) to register.
A Very Victorian Christmas, Saturday, November 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cherry Hill Farmhouse, 312 Park Avenue.
Free Event: Drop by any time and stay as long as you like!
Winter Wonderland in The Little City,
Get into the festive spirit with a winter wonderland at Modera Founders Row and the City. Tuesday, December 3, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Market Square is in Founders Row, 109 Founders Avenue, and there is free parking in the Founders Row Parking Garage from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free Event.
Annual Holiday Gift and Craft Show with Children’s Shoppe, Saturday, December 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Children’s Shoppe open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday, December 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Community Center, 223 Little Falls Street. Free Event:
Watch Night New Year’s Eve Celebration, Tuesday, December 31, from 7 p.m. to Midnight. Star Drop Countdown at 11:55 p.m. near the intersection of Broad and Washington Streets.
Creative Cauldron’s Madeline’s Christmas
Based on the book by Ludwig Bemelmans, Book and Lyrics by Jennifer
Kirkeby, Music by Shirley Mier, Directed by Matt Conner, Music Direction by Merissa Anne Driscoll. December 1 –17, 2023. Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 PM & 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:00pm & 4:00 p.m. Tickets: creativecauldron.org/madelineschristmas. html
GMU Center for the Arts
Canadian Brass Making Spirits Bright Experience one of the world’s most famous
brass quintets in a genre-bending and infectiously positive performance that includes original arrangements and signature takes on beloved holiday classics such as “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Christmas Time is Here,” “Silver Bells,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and songs of Hanukkah. Saturday, November 30 at 8 p.m.
TAKE 6
The most awarded a cappella group in history, Take 6, brings its superlative vocal genius to the Center for a gospel-infused holiday concert. Sunday, December 1 at 2 p.m.
American Festival Pops Orchestra
Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season
Enjoy a festive evening of seasonal favorites designed for the entire family, including “Night Before Christmas,” and toe-tapping classics from the orchestra’s embedded Big Band, and an appearance by the Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble. Saturday, December 1 at 4 p.m.
Vivid!, All-Media Exhibit Falls Church Arts
Forty-seven artists will exhibit fifty-five of their boldest, brightest pieces at Vivid!, an all-media exhibit, at the gallery at Falls Church Arts from November 23 to January 5. The show officially opens with a meet the artists’ reception on November 23 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Vivid! will be on view at the Falls Church Arts gallery at 700-B West Broad St. (Route 7), Falls Church. Admission is free and the gallery is open Tuesdays-Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. & Sat-Sun from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
TAKE 6 performs at GMU Center for the Arts. ( Photo: John Abott)
We Happy Few Streams Ground-breaking Early Science Fiction Play “R.U.R.”
by Mark Dreisonstok
The Capitol Hill-based theatre company We Happy Few is currently presenting Karel Čapek’s groundbreaking play “R.U.R.” Produced by Artistic Director Kerry McGee, the show was initially presented live, but the production was obliged to close early due to unforeseen circumstances. Fortunately, the troupe follows the theatrical dictum “the show must go on:” it is continuing to present its unique version of the 1920 play via streaming the recorded performance.
“R.U.R.” stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” The play is famous for introducing the word “robot” to the world! (Čapek credited his brother for actually coining the word, which comes from Czech words related to forced labor and slavery.) The plot revolves around Domin, who, while dictating a letter to his robot secretary Sulla (played by a stoic Emilia Pazniokas), is visited by Helena Glory, daughter of the president of the unspecified country in which the plot takes place.
Helena is not only the privileged daughter of the president but is also an idealist who represents the Humanitarian League, which
is concerned that the robots being produced by R.U.R. do not have rights and that their dignity is not respected. Domin and his managers counter this with a utilitarian “greater good” argument, maintaining that robot labor will cause lower prices, eliminate poverty, and free humans to fulfill their own mission of “perfecting themselves.”
