author: Chris Pence
The Sounds of Silence: Variations on Silence at Rapid Lemon Productions
“Hello darkness, my old friend / I’ve come to talk with you again / Because a vision softly creeping / Left its seeds while I was sleeping / And the vision that was planted in my brain / Still remains / Within the sound of silence.” Is silence truly just the absence of sound, or something more?
Every adventure requires a first step! Even if you don’t know what comes next! It’s time to take that first step and go on a wonderful adventure— and spoiler, I’ll tell you what comes next! Why it’s a wonderful, heartfelt, hour(ish) long show performed by 16 terrific young actors who are doing their show’s namesake— they are daring to dream! Hop on that magic carpet and soar on over to the Court Jesters (the junior division of Cockpit in Court) for this magical production of Disney’s Dare to Dream Jr.
Is not truth the truth? Instinct is a great matter. And your instincts ought be telling you to get thee to Frederick for the inaugural production of the 2026 Frederick Shakespeare Festival— Henry IV Part 1 as presented by Unstrung Harpist. Directed by Evan Crump, this jam-packed history can turn even the most skeptical of audient into a history appreciator if not wholly an enthusiast. Remarkably well executed, this sword-clashing, heartbreaking, villainously ripe tale doth tread upon the heels of Richard II,
You wish to go to the— METstival? And it’ll be AGONY if you don’t get a ticket? A season ticket!? Or a ticket to any of their terrific five-mainstage, four-Fun-company— yeah it doesn’t really work after that because their Comedy Nights are sooooo expansive— at least five active teams plus the return/kickstart of some other fun endeavors— but you get the idea! Maryland Ensemble Theatre is kicking off their 29th season and there is so much in-store— you might even say they are not throwin’ away their shot!*
In fantastical Maryland Ensemble Theatre fashion,
‘Zounds, I will speak of it; and let my soul want mercy, if I do not join with them!
And speak on’t I shall. Borrowing some words in true wordsmith fashion, a call to attend! Attend thyselves upon this festival of merriment, this festival of drawn-daggers and teacups (every family has one) and knavery and bloody history and comedy and tragedy and all! Tis true— tis The Frederick Shakespeare Festival upon which I dote and dare speak (and will be waiting for two of the directors to flounce me round the ears for my bastardization of Shakespeare’s tongue,
author: Erin Tarpley
“Love’s a reason without reason”
What is the first trope you think of when you think of Shakespeare? Star-crossed lovers? Mistaken identities? Cross-dressing? Tragic flaws? Dramatic irony? Do you tend to prefer his tragedies? Comedies? Romances?? Well, when it comes to The Tale of Cymbeline, this show feels like it is competing for a “Shakespeare-Trope” bingo game; and all the audience is a winner with this production!
For let them be Diana’s foresters, gentlemen of the shade (and indoor air-conditioning!) minions of the moon! Said Falstaff, Act I Scene ii, more or less. In a TheatreBloom sit-down, we’re chit-chatting all around the moon minions— or at least with two of them— Evan Crump, Artistic Director of Unstrung Harpist and director of Henry IV Part I, and Aaron Angello, Co-Artistic Director of Ardeo Theatre Company and director of Much Ado About Nothing— AND they’re both acting in each other’s Shakespeare offerings in the 2026 Frederick Shakespeare Festival!
