When most actors walk on to a stage, an audience sees just that: an actor. A charismatic actor, maybe, or a compelling actor. Comically gifted, or sullen, possibly sympathetic. It is a demand of the craft to take this title off the table completely, and out of the mind of the audience. A good actor eases into in the illusion and bends reality with patience, dedication, grace. A great actor, however, needs no time to transform, and simply is from the stage’s first breath. Emily Dickinson is at the Bay Theatre Company in The Belle of Amherst, and it isn’t to be overlooked.  [Read more...]

“Because paper has more patience than people.”

So wrote Anne Frank, and so declares Love Letters, the half-a-century-spanning story of two people falling in and out of love though paper, pen, and the twists and turns that make our lives worth writing down. [Read more...]

Some plays are like the Emerald City of Oz. They are best enjoyed by skimming along the surface. Examine them too closely, and the greasepaint turns to grease. Becky’s New Car is one of those plays. [Read more...]

Cancer is the great equalizer. You can be smart, dim-witted, a marshmallow or a field marshal—its ruthless, endlessly propagating cells ravage everyone the same. [Read more...]

Today I bake, tomorrow I sew,
And then off to Annapolis we will go

What for?  To see the delightful production of Rumple Who?  That’s what for!  Bay Theatre has brought this cute family theater production to Annapolis where it is sure to entertain.  Unlike pure children’s theater, Rumple Who? adds several “Wink, wink, nudge, nudge” asides for the adults chaperoning the younger audience members  to make for an enjoyable hour for all. [Read more...]

If you want to see a play about friendship, go see Art at Signature. But if you want to see a play about art, you should see Lee Blessing’s Chesapeake, now playing at the Bay Theatre in Annapolis. [Read more...]

Bruce (Graham Pilato) meets Prudence (Mundy Spears) at a restaurant. It is their first date, and they are both nervous. They shake hands. Bruce gestures her to her seat, and sits down across from her. He looks into her eyes. They share a moment. “You have beautiful breasts,” he says, and the worst date in human history is on its way. [Read more...]

Blazny blit hitski.  Oh sorry, don’t understand?  Well, translated that means “The Foreigner is a hit!”  Bay Theater’s second show of the season is Larry Shue’s hilarious comedy, The Foreigner, and all you need is a sense of humor, not a linguistic degree, to appreciate it.  Bay Theatre has invited Vincent Lancisi, Artistic Director of Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre, to direct this welcome heart-warming respite from the cold. [Read more...]

I have delayed my review of Bay Theatre’s production of this Terrence McNally play for nearly a week, for two reasons. The first is that, despite my great admiration for McNally’s work, I did not like what I saw on stage. The second is that McNally himself, along with the work’s director and actors, were going to appear post-show on October 17th. It would give me an opportunity to find out directly what the people responsible for the play had in mind. [Read more...]