“Washington theater is a city of niches, and few brands are as indelible as Woolly Mammoth’s. A ‘Woolly play’ is new, big, wild. The acting is hyper-real. The design might blow up. The whole thing can soar or splat. Howard Shalwitz laid down those markers when he [co-]created Woolly in 1980 … For 37 years, Shalwitz – who announced his retirement Tuesday as of the end of the 2017-2018 season – has stuck to those guns.”