Trying to tell a story you can feel. How do you make the magic real? Love makes magic real. And is love bursting at every seam in Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s Summer Community Outreach production of As You Like It. And this isn’t just any As You Like It, it’s the one adapted by Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolrey (music and lyrics by Shaina Taub, source material William Shakespeare.) And it has the love of Julie Herber and Karli Cole,
author: Ryan J. Bordenski
Good times never seemed so good (so good! so good! so good!), especially when The Neil Diamond Musical: A Beautiful Noise, is here in town at The Hippodrome, and you will be tapping your feet and screaming the lyrics, as if you were at a Neil Diamond concert! Side note: a moment of celebration and high praises in store for this touring cast celebrating not only a little over two years of touring together,
A little bit of this… a little bit of that… And— only 94 actors!? That’s a new tradition for Howard County Summer Theatre! Marking their 50th annual production (founded in 1975 but there was a pandemic in there for a summer or two), HCST brings the iconic musical of tradition to the stage— for the 3rd time (1988, 2015, and now.) Directed by Tom Sankey with Vocal Direction by Miriam Kook, Choreography by Kassi Serafini,
They say you can’t remember pain. Maybe you can’t remember pleasure either. What does it matter, it’s all glitter anyway, isn’t it? What day is it? I scarcely know myself. Thursday, I think. Likely Friday by the time this makes print. Likely Friday by the time this show opens. Truth or illusion, though that might be the wrong Albee. Have to keep these things delicately balanced, you know. If you’re looking for something theatrically impressive,
Are you eccentric enough to believe in the soothing power of culture? Theatre is meant to be culture. Dark comedies are meant to be funny. And Yasmina Reza’s darkish-comedy God of Carnage (as translated by Christopher Hampton) certainly has its moments in the upstairs cabaret theatre space of Cockpit in Court, the first of two non-musicals included in the 2026 summer season. Directed by Gabriel Lewin, this edgy dark deviance divulges into the territory of “what happens when adults behave like children and fail to act like th grown-ups that they’re pretending to be?”
I’ve seen shows in the cabaret theatre space of Cockpit in Court since 2012,
A million lights are dancing— and there they are, a shooting star (ten of them, actually!) An everlasting world, lovely-in-blue…and they’re there with you! Must be—
Xanadu
ELO, ONJ, OMG, and all that jazz! It’s Venice… okay Venice Beach…well, Essex at CCBC but we’ll suspend our disbelief for this fun and whimsical bit of theatrical cotton candy. The iconic and camptastic screen-to-stage gem Xanadu is glittering its way onto Cockpit in Court’s main stage as the first of a five-show season (two upstairs,
author: Charles Boyington
“How will we do it when it’s never been done? How will we find a way, where there isn’t one?”
Buy your ticket now and see this show! Suffs by Shaina Taub and directed by Leigh Silverman, now playing at the National Theatre in DC, is extraordinary: a “do not miss” theatrical event! The packed house went wild with praise and applause!
author: Mike Zellhofer
I have a friend who told me, “I start every day looking for heaven on earth; and when I find it, that is for what I am grateful.” Yesterday I found my heaven on earth at Govans Presbyterian Church, where the Woodbrook Players put on a fabulous performance of Godspell. This was the revised 2012 version, and the latest in the bevy of Godspells.
author: Ryan J. Bordenski
Do you love angst and grunge fashion of the early 2000s? Do you love putting on layers upon layers of eyeliner? Do you love banging and bopping your head along to some punk rock anthems? Or, do you simply love Billy Joe Armstrong, and the rest of Green Day? If you answered YES to any of these questions, then you should head over to Silhouette Stages in Columbia for their latest production of Green Day’s American Idiot.
author: Lisa Standish
It is a special treat to watch a community theater production where the love for the craft is palpable from the moment you walk in. Phoenix Festival Theatre’s current production of Rent, running now through June 14th at the Chesapeake Theater, is a vibrant, visually stunning testament to the talent in our community. Under the spectacular vision of co-directors and choreographers Bambi and Eyvo Johnson, this production feels both fresh and deeply respectful of the source material.
All religion is a mania. And the maniacs are going to be coming after Charles Busch (the farce-loving playwright) for The Divine Sister. How do you solve a problem like Maria? Or a problem that you— ‘can’t face’? (Put that one in a British accent while you’re at it) well…take a hearty dose of holy high hilarity down at Vagabond Players to close out their 110th season. Whoever greenlit this one as the season closer has got a bone to pick with the big guy upstairs… or big girl?
