John Vreeke
Theatre
Directory
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Had to Be Productions
A touring
company of
original productions developed through interviews by Carrie Gibson,
Tony Currie and director John Vreeke.
Miracle on 34th Street
The Canterville Ghost
The Little Princess
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Washington
DC
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company |
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Los Angeles Fountain Theatre |
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 Nine
Nominations including Best Direction
30th Annual LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards LOS ANGELES PREMIERE: October 17 – December 16 COST OF LIVINGNINE
NOMINATIONS - Including
Best Direction
. Written by Martyna Majok * Directed by John Vreeke Achingly human and surprisingly funny, Cost of Living is about the forces that bring people together and the realities of facing the world with physical disabilities. It challenges us to re-think the true meaning of abled and disabled, whole and damaged. By shattering stereotypes, it reveals how deeply we all need each other.  RAVE!
– Los Angeles Times – CRITIC’S CHOICE!
‘COST
OF LIVING’
HAS
FOUND AN IDEAL HOME AT FOUNTAIN THEATRE
 "Two of the best productions this fall have happened at intimate theaters that are keeping up with the exciting developments in American playwriting…a production that is on par with the Mark Taper Forum and the Geffen Playhouse at their best… . . The beauty of the play resides in the fleeting tenderness that emerges when guards are momentarily let down… The Universality of the story - A tale of need and selfish pride, resentment and resilience - shines through" – Charles McNulty, LA Times * Full LA Times Review |
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New York City The Flea Theater |
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  Veteran DC director John Vreeke teams up with actress Lisa Hodsoll, who was nominated for a 2017 Helen Hayes Award for her stunning turn as Laura Bush in this one-woman show, for this special off-broadway production at The Flea. A smart, surreal, and surprising reexamination of the Bush years, written by iconoclastic Klunch artistic director Ian Allen.
 The New York Times Review: Laura Bush Killed a Guy... a "sneakily engaging solo play" |
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Washington DC
Mosaic Theater Company |
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 The
Return| By Hanna
Eady & Edward Mast |
Directed by John Vreeke June 7—July 2, 2017 A gripping mystery set in a run-down automobile repair shop in old Herzliya, this American premiere by Palestinian playwright Hanna Eady and Seattle-based writer with Edward Mast elegantly dramatizes the smoldering tension between a Palestinian mechanic and an attracted, conflicted Israeli Jewish woman from his
past.Four
Pinteresque scenes deftly unfold
a story of love, betrayal, guilt, and challenge.   The play...slowly teases out the fraught relationship between an Israeli woman and an Arab Palestinian auto mechanic in Israel. She thinks they have a shared history; he politely insists she’s mistaken. John Vreeke’s production captures how cautiously, even fearfully they speak together. Sentences are gingerly stated, as if any given word might land on a mine. - Review in The Washington Post "The Return at Mosaic is more than a play to be touched and troubled by. It’s a play to get in the gut." - DC Metro Theater Arts "Director John Vreeke keeps their interaction full of tension and passion." - Broadway World Washington DC "Director John Vreeke deserves his renown for getting good performances out of his actors" - DC Theatre Scene |
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Washington DC
Woolly Mammoth Theatre |
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 February
1—February 28, 2016 at Woolly Mammoth
By Rajiv
Joseph
India,
1648: two
imperial guards watch as the sun rises over the
newly-completed Taj Mahal, an awe-inspiring monument to the emperor’s
dead queen. But awe gives way to terror when the guards are given a new
assignment: to perform a bloody task whose grisly aftermath will force
them to question the very ideas of beauty, responsibility, and
friendship.Directed by John Vreeke  GUARDS at the TAJ "Guards at the Taj...is being given a stunning and soulful production directed by John Vreeke at Woolly Mammoth" - DC Metro Theater Arts . "Black comedy turns to horror in Guards at the Taj" - Washington Post . "Two actors on an austere stage plus director John Vreeke equal nirvana in Woolly Mammoth’s revelatory production of Rajiv Joseph’s tough, funny, poetic play Guards at the Taj" - DC Theater Scene . "Woolly’s Guards at the Taj cuts to the bone. Its thrust staging dumps its horror right in the audience’s lap, and it makes no difference if laughs are a part of the show. The action is no laughing matter" - DC Metro Theater Arts . "Guards at the Taj demonstrates an inevitable societal truth; horrific things happen alongside magnificent things" - MD Theatre Guide |
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Washington DC
Theatre J |
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 The
IntelligentHomosexual's Guide To Capitalism and Socialism With A Key To The Scriptures November
13
- December 21, 2014
by
Tony
Kushner
directed by John Vreeke Featuring: Josh Adams, Rena Cherry Brown, Jenifer Deal, Tim Getman, Lisa Hodsoll, Lou Liberatore, Susan Rome, Sue Jin Song, James Whalen, Tom Wiggin and Michael Anthony Williams THE REVIEWS AND PHOTOS ARE HERE  When
retired longshoreman and lifelong Communist Gus summons his three adult
children to their Brooklyn home to explain why he’s selling the family
brownstone and ending his life, things don’t go exactly as planned. The
children bring their own dramas; Pill and his husband are
stumbling as
an old flame resurfaces; Empty and her wife are squabbling as they
await the birth of their child; and Vic is confronting long-buried
truths. A deeply emotional battle over what makes life worth living
from Tony, Obie, Emmy and Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner in a newly
updated epic making its DC premiere at Theatre J.
