7

TUESDAY

On stage, Calista Flockhart starred in The Three Sisters and The Glass Menagerie. People have used words like “distinguished” to describe her theater career. On TV, she slinks from the bathroom to the bedroom as insipid “lawyer” Ally McBeal—and people wonder if she’s anorexic. If only she’d stayed where she was. Then maybe we wouldn’t have the artistic directors of Arena Stage and Horizons Theatre—Molly Smith and Leslie Jacobson—meeting for a serious dialogue on whether Ally is the new role model for American women. Their discussion will also address how theater will reflect and affect women in the 21st century—despite the glaring reality that the contemporary stage has virtually no influence whatsoever compared with mass-market role models. But anyway. There is something charming about theater people’s earnest disconnect with reality. And there will be free refreshments. “How Will Theatre Reflect the Place of Women in the 21st Century?: A Conversation” begins at 7:30 p.m. at Mount Vernon College’s Post Hall Lounge, 2100 Foxhall Road NW. Free. For reservations call (703) 243-8550. (Amanda Ripley)