Setting the Stage: Discover Arlington, Virginia's Vibrant Theatre Scene

Arlington is well-known for showcasing top talent in award-winning shows at various venues across the county.

From the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre to The Arlington Players - the venerable community theatre celebrating its 75th Anniversary year – you’ll find something for everyone on Arlington’s stages.

Credit | Signature Theatre

SAVE THE DATE: Theatre Week 2025

Theatre Washington is partnering with numerous theaters from September 18 to October 5 to offer $25, $45 and $65 tickets to several participating productions throughout the DMV, including several Arlington-based ensembles. Tickets go on sale September 9 at theatreweek.org. See Arlington's participating theatres here:

Signature Theatre (Shirlington)
Play On!
now thru October 5

If music be the food of love, then Play On’s timeless classics "Take the 'A' Train," "Mood Indigo," "I Got it Bad and That Ain’t Good" and "It Don’t Mean a Thing," combine with stunning dance to make for a joyous feast in a fun and fresh take on the classic Shakespeare comedy in with Play On! at Signature Theatre, a delightful musical based on Twelfth Night and set to the syncopated soundtrack of Duke Ellington’s greatest hits.
Strategic Love Play
September 23 thru November 9

From Succession writer Miriam Battye comes a razor sharp, not-quite-romantic comedy about the absurdity of modern dating in the seemingly endless quest to find “the one.” After matching online, a man and a woman meet for a date. Although they start off on the (very) wrong foot, they slowly begin to let down their guard in the hope that this time they’ve found something real. Bold, bitingly funny and achingly poignant, Strategic Love Play explores love, loneliness, and lying to (and about) ourselves in the age of swiping.

Other productions/programming taking place in Arlington during the Theatre Week timeframe:

The Arlington Players
The Full Monty
September 6 thru 28

In a town where jobs have dried up and egos have taken a hit, a group of steelworkers hatch a wild plan to earn some quick cash: they’re going to put on a strip show – and go the FULL MONTY! As the men battle insecurities, societal expectations, family pressures, and their fear of letting it all hang out (literally), they discover the real exposure isn’t in taking off their clothes... Bursting with raucous humor, irresistible music, and unexpected tenderness, The Full Monty is a joyful, deeply human story about finding strength in vulnerability – and discovering that sometimes, the bravest thing a man can do is bare it all. Advisory Warning: Due to language and nudity, THE FULL MONTY is recommended for mature audiences.

Encore Stage & Studio
The Best Haunted House Ever
September 26 thru October 8

Offering theater for kids by kids, Encore Stage & Studio is one of the County’s gems for the whole family to experience the joys of theater. When students from two different high schools sneak into a local haunted house to scare their classmates, utter chaos ensues. At first it seems like the students are just pulling Halloween pranks, but when a spooky zombie and mysterious ghost don’t fit into the students’ haunting plans it can only mean one thing–they are not alone in the house! Happy haunting! We recommend this production for ages 6 and older.

Avant Bard Theatre - Scripts in Play Festival
Killing Mockingbirds
October 4

The Free 9th annual Scripts in Play Festival takes place through October 20 at three different Arlington locations: Mason Exhibitions Arlington, Theatre on the Run, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington.

In Killing Mockingbirds, Frances is finally making a comeback to directing for the stage with a production of To Kill a Mockingbird. However, James, the artistic director of the community theatre in Annapolis, MD receives a cease and desist from the Broadway production while Frances is moving into dress rehearsals. Frances rallies the cast to create a devised work around the themes of To Kill a Mockingbird and, in the meantime, has to wrestle with her father’s failing health. The play asks who owns stories, how the ghost of the play enters a room when working on a classic, and the harm that we do to each other unintentionally.

Glerum Rigging Workshop in Arlington!
September 25 and 26

In line with their mission of supporting professional development, Arlington Arts also has a Theatre Week offering for those in the industry behind the scenes! Arlington Arts is proudly partnering with the U.S. Institute of Theatre Technology to offer a master class in Jay O. Glerum Rigging for emerging theater professionals who will earn 12 hours of ETCP Renewal Credits. The entry-level course is a two-day curriculum that covers rigging basics, terminology, hardware, systems, tools and safe practices. Attendees are issued the Jay O. Glerum Stage Rigging Handbook and use this text as a reference. Open to all theater professionals in the DMV, but space is limited. Register here.

