{"id":381697,"date":"2025-10-19T07:12:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T11:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=381697"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:17:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:17:56","slug":"silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Silly parody with a serious point in &#8216;Puffs&#8217; at St. Mark&#8217;s Players"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic <\/em>is an extremely silly play with a somewhat serious message. It\u2019s so silly, in fact, that the director, <strong>Ruth Sturm<\/strong>, asks the audience in her program note to take a minute to get in the right frame of mind. (That was something of a tall order on a dark and deserted Capitol Hill dotted with a few uniformed and armed National Guard troops two nights before the \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests. And even Sturm mentioned a certain famous author using fame to advocate against trans rights \u2014 and responded by ignoring gender in casting, which was commendable. But I digress. My point is that it might be harder for some people to capture the mood now than it might have been in 2015 when <em>Puffs <\/em>premiered.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both the silliness and the message come from the original idea of the show, by New York playwright <strong>Matt Cox<\/strong>: What must it have been like to be at that \u201ccertain school\u201d as a \u201cregular\u201d student \u2014 especially one from the House that was mostly ignored \u2014 merely trying to get a magical education while a certain <em>other student<\/em> kept attracting disasters and then heroically saving the school from them? Since the play revels in mixing its pop-culture references, it would not be out of line to say that it must be like being a \u201cred shirt\u201d in <em>Star Trek <\/em>\u2014 a minor character introduced only to get killed off. Or, even more to the point, what might it have been like to be a student who has read and watched all those teen fantasy franchises about adolescents finding they\u2019re <em>special!<\/em> and being whisked off to a magical land where they are destined to be <em>heroes!<\/em> \u2026 only to find you\u2019re not special at all? That is the sobering question underlying the parody party that is <em>Puffs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-381712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1-460x345.jpg 460w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1-696x522.jpg 696w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1-265x198.jpg 265w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Aarij Mohammad, Alicia Yass, Chris D&#8217;Angelo, Hart Wood, and Maya Lameche in \u2018Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.\u2019 Photo by Mark Alan Andre (@markalanandre).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>This production plays in St. Mark\u2019s Episcopal Church, an impressive Gothic revival edifice, making it a wonderful setting for the world of the show, even without much set. Unfortunately, the extremely echoey acoustics of the church make it difficult to hear many of the lines, even when the actors project, and when they drop their voices for punchlines, as often happens, the words are lost. It is somewhat easier to hear in the front row, as opposed to higher up in the third-row risers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of the impressive venue, there is little set, other than a paper sign on some drapes and pipes saying \u201cSchool of Magic and Magic\u201d and a couple of beanbags on the floor. The actors run on and off from behind the drapes or down the short aisles between the seating. This makes it difficult to get any sense of place, other than from hearing the actors announce where they are (subject to the acoustic problems mentioned). The lighting is equally minimal. The costumes, by <strong>Amelia Schuster<\/strong>, <strong>Fiona Meagher<\/strong>, and <strong>Rose Lane<\/strong>, are multitudinous and need to be changed quickly, lending to the slapdash humor of the production. The costumers seem to have taken advantage of some robes belonging to the church for the many professors who show up and disappear quickly (usually saying disdainfully, \u201cOh \u2026 <em>Puffs<\/em>.\u201d). The many props wrangled by <strong>Tongjia (Tonya) Fu<\/strong> are effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The director and actors bring a great deal of enthusiasm to the performance. They obviously are very familiar with the source material, as they \u2014 and the audience \u2014 must be to appreciate the parody. However, the challenge with a show that is originally based on improv (especially one with as many \u201cyou can do what you want here!\u201d directions in the script as <em>Puffs<\/em>) is that it requires more than just enthusiasm; it requires extra touches of originality. One good one here is when the Snake from the Second Book shows up as a remote-controlled car bearing an inflatable snake that scoots across the stage. Unfortunately, this production consists mostly of the actors just saying the lines \u2014 enthusiastically, yes, or on occasion amusingly bored, as when they find themselves sitting and watching the surface of the lake for an hour during the \u201cThree-wizard Tournament\u201d \u2014 but not much more. Even though some characters are American and others are British, there seems to be little consistency in accents, but this may be another problem with acoustics. There are very few attempts to show magic happening, other than light-up wands and a repeated gag about the Narrator throwing books to characters trying to \u201csummon\u201d them. Since the lines go by so fast and are so difficult to hear, it can be somewhat difficult to fully appreciate the humor. Still, the audience there the night I saw it thoroughly enjoyed themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" src=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1200x1600-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-381717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1200x1600-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1200x1600-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1200x1600-1-345x460.jpg 345w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1200x1600-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1200x1600-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1200x1600-1-696x928.