Helena reminds one in name and in beauty of the classical Helen of Troy, but her role is more like the Trojan princess Cassandra: she has the foresight to warn of future troubles but is also cursed in that no one listens to her. As the robots begin to revolt, does hope remain for humanity?
With our society’s current focus on technological innovation and artificial intelligence, such a play naturally raises many relevant ethical questions. The robots in both the original productions of the play, and also in We Happy Few’s presentation, are not clanky metal machines, but are humanoid as well as biological in nature and sometimes in behavior. Should they be treated humanely and not as machines? Should they, as Helena proposes, be allowed to have human appetites, human feelings,
and perhaps even souls? Also, what of the humans themselves? If freed from the demands of work, what will they do with their limitless leisure time…perfect themselves, or instead themselves become as mindless as their robot creations?
We already see in Act One of the play that Domin and his managers have themselves become a bit like robots, with Domin coldly proposing marriage to Helena while looking at his watch as he awaits his robot-prepared lunch. In fact, the play has great resonance for us today for raising the question very present in today’s world as to what work the labor force will find when displaced by AI and other forms of automation. Later, when a character talks about his ability to grow plants quickly, we are reminded of doubts about the wisdom of tampering with nature, a concern many have raised with genetic modification of plants, animals, and even humans today.
“R.U.R.” is an example of retro futurism, that is, how people in the past viewed the future. In the costumes worn by the actors and actresses, traditional early twentieth-century fashions (designed by
Lee Gerstenhaber) prevail, such as the long dresses and covered-up appearances of Sulla and Helena. This choice complements the staging, which presents a metallic and mechanized vision of technological progress driving the creation of the future. Props such as a dial phone, a vintage typewriter, a world globe, a ship model, and a slanted mantlepiece are mixed in with abstract and Expressionist set pieces. These have been executed by director Matt Reckeweg to represent the clash between modern development in technology (including robots) with traditional views of humanity.
The acting, too, is both modern and “retro.” Both robots and humans behave in a very theatrical, stylized fashion. Made Key, who plays Helena, gestures in a way reminiscent of silent films of the 1920’s “R.U.R” era, and Matthew Sparacino, as the Edwardian suitwearing Domin, employs a clipped way of speaking that cleverly serves to place the audience in a past age while also suggesting his overly utilitarian robot-infused humanity. The acting of the robot characters such as Scott Whalen as Radius (the especially intelli
gent robot assigned to a library to absorb the world’s knowledge) similarly fuses machine-like and human qualities.
We Happy Few’s thoughtful production of “R.U.R.” will continue to stream through Thanksgiving. Readers interested in this fascinating and increasingly relevant play with its ethical concerns for our times may view the production by visiting: wehappyfewdc.com/
-
SCOTT WHALEN as the clever robot Radius and Made Key as the humanitarian Helena in We Happy Few’s “R.U.R.” ( Photo: Sam Reilly.)
Nat’l Museum of Women in the Arts: ‘Suchitra Mattai: Myth from ‘Matter’
by Patricia Leslie
For an intriguing visit to a local museum over the holidays, your family may love the exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, “Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter,” by “a multi-disciplinary Guyanese American artist of South Asian descent.”
It is the first solo show in the District by Mattai who, in her paintings, her fibers, collages, large sculptures, tapestries and more, focuses on “others,” women and the marginalized.
The big and bright show spanning several galleries has something for everyone, including materials she has found and recycles into her works, and some worn by her family, friends, herself and others, all combining to make the display more interesting.
It has 12 historically and complementing pieces from Europe and South Asia loaned by major institutions which hang adjacent to Mattai’s works and spark conversation, thought and discussion when two pieces of the same subject are compared.
Adding bright embroidery floss,
applique and beads to a classic work, Mattai’s products easily stand out in stunning results.
She practices “brown reclamation” by sewing brown thread over white Europeans who are typically the models in landscapes from past centuries. By this methodology, she demonstrates the marginalized people who have been excluded from life “as we know it.” (The partial title of one of her works.)