Signature Theatre

Arlington’s Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre is best known for Broadway-caliber contemporary musicals and reinvented plays. Renowned for its definitive Stephen Sondheim productions, Signature has earned a multitude of Helen Hayes Awards for excellence. The theater has produced a number of world premiere works, including new musical commissions, and is home to the single largest musical theater commissioning project in the United States, The American Musical Voices Project.

How to Visit: Signature is located in the Village at Shirlington, in a modern two-theater facility where audiences are never more than 45 feet from the action.

Synetic Theater

Brilliantly original, Synetic Theater showcases exciting visual storytelling with performances that incorporate text, drama, movement, acrobatics, dance and music. This synthesis of kinetic elements inspires its name, syn+etic. Expressing classical texts and modern stories entirely without words, Synetic gives audiences unforgettable visceral experiences through its stunning physicality.

Synetic’s productions have earned it many Helen Hayes Awards, garnering praise for both its “Wordless Shakespeare” repertoire — such as Hamlet…the rest is silence — and its dialogue-and movement-based pieces. Founded by Georgian immigrants, Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili in 2001, Synetic redefines theater by blending innovative techniques and movement. But even Paata Tsikurishvili says words cannot describe it exactly: “You have to experience it!”

How to Visit: Synetic Theater performs at various venues around Arlington and in D.C.

Credit | Synetic Theater

Avant Bard Theatre

Founded in 1990 as the Washington Shakespeare Company, this Helen Hayes Award-winning professional performing arts organization presents both time-tested and contemporary classics that are bold and provocative. Think edgy productions of Shakespeare, from Julius Caesar to a Kubrick-inspired Richard II, as well as works by other literary giants, such as Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee, and by exciting new playwrights, too.

How to Visit: Avant Bard often performs at Gunston Arts Center, located in the Gunston Middle School and Community Center. There is free parking on-site.

Encore Stage & Studio

For over 50 years, Encore Stage & Studio has given hundreds of thousands of young people the opportunity to grow and discover themselves through theatre: onstage, backstage, in the classroom, and in the audience. Serving almost 15,000 children and families each season, they bring high-quality, age-appropriate theatrical productions that are staffed by young people to our community and offer a vibrant selection of educational classes, workshops and summer programs, including outreach to underserved children and youth with community partners.

How to Visit: Encore Stage & Studio often performs at Gunston Arts Center, located in the Gunston Middle School and Community Center. There is free parking on-site.

Credit | Encore Stage & Studio

Dominion Stage

Since a group of neighbors formed a play-reading group in 1949, Dominion Stage has been a part of Arlington. Dominion Stage seeks stories that reflect everyone in our community, especially those not usually highlighted. To them, "Anything But Predictable" means you'll see stories about the good, the bad, the ugly, and even the undead. Sometimes they explore topics that may not be the best choice for Grandma or the kids, but this is always advertised. However, they will make you think, help you understand, make you laugh (frequently), make you cry (sometimes), and celebrate the community we are all a part of!

How to Visit: Dominion Stage often performs at Gunston Arts Center, located in the Gunston Middle School and Community Center. There is free parking on-site.

The Arlington Players

The Arlington Players (TAP) is a nonprofit, volunteer theater company with a mission is to produce artistically challenging theater in the grand style, cultivating an environment of artistic excellence and education for artists, audiences and the community of Arlington County by providing opportunities to advance knowledge, skills and participation in the theater arts. Since 1951, TAP has entertained over a generation with an array of musicals and plays ranging from contemporary comedy to Shakespearean classics and from Rodgers & Hammerstein to Sondheim. TAP also provides an environment for all members of the Arlington community to explore, learn, and become involved in the elements of stagecraft through arts education programs.

How to Visit: TAP often performs at Gunston Arts Center, located in the Gunston Middle School and Community Center. There is free parking on-site.

Credit | The Arlington Players