Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced I Dream DC. Created for the community, by the community, I Dream DC is an arts and civic engagement project inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s world changing “I Have a Dream” speech, to center Washington, DC in a national conversation about hope, healing, and justice. Aligned with the nation’s 250th anniversary, I Dream DC will premiere at THEARC (Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus) on Saturday, June 27, 2026, at 5pm. For more information and complimentary tickets, visit arenastage.org/idream.
“In a city where national narratives are constantly shaped, it is vital to create space for local voices, local truths, and local dreams,” said Arena Stage Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif. “I Dream DC reflects our enduring commitment to the community that surrounds and sustains us. As we celebrate both Arena’s 75th Anniversary and approach the nation’s 250th, this initiative reminds us that democracy, like theater, is a living, collective act — one that requires participation, imagination, and care.”
More than a theatrical offering, I Dream DC is designed as a civic experience. Featuring a community ensemble of local residents performing alongside professional artists, it amplifies local voices and connects artists, elders, and activists in re-envisioning what belonging, freedom, and transformation look like here and now.
“I Dream DC is an original, community-rooted theatrical work created through interviews with residents whose lives hold the memory, loss, and resilience of the region,” shared I Dream writer and co-creator Daniel Koa Beaty. “Through their voices, the piece explores what the DMV has been, what has changed, and what still endures beneath policy, pavement, and progress. The play invites audiences to listen deeply, reckon honestly, and imagine a more just future together from the heart of the nation’s capital.”
As the first installment of a new annual production series dedicated to creating theatrical works rooted in community voices, artistic collaboration, and civic engagement, the project invites residents of the Washington metropolitan area to imagine a more just and connected future through storytelling, performance, and collective dialogue.
“I Dream DC is not only about what we present, but how we arrive there. The process itself is the work — creating space for truth, connection, and collective responsibility,” added I Dream DC director and Arena Stage Community Engagement Producer Tiffany Fulson. “Through interviews and workshops, we invite community members not just to witness theater, but to practice it and become co-creators. This work asks for presence and care from everyone involved, and in that exchange, we open the door to healing, transformation, and art as a catalyst for meaningful change, locally and across the nation.”
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
I DREAM DC
By Daniel Koa Beaty
Directed by Tiffany Fulson
Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC) | Saturday, June 27, 2026
ABOUT: Set in the heart of Washington, DC, I Dream DC is a new theatrical journey exploring hope, healing, justice, and the dreams we carry for our communities and ourselves. Blending poetry, music, movement, and lived experience, the play follows a tapestry of voices across the city as they wrestle with the past, confront the present, and imagine new possibilities for the future.
CAST
Actor 1: Xemi Tapepechul*
Actor 2: Miss Kitty*
Actor 3: Kit Krull*
Actor 4: Yesenia Iglesias*
Actor 5: Hillary Jones*
Actor 6: Victor Salinas*
Community Ensemble Member: Antoine Coleman
Community Ensemble Member: Ben Strigle
Community Ensemble Member: Marvin Brown
Community Ensemble Member: Sophia Cichetti
Community Ensemble Member: Leocadia Esono Eyang
Community Ensemble Member: Regie Cabico
Community Ensemble Member: Regina Coates
CREATIVE
Playwright: Daniel Koa Beaty
Director: Tiffany Fulson
Associate Director/Script Production Assistant: Marjuan Canady
Movement Director: Krystal Butler
Dramaturg: Leanye Dempsey
Set & Props Designer: Sydney Lynn
Lighting Designer: Levi Wilkins
Sound Designer/Engineer: Chris Lane
Projection Designer: Chris Carcione
Production Manager: Paige Washington
Stage Manager: Ricky Ramón*
Assistant Stage Manager: C’Aira Hearse*
Production Assistant: Shayna Isaac
*Members of Actors’ Equity Association
THEARC (Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus) is located at 1901 Mississippi Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20020. The theater is accessible by Metro (Southern Avenue Station), Metrobus, and major commuter routes. Free on-site parking is available.
About Arena Stage
The first racially integrated theater in our nation’s capital and a pioneer of the regional theater movement, Arena Stage was founded in 1950 in Washington, DC. Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie, Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is a national center dedicated to American voices and artists. Arena produces plays of all that is passionate, profound, deep, and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and groundbreaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Consistently contributing to the American theatrical lexicon by commissioning and developing new plays, Arena Stage impacts the lives of over 10,000 students annually through its work in community engagement and serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000.
About THEARC
First opened in 2005, THEARC (Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus) is a 236,000‑square‑foot community hub where 14 nonprofit partners deliver world‑class services in education, arts, health, workforce readiness, and recreation. As the home base of Building Bridges Across the River, THEARC serves as both a destination and a resource for families — helping residents access programs that support long‑term stability, self‑sufficiency, and opportunity. THEARC houses the largest theater East of the River – a 365‑seat proscenium stage that has welcomed community leaders, DC Mayors, and even a U.S. President.
