Bright Light National Gallery Shows Complexity, Fun in Flavin’s Fluorescent Tubes by Michael Coleman The National Gallery of Art rarely has this much unbridled fun. The serious-minded museum is taking on a new light—quite literally—with its exhibition featuring the work of Dan Flavin. The late New York-born artist used fluorescent tubes to create dazzling visual displays that simultaneously challenge the senses and evoke a whimsical mood. Flavin’s fluorescent lights, arranged into pieces of art between the early 1960s and the late 1980s, feel contemporary and retro at the same time. Making Up for Lost Time Afghan Ambassador’s Wife Seeks to Rebuild Lives of Women, Children by Gail Scott Once an Afghan refugee herself, Shamim Jawad understands that she must use “the passion and the love” she has for her country to seek help for Afghanistan while Americans are still fascinated with the news of her homeland’s historic first election. Now the wife of Said Tayeb Jawad, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States, Shamim spends long days in endless meetings trying to help the children and women of her war-ravaged country, making up for more than two decades of extreme neglect and cruelty. Substance and Style Two Diverse Exhibits Showcase Still Life Painter Hirst, Florida Women Artists by Gary Tischler “Claude Raguet Hirst: Transforming the American Still Life” and “Transitory Patterns: Florida Women Artists” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts are two exhibitions situated side by side on the same floor, without an apparent or intentional connection between them. It’s as if you had six college dorm rooms of chattering, noisy, rock-and-roll-playing young women on one side, while right next door, a quiet, reserved, bookish aunt of considerable years—and luckily, a little hard of hearing—is trying to concentrate with all her might on the patterns of her knitting. < font face="arial" size="2"> Sizzling ‘Anna’ Arena Stage’s Production Does Justice to Pulitzer-Winning Play by Lisa Troshinsky Arena Stage’s “Anna in the Tropics” is sneaky. Because it is slow moving, sensitive and understated, one is apt to think it is a harmless, provincial slice-of-life story, so we let down our guards. But that is playwright Nilo Cruz’s hook. Before one can say, “Roll another cigar,” the story ignites us by surprise, and we’re sucked in. Gift of Movement Exhibit Examines Leaders in Expressionist Dance in Austria by Gary Tischler It takes a real dance aficionado to instantly recognize these names, as well as the ideas in “Expressionist Dance in Vienna: The Roots, the Stars, and the Legacy of Ausdruckstanz,” now showing at the Austrian Embassy. But the novice who finds the title and subject a little daunting might miss an opportunity to become lost in a fertile, energetic and seductive world of intellectual and cultural ferment. Ghost of a Play Although Coward’s Play Solid, Direction and Acting Lack Bite by Carolyn Cosmos The theater charmer “Blithe Spirit,” playing at Maryland’s Olney Theatre Center, is a welcome staging of a British classic. The popular 1941 comedy by playwright, actor and limelight-loving wit Noel Coward has endured and flourished through multiple incarnations on both sides of the Atlantic—it was even turned into a musical—and the Olney staging, although somewhat disappointing in other areas, clearly shows off the play’s strengths. Photographic ‘Memory’ Artists Chiriboga, Weinstein Follow Different Routes in Reflective Exhibit by Christine Cubé Artists Lucia Chiriboga and Joyce Ellen Weinstein take very different avenues in their interpretation of “From the Depths of Memory,” the new exhibit at the Marninart Gallery.

Events Listing Featuring art, dance, lectures, music, receptions and theater, our comprehensive listing offers an array of options for those interested in international events. Included is a list of all major event locations in the Washington, D.C., area... Events Locations Sweating Blood Work of Late Feminist Artist Often Both Enthralling, Repulsive by Heather Nalbone When visitors enter “Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972-1985,” they are immediately shown the projection of a young artist with her back to the camera, dragging her hands slowly down the wall to create streaks of animal blood and red paint. This “Untitled (Body Tracks)” film sets the tone for the rest of the 100-piece exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum. Two Quirky Kindred Spirits Calder, Miró Exhibit Highlights Similarities in Their Work by Gary Tischler “Calder Miró” stretches to find the inspiration behind the works of two great modernist artists, one a big and expansive American, the other a small, edgy, sly Spaniard. What the exhibition succeeds in doing is not so much prove a case as highlight the similarities and complementary aspects of the two artists’ work. Change Is Good Penn Quarter’s Poste Renovates Exterior, Hires New Chef Weland by Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana The understated sign outside the carriageway portal on 8th Street in the historic Penn Quarter gives little indication of the experience awaiting diners. International Film Clips Film Locations Heavy With Poignancy ‘Vera Drake’ Is Portrait Study of Woman Working as Abortionist by Ky N. Nguyen One of the key issues surrounding the U.S. presidential election is the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling decriminalizing abortion. The U.S. release of British filmmaker Mike Leigh’s remarkable “Vera Drake” is thereby extra topical. See Also: ‘Finding Neverland’: A Man Avoids Growing Up ‘The Machinist’: Gross Fatigue Repertory Notes Moral Dilemma Director Leigh Addresses Issue of Abortion With ‘Vera Drake’ by Ky N. Nguyen Lauded British filmmaker Mike Leigh was awarded the prestigious Order of the British Empire in 1993. At the Cannes Film Festival, Leigh has won the Palme d’or at Cannes for “Secrets and Lies” and Best Direc tor for “Naked.” His latest film, “Vera Drake,” was rejected by Cannes this year but recently won the coveted Golden Lion award at Venice.