As Hungarian theatre artists are under siege, a leading critic speaks out A week ago, Andrea Tompa, President of the Hungarian Theatre Critics Association, came to Baltimore’s Center Stage to speak about the political pressures being placed on artists and writers in contemporary Hungary. Titled ‘The Dismantling of Hungarian Theatre’, this was the first event […]
Gypsies
The Katona Jozsef Theatre‘s production of Gypsies isn’t to be confused with Gypsy, the 70’s Broadway hit, but there may have been a few people in the audience expecting a rowdy musical with a brassy female lead. The opening number certainly supports that idea. There’s a little singing, (albeit without instruments), a little dancing, and […]
Arena Players, proud of its roots, ready for its future
If you’re new to Baltimore, and driving up from DC, the Arena Players is the first Baltimore theater you’ll see. Off the I-95 ramp, down Martin Luther Avenue, it sticks out as a gaily painted brick structure off of McCulloh Street.
Director Jessica Burgess on speaking the language of Cho
“There are sixty nine hundred languages in the world,” according to the linguist George, the central of Julia Cho’s The Language Archive.” Half of them are doomed to disappear in the next century.” But there’s one language that, in this Forum Theatre production, is alive and well: ceaseless bickering among couples entering late middle age.
Two Free Productions In Baltimore this Weekend
Two interesting shows are coming up this weekend, that I’d just put out on alert in Baltimore. They’re both mind and genre-bending. And they’re free.
Postcard from Morocco
In Baltimore, theatre fans tend to look to Towson University’s Department of Theatre for up-and-coming actors and directors. And opera aficionados look toward Peabody Chamber Opera for talented new opera singers. Watching Peabody’s version of Postcard From Morocco, directed by Jennifer Blades, last weekend at Baltimore Theatre Project taught me a lesson. Some of Baltimore’s […]
A Skull in Connemara
Though Martin McDonagh’s A Skull in Connemara, is set in Leenane, Ireland, it’s hard not to think of a front yard in Hampden during Halloween. In Todd Rosenthal’s set for CenterStage, the grey (plastic) headstones stick up at awkward angles, creating a cheap Hollywood gothic. Then the lights go down, and as they do, the gravestones […]
Acme and UnSaddest team up for Rogue Waves
Last summer, for this column, I took a brief look at Baltimore’s Ten-Minute Play Festival, hosted by the UnSaddestFactory Theatre. The most mind-blowing feature of that weekend of occasionally brilliant controlled chaos was the audience. First, the audience was standing-room only. Many of the chairs were filled with members of Baltimore’s DIY community. [The acronym […]
Come for the gumbo. Stay for the plays
On Thursday night, January 12th, Preston Street in Baltimore was packed with cars. That was thanks to Itzhak Perlman, an out-of-town violin player who had decided to drop by the Baltimore Symphony and play Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons.’ I have no problem with violin players, unless they cause traffic jams. But since I can’t tell the […]
New year, big deal for Baltimore
I started writing this article as a retrospective of Baltimore theatre in 2011. But I couldn’t help thinking a little bit about what Baltimore is looking at in 2012. In Baltimore, thanks to the Orioles, (and in DC, thanks to the Nationals), we’re sick of hearing that next year Could Be the Year. But things […]
Baltimore and Bulgarian theatremakers meet
Nathan Cooper, the artistic director and actor for Baltimore’s Single Carrot Theatre, recently returned from the Festival for Independent Performing Arts in Sofia, where he spent four days with Lola Pierson (playwright and founding member of Baltimore’s UnSaddest Factory Theatre Company) on a grant from the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
Krapp’s Last Tape
After watching the Gate Theatre production of Krapp’s Last Tape, I couldn’t help thinking that it’s a play that John Hurt has been waiting for decades to act in. First off, Hurt looks a little like an aging Samuel Beckett. Even twenty five years ago he looked like he’d been losing out on sleep. Now the lines have grown […]