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Washington DC Woolly Mammoth Theatre |
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 Lisa D’Amour’s DETROIT is an explosive dark comedy that brilliantly captures our economic moment. .
 directed by john vreeke Sept 9-Oct 6, 2013 A
Pulitzer
Prize Finalist and one of The New York Times
top 10 plays of 2012 Recently
laid off, Ben starts an e-business from his
suburban
home while his wife, Mary, keeps up with the Joneses. But when
mysterious new neighbors Sharon and Kenny arrive, the façade of
their
upwardly mobile lives begins to crack. Soon they find themselves
increasingly pulled towards their wild new friends—to incendiary effect.
"The play, bracingly directed by John Vreeke, is brash and noisy. . . Woolly Mammoth Theatre’s scintillating regional premiere of “Detroit.” - The Washington Post "Vreeke...once again proves he is prose’s best friend as he draws the humor and insights out of every line" - DC Theatre Scene "Director John Vreeke works in a simplistic yet beautiful fashion to let D’Amour’s work speak for itself." - Maryland Theatre Guide "Vreeke's effervescent yet controlled production captures both the high energy and poetic ruminations of the playwright." - Drama Urge |
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Washington DC Woolly Mammoth Theatre |
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NOMINATED
FOR NINE
HELEN HAYES AWARDS The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz Directed by John Vreeke  Woolly Mammoth's
production
garners NINE Helen
Hayes Awards nominations...
Outstanding Play, Director, Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Ensemble, Set Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design & Choreography. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is a drop-kicking, body-slamming, balls-out theatrical happening about the larger-than-life world of professional wrestling. Extended Run: September 3rd thru October 7th, 2012  "Diaz’s
spirited sports
satire — receives a thoroughly rousing staging by director John Vreeke,
an incredibly well-cast five-guy ensemble and a design team that
transforms Woolly Mammoth Theatre into an infectiously boisterous venue
on the professional circuit - an adrenaline rush" -Washington
Post “Surprisingly
philosophical.”...“Technically
astonishing!” ..."It’s tough to imagine
something better than the hyperkintetic
spectacle John Vreeke has directed for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company"
-The
City
Paper "Equal parts entertainment,
politics, and
economics this
hand-to-hand struggle amounts almost to folie à
deux"..."Director John
Vreeke's arch staging gives the play all its comedic brio while his
meticulous attention to detail maintains the verisimilitude of a live
event" -Drama Urge MORE
INFORMATION,
REVIEWS & PHOTOS
 The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity  "It’s tough to imagine something better than the hyperkintetic spectacle John Vreeke has directed for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company" "a thoroughly rousing staging by director John Vreeke" The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity RETURN TO THE TOP OF PAGE |
 John Vreeke . Contact John |
Nominated for SIX Helen Hayes
Awards in Washington DC:
Outstanding
Director
Chad Deity A Bright New Boise Boom Chinese Elvis Lady Chatterley's Lover Born Guilty |
| Seattle 2023 - Extended Run - |
The Return Set
in a run-down automobile repair shop in old Herzliya, this Seattle
premiere by Palestinian playwright Hanna Eady and Seattle-based writer
with Edward Mast dramatizes the tension between a Palestinian
mechanic and an attracted, conflicted Israeli Jewish woman from his
past. Four scenes deftly unfold a story of love, betrayal, guilt,
and challenge.In times of conflict are artists mere spectators? Or, should their art speak to the moment? The stage play The Return shows us how art can serve as a beacon of understanding and compassion. - Review in "Artists Up Close"  Seattle Premiere Dunya Productions 720 25th Avenue, Seattle October 26 - November 19, 2023 HELD OVER thru DEC 3 |
| Washington DC 2022 |
My Calamitous Affair... centers on the bitter, geopolitically inflamed backstage drama that nearly blew up an actual production . MORE INFO-PHOTOS-REVIEWS |
| Seattle Area 2021 |
The Importance of Being Earnest  Oscar Wilde's classic masterpiece at the CenterStage Theatre |
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Other Productions directed in Washington DC: |
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Shame
2.0
Adapted by Einat Weizman Directed by John Vreeke    |
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Laura Bush Killed A Guy
 Laura Bush is an enigma wrapped in another enigma. She’s shy, beautiful, bookish, and in 1963, she blew through a stop sign and killed a guy. It was probably just an accident. Or maybe, just maybe… it was murder.  “Delectably wicked satire! Lisa Hodsoll’s performance is one to relish! Anarchically funny!” –The Washington Post “I haven’t laughed this hard in a play in a long time! Darkly hilarious, and at times deeply touching.” –DC Theater Scene |
