Much of the work of theater designers is done before a show opens. Sets are conceived and built, costumes sewn with care. Even directors, whose vision for a production determines its look and feel, largely step aside once the curtain rises. But the work of designers, choreographers, playwrights, and directors takes a play from blank canvas to a whole new world, inducing wows and sighs when done right.
Today we celebrate some of the designers, choreographers, directors, and playwrights who caught our writers’ attention this year. As always, this list is subjective and there is sure to be fabulous work that didn’t make our list. Share your favorites in the comments and join us in a big high five to all the artists who created art this year. You truly make our community a better place.
Designers and Directors
(Includes set, sound, lighting, projection, and costume designers and choreographers and music directors)
Agreste (Drylands) at Spooky Action Theater
Colin K. Bills, lighting design
Danilo Gambini, direction
Danielle Preston, costume design
Giorgos Tsappas, scenic design
Aria Velz, sound design
Angel Number Nine at Rorschach Theatre
Nadir Bey, set design
Kylos Brannon, video design
Ashlynne Ludwig, costume design
Marianne Meadows, lighting design
Ian Vespermann, sound design
Angels in America at Arena Stage
Maruti Evans, set design
János Szász, direction
Arms and the Man at Washington Stage Guild
Cheryl Yancey, costume design
As You Like It at Shakespeare Theatre Company
Carmen Alatorre, costume design
Ben Butler at Washington Stage Guild
Megan Holden, scenic design
Chinese Lady at Everyman Theatre
Emma Deane, lighting design
Meghan Raham, scenic design
Evita at Shakespeare Theatre Company (in association with the American Repertory Theater)
Sammi Cannold, direction
Bradley King, lighting design
Emily Maltby and Valeria Solomonoff, choreography
Jason Sherwood, scenic design
Alejo Vietti, costume design
Fela! at Olney Theatre Center (co-production with Round House Theatre)
Matt Rowe, sound design
Ghost/Writer at Rep Stage
Andrew R. Cohen, scenic design
Hubba Hubba at Baltimore Theatre Project
Alex and Olmsted, puppets
Incendiary at Woolly Mammoth Theatre
Andrew Boyce, scenic design
Ink at Round House Theatre (co-production with Olney Theatre Center)
Tony Cisek, scenic design
Minjoo Kim, lighting design
Jason Loewith, direction
Matthew M. Nielson, sound design and composer
Debra Kim Sivigny, costume design
Mike Tutaj, projections design
Fiddler on the Roof at Olney Theatre Center
Max Doolittle, lighting design
Fitting In at Arts on the Horizon
Emily Erickson (original music composition) and navi (music production)
Fun Home at Studio Theatre
David Muse, direction
Harvey at Everyman Theatre
Daniel Ettinger and Emily Lotz, set design
Here There Are Blueberries at Shakespeare Theatre Company
David Lander and David Bengali, lighting and projection design
How the Light Gets In at 1st Stage
Kathryn Kawecki, set design
Helen Garcia-Alton, lighting design
King Lear at Shakespeare Theatre Company
Simon Godwin, direction
Kinky Boots at Olney Theatre Center
Jeanne Vallee, choreography
Milagros Ponce de León, set design
Last Match at 1st Stage
Jessica Alexandra Cancino, set design
Monarch at Creative Cauldron
Daniel Primo, projection design
My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion at Woolly Mammoth Theatre
Misha Kachman, set design
Venus Gulbranson, lighting design
Kelly Colburn, projection design
Michael Kiley, sound design
Never in Our Image – ACT III – Gun Transformation Opera presented by CulturalDC at Source Theatre
Stephanie Mercedes, creation and direction
Orlando at Constellation Theatre
Sarah Beth Hall, scenic design
Kitt Crescenzo, costume design
Venus Gulbranson, lighting design
Out of the Vinyard at Joe’s Movement Emporium
Luis Garcia, projection design
Pacific Overtures at Signature Theatre
Ethan Heard, direction
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive at Arena Stage
Margot Bordelon, direction
SHOUT SISTER SHOUT! at Ford’s Theatre
Sheilah V. Walker, music direction
Snow Maiden at Synetic Theater
Irina Tsikurishvili, direction
Sonnets for an Old Century at Spooky Action Theater
Elizabeth Dinkova, direction
Strong Wind at Scena Theatre
Roger Doyle and Andrew Bellware, music
Andrew Bellware, sound design
Swept Away at Arena Stage
Rachel Hauck, set design
Michael Mayer, direction
The Cake at Prologue Theatre in association with NextStop Theatre
Jason Tamborini, set design
Aria Velz, direction
The Honey Trap at Solas Nua
Matt Torney, direction
The Jungle at Shakespeare Theatre Company (co-production with Woolly Mammoth Theatre)
Miriam Buether, set design
Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, direction
Catherine Kodicek, costume design
Jon Clark, lighting design
Paul Arditti, sound design
John Pfumojena, composer
Tristan Shepherd and Duncan McLean, video design
The Mortification of Fovea Munson at The Kennedy Center
Justin Huertas, music and lyrics
Steven Tran, arrangements and orchestrations
The School for Lies at Constellation Theatre
Frank Labovitz, costume design
Sarah Reed, scenic design
Brittany Shemuga, lighting design
The Tell-Tale Heart at Synetic Theatre
Erik Teague, costume design
Paata Tsikurishvili, direction
The Winter’s Tale at Folger Shakespeare Theatre
Tamilla Woodard, direction
Playwrights
(Sorry, Shakespeare, this category is only for recently written plays and plays making their regional or national debut in the DC region)
- Bob Bartlett, Love and Vinyl, self-produced at KA-CHUNK!! Records
- Dane Figueroa Edidi, Ghost/Writer at Rep Stage
- Morgan Gould, Jennifer, Who Is Leaving at Round House Theatre
- Chisa Hutchinson, Redeemed at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival
- Joan Kane, Almost 13 at the Capital Fringe Festival
- E. M. Lewis, How the Light Gets In at 1st Stage,
- John Logan, Swept Away at Arena Stage
- Patrick Lord and Megan Thrift, Fitting In at Arts on the Horizon
- Donja R. Love, one in two at Mosaic Theater
- Dominique Morriseau, Confederates at Mosaic Theater
- Leo McGann, The Honey Trap at Solas Nua
- Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, The Jungle at Shakespeare Theatre Company (with Woolly Mammoth Theatre)
- Asa Ogawa, The Nosebleed at Woolly Mammoth Theatre
- Psalmayene 24, Monumental Travesties at Mosaic Theater
- Jenny Rachel Weiner, The Chameleon at Theater J
- Lauren Yee, Cambodian Rock Band at Arena Stage
SEE ALSO:
DCTA 2023 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Professional Productions
DCTA 2023 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Professional Performances
Hello – I’m curious as to why no individual artists for I and You at Compass Rose Theater – actors, designers, director – were listed as staff picks when the production was? I thought maybe it was an oversight?
So glad to see James Morrison recognized for light design! He’s amazingly talented!
In addition to the direction for King Lear, I was really impressed by the sets. They weren’t always the most scene-stealing, but I thought they were very effective at establishing a sense of place throughout the show. The part where Cordelia reunites with Lear and he’s in a hospital bed in a medic tent totally reframed that scene for me.
Another show with a set that really impressed me was Into the Woods at Signature Theatre. That was one of the most fun, whimsical sets I’ve seen in recent years, doubly impressive because Signature is such a small space.