THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2010
K
24
A WEALTH OF CULTURE UNDER ONE ROOF ARTISPHERE ARLINGTON’S
by Lavanya Ramanathan and Stephanie Merry
When the Newseum decamped from Rosslyn eight years ago, it left behind a mod- ern building with a broadcast studio, a beck- oning silver dome and a mind-boggling 54,000 square feet of space. To describe it in real-estate terms, it had
character. It was move-in ready. And sitting on Wilson Boulevard with the Metro a block away, and with Georgetown within walking distance, it certainly had location. Yet, for the better part of a decade, no one seemed to know quite what to do with it. The solution, it turned out, was as quirky as the space, a futuristic-looking structure nestled between staid office buildings. Called Artisphere, it is Arlington’s trailblaz- ing new cultural center — a home not just to visual art, but to esoteric discussions, edgy theater, performance art, ballroom dance and music ranging from classical to punk. If all goes right, Artisphere, which opens
Saturday with three days of parties and per- formances, could transform 9-to-5 Rosslyn the way arts centers have revamped the cul- tural topography of other area neighbor- hoods. It was Source and Studio Theatre and galleries, after all, that led the way when
14th Street NW was littered with liquor stores and carryouts, and Atlas Performing Arts Center was the trailblazing anchor for the now bustling H Street NE corridor. The hope is that Arlington’s new hip, art-
filled living room — where something is afoot seven days a week — can revive the northeastern tip of the county, known for not much more than high-rise office build- ings and fast-food fare. Now, with Artisph- ere, Rosslyn will be home to such diverse tenants as Washington Shakespeare Com- pany, performance group Sulu DC, Arling- ton Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse and Fashion Fights Poverty. “We’re not an ivory-tower institution,”
says Chris Williams, Artisphere’s interim programming director. “I really hope that as we start to fill in the building and the pro- gram grows, that people start to feel that they can just live there, that they can live as artists and as arts patrons in that space.” Move-in day is Saturday, with a ticketed
preview bash sponsored by Pink Line Proj- ect and Brightest Young Things, two groups that can draw the 20- and 30-somethings who Artisphere boosters hope will frequent the space for years. Then at free open houses on Sunday and Monday, the public will get its first peek at the three theater spaces, a WiFi-ready “town square,” 4,000-square-
foot ballroom and three galleries. Will there be something for you? Most
likely. Discover all that it has to offer with our guide to Artisphere.
THEATER
The conception of Artisphere was partic- ularly opportune for Washington Shake- speare Company. Out of nowhere — or more accurately, out of the Newseum’s broadcast studio — a black-box theater was created just when the company was in an in- creasingly frantic need of a new home. For 10 years, Arlington County had been trying to find WSC a replacement for the crum- bling Clark Street Playhouse, a big box of a theater that almost collapsed under the weight of last winter’s snowmageddon. And now, voila. The 21-year-old company, known for its
edgy, imaginative takes on classic plays (“Macbeth” in the nude, for example), is the resident company of the 125-seat black box. And although the space is a little smaller than Clark Street, the location is a boon for a group once stationed “on the wrong side of the tracks in Crystal City,” as Artistic Direc-
tor Christopher Henley puts it. The theater’s location within a cultural center brings an influx of artistically minded people to the company’s doorstep. Still, Rosslyn isn’t exactly known for its
arts scene. “It gets a little ghost town-y at night,” Henley says. But that doesn’t concern the man who performed in the first produc- tion at Source in the 1980s, when “there was no reason to go past 16th Street.” Henley says he has witnessed the transformative ef- fects of theater and art on a neighborhood, and he’s optimistic about the future of Ar- lington: “There’s an opportunity for Rosslyn to become a cultural and night-life destina- tion.” What to see: Two shows performed in rep- ertory: “Richard III” and “Mary Stuart.” The Shakespearean play will be set in a “Blade Runner”-like future, and many of the powerful male characters will be played by women. For “Mary Stuart,” director Colin Hovde will take an equally experimental ap- proach to the set design. Oct. 21 through Dec. 12. 800-494-8497. www.washington
shakespeare.org. $25-$50. Pay-what-you- can performances Oct. 21-24 and every Sat- urday matinee.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128