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OpenForum

be a part of the discussion

Forum Theatre produces adventurous, relevant, and challenging plays that inspire discussion and build community -- and that are accessible, affordable, and entertaining.

Since Forum Theatre’s inception, we have aimed to be both the home for stories that provoke discussion and the place to host that discussion. We want our plays to be a conversation with the audience. We tell stories about who we are as a local, national, and global community.

So what is a Forum show? That’s never been the easiest thing to describe, but a few things tend to always be true: A Forum show asks big questions. A Forum show is intricate and challenging, but has a big heart at its center. And a Forum show gives you something to think about and a lot to talk about.

HISTORY

Full Production History

"... the biggest of the small theaters in both audience and critical acclaim." -- Washington Post, January 2012

"It’s gratifying to see organizations as multidimensional as the Kennedy Center and as focused as Forum making time and using space to take care of Washington’s own composers and dramatists. This is what a community actively engaged in developing the skills of its artists does." -- Washington Post, January 2013

Founded in 2003 as a peripatetic, socially-minded ensemble, Forum chose Greater Washington as its home base for the exploding theatre scene and the diversity of its truly global community. The company name harkens back to the Roman Forum at which artists, politicians, philosophers, and citizens could gather and exchange ideas. Within a short time, the ensemble developed a focus on plays that tackle social, cultural, and political questions. Much like the Roman Theatre, Forum aims to be a place where everyone could come together and, through storytelling, explore the ways that we can all live better with one another -- as a local, national, and global community.

Following their Helen Hayes-nominated production, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot in 2008, Forum became the first resident company of Round House Silver Spring. Forum’s inaugural Silver Spring production, Angels in America (Parts 1 and 2) garnered nine Helen Hayes nominations (winning two) and was named to the Washington Post and City Paper's 2009 Best of Theater Lists.

Entitled "Faith in Things Unseen," Forum's 11/12 season opened with Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest, continued with the area premiere of Julia Cho’s The Language Archive, and then concluded with Tony Kushner’s adaptation of The Illusion. Forum’s winter Female Voices Festival Festivals featured a co-production with Colored People's Theatre offor colored girls who have considered suicide … and a free-and-open Symposium. In the summer, Forum mounted Young Jean Lee’s Church in the first Over The Line Festival at Round House Silver Spring.

ABOVE: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (2008), Angels in America: Perestroika (2009);

Holly Down in Heaven (2012), Scorched (2010); photography by Melissa Blackall

RECENT AWARDS & CITATIONS

2012-2013 Season Productions:

DC Metro Theater Arts "Best Of 2012" - Play: Holly Down in Heaven; Actress in a Play: Maya Jackson, Holly Down in Heaven; Supporting Actress in a Play: Vanessa Strickland, Holly Down in Heaven

2011-2012 Season Productions:

Helen Hayes Awards - Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production: Matthew Nielson, The Illusion WINNER

Washingtonian - Our Top 12 Plays from 2012: The Illusion

Maryland Theatre Guide Readers Choice Awards - Best Director: Mitchell Hébert, The Illusion NOMINEE; Best Supporting Actress in a Play: Brynn Tucker, The Illusion WINNER

DC Theatre Scene - Favorite contemporary plays from 2011/2012: The Language Archive

DC Theatre Scene Audience Choice - Best Resident Play: Mad Forest and The Language Archive; Best Actress in a Play: Nanna Ingvarsson, The Illusion NOMINEES

2010-2011 Season Productions:

DC Theatre Scene Audience Choice - Favorite Ensemble: bobrauschenbergamerica FINALIST

DC Theatre Scene Audience Choice - Favorite Actor in a Play: Joe Brack, bobrauschenbergamerica NOMINEE

Canadian Washington Theatre Partnership Fellowship: Artistic Director Michael Dove

2009-2010 Season Productions:

DC Theatre Scene Best Play: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches WINNER

DC Theatre Scene Audience Choice: Favorite Play: Angels in America, Millennium Approaches WINNER

Helen Hayes Awards: Outstanding Lighting Design: Colin K. Bills, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches WINNER

Helen Hayes Awards: Outstanding Lead Actor: Karl Miller, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches WINNER

Helen Hayes Awards: Outstanding Resident Play (AiA: MA); Director: Jeremy Skidmore, AiA:MA Lead Actor: Karl Miller, AiA:Perestroika; Supporting Actress: Jennifer Mendenhall, AiA: Perestroika, Outstanding Ensemble: AiA: MA and AiA: Perestroika NOMINEES

Washington Post "Best of Theatre 2009: #4 Angels in America: Millennium Approaches

Washington City Paper: “2009 Highlights of Theater”: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches

2008-2009 Season Productions:

DC Theatre Scene Audience Choice: Favorite Play: dark play or stories for boys NOMINEE

2007-2008 Season Productions:

Helen Hayes Awards: Canadian Embassy Award for Outstanding Ensemble: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot NOMINEE

DC Theatre Scene Audience Choice: Favorite Play: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot WINNER