Cultural Essays on Theater & Performance
Signature Theatre’s ‘Soft Power’ and the sucker-punch Asian American musical - DC Theater Arts, 2024
Why did the Tony Awards Reward A STRANGE LOOP This Year, But Not SLAVE PLAY Last Year? - 2022
To Celebrate SLAVE PLAY, Honor its Black Predecessors that Haven’t Been on Broadway - 2021
Shared on Twitter by Slave Play Broadway producer Greg Nobile
Mentioned in Brian Eugenio Herrera’s #TheatreClique Round Up Newsletter
Road to Nowhere: Discovering My Mixed Race Identity Through Theater During the 2020 Election - 2020
“It was so beautifully written… thank you for your candor and vulnerability.” - Kuhoo Verma, original cast member of Octet (December 2020 Instagram story)
Quiara Alegría Hudes’s Vision of “Beautiful Disruption” - 2020
Matthew Shepard’s Story Deserves to Be Told. But It Can’t Be the Only Story For the LGBTQ Community - 2019
How “A Strange Loop” Helps Me Negotiate Not Belonging in Musical Theater - 2019
“This is a really thoughtful review of A Strange Loop.” -Michael R. Jackson, Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright/composer of A Strange Loop, on Twitter (October 15, 2019)
Playwright Profiles
Playwright Doug Robinson believes ‘imagination is the only way forward’ - 2025
Choosing to be Asian American, in conversation with David Henry Hwang - 2024
Playwright Dave Harris hopes ‘we can language our way through this’ - 2024
Benjamin Benne on queer love and Christian faith in Mosaic’s ‘In His Hands’ - 2022
Lydia R. Diamond on Arena Stage’s TONI STONE and Contradictions in Black Performance - 2021
Q&A Interviews:
Ethan Heard on directing ‘Pacific Overtures’ with an Asian American lens - 2023
How ‘A Strange Loop’ fits into Black theater legacies - 2022
Playwright Martyna Majok on finding hope in impossible situations - 2022
How Black Women-Led Outdoor Productions of Shakespeare Took NYC by Storm This Summer - 2022
Performance Reviews
‘Exception to the Rule’ at Studio Theatre: a fierce dissection of racial uplift - 2024
2024 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Badar Tareen Presents: Why Are You Brown?’ - 2024
2024 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Art Is Dead’ by Morgan Burris - 2024
2024 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Who Did It? An Improvised Murder Mystery’ by Erick Acuña Productions - 2024
‘King of the Yees’ offers metatheatrical humor and sorrow at Signature Theatre - 2023
Politics, Generational Change, and Community in Pearl Cleage’s Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard - 2023, co-written with Mekala Sridhar and Divinia Shorter
In Woolly Mammoth’s INCENDIARY, Dave Harris Doesn’t Pull Any Punches - 2023
2023 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Keys, Wallet, Phone, Dignity’ by Sheldon Scott - 2023
2023 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Nasty White Folx…and other filth’ by Sidney Monroe Williams - 2023
In GOOD BONES, James Ijames Carefully Approaches the Ugliness of Displacement - 2023
Patrick Page Astounds as KING LEAR at Shakespeare Theatre Company - 2023
See Or Skip: Three Shows We Saw At D.C.-Area Theaters This Month - 2023
See Or Skip: Four Shows We Saw at D.C.-Area Theaters in February - 2023
See Or Skip: Three Shows We Saw At D.C. Theaters in January - 2023
Arena Stage’s RIDE THE CYCLONE is a Bumpy Yet Exhilarating Ride - 2023
See Or Skip: Three Shows We Saw At D.C. Theater sin December - 2022
See Or Skip: Two Shows We Saw At D.C. Theaters in Early November - 2022
Signature Theatre’s THE COLOR PURPLE Draws on the Musical’s Rich History - 2022
Woolly Mammoth’s AIN’T NO MO’ is a Brilliant Satire of Post-Obama Black America - 2022
2022 Capital Fringe Review: ‘My Father, My Martyr, and Me’ by Fargo Nissim Tbakhi - 2022
2022 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Pretty messy Love’ by Mary Leaphart - 2022
Queer Black Men Forge Spaces of Care in THE HOT WING KING - 2022
Mosaic Theatre’s IN HIS HANDS Stages Tender (and Religious) Queer Intimacy - 2022
The Stunning Reconsiderations of FAIRVIEW at the Wilma Theater - 2022
Heroes are Toppled and Reborn in Studio Theatre’s JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN - 2022
