Jeffrey Johnson is a longtime artistic director of Actors’ Theatre of Washington. In May, the group decided to change its name to Ganymede Arts and move into other genres. The group’s first festival, promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender artists in D.C., starts Friday and goes through Oct. 28.
What can we expect from the festival? Is it going to be an annual thing?
We’d like to make it an annual thing, but it all depends on space availability. We’ve got a world premiere of Academy Award-nominee Karen Black’s one-woman show. There’s also the “Special Agent Galactica” drag floor show, and a very eclectic dance concert. And the play “Loves of Mr. Lincoln,” which is about an alleged gay romance between Abe Lincoln and a gentleman he was extremely close to.
Where did you guys get the name “Ganymede Arts”?
Ganymede was the first myth to really reference same-sex love, where Zeus came down and grabbed him to be his lover and the cup bearer to the gods. Throughout history, the myth has inspired art, politics, religion, even science — Jupiter’s first moon is Ganymede.
Does D.C. do a good job showcasing its gay and lesbian artists?
Part of the reason we wanted to change over was I don’t think a lot of artists get to represent the community as a community. If there’s an arts show, it’s an arts show. I don’t think the sense of community is as strong as it could be, and that’s part of the reason we want to pull that together.
As a longtime actor in the D.C. scene, what role have you most enjoyed?
The Marquise in ATW’s [all male] production of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” The whole concept of the show was really energizing. The fact that she’s so wicked, and having to play someone so wicked and mean, and at the same time play it in a way that’s true to the audience, and yet makes them laugh.
