"The Trumpeter," a play about a Ukrainian military musician during the siege of Mariupol, returns to Dupont Underground. Alliance for New Music-Theatre opens the 13-performance run Wednesday, Nov. 4, continuing through Nov. 22.

The production earned a Helen Hayes Recommendation from Theatre Washington after its January run, according to El Tiempo Latino. Those January performances were standing-room-only, according to the Alliance's website.

The play, written by Inna Goncharova with poems by Peter Mironov, follows the last surviving member of a military band amid the Russian bombardment of Mariupol during the first year of the invasion. He clings to his trumpet and his memories as the city is destroyed around him.

Hungarian director János Szász stages the production inside the former streetcar station beneath Dupont Circle. Michael Kevin Darnall and Lise Bruneau lead the cast, with trumpeter Kevin McKee and a Ukrainian men's vocal ensemble led by Ruslan Bondar.

Bondar, a Ukrainian conductor of secular and sacred choral music, recently settled in the D.C. metro area with his family, El Tiempo Latino reported. He said in an Oct. 27 press release that the production will feature Ukrainian folk music spanning more than 1,000 years of history, along with works by composers still writing amid the war.

Ana Harvey, executive director of Dupont Underground, said in the same press release that the production transforms the venue's space into a platform for solidarity with Ukraine, El Tiempo Latino reported.

The show is immersive. Audience members move through multiple playing areas inside the curved tunnel, guided by lantern light, according to a DC Theater Arts review of the January run. The production runs about 80 minutes with no intermission and includes loud simulated explosions and sounds of war. The venue advises wearing layers and comfortable shoes.

Before each performance, audiences can view photography exhibits curated by United Help Ukraine and Ukraine House. The play is performed in English, in a translation by John Farndon.

The entrance is at 19 Dupont Circle NW, next to the Starbucks on Dupont Circle. Doors open one hour before each show. Tickets are $40, with showtimes on the Alliance for New Music-Theatre website.

Upcoming:

  • "The Trumpeter" — Nov. 4–22, Dupont Underground, 19 Dupont Circle NW. Tickets: $40. Showtimes vary.