  . "Splendid production of ‘The Last Days of Judas Iscariot’; Vreeke’s gang got this mixed tone exactly right six years ago, and once again their aim is true." - Washington Post .  "Vreeke’s fine-tuned direction filled the script with skilled continuity, active staging, and heightened, entertaining performances by an eclectic, fifteen member ensemble making the journey rewarding." - DC Metro Theater Arts .  |
  Poor Maude! Living in a trailer park, fired from her bartending job… even her best friend refused the thrift store painting she bought for her birthday. But that painting might just be… a lost Jackson Pollock! Her fate lies in the hands of world- famous curator Lionel Percy, who shows up at Maude’s trailer to determine its authenticity. What follows is a collision of class and culture, where the ‘average Joe’ might finally throw it in the face of those ‘east coast elites’.  Director John Vreeke lets actors Donna Migliaccio and Michael Russotto soar in unexpected directions and the subject matter rise to lofty heights, while keeping the play rooted in rawhide realism. No easy feat, but Vreeke’s production at Olney balances the erudite and earthy. - DC Theatre Scene |
 The
Letters
by John W. Lowell, takes place in an office
in 1930’s
Soviet Union. The
Director calls Anna, a bureaucratic functionary, into his office, and a
tense verbal and psychological cat and mouse game ensues. It represents
a vivid slice of paranoid life under Stalin and the effort to
edit/suppress and censor the writings of prominent artists.
 Based on
the
real life Soviet efforts to edit the sexually frank letters of
Tchaikovsky. An intense psychological drama: still timely, still
universal, perfect for our intimate theatre setting.
MORE INFO, REVIEWS & PHOTOS  "Vreeke's
blocking is so deliberate that arguments play out like choreographed
dances; the drama is spoken and the movements are subtle. Everything
about this performance feels fresh" - BroadwayWorld DC
"Director John Vreeke punctuates the many long speeches with fleeting, memorable images" - Washington City Paper MORE INFO, REVIEWS & PHOTOS |
 Round
House Theatre April/May 2015
This new
version of
Chekhov’s classic by Annie Baker is a revelation, bringing modern
language to this timeless
story of relationships and yearning. Written to create “a version that
sounds to our contemporary American ears the way the play sounded to
Russian ears during the play’s first productions,” John
Vreeke directs a production that re-envisions our
performance space and features Mitchell Hébert as Vanya and
Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette as Astrov. Vreeke's blocking is so deliberate that arguments play out like choreographed dances; Everything about this performance feels fresh" - BroadwayWorld DC "Director John Vreeke punctuates the many long speeches with fleeting, memorable images" - Washington City Paper |
 Nicky Silver brings another of his deliciously dysfunctional families to the stage in this scathingly funny Broadway smash that earned Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations. Directed by John Vreeke at Round House Theatre, 11/27-12/22/13. "Director John Vreeke is an expert on Silver's work" - Broadway World  Indomitable matriarch Rita Lyons is at a major crossroads. Her husband is dying, her son is in a dubious relationship, and her daughter is barely holding it together. Tempers flare, words are exchanged, and secrets are revealed. Worst of all, Rita can’t figure out how to redesign her living room. REVIEWS AND PHOTOS |
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Interview: 'Tale of Two
Washingtons'
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In
Seattle 2018:
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Dead Man's Cell Phone
 An incessantly ringing cell phone in a café, a stranger at the next table who has had enough, and a dead man with a lot of loose ends. So begins Dead Man’s Cell Phone – a wildly imaginative comedy by MacArthur “Genius” Gran recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Sarah Ruhl.  |
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In Portland: |
 NORTHWEST PREMIERE May 31st – June 23rd, 2013  What are the odds of God’s final act taking place in the parking lot of a big-box store? Better than you might think. This shocking and hilarious examination of rural America’s love-hate relationship with religion will rock your preconceived notions as surely as it will break your heart.  MORE INFO, REVIEWS & PHOTOS |
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Other Recent Northwest Projects: A Bright New Boise The Woman In Black How I Learned To Drive Dying City Martha, Jose & The Chinese Elvis Rapture of the Deep 14/48 |
LIST OF SHOWS DIRECTED
(Since 2000, in Order of Most Recent)
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| My Calamitous Affair... . |
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| Describe The Night |
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| The Importance of Being Earnest |
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| Cost Of Living |
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 For
The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again |
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Educational Programs Television Adapted Plays on Audio Books