Prologue Theatre is up atop the ranks as one of the region’s most interesting and entertaining independent theaters, and really can’t be missed. After spending 2024 producing works at Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street, notably Marjorie Prime last year, Prologue has moved venues to… behind a CVS.
To be fair, it’s behind a CVS in the coziest library I’ve seen, and absolutely worth a visit on its own, but it’s also definitely worth a visit for this DC premiere production of Muffed. Here, Prologue has taken over one of the side rooms of the library for this play within a reading within a play (or maybe it’s a reading within a play within the play?), and has gone ahead and delivered the most enjoyable evening of theater I’ve had in 2025.
Muffed — full title: The Meaningful Action Theatre Company Presents a Workshop Reading of “Muffed: A Recounting of Farmington, Maine’s 43rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised by the Members of the Meaningful Action Theatre Company” (yikes, there went my word count) — is an example of theater done simply and delivering more than you would expect. Zack Peercy’s play evokes the Come From Away or Laramie Project type of storytelling, without the leaden seriousness, and devises a work that just aims to entertain while also telling the story of (oh my gosh… this is true) a town where earmuffs were invented and the day honoring the inventor.
…
The ellipses? Yeah, I walked away from writing this to recover from laughter. I’m not exaggerating when I say I could barely take notes during the performance because I was laughing from the first lines delivered. This show, along with its ensemble cast, is witty and fun and delivers jokes at a breakneck pace. The physical humor is top-notch.
The ensemble’s chemistry is spot on, charming, and enthusiastic. Every single member was fantastic, from Robert Bowen Smith’s Always Sunny Dennis energy to Aron Spellane’s quick multi-character changes, to Emily Erickson and Emily Zinski’s surprise dancing or Shakespearean-like monologues. Fabiolla da Silva, Rachel Johns, Joshua Olujide, and Sam Slottow all have moments where they each get to shine, and then they also shine in the roles within the roles that they play — whether they are playing operatic ghosts, the most precocious six year olds, or up-and-coming actors just wondering if they’re going to be adequately compensated for this production.
Artistic Director Jason Tamborini, in selecting this show, describes how he was hoping to bring “levity while also leaving us with the notion that sometimes the seemingly ordinary is actually extraordinary…”
Muffed showcases exactly how theater can be produced simply, in a borrowed, unintimidating space with a team of people who know how to deliver fun work while having fun. This may seem like a simple production, but its output is extraordinary.
Running Time: 96 minutes with no intermission.
Muffed (The Meaningful Action Theatre Company Presents a Workshop Reading of “Muffed: A Recounting of Farmington, Maine’s 43rd Annual Chester Greenwood Day Devised by the Members of the Meaningful Action Theatre Company”) plays through May 18, 2025, presented by Prologue Theatre performing in its rehearsal space at 6408 Williamsburg Blvd, Arlington, VA (in the Williamsburg Shopping Center behind a CVS, which means parking is definitely available). Purchase tickets ($50, inclusive of fees) online.
The program for Muffed is online here.
Muffed
By Zack Peercy
Directed by Jason Tamborini
Featuring: Robert Bowen Smith, Fabiolla da Silva, Emily Erickson, Rachel Johns, Joshua Olujide, Sam Slottow, Aron Spellane, Emily Zinski
Understudies: Edmée-Marie Faal and Joseph Wilson