Alexandra Bowman

Georgetown

Writer and Political Cartoonist at Freelance

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Articles

Bonus editorial cartoon for June 4, 2025

3 weeks ago | wctrib.com | Alexandra Bowman

Editorial cartoonist Alexandra Bowman draws on the dangers of fascism. This cartoon is the opinion of the cartoonist. Send feedback to: [email protected] . More Cartoonists' Opinions: Editorial cartoonist Ed Wexler draws on Bruce Springsteen's song "Born in the USA." Editorial cartoonist R.J. Matson draws on growing national debt.
Palliative Care for People With Very Severe to Extreme Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD): A Scoping Review

1 month ago | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Jenny Ford |Alexandra Bowman |Antony Mullen |Debbie Schwebel

1 Introduction It is estimated that there will be approximately 75 million people living with dementia worldwide in 2030, with a projected increase to 132 million in 2050 (World Health Organization 2017). Dementia refers to a range of major neurodegenerative disorders characterised by a decline in cognitive function and a series of overlapping symptoms which impair activities of daily living (NSW Ministry of Health 2021).
Shakespeare Opera Theatre’s ‘Drowning Ophelia’ is narrative feast for the senses

2 months ago | dctheaterarts.org | Alexandra Bowman

Rachel Luann Strayer’s Drowning Ophelia opens with a young woman going about typical young-woman stuff — being worried about having enough time to make dinner after work, yada yada — meanwhile, there’s a sweet, virginal maiden frolicking in a bathtub behind her and vocalizing operatically about Valentine’s Day. The contemporary young woman seems to absolutely hate the maiden, yelling at her to “shut up” regularly — and the maiden absolutely won’t stop.
Neil Simon's 'Rumors' delivers its timeless hilarity at Vienna Theatre Company

Jan 20, 2025 | dctheaterarts.org | Alexandra Bowman |Neil Simon

It’s so easy to make a story about wealthy people’s foibles exhaustingly on-the-nose and more preachy, depressing, or frustrating than entertaining. Neil Simon’s Rumors premiered before Seinfeld and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — and was likely an inspiration for the former — but now that these stories have dominated the “stories about terrible people” genre in our 2025 consciousness, others must fight for relevancy and unique excellence. With a play, this fight comes down to performance.
Why 'Wicked' the movie is better than the Broadway musical

Nov 25, 2024 | dctheaterarts.org | Alexandra Bowman

I finally saw Wicked on Broadway in early 2022. I went in blind, and as I left, I was sad to find that I felt underwhelmed. Unmemorable, plotless songs plagued the performance, and the show centers oversimplified, cartoony characters in a story about leading causes of America’s current, renewedly urgent crisis. The Wicked movie released this past week, directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) and starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, has erased these issues.
'Shrek the Musical' turns into children's theater on tour at Capital One Hall

Sep 22, 2024 | dctheaterarts.org | Alexandra Bowman

As with any screen-to-stage adaptation, Shrek the Musical differs significantly from its source material. But it should be evaluated not merely based on what it’s done differently but for what its changes amount to in this new work of art. What particularly fascinates me are the changes that differentiate Shrek the Musical’s 2024 non-Equity tour from its original Broadway production: this version comes across as, and was intended to resemble, children’s theater.
In 'The Waverly Gallery' at 1st Stage, a heartfelt call for kindness

Sep 21, 2024 | dctheaterarts.org | Alexandra Bowman

The Waverly Gallery — a play by Oscar-winning screenwriter of Manchester by the Sea Kenneth Lonergan first produced on Broadway in 2000 — centers on a family who have run an art gallery in Greenwich Village for many years.
A masterful performer returns in 'How to Be a Korean Woman' at Theater J

Sep 20, 2024 | dctheaterarts.org | Alexandra Bowman

In this solo performance at Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center’s Theater J under the direction and dramaturgy of Zaraawar Mistry, returning after a string of performances here earlier this year, writer and performer Sun Mee Chomet recounts not only the largely unkind bureaucracy she fought through to find her birth parents as an adult after being given up for adoption at six months old but also the challenges she faced upon finding them.
'Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors' is a comic treat at Workhouse Arts Center

Sep 18, 2024 | dctheaterarts.org | Alexandra Bowman |Steve Rosen |Gordon Greenberg

Something is afoot at the Workhouse Arts Center. They seem to have discovered a magic spell for executing lesser-known comedic texts that have the potential to teeter but that Workhouse turns into certifiable top-tier comic theater. I reviewed their recent production of The Drowsy Chaperone, and I am becoming increasingly convinced that they sold their souls to the comedy gods for some magical secret to flawless theatrical laughs.
City of Fairfax Theatre Company does a Woodstock-y 'Much Ado About Nothing'

Sep 6, 2024 | dctheaterarts.org | Alexandra Bowman

The City of Fairfax Theatre Company’s outdoor production of Much Ado About Nothing sets Shakespeare’s arguably best-loved romcom behind the scenes of a 1975 music festival. We’re talking bellbottoms, fringe vests, and haze from indeterminate sources. The play’s plot is framed as the goings-on behind the scenes of the concert that’s taking place as the musicians finish a tour, as opposed to returning from war, though many musicians would likely not see the distinction.