As Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company boldly marches into its 45th anniversary, the Tony Award-winning theater announces new shows for 2025 featuring Guac by Manuel Oliver, FlawBored’s It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure, and the World Premiere of Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with Live & Active Cultures) by Julia Izumi. Woolly will also celebrate 20 years in Downtown DC with a birthday party called The March of the Mammoth! Woolly’s acclaimed Connectivity department will continue to center the joy and resilience of the DC community through programming that includes the return of Spit Dat open mics hosted by Drew Anderson and Miko Reed and Spit Dat Academy, Black in Space’s Black Joy Disco, the Mammoth Retrograde Market, a dance party featuring Hip Hop Legend Rokafella…and more to come!  TOP, FROM LEFT: Show art for ‘Guac,’ ‘It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure,’ ‘Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with Live & Active Cultures)’ courtesy of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. “I have always seen Woolly as a rare jewel in the American theater, a theater company whose mission is to produce work that breaks open provocative questions about our lives that serves as more than entertainment, and yet is absolutely still entertaining. The cultural landscape has changed so much in these 45 years, and Woolly strives to meet every impactful moment with courage, and we know our audiences do too. And these artists coming up at Woolly are absolutely fearless! It’s such an honor to work with Manuel & Patricia Oliver, the artists of Flawbored, Julia Izumi, Aileen Wen McGroddy, Miss Chief Rocka, Drew Anderson & Miko Reed, and the LGBTQ+ artist collective Black in Space to mark this tremendous milestone,” says Maria Manuela Goyanes, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Artistic Director. “As with the fall lineup announcement, we are intentionally focusing on announcing programming on a rolling basis, with the goal to move our Golden Ticket initiative in that direction as well to continue experimenting with disrupting conventional subscription expectations,” adds Kimberly Douglas, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Managing Director. “And as a DC native, it means so much to be part of Woolly Mammoth celebrating 20 years specifically in Downtown DC, pushing the boundaries of the American theater in the heart of our nation’s capital. Over these years Woolly has seen firsthand the impact of the creative economy on retail, restaurants, and hospitality. We know that the arts, and specifically the theater, is central to Downtown’s revitalization and to keep DC the thriving city we want it to be.” Throughout the year, the Connectivity team at Woolly Mammoth will present and create events in-house in collaboration with Core Partners and local creatives. This fall, Woolly Mammoth and Connectivity Core Partner Miss Chief Rocka with Hip-Hop legend Rokafella present Behind the Groove—DC Edition. This popular NYC dance party event will debut in DC on November 23, 2024, and invites street and club-style dancers to freestyle and share in an exchange of moves. This electric evening includes a 7 to Smoke Dance Battle and a Fresh Fit Clothing Swap. Visitors of all ages can also expect the return of the popular monthly Spit Dat residency—the longest running open mic in the DMV at 22 years and counting! Spit Dat Academy also returns, bringing poetry, spoken word and creative writing to Youth Services Center (YSC), DC’s detention center for male and female youth, through a residency with Maya Angelou Academy. Regardless of who is in the White House, our nation will continue to grapple with the ongoing devastation of gun violence. Woolly Mammoth addresses this crisis head-on with GUAC as its first show of 2025. Written and performed by Manuel Oliver, co-written by James Clements, and directed by Michael Cotey, GUAC is a moving and empowering production in which Manuel Oliver pays tribute to his son, Joaquin Oliver (nicknamed GUAC), one of the 17 individuals tragically killed in the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. This production is a compassionate portrait of Joaquin’s life and legacy, honoring his commitment to justice and activism. After its run at the Public Theater in NYC, GUAC will travel to DC from January 25 – February 16, offering two ticketing options ($30 and $60) to make the experience more accessible. Guests who purchase the $60 ticket will contribute 50% of their ticket price to CHANGE THE REF, a non-profit advocacy organization that supports youth efforts and movement building through urban art and nonviolent creative confrontation. On February 20, 2025, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company will celebrate 20 years in Downtown DC! The March of the Mammoth: A Birthday Party for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company offers the party of (nearly) the last half century supporting 45 years of radical theater. Save the date for a birthday party of epic proportions! Tickets for The March of the Mammoth will go on sale in the coming months. In March, Woolly Mammoth, in association with Studio Theatre, is proud to welcome FlawBored, the award-winning disability-led theater company that specializes in cheeky, chaotic, ensemble-driven work. Running March 6 – 30, It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure is an absurd satire about cultural privilege, ableism, and consumerism that The Times of London calls “stunningly inventive.” Creators Sam Brewer, Aarian Mehrabani, Chloe Palmer, and Josh Roche pose a question to their audiences: What might it look like to mass market disability as the next cultural cachet? It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure helps us confront what may make us uncomfortable one laugh at a time. FlawBored lands in DC after successful runs in Edinburgh and the Soho Theatre in London, continuing next to ArtsEmerson in Boston after the run at Woolly Mammoth. Opening in the late spring, and in collaboration with one of New York City’s premiere “downtown” theater companies, New Georges, Woolly Mammoth will mount the World Premiere production of Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with Live & Active Cultures!) by Julia Izumi (running May 4 – June 1). Kurosawa, whose career spanned over 5 decades and 30 films, inspired artists of multiple cultures and mediums including creator Izumi, who will be one of many actors playing Kurosawa in this production. Using both Kurosawa’s perspective as well as her own, Izumi explores the ways that the personal and the professional are inseparable when making art, how that art and culture is then exported and consumed, and the strains that remain. In honor of World Pride, Woolly Mammoth will partner with Connectivity Core Partner Black in Space and producer Leigh Crenshaw Player on Unforgivable Blackness 5. This revue features Black LGBTQ+ performers from around the region (and beyond). Woolly Mammoth looks forward to the return of Black Joy Disco, an all ages, Afrofuturist zero-proof micro-festival celebrating Black LGBTQ+ culture and joy. For the Mammoth Retrograde Market, Woolly will invite artisans and vendors to curate vintage collections that summon visions of summer throwbacks. Golden Ticket Reservations, Early Look Reservations & sQuad tickets are on sale now at WoollyMammoth.net. Single Tickets will be on sale early next week. To learn more about the productions, events and programming within the lineup visit https://www.woollymammoth.net/2025lineup/