It’s been more than a day since I left Before the Fall, and I still don’t know for sure that I can say what I think about it. That’s a crummy thing for a theater critic to admit, but I’m hoping to get points for honesty. I’ll set the scene. Before the Fall is an […]

Imagine that you are a soldier — an intelligence analyst — deployed to the Caribbean Command in Key West, Florida. Your daily tasks involve reading reports and commenting on them in air-conditioned comfort. You are also on the base beach volleyball team. Rum and beer flow freely, and every day is caressed by the Sun. […]

Jamie Brickhouse is a memorable mimic. His enthralling solo show, I Favor My Daddy, doesn’t feel solo because of how vividly he inhabits his characters. We meet his parents, Mama Jean and Daddy Poo, his brothers, his father’s former girlfriends, and a Neiman Marcus customer service rep. Even with his humor and performance skills on […]

If this were the 1850’s, chances are you would know the name of Lola Montez. Mary Murphy is captivating in her portrayal of this alluring, crowd pleasing, coquettish, and controversial woman. Richard Byrne’s script tells how an unassuming Eliza Gilbert from Sligo, Ireland, took advantage of each and any opportunity to stay in the spotlight.  […]

“You should be honest with people, even when you’re doing magic, which is essentially lying.” That’s according to Penn Jillette, the loquacious half of the magic duo Penn and Teller and – at least in my house — the Patron Saint of Truth. So it is with A Gentleman and a Liar, a magic show […]

One enters into the eulogy of Mamita by her grown daughter, Charla, played by the playwright Adriana Hillas. But this one-woman performance is much more than a eulogy that remembers a loved one’s life. Charla’s performance not only eulogizes her mother, but also allows the audience to witness her attempt to transition through her grief, […]

Rob Raffety’s been waiting for what we have all been waiting for — which is to say, for the fate which awaits us all. Poor Rob has been diagnosed with Brain Crabs, and so is reminded that he, like the rest of us (so far) is mortal. But every catastrophe is an opportunity, at least […]

Greg DeLucia fully embraces the notion that the best way through a tough situation is laughter. His one-man storytelling show is both emotionally raw and steadfastly funny as DeLucia take us through events surrounding the death and funeral of his mother. Click for tickets Using the sadness of a treasured family member’s death as material […]

Although he wrote until his death in 1937, the horror writer H.P. Lovecraft was resolutely of the 19th century. His lurid prose, which frequently invoked evil in its most hideous forms, presented itself in the most formal manner possible, utterly free of idiom. This is especially true of his brief story, The Hound, which Lovecraft […]

In Let’s Fight and Say We Didn’t, we witness a family at the breaking point. This student-run production from Anne Arundel Community College tackles mental health, child abuse, and the legacy of trauma. Amber (Amanda Lynn Matousek) would never visit her father Everett (Jack Stone) unless she had to. She left for college as soon […]

Anyone who considers reality TV as lowbrow should withhold final judgement until they see this play. William Shakespeare’s words lend themselves as surprisingly appropriate in a “Real Housewives” reality-motif show titled The Real Thanksgiving at Macbeth’s. I half-expected Andy Cohen to walk out at the closing to commence a recap reunion sit-down around a sofa. […]

Forget about Adam. In Rewiring Eden, Paradise is a women-only zone, home to Eve, Lilith, and a host of other female figures borrowed from legend and myth. Long maligned or misunderstood, the women of Eden set the record straight in this heartfelt and humorous world premiere from The Coil Project. Theatergoers may already be familiar […]