Free Woolly: Interested in a show but short on cash? The Mammoth offers Pay-What-You-Can seats on the first two nights of each production. (Google)
There’s a plethora of arts choices for the capital-area renter, and quite a few theater options as well.
Today, we’ll highlight a very hairy choice, the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Northwest’s Penn Quarter neighborhood.
Founded in 1980, the Woolly Mammoth is now approaching its 32nd season with a unique mission “to ignite an explosive engagement between theatre artists and the community.” They do this by being a theatrical incubator of sorts, premiering plays that have gone on to grace the stages of “more than 200 theatres in 39 states and 12 countries.”
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It’s been lauded as the area’s most daring theater by The New York Times, and The Washington Post has called it “the enfant terrible” of capital-area theater. The Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has received more than 200 Helen Hayes Award nominations and won 35 of them, so they must be doing something right.
In May 2005, after all this time, the Woolly Mammoth finally nabbed a permanent home: a funky, 265-seat, courtyard-style theater in Penn Quarter. Designed by award-winning architect Mark McInturff, it features a glass-walled rehearsal area, classroom space and a two-tiered lobby.
Whatever else you want to say about these guys, this is an impressive space.
Season 2011/12 is gearing up to start in October, featuring “A Bright New Boise” and “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play,” among other offerings.
The Woolly Mammoth is located about a block or so away from Metro’s Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter station on the Green/Yellow Line. So whether you live in this vibrant neighborhood or rent somewhere else in the metro area, getting here is not a problem.
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A quick look online shows ticket prices ranging from $35 to $67 (to be honest, the fluctuating prices I saw made no sense), though they do tout Pay-What-You-Can performances, along with $15 Stampede Seats, which are said to attract a young crowd. Contact the Mammoth for more information regarding these programs.
Come out and support local theatre, and check out Penn Quarter, a happening neighborhood.
