As you enter the Sprenger Theatre to attend this deeply affecting devised performance, don’t be surprised if a cast member approaches you, welcomes you warmly, and asks if you would be willing to share the name of someone significant to you whom you have cared for or who has cared for you. However much audience participation is not your groove, it behooves you to say that person’s name, for speaking that name to someone still a stranger has the singular effect of securing your stake in an extraordinary experience of communal connection. William T. Newman Jr., Raghad Makhlouf, Tuyết Thị Phạm, Susan Rome, Billie Krishawn, Jabari Exum, and Tom Story in ‘The Art of Care.’ Photo by Chris Banks. The openhearted ensemble who collaboratively created Mosaic Theater’s The Art of Care — actors Billie Krishawn, Raghad Makhlouf, William T. Newman, Tuyết Thị Phạm, Susan Rome, and Tom Story with drummer Jabari Exum — has preceded you in sharing significant instances of caring in their lives, and you’ll hear about it in this show. Some of their stuff is so personal one listens to it with wonder. As one by one, they each relate poignant moments from their lives — disclosing true stories of health challenges and other life crises in a dramatic collage of poetic anecdotes, incisive dialogues, dance and song fragments — they cease seeming strangers, they become folks we feel we know. And during this arresting process of serial disclosures, a remarkable dynamic takes hold in the house: Just the way audiences do in live theater when we feel for sympathetic scripted characters onstage, we begin as if involuntarily to care about the real people before us — a talented and trusting troupe who, like benevolent beings, are subtly and steadily inspiring and affirming our fellow feeling while leading us into appreciation of the intimate relation of art to caring and of theater to healing. Says one actor, for instance: I think one of the primary functions of art is Understanding another’s perspective, Seeing something in a way that you didn’t see it before, recognizing, you’re not alone… And says another, offering a historical footnote: In ancient Athens, where the Plague killed ¼ of the population, the shrine to the god of medicine, was right next to the Theatre of Dionysus. The show goes places you don’t expect it to go — in vignettes that are touching and bits that are funny. It is far from one note; it is a diverse chorus of particular people dealing with distinct experiences of care to which anyone can relate. Each person’s narrative is, quite literally, their own words. Each person’s “acting” is consequently transparent, channeling emotions unmediated by “writing” (although if anyone is to be credited with the artfully edited script, it would probably be Derek Goldman, who conceived and directed the marvelously moving whole). As each cast member introduces their first-person story, Exum’s eloquent Djembe underscores the heartfelt beats. Simultaneously, each actor’s first name and a colorful montage of photos of them appear like a movie clip on a gigantic back-wall screen (Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor did the stunning projections). Billie Krishawn, Tom Story, Susan Rome, Raghad Makhlouf, William T. Newsman Jr., and Tuyết Thị Phạm in ‘The Art of Care.’ Photo by Chris Banks. The set (designed by Misha Kachman, who also did the costumes) is both homey and nowhere: a circular shag rug, a comfy couch, and mismatched chairs surrounded by a huge curved panel overhead the audience (all of it beautifully lit by Venus Gulbranson). Of note are the arts-and-craftsy boxes mounted on the walls containing artifacts of caregiving — a gallery spelling out explicitly the titular theme of care as art. The interplay among the actors is a liberatory joy to behold. Even as they each own the stage telling their own truth, they are champions of one another’s telling too. More than in their words, it is in their mutual support where each individual’s worth is most realized. The Art of Care is as much a moving performance as a public health service. It models in real time what it could mean for human community if theater were normalized as caregiving. Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. The Art of Care plays through November 24, 2024, presented by Mosaic Theatre Company in partnership with The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University, performing in the Sprenger Theatre at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street NE, Washington, DC. Tickets ($53, Thursday and Friday; $70, Saturday and Sunday) are available online. Ticket Discounts Rush Tickets: Limited amount available via walk-up cash purchase one hour before start of performance. Senior Discount (65+): Save 10% with discount code: SENIOR Student Rate: $20 tickets with discount code: STUDENT Educator Rate: $20 tickets with discount code: EDUCATOR Military and First Responder Rate: Save 10% with discount code: HERO Patrons 30 and younger can access $25 tickets to Mosaic mainstage performances: code UNDER30 The program for The Art of Care is online here. COVID Safety: Masking is recommended, however it is no longer mandatory—masks in theaters and public spaces at the Atlas Performing Arts Center are now optional. For the latest information, visit mosaictheater.org/health-and-safety. The Art of Care Conceived and Directed by Derek Goldman Scenic and Costume Designer: Misha Kachman Lighting Designer: Venus Gulbranson Sound Designer: Jabari Exum Props Designer: Chelsea Dean Projections Designer: Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor Stage Manager: Shayna O’Neill Intimacy and Violence Director: Sierra Young Movement Director: Vincent Thomas ENSEMBLE Jabari Exum Billie Krishawn Raghad Makhlouf William T. Newman Tuyết Thị Phạm Susan Rome Tom Story Developed in collaboration with The Global Health Institute; School of Health; School of Nursing; Medstar Health; and Medical Humanities Initiative at Georgetown University.