I was asked at the intermission of opening night of A Christmas Carol at Silver Spring Stage, by a fellow who was either meant to be a Dickensian business fellow of sorts, or was perhaps trying to be Mr. Dickens himself (unclear as to which), what my favorite Charles Dickens story was. I’m certain he was expecting me to say Oliver Twist or Great Expectations maybe even a cheeky response of A Christmas Carol.
As many a bleak day lay ahead, we have to remember what’s good about this part of the world. There’s information and things work. The information: Silver Spring Stage is producing a new version of John Millington Synge’s Playboy of the Western World (by Bisi Adigun & Roddy Doyle) and it’s now appearing on their stage as the first show of 2025. And it works. Directed by Seth Ghitelman, this quirky but dark comedy of incidental errors and tall tales puts a refreshing spin on the way we look at outsiders and how we value their stories.
author: Amanda N. Gunther
Angry men don’t write the rules and guns don’t right the wrongs. A debatable truth from “The Ballad of Booth” inside of a Sondheim show. What’s not up for debate is the caliber and quality of the production of Assassins now appearing live at Silver Spring Stage— their first musical in 27 years! And it’s quite the impressive feat considering it’s their first musical in nearly three decades and it’s a Sondheim to boot!