She pays tribute to immigrants and their contributions to society, often overlooked and submerged by societies of past centuries.
For instance, the cover of the exhibition’s catalog features “future perfect,” which Mattai made last year of embroidery floss, freshwater pearls, “found objects” and more.
In it she “reimagines” Jean Honoré Fragonard’s “Young Girl Reading” (c. 1769) which hangs nearby, on loan from the National Gallery of Art.
The words in Fragonard’s book which the girl holds are obscured, while Mattai’s version includes “future” in beaded pearls on the open page, encouraging the girl to choose her own destiny, according to the label copy.
As a youngster, Mattaii learned sewing and embroidery from her grandmothers. She was born in 1973 in Georgetown, Guyana where her great-grandparents were indentured laborers, taken there from northern India to work the sugar plantations when the British ruled Guyana and India.
When Mattai was a toddler, her family moved to Canada. She attended colleges in the U.S., India and London.
A multi-disciplinary artist who prides herself on her Caribbean and Indian heritages, her artist’s statement on her website says she is “interested in how memory and myth allow us to unravel and re-imagine historical narratives.”
Her “primary pursuit is to give voice to people whose voices were once quieted by focussing on oral histories and family archives. Using both my own family’s ocean migrations and research on the period of colonial indentured labor during the 19th Century, I seek to expand our sense of “‘history.’”
Besides Mattai, the museum has a new photography exhibition by Samantha Box, and short videos of eight contemporary artists, “In
Focus: Artists at Work.” Plus, there is “Remix: The Collection,” an ongoing exhibition.
At the museum shop, the softbound Mattai catalog of 112 pages with full color illustrations is $27.95.
Visitors may see the exhibit for free on the first Sunday (Dec. 1 and Jan. 5) and the second Wednesday (Dec. 11 and Jan. 8 ) of each month and the museum is open until 8
p.m. on the third Wednesday. Mattai closes Jan. 12, 2025. 1250 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20005. Tuesday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Ph. 202-783-5000. Admission: $16, adults; $13, D.C. residents and those over age 70; free for members and those under age 21 and/or with disabilities.
SUCHITRA MATTAI, “re-union,” 2023. VIntage saris and found mannequins. Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody. (Photo: Patricia Leslie)
Phillips’ ‘Breaking It Down: Conversations from the Vault’
by Patricia Leslie
The Phillips Collection’s newest exhibition features 90 plus works from its permanent collection by its biggest and brightest stars to mix the old with the new in “Breaking It Down: Conversations from the Vault.”
The museum says its mission is to emphasize dedication to and connection of living artists with classic stars like Georges Braque, Georgia O’Keeffe, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne, Arthur Dove, John Marin and Richard Diebenkorn, to name a few who are in the show.
For example, the “Vault” pairs nine works by Washington’s own Sam Gilliam with Lucy T. Pettway from Gee’s Bend, Alabama, a quilter. Works by Diebenkorn and Kate Shepherd are shown with Matisse and Piet Mondrian.
The Phillips was founded in 1921 by Duncan and Marjorie Acker Phillips and prides itself on being America’s first museum of modern art “where the intimate and experimental meet,” according to its website.
The newest show certainly answers the call with versatility, color and splash.
In one gallery are works by Dove, Marin, O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz and one by Sadakichi Hartmann, while in another hall, Sylvia Snowden, Karel Appel, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Toko Shinoda and Aaron Siskind are grouped.
A separate gallery finds the quartet of Braque, Cezanne, Sharon Core and Joel Meyerowitz, and there are more, like the duo of Augustus Vincent Tack and Albert Pinkham Ryder.
It’s a debut at the Phillips of some works by William Christenberry, Walker Evans, Gilliam, Meyerowitz, Sean Scully, Siskind, Snowden, Renee Stout, and Joyce Wellman.
Hidden in the labels, one can find surprises, like the description of “Marinitis” which photographer and collector Stieglitz, claimed was the condition of founder Phillips after Phillips bought nine watercolors by John Marin.
