Signature Theatre announces the cast and creative team for the DC premiere of Strategic Love Play, written by Miriam Battye (HBO’s Succession, HBO’s Harry Potter). The production will be directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Signature’s JOB, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) and stars Danny Gavigan (Signature’s Really, Really, Ford’s Theatre’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) as Man and Bligh Voth (Off-Broadway’s Here We Are, National Tour of Jagged Little Pill) as Woman. Performances run September 23 – November 9, 2025 in Signature’s ARK Theatre. Tickets start at $47 and are available at SigTheatre.org.
“Dating in an app-driven world can feel less like romance and more like scrolling through an endless online marketplace,” said Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner. “In Strategic Love Play, Miriam Battye skewers the anonymity of online dating with astute precision while reflecting on what it means to choose someone and be chosen. I am excited for audiences to experience this razor-sharp play in Signature’s intimate ARK Theatre, and I am thrilled to be directing its DC premiere.”
From Succession writer Miriam Battye comes a razor sharp, not-quite-romantic comedy about the absurdity of modern dating in the seemingly endless quest to find “the one.” After matching online, a man and a woman meet for a date. Although they start off on the (very) wrong foot, they slowly begin to let down their guard in the hope that this time they’ve found something real. Bold, bitingly funny and achingly poignant, Strategic Love Play explores love, loneliness, and lying to (and about) ourselves in the age of swiping.
The creative team for Strategic Love Play includes Scenic Design by Paige Hathaway (Signature’s HAIR, Penelope), Costume Design by Kathleen Geldard (Signature’s HAIR, The Bridges of Madison County), Lighting Design by Andrew Cissna (Signature’s John, Ford’s Theatre’s Fences), and Sound Design by Kenny Neal (Signature’s JOB, Studio’s English). Casting is by Charlotte La Nasa. New York Casting is by Geoff Josselson Casting. Leigh Robinette is the Production Stage Manager and Miranda Korieth is the Production Assistant.
Strategic Love Play runs September 23-November 9, 2025 in the ARK at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave, Arlington, VA 22206. Showtimes and tickets ($47-$97) are available online or by calling the box office at 703.820.9771.
Closed captions will be available for every show via the GalaPro app.
Pride Nights: October 17 and October 24, 2025
Post-show Discussions: October 7 and October 29, 2025
Masks Required: October 26 (2PM), 2025
ABOUT SIGNATURE
Signature Theatre is a Tony Award-winning regional theater that broadens and brightens the region’s cultural landscape with its bold productions of challenging new and established works and engaging education and outreach programs. Founded in 1989 by Eric Schaeffer and Donna Migliaccio, and currently under the leadership of Managing Director Maggie Boland and Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner, musical theater is Signature’s “signature,” and the Theatre is renowned for its definitive Sondheim productions, inventive adaptations of overlooked or forgotten works, and investment in fresh new projects. Signature combines Broadway-caliber productions with intimate playing spaces and aims to be a leading force in U.S. musical theater.
Since its inception, the Theatre has produced 61 world premiere works — including 20 new musical commissions. Signature opens its doors to more than 100,000 people annually from the Washington, DC region and beyond and reaches more than 10,000 students every year through its innovative education programs, including the award-winning initiative Signature in the Schools. Signature has won 148 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the Washington, DC region’s professional theater and has been honored with 527 nominations.
