Articles Tagged With: Ian Gallanar

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews October 10, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

This story begins with a spark. A spark of light. A spark of life. A spark of humanity. Truly, an electrifying retelling of the iconic monster novel, now such a smashing success on stage that it’s already received it’s first extension before officially being open. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company jolts their 2026/2027 to thrillifying life with Mary Shelley’s Frankestein, by David Catlin, directed by Ian Gallanar and Lizzi Albert. This devilishly delicious sweet treat is the perfect pop of terrifying thriller to start spooky season on the right foot.

It’s Alive: An Electrifying Interview with Vince Eisenson on Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s Frankenstein

Interviews September 26, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

“Beware, for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”

A quote that could readily send chills up the spine if taken out of context, or perhaps, even presented with context. A beautiful sentence, complex and nuanced, and yet eight simple words. From a creation to its creator, but there is beauty in power, strength too, and fearlessness is what it takes to continue to produce evocative art, challenging the norms, and pushing the envelope when it comes to that mythical,

Shakill Jamal (top) as Trinculo, with Vince Eisenson (center) as Caliban, and Matt Harris (below) as Stephano in Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's The Tempest 📷 Kiirstn Pagan Photography.

The Tempest at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews April 30, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a Duke o’er-thrown

That ended him and his daughter dear, on an island all alone.

Though not so alone as they thought they were— among spirits of earth and air

And then a conjured-magic sea-spun storm that brought their en’mies there.

The plot then thickens there, my friend, and there’s so much more to say

About the entities and denizens that populate this play

Magic.

Greg Burgess as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 2022 production of A Christmas Carol at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Bah! Humbug! Christmas Chatter with Greg Burgess on 11 years of playing Ebenezer Scrooge with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Interviews November 22, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Bah! Humbug! The Christmas season is upon us. Again. Already. (Baltimore’s local 101.9 even had flipped the switch to their Christmas music on Thursday 11/20/25 as I was driving home to ring up Greg Burgess and interview him!) The holidays are upon us whether you’re ready or not. And in a world of so much darkness and chaos, aren’t the holidays meant to be what spreads a little love, a little light, a little joy?

Lise Bruneau (left) as Mary Stuart with Lesley Malin (right) as Elizabeth Queen of England in Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's Mary Stuart 📷Kiirstn Pagan Photography

Mary Stuart at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews April 30, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Diplomacy is nothing but a cockfight. Sounds a bit too modern for something that happened almost 440 years ago. And yet the striking political relevance inside Friederich Schiller’s Mary Stuart (new version adapted by Peter Oswald and currently directed by Ian Gallanar) is both eerie and chilling to the world we’re presently living in. This evocative drama, despite its hefty run-time, is impressive and exceedingly well-polished upon the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s main stage for their final indoor show of the 2024/2025 season.

Holly Gibbs (left) as Luce with Brendan Murray (center) as Mayor William Donald Schaefer and Kathryne Daniels (right) as Adriana in CSC’s It’s The Comedy of Errors, Hon! 📷 Kiirstn Pagan Photography.

It’s The Comedy of Errors, Hon! at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews February 19, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Didja know that one of them actresses in that It’s The Comedy of Errors, Hon! has a baby who shares the exact same birthday as mah nephew? They’re both now eight months old, hon! That’s Smalltimore for ya! And while I didn’t invent that phrase, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is reinventing the wheel with it’s fabulously uplifting, nonsensical production of It’s The Comedy of Errors, Hon! Directed by company founder Ian Gallanar,

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company presents As You Like It ???? Kiirstn Pagan

As You Like It at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews October 4, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

It was a bright and cold day in September and the clocks were striking 13. No, that’s not quite right.

We that are true lovers run into strange capers. That’s more like it. Or rather, Shakespeare’s As You Like It, as directed by Ian Gallanar now appearing on the stages of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s boards for their fall-opening of the 2023/2024 season. Though one could readily meet the confusion of “Am I watching George Orwell’s 1984 (or even L.

Scott Alan Small, Kathryne Daniels and Shaquille Stewart in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged).???? Kiirstn Pagan Photography

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [AGAIN] at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews February 13, 2023 Leonard Taube

What do you get when you mix three actors clad in colored and patterned tights, a giant prop box filled with an assortment of goodies, and a script full of comic gold? Hilarity, that’s what. Baltimore’s Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s (CSC) production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [Again] opened to a boisterous house, complete with a swanky after-party in their upstairs lounge.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) was conceived and written by Adam Long,

Twelfth Night at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews October 4, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

What great ones do the less will prattle of— and here be the great ones: Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, in their 20th Anniversary season, presenting to you something certainly worth prattling about! Twelfth Night, directed by the company’s founding Artistic Director, Ian Gallanar, is arguably one of The Bard’s more sensible comedies and CSC does it a great justice with excellent performances, lively music, and a charming aesthetic that would float anyone’s boat.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews March 7, 2020 Amanda N. Gunther

To laugh? Or not to laugh? That won’t really be much of a
question as Chesapeake Shakespeare Company attempts all 37 of Shakespeare’s
plays with three guys, one stage, and 2 hours traffic upon it. Yes, the Bard’s
almighty collection— as condensed, despoiled, and distilled by Adam Long,
Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield— also entitled The Complete Works of William
Shakespeare Abridged— now finds its way onto the Globe-esque stage of Chesapeake
Shakespeare Company under the direction of Artistic Director Ian Gallanar.

Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly as Titania, Queen of Fairies (l) and Gregory Burgess as Nick Bottom, the weaver (r)

Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews September 27, 2014 Amanda N. Gunther

You’re innocent when you dream. And if we are such stuff that dreams are made on than perhaps are all but mere innocent mortals; pawns in the great scheme of a Fairy’s game. The inaugural production of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s first season in their new home in Baltimore City kicks off with a dreamy bang. A visual delight, an aural treat, an experience to savor; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, now directed by company Artistic Director Ian Gallanar,