author: Erin Tarpley
“You’re my wife and I’ve grown to like you”
Relationships are complicated. Familial, romantic, religious, friendships, cultural, marital… you name it. Nothing is ever completely easy. But these different types of relationships have a way of further complicating things when they come together in a sort of spider’s web of rules and expectations that can both entwine and suffocate any individual. And in Somnia Mari Feral’s world premiere production of Bounce,
author: Ryan J Bordenski
Something big, bold, and beautiful is happening in Baltimore, and it’s here just in time for Pride Month! That’s right: we are talking about The View Upstairs, over at Iron Crow Theatre, directed by Sean Elias, stage managed by Haley Baugues, assistant stage managed by Lauren Marsh and Janell Hill (special shoutout to Hill for the iconic spotlight moments), and produced by Natka Bianchini. This queer musical debuted Off-Broadway in 2017,
It’s… a… musical! A Mus-i-cal! Theatreworks Live is doing an amazing musical! With song and dance and sweet romance and happy endings by happenstance! They’re giving you bright lights— stage fights— and a razzle-dazzle ensemble…oop! Nothing rhymes with ensemble! But it’s still… a… musical! Yes! A Musical! In fact, it’s Something Rotten! on their stage, that’s the musical! That’s right, they’re fancy! And they are bringing you moments of culture and art and a whole lot of talented young performers who just can’t wait to show you all of their singing,
Lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go! The rallying cry of Suffs— women on the march! Women on the move! And these women will show you who they are as they march for justice, for freedom, for equality! And they’re bringing that march right through the heart of Charm City— to Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre! The First National Tour of Suffs plays a limited week-long engagement at The Hippodrome and it’s playing in one of the most crucial moments in history.
You can’t control everything, Emma! But isn’t it fun to watch her try!? Yes! Yes it is! And far more than fun— it’s practically a divertissement of the most jubilant nature; it’s a rather uproarious, madcap enjoyment! Emma, the Jane Austen classic— as recently adapted by Kate Hamill for maximum rom-com tomfoolery— is situating itself onto the Everyman Theatre main stage as the final production of the 2025/2026 season. Directed by Laura Kepley,
author: Erin Tarpley
“She has no ideas or wishes of her own at all: where you put her, there she stays”
I am remiss to admit, that before this weekend I had never heard of the brilliant Madame Germaine de Staël; but then, this was one of the objectives for the initiative “Expand the Cannon” as their {We Happy Few} mission “uncovers and uplifts classic plays by women & underrepresented genders – and is a call to action to produce them.”
Having experienced Parisian life both before and after the French Revolution,
Welcome to Plasma Corp.
What happens here stays here.
And rots.
Because the world is murder. People just see what they want to see. They don’t care. And BROS enthusiasts who come out to see this show are going to have a field day, a blast, a rockin’ good time— because they will see what they want to see in American Vamp. (Concept and Original Pitch by Hanna F.
How now, summer spirit? Have you brought us hot ice and wondrous strange snow? Or a mess of Athenian lovers, a Faerie Brawl, and some Rude Mechanicals all dusted up in one moonlit spell? All of that, says you? Then you must be alluding to A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Just Off Broadway! The first of the Bard’s ilk to tread the boards at JoB and it’s a sensational production under the keen and goodly direction of Mistress Kelly Williams Carlson,
We all peel labels. The most innocuous, seemingly mundane line to not only land but stick indefinitely from a production that has arguably thousands of lines to choose from or resonate with. Edward Albee and Betty Brevity are not besties (spoiler: neither are she and I!) but there’s a reason his verbose textual structure has garnered him the success and accolades that it has through the decades of his works’ existence. But that one line— “we all peel labels” is the most brutally exacting descriptor for what’s happening in this current production of Who’s Afraid of Virigina Woolf?
13. Being wholly in the moment with that one companion who just sees you no matter which you that you are in that moment, feeling loved, seen, and appreciated by that whole person and their whole being as you are being your whole self.
28. Face Glitter.
422. Home-grown Nasturtium blossoms
649. Not understanding how time can move so quickly and so slowly all at once and not at all.
They’re merely soldiers in petty coats? Right? Think again, Mary Poppins, these are not your grandma’s suffragettes. I mean, technically, from a timestamp point they’re you’re grandma and maybe even your great-grandma’s suffragettes, but this is a whole new spin on the movement and after its critical success on Broadway, it’s currently touring its way across the nation as a part of the Broadway Across America series. What show? Suffs, of course!
In the end, there’s quite a prize if you can see with more than your eyes. And you’ll have to bring more than just your peepers along for the ride if you truly want to experience Charlie & The Chocolate Factory at St. Gabriel’s Miracle Players. You’ll need to bring your— IMAGINATION! Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, this newer musical theatre adaptation has more grizzly outcomes for the children as they traverse their way through Wonka’s chocolate factory and The Miracle Players are doing the best they can to bring you wonder,