Signature Theatre’s THE UPSTAIRS DEPARTMENT Unpacks the Grief of COVID-19 - 2022
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s OUR TOWN is a Transfixing Production of a Well-Worn Classic - 2022
In Woolly Mammoth’s THERE’S ALWAYS THE HUDSON, Two Survivors Ruthlessly Confront their Pasts - 2022
In IT’S NOT A TRIP IT’S A JOURNEY, Black Femmes Wander into New Worlds - 2022
WE DECLARE YOU A TERRORIST… Makes the Case for Creativity During War - 2022
In Signature Theatre’s DAPHNE’S DIVE, Brokenness is a Gift - 2022
In Arena Stage’s CHANGE AGENT, Women Shape the Past (and Future) of America - 2022
Studio Theatre’s WHITE NOISE is a Blunt Tragedy for Our Times - 2022
Studio Theatre’s FLIGHT Traces a Refugee Odyssey in Miniature - 2022
TEENAGE DICK is a Brutal but Sensitive Portrait of an Unlikely Antihero - 2021
A STRANGE LOOP Stages an Endless Spiral of Identity, and the Rupture my Hometown Needs - 2021
Round House Theatre’s THE GREAT LEAP Offers a Thoughtful Fable for Chinese-American Life - 2021
In Mosaic Theater’s BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA, A Daughter and Father Yearn to Connect - 2021
Madeline Sayet Explores WHERE WE BELONG at Woolly Mammoth - 2021
In “The Thanksgiving Play,” Wokeness Erases Indigeneity (Including FastHorse’s Own Voice) - 2021
Shades’ Production of “Salvation” Stages an Existential Fugue in the Afterlife - 2021
Pouring into Myself: Two Performers Dream Alone in “A Milk Kind of Play” - 2020
In Earthling Collective’s Production of “Symp,” Gaslit Nights Fuel Tragicomic Love - 2020
In “Fairview” Drury Puts Performance of Blackness and White Guilt on Stage - 2019
“@nathanpugh_3's review in the Wesleyan student paper makes me glad I still have #Fairview Google Alerts. If yr in the arts take a minute and actually click the link.” - Adriana Leshko, Publicist for Theater for a New Audience’s 2019 production of “Fairview,” on Twitter
In “They, Themself and Schmerm” Comedian Becca Blackwell Pushes Discomfort Into Vulnerability - 2018
“Constance and Sinestra” Finds Connection in the Midst of Trauma - 2018
“Mean Girls: The Musical,” Unlike Fetch, Is Definitely Happening - 2018
An Intergenerational Investigation: Sarah Gancher’s “I’ll Get You Back Again” - 2017
Artist Profiles/Features
From Candy to Lightbulbs, Felix Gonzalez-Torres Showed Life and Loss Through Everyday Objects - 2024
Eric Ruffin, Tina Fabrique, and Kim Bey on Mosaic’s MARYS SEACOLE and Black Women Care Work - 2022
SLAVE PLAY’s Devin Kawaoka on Bringing an Asian American Perspective - 2022
Michael Anthony Williams and David Emerson Toney on Arena Stage’s Urgent Production of SEVEN GUITARS - 2021
Lydia R. Diamond on Arena Stage’s TONI STONE and Contradictions in Black Performance - 2021
In “The Unwanted Siblings,” Comedy Prompts Testimony and Transformation for a Chinese Family - 2021
In “Cut Woman,” Dena Igusti and Ray Jordan Achan Explore the Perils and Possibilities of Embodied Writing - 2020, co-written with Sabrina Ladiwala
“Thank you @nathanpugh_3 and Sabrina Ladiwala for this incredible writeup of CUT WOMAN the book and the choreopoem.” -Dena Igusti, author/performer of Cut Woman, on Instagram
In Zilkha Gallery, “A Sculpture, A Film, and Six Videos” Explores Alternative Temporalities - 2020
What’s Happening This Semester? A Sneak Peak at Arts in Usual Times - 2020
In “Fruits borne out of rust,” Five Japanese Artists Discover the Beauty Within Exhaustion - 2020
In “Corazones,” Six Latina Women Celebrate and Remember Their Community - 2020
Interview: Second Stage Prepares for New Season with New Policies - 2019
In “Cardboard Piano,” Love Persists Even if Forgiveness Cannot - 2019
“Eons” Connects Three Women’s Pain Across Identities, Time, and Space - 2019
Teresa Naval Unpacks Filipino Identity and Theater in Capstone “un/box”- 2019
Motherhood, Race, and Religion Collide in “La Violecion of My PapiYon” - 2018
3Views on Theater Guest Curating
In February of 2024, Pugh guest curated an issue of 3Views on Theater, covering Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company’s world premiere production of The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes.