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">TOP: Lilly McGee, Betsy Scarisbrick, Maya Lameche, Aarij Mohammad, and Alicia Yass; ABOVE: Aarij Mohammad, Marcus Martinez, Lilly McGee, Madeline Marie, Hart Wood, Alicia Yass, Brianna Rodriguez Day, and Betsy Scarisbrick, in \u2018Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.\u2019 Photos by Mark Alan Andre (@markalanandre).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The actors distinguish themselves in various ways. <strong>Alicia Yass<\/strong> makes many transitions playing numerous professors, and is particularly effective as the (turns-out-to-be-not-so) evil Xavia Jones, proving that even would-be villains sometimes have to cope with being nothing special. <strong>Betsy Scarisbrick<\/strong> makes a good \u201ca certain Potions professor\u201d and numerous others. <strong>Hart Wood<\/strong> is charmingly goofy as the amorous adolescent Sally Perks and humorously heartrending as the tragic house-elf, Bippy, who shows up out of the blue only for his death scene. <strong>Lilly McGee<\/strong> is delightfully loopy as the perpetually confused Leanne, and touching as the supremely accepting Helga, founder of the House of Puffs. <strong>Madeline Marie<\/strong> proves a fine and funny Harry, running on and off saving the day, preening, dancing, stealing everyone\u2019s thunder, and spending a year being a grumpy adolescent jerk, while maintaining a credible British accent throughout. <strong>Marcus Martinez<\/strong> has the unfortunate job of portraying several rather unlikable characters, including J. Finch Fletchley (who refers to himself in the third person), Wayne\u2019s redneck Uncle Dave, and Zack Smith, the head of the magical sports team, who is saddled with a lengthy and inexplicable monologue in the second act that was apparently impressively improvised 600 different times by the original actor, but now has no purpose other than to interrupt the action with a string of profanity for no reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although this is the epitome of an ensemble show, there are principal characters, and they are good here. <strong>Erica Irving<\/strong> makes a compelling and comprehensible Narrator, especially in her increasingly horrified reactions as the \u201cbooks\u201d get longer and the time grows shorter. <strong>Maya Lameche<\/strong>, as Oliver Rivers, shows the heartfelt horror of a student who has never gotten an answer wrong, finding himself in a school where academics mean nothing, but fortunately realizes that friendship and love make up for it all. <strong>Brianna Rodriguez Day<\/strong> beautifully portrays her journey from an angsty goth who revels in being <em>different<\/em> to realizing that it\u2019s okay to be ordinary if it means having friends. <strong>Chris D\u2019Angelo<\/strong> shines as the comically charismatic and handsome Cedric, the only Puff who ever got to be a hero (and look what it got him!), and then amuses as the green-painted villain Mr. Voldy. And <strong>Aarij Mohammad<\/strong> touches the heart as the would-be hero Wayne, presenting the sober truth that sometimes one isn\u2019t meant to be a hero or a lauded martyr, but that love, in the end, may be the greatest magic of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic<\/em> can be a hoot if you\u2019re in the mood, and conveys the important truth that even if not everyone gets to be a hero, we can still save the world (or our corner of it) just by being true to our friends and our principles. And that\u2019s a good message in any world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Running Time: Two hours, including one 15-minute intermission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tickettailor.com\/events\/stmarksplayers\/1849925\">Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>played October 3 to 18, 2025, presented by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stmarksplayers.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">St. Mark\u2019s Players<\/a>, performing at St. Mark\u2019s Church, 301 A Street SE, Washington, DC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The program is online <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stmarksplayers.org\/_files\/ugd\/8e3f88_29fed040bf884fe292ac77ce1d25940d.pdf\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic&nbsp;<\/em><br><\/strong>By Matt Cox<br>Directed by Ruth Sturm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The show can be a hoot and conveys the important truth that we can save the world (or our corner of it) by being true to our friends and principles.   By JENNIFER GEORGIA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":381712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1069,95501],"class_list":{"0":"post-381697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-theater","8":"tag-matt-cox","9":"tag-ruth-sturm"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v26.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Silly parody with a serious point in &#039;Puffs&#039; at St. Mark&#039;s Players - DC Theater Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The show can be a hoot and conveys the important truth that we can save the world (or our corner of it) by being true to our friends and principles.