A series of wooden African masks hangs on the walls of a handsome colonial home in an unnamed country in Western Africa. The mouths and eyes are carved in formal expressions of horror and surprise.

How fitting.

If you go The Unmentionables runs at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D St. N.W. through Sept. 30. Show times: 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m., 7 p.m. Sundays. Tickets cost $32-$52. Call 202-393-3939 or go to woollymammoth.net.