Stieglitz’s wife was the famed Georgia O’Keeffe who, after her husband died, gave the museum 19 of Stieglitz’s photographs to honor his friendship with Phillips. (Only one Stieglitz is on display here though: “Equivalent.”)
Several O’Keeffe paintings
are included like “Red Hills, Lake George” from 1927 which she said was “a memory of an autumn sunset” she recalled from the couple’s vacation home.
One gallery features works by Braque whom Phillips honored in 1939 with the first Braque solo exhibition in the U.S. In 1927 Phillips bought Braque’s 1926 “Plums, Pears, Nuts, and Knife” for $2,000 (on display) which was the first painting by Braque to enter a U.S museum collection. (About 100 years later, Braque’s 1907 “Paysage à la Ciotat” sold for close to $16 million, a record then.)
Fascinating photographs, programs and original correspondence between the artists and the Phillips are displayed in glass cases.
The Phillips has more than the “Vault” to satisfy your art cravings like the “artist of the people,” the first exhibition in Washington dedicated to William Gropper (1897-1977), “a social realist artist” whose parents were immigrants from Romania and Ukraine.
Gropper focused on social issues and 30 of his works are presented with a warning that they may be too extreme for some visitors. It closes
January 5, 2025.
The Phillips is also proud to host until February 2, 2025, “Creative Aging” devoted to the many benefits art has for older adults, a program which is coordinated with local senior centers.
Like Diebenkorn was inspired by his visits to the Phillips when he was stationed at Quantico, Virginia during World War II, Phillips’s director Jonathan P. Binstock wrote in a statement that the museum hopes this exhibition has the same effect on others “by offering a space for discovery, learning, and joy.” It closes Jan. 19, 2025.
The Phillips is open Tuesday
through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with members only permitted 10 11 a.m. on Sundays. Admission is $20, adults; $15, seniors (age 62+); $10, students and educators (with I.D.); $12, active and retired military; and free for members and those under age 18.
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Year’s, and other days. Free admission from 4 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month with extended hours until 8 p.m.and “paywhat-you-wish” every day from 4 p.m. Reservations, recommended. 1600 21st St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. Ph. 202-387-2151.
GEORGIA O’KEEFFE, “My Shanty, Lake George,” 1922, The Phillips Collection. (Photo: Patricia Leslie)
N ew Art Cla sses
la b le
Upcoming Local Arts Events to Celebrate the Holiday Season
Native American Heritage Day
Honoring Zitkala-Sa with Hoop
Little Theatre of Alexandria
Christmas Carol
Alexandria’s favorite yuletide tradition continues! From the first “bah humbug” to the final “wassail,” this timeless classic is sure to rekindle your holiday spirit. Join all your favorite Dickens characters – Tiny Tim and the Cratchit family; the Fezziwigs; the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come; and, of course, everyone’s favorite curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge –as they transport us to Victorian England and remind everyone of the meaning of Christmas. (Estimated) 1 hour, presented without intermission. A family/child friendly production. All persons, regardless of age, must have a ticket to attend. https:// thelittletheatre.com/performances/ Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 8 pm Special Weekend Matinee Times:
Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Tickets: $25 Reserved Seating. 600 Wolfe St, Alexandria, VA 22314
Falls Church Tree Fest
TREE Fest is back this year. Where holiday spirit meets charitable giving! A Silent Auction — Fundraiser. Friday, December 6th, 5 p.m. — 9 p.m. Saturaday, December 7th , 1 p.m. — 9 p.m. Ireland’s Four Provinces. Entrance is free. Sponsored by VPIS.org. vpis.org/ culture-vpis-tree-fest. 105 West Broad Street.
Dancer Starr Chief Eagle, Friday, November 29 I National Mall. 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m.
Native Art Market, Saturday and Sunday, December 7 — 8. 10 a.m. — 5:30 p.m. I National Mall.