As the site’s inaugural guest curator, Pugh selected the show, hired three contributing writers, edited the writers’ articles, and wrote an editor’s note.
Find all articles published as part of this issue below:
D.C. as a Home for Artists and Writers: An Editor’s Note - Nathan Pugh
Editor’s Note: Introducing Guest Curators - 3Views Team
She Ain’t No Diva: “Class, Bougie, Ratchet” & Exhausted - Tariq O’Meally
The Duality of Homecoming Dreams and Dread - Kayla Randall
Sippin’ on Sea Mink-ettes - Sidney Williams
Institutional Storytelling
As a copywriter/coordinator for the Kennedy Center, Pugh has interviewed leadings artists of the performing arts for the CENTER’s bimonthly magazine.
EARTH to SPACE: This spring, artists and scientists look up to discover new possibilities - Preview of the international festival EARTH to SPACE: Arts Breaking the Sky. Mar.–Apr. 2025 Issue.
Where ballet, theater, and literature meet - Interview with American Ballet Theatre’s Helen Pickett and James Bonas. Jan.–Feb. 2025 Issue
No script, no rehearsal, no problem! - Interview with Improvised Shakespeare Co.’s Blaine Swen. Nov.–Dec. 2024 Issue.
Designing the Future - Interview with Back to the Future: The Musical designers Chris Fisher and Finn Ross. July–Aug. 2024 Issue.
Fun in the sun - Program director Thérèse LaGamma previews the lineup of free Millennium Stage summer events. May–June. 2024 Issue.
Just joking around - Produced and edited conversations between Director of Comedy Programming Kate Villa and comedians Karen Chee and Eugene Mirman. Mar.–Apr. 2024 Issue.
A conversation with Malavika Sarrukai - Nov.–Dec. 2023 Issue.
Pugh also interviewed his tito and tita for SSSAS Magazine:
Cultural Essays on Film & Television
“Time” and “A Little Devil in America” Showcase the Looping Temporalities of Black America - 2021
Tender Soil, Quiet Graves: “Minari” and the Growing Canon of Asian American Requiems - 2021
Two New Films Depict Epic Road Trips to Get Abortions, with Wildly Different Results - 2020
2020 Oscars Recap: A Triumphant End to a Frustrating Awards Season - 2020
The Generosity and Limitations of “Booksmart’s” Progressiveness - 2019
Why “Pose” Feels Like the Most Dangerous Show on Television - 2019
How the Meditative “Columbus” Avoids Hollywood’s Issue With Race - 2018
Cultural Essays on Music
Dialogues
Cross Talk: On Jeremy O. Harris’ “Slave Play” and When Processing Isn’t Enough - with Paul McLaren, 2019
“Even tho @nathanpugh_3 seems very dubious that I wrote this play for myself.... this is my absolute FAVORITE review of @SlavePlayBway and it’s by two undergrads at Wesleyan! Thank you all for taking time with the ideas, structures and theories in the Play. PLEASE READ” - Jeremy O. Harris, Tony-nominated playwright of Slave Play, on Twitter
Cross Talk: Parsing the Legacy of “Transparent” - with Dani Smotrich-Barr, 2019
Cross Talk: Feminism and Wokeness in Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” - with Dani-Smotrich Barr and Zoe Kaplan, 2020
Opinions
The Tonys Should Nominate These Featured Actresses of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE and A STRANGE LOOP - 2022
No Matter How You Frame It, Your Vaccine Selfie Might Make Someone Uncomfortable - 2021
Imagining Joe Biden’s “Despacito” Presidency - a satirical short story - 2020
On the Purpose of Student Theater Reviews - with Zoe Kaplan, 2019
List Articles
12 Local Theater Performances We’re Excited For in 2023 - 2023
If You Liked ‘Fire Island,’ Check Out Director Andrew Ahn’s Other Films - 2022
Shared by Andrew Ahn on Twitter on June 8, 2022, stating “Thank you for this!”
Film & Television Reviews
“Boy Erased” Offers an Exploration of Religion and Sexuality, at a Distance - 2018
“A Star is Born” Delivers Joy and Heartbreak Within Restrictive Conventions - 2018
“Eighth Grade” Finds the Beating Heart of the Cringe Comedy - 2018
“Here and Now”: A Show Grounded in the Present Struggles for Relevance - 2018
“Black Panther” Revitalizes the Superhero Movie with Imagination and Drama - 2018