As 2022 drew to a close, we asked DCMTA writers to think back on the shows that left an indelible impression on them as theaters reopened this year. In this category, Outstanding Creative Components (Professional), we recognize:
- Designers (including set, sound, lighting, and costume)
- Directors (including choreographers and music directors)
- Playwrights
Designers
Annapolis Opera, La Boheme
Julia Noulin-Mérat, set design
Arena Stage, Drumfolk
Erik Teague, puppet design
Folger Theatre, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Tony Cisek, production design
Oliviera Gajic, costume design
Jim Hunter, festival stage design
Yael Lubetzky, lighting design
IN Series, Desdemona
Maya Freelon, art installation
Janelle Gill, music director
IN Series, The Nightsong of Orpheus
Paul Callahan and Deb Sivigny, design
Kitazawa Hideta, mask design
Timothy Nelson, music direction
IN Series, Requiem
Lawrence Molten III, Abigail Hoke-Brady, and Donna Breslin, design
Timothy Nelson, music direction
Monumental Theatre Company, Tick, Tick… BOOM!
Yaritza Pacheco and Michael Windsor, set design
Mosaic Theater, Dear Mapel
Kelly Colburn, projection design
Nick “tha 1da” Hernandez, sound design
JabariDC, musician
Natsu Onoda Power, production designer
Alberto Segarra, lighting design
Mosaic Theater, Private
Luciana Stecconi, scenic design
Mosaic Theater, The Till Trilogy
Kwamina “Binnie” Biney, sound design
Andrew Cohen, scenic design
Mona Kasra, projection design
Danielle Preston, costume design
Alberto Segarra, lighting design
Nu Sass Productions, Twigs & Bone
Charles Lasky and Neil McFadden, sound design
Helen Garcia-Alton, lighting design
Olney Theatre Center, A.D. 16
Bobby McCoy, music direction
Olney Theatre Center, Dance Nation
Kenny Neal, sound design
Round House Theatre, We Declare You a Terrorist
Amith Chandrashaker, lighting design
Jared Mezzocchi, multimedia design
Naysan Mojgani, dramaturg and producer of New Play Festival
Round House Theatre, Nollywood Dreams
Kelly Colburn, projection design
Brandee Mathies, costume design
Jonathan Dahm Robertson, scenic design
Round House Theatre, The Tempest
Pilobolus (Matt Kent and Renee Jaworski), choreography
Shakespeare Theatre Company, Our Town
Wilson Chin, scenic design
Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
Michael Bodeen and Miriam Sturm, original music
Maura Blumenfeld, costume design
Scott Bradley, set design
Signature Theatre, Into the Woods
John Kalbfleisch, music direction
David Israel Reynoso, costume design
Lee Savage, set design
Amanda Zieve, lighting design
Spooky Action Theater, Man Covets Bird
Zavier Augustus, Patrick W. Lord, and Lee Taylor, projections
Brandon Cook, Emily Erickson, and navi, sound and music design
Hailey LaRoe, lighting design
Danielle Preston, costume design
Strathmore, The Parable of the Sower (with Woolly Mammoth)
Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon, creators
Millicent Johnnie, choreography
Studio Theatre, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Amith Chandrashaker, lighting design
Studio Theatre, People, Places & Things
Debra Booth, set design
Andrew Cissna, lighting design
Lindsay Jones, original music and sound design
Alex Basco Koch, projections/media
The Kennedy Center, Mean Girls
Kenneth Posner, lighting design
Finn Ross and Adam Young, video design
Toby’s Dinner Theatre, The Spongebob Musical
Flo Arnold, costume design
Synetic Theatre, The Servant of Two Masters
Brian Allard, lighting design
Emily Carbone, props design
Konstantine Lortkipanidze, resident composer
Maryam Najafzada, choreography
Yaritza Pacheco, sound desig
Aleksandr Shiraev, costume design
Directors
Arin Arbus for The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare Theatre
Sivan Battat for Heroes of the Fourth Turning at Studio Theatre
Steven Carpenter for Major Barbara at Washington Stage Guild
Jade King Carroll for Red Velvet at Shakespeare Theatre
Rex Daugherty for Maz and Bricks at Solas Nua
Hershey Felder, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, Theater J
Shanara Gabrielle for Man Covets Bird at Spooky Action Theater
Shanara Gabrielle for The Playboy of the Western World at Solas Nua
Matthew Gardiner for Into the Woods (direction and choreography) at Signature Theatre
Simon Godwin for Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare Theatre Company
Signe V. Harriday and Eric Ting for Parable of the Sower at Strathmore with Woolly Mammoth
Timothy Nelson for Requiem, Night Song of Orpheus, Othello/Desdemona at IN Series
Alan Paul for Our Town at Shakespeare Theatre Company
Natsu Onoda Power for Dear Mapel at Mosaic Theater
Aaron Posner and Teller for The Tempest at Round House/Folger
Karin Rosnizeck for Einstein’s Wife at Expats Theatre
Molly Smith for My Body No Choice at Arena Stage
Vato Tsikuvirishli for The Servant of Two Masters at Synetic Theatre
Craig Wallace, Sheboygan, Capital Fringe
Talvin Wilks for The Till Trilogy at Mosaic Theater
Mary Zimmerman for The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci at Shakespeare Theatre Company
Playwrights
Keith Alessi, Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me, but Banjos Saved My Life, Logan Festival of Solo Performance, 1st Stage
Will Arbery, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Studio Theatre
Hend Ayoub, Home?, Voices Festival Productions
Louis Bayard, Sheboygan, Capital Fringe
Ifa Bayeza, The Till Trilogy, Mosaic Theater
Kimberly Belflower, John Proctor Is the Villain, Studio Theatre
Jocelyn Bioh, Nollywood Dreams, Round House Theatre
Iyona Blake, Girls of Madison Street, Creative Cauldron
Lee Cataluna, Fatima Dyfan, Lisa Loomer, Dael Orlandersmith, Sarah Ruhl, V (formerly Eve Ensler), and Anonymous, My Body No Choice, Arena Stage
Jordan E. Cooper, Ain’t No Mo’, Woolly Mammoth
Lisa Stephen Friday, Trans Am, The Keegan Theatre
Jenna Hall and Justine Hipsky, Motherload, Capital Fringe
Luigi Laraia, September 11, 1973: The Day Salvador Allende Died, Capital Fringe
Paola Lázaro, There’s Alway the Hudson, Woolly Mammoth Theatre
Suzan Lori Parks, White Noise, Studio Theatre
Martyna Majok, Sanctuary City, Arena Stage
Cinco Paul, composer, A.D. 16, Olney Theatre
Mona Pirnot, Private, Mosaic Theater
Psalmayene 24, Dear Mapel, Mosaic Theater