NVHG Thanksgiving Art & Craft Show
The Northern Virginia Handcrafters Guild (NVHG) Thanksgiving weekend show will be held on November 29 - December 1, 2024, at the Vienna Community Center in Vienna, VA. Friday - Saturday - 10am - 5 p.m., Sunday — 11 a.m. — 4 p.m. Admission is $3.00 (for all three days) and children 12 and under are free. Vienna Community Center – 120 Cherry St. SE, Vienna 22180
McLean Holiday Art & Crafts Festival
The Festival will be held on December 6 – 8, 2024, at the McLean Community Center (MCC) in McLean, Virginia. Friday 10am-7pm; Happy Hour VIPs 4 p.m. -7 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. — 6 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. — 4 p.m. Admission is $3.00 (for all three days) and children 12 and under are free. McLean Community Center — 1234 Ingleside Ave, McLean, VA 22101, USA
National Harbor Maryland
Nightly Tree Light Tree Show, Runs every half from sunset 9 p.m. Watch our 60-foot RGB tree come to life nightly. The breathtaking light show dances alongside a holiday medley recorded by the United States Air Force Band.
Festive Fireworks, Join us Saturday nights from November 11 – December 30 at 5:30 p.m. for a spectacular fireworks display following the tree lighting show.
ICE! AT GAYLORD NATIONAL, Step into a wonderland carved by artisans out of two million pounds of ice. Experience the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer™ in larger-than-life sculptures and even plunge down slides made entirely. November 19th – December 31st.
Washington Revels
Join us at the Cultural Arts Center (CAC) at Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Spring for five performances, December 20 — 22, as quirky characters, rustic tunes, pub carols, joyful anthems, and rousing dances, come together in this classic tale, performed by our multigenerational cast (ages 8 — 92). For ticket information, visit revelsdc.org.
Signature Theatre
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, It’s a comedy tonight in Sondheim’s zany, hysterical, Tony Awardwinning musical romp. In one of the greatest musical comedies of all time, three households reside next to each other in ancient Rome. Just outside their doors, the exploits of a quick-thinking Roman slave, a braggart soldier, a beautiful courtesan, a lovesick young man and others devolve into uproarious chaos in a fast-paced, witty and monumental escapade. With mistaken identities, wily ruses, madcap chases, a love story, and a happy ending of course, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’s” audacious and irreverent spectacle has something for everyone. October 29, 2024 – January 12, 2025. MAX Theatre
Job, The D.C. Premiere. A psychological thriller with a shocking and disturbing twist that will leave you breathless. A young woman whose screaming breakdown at work has gone viral must receive an evaluation from a crisis therapist before she can return to her job at a well-known tech firm. During the appointment, however, secrets emerge, and filters strip away as doctor and patient edge toward an epic showdown. An Off-Broadway sensation and New York Times Critic’s Pick, this intense play skewers the insidiousness of the internet, the meaning of work and the menace behind the social media smile. January 28 – March 16, 2025. ARK Theatre
Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington,
DC
The Chorus presents their annual holiday blockbuster Show. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) continues their 44th Season, PRIDE, with The Holiday Show, GMCW’s popular annual holiday extravaganza returning with an all-new edition as they celebrate holidays around the world. This year’s edition includes eclectic
“A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM ” playing now at Signature Theatre. ( Photo: Christopher Mueller)
GAY MEN’S CHORUS of Washington, DC. presents its annual holiday show. ( Photo: Gay Men’s Chorus)
Seventh Annual Falls Church Tree Fest
A festive fundraiser for our community service organizations, sponsored by the Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS).
Friday, December 6th, 5 pm to 9 pm & Saturday, December 7th, 1 pm to 9 pm*
*Bidding stops at 8:30 p.m.
Tree pick-up: Sunday, December 8th, 11 am to 1 pm
Ireland’s Four Provinces 105 West Broad Street, Falls Church
We invite any Greater Falls Church area non-pro t interested in taking part in this fundraising event to contact: lisavarouxis58@gmail.com for more details.