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Silly parody with a serious point in &#039;Puffs&#039; at St. Mark&#039;s Players\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The show can be a hoot and conveys the important truth that we can save the world (or our corner of it) by being true to our friends and principles.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DC Theater Arts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-19T11:12:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-20T14:17:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Georgia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Georgia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/\",\"name\":\"Silly parody with a serious point in 'Puffs' at St. Mark's Players - DC Theater Arts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-19T11:12:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-20T14:17:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/94d73700b6f0a5682a8d4511aaf406bc\"},\"description\":\"The show can be a hoot and conveys the important truth that we can save the world (or our corner of it) by being true to our friends and principles.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Puffs-St.-Marks-1600x1200-1.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Aarij Mohammad, Alicia Yass, Chris D'Angelo, Hart Wood, and Maya Lameche in \u2018Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.\u2019 Photo by Mark Alan Andre (@markalanandre).\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/10\/19\/silly-parody-with-a-serious-point-in-puffs-at-st-marks-players\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Silly parody with a serious point in &#8216;Puffs&#8217; at St. Mark&#8217;s Players\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/\",\"name\":\"DC Theater Arts\",\"description\":\"Washington, DC&#039;s most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/94d73700b6f0a5682a8d4511aaf406bc\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Georgia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/cropped-short-cut-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/cropped-short-cut-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer Georgia\"},\"description\":\"Over the past [mumble] decades, Jennifer has acted, directed, costumed, designed sets, posters, and programs, and generally theatrically meddled on several continents. She has made a specialty of playing old bats \u2014 no, make that \u201cmature, empowered women\u201d \u2014 including Lady Bracknell in Importance of Being Earnest\u00a0(twice); Mama Rose in\u00a0Gypsy\u00a0and the Wicked Stepmother in\u00a0Cinderella\u00a0at Montgomery Playhouse; Dolly in\u00a0Hello, Dolly!\u00a0and Carlotta in\u00a0Follies\u00a0in Switzerland; and Golde in\u00a0Fiddler on the Roof\u00a0and Mrs. Higgins in\u00a0My Fair Lady in London. (Being the only American in a cast of 40, playing the woman who taught Henry Higgins to speak, was nerve-racking until a fellow actor said, \u201cYou know, it\u2019s quite odd \u2014 when you\u2019re on stage you haven\u2019t an accent at all.\u201d) She has no idea why she keeps getting cast as these imposing matriarchs; she is quite easygoing. Really. But Jennifer also indulges her lust for power by directing shows including You\u2019re a Good Man Charlie Brown\u00a0and\u00a0Follies. Most recently, she directed, costumed, and designed and painted the set for Rockville Little Theatre\u2019s She Stoops to Conquer, for which she won the WATCH Award for Outstanding Set Painting. 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at St. Mark&#8217;s Players"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/","name":"DC Theater Arts","description":"Washington, DC&#039;s most comprehensive source of performing arts coverage.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/94d73700b6f0a5682a8d4511aaf406bc","name":"Jennifer Georgia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/cropped-short-cut-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/cropped-short-cut-96x96.jpg","caption":"Jennifer Georgia"},"description":"Over the past [mumble] decades, Jennifer has acted, directed, costumed, designed sets, posters, and programs, and generally theatrically meddled on several continents. She has made a specialty of playing old bats \u2014 no, make that \u201cmature, empowered women\u201d \u2014 including Lady Bracknell in Importance of Being Earnest\u00a0(twice); Mama Rose in\u00a0Gypsy\u00a0and the Wicked Stepmother in\u00a0Cinderella\u00a0at Montgomery Playhouse; Dolly in\u00a0Hello, Dolly!\u00a0and Carlotta in\u00a0Follies\u00a0in Switzerland; and Golde in\u00a0Fiddler on the Roof\u00a0and Mrs. Higgins in\u00a0My Fair Lady in London. (Being the only American in a cast of 40, playing the woman who taught Henry Higgins to speak, was nerve-racking until a fellow actor said, \u201cYou know, it\u2019s quite odd \u2014 when you\u2019re on stage you haven\u2019t an accent at all.\u201d) She has no idea why she keeps getting cast as these imposing matriarchs; she is quite easygoing. Really. But Jennifer also indulges her lust for power by directing shows including You\u2019re a Good Man Charlie Brown\u00a0and\u00a0Follies. Most recently, she directed, costumed, and designed and painted the set for Rockville Little Theatre\u2019s She Stoops to Conquer, for which she won the WATCH Award for Outstanding Set Painting. In real life, she is a speechwriter and editor, and tutors learning-challenged kids for standardized tests and application essays.","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/author\/jennifer-georgia\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}