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.
Tis the season of hospitality, merriment, and openheartedness! Come in and know them better, man! Tis the season— their 11th, in fact— for putting that timeless holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, upon their stage. Tis the season for uplifting spirits, for heartwarming festivities, and for radical, positive change. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s A Christmas Carol is truly a cherished stage tradition, nestled right in the heart of Charm City and is bringing jubilation amid the bleakness that 2025 has turned out to be;
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.
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,
Do I remember this? Or is this what’s about to happen? This is no dream. This is no vision. This is the truth. Profound words. Or are they questions? What are words if not questions? You’ll hear them over and over— though never truly in one voice as one might expect from a chorus in a Greek tragedy; their effect, however, is no less striking. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company presents The Oresteia freely adapted from Aeschylus by Ellen McLaughlin and directed by Lise Bruneau.
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.
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes”
“Now is the Winter of our discontent”…. No wait, nevermind. That’s a different Shakespeare show, and a different season entirely. But Summer is here in Maryland and when it comes to the Macbeths, “discontent” is an apropos word to define their predicament, but the exact opposite to describe how you will feel as you enjoy this timeless production of the Scottish Play;
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.Â
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) was conceived and written by Adam Long,
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.
“Oh for a muse of fire that would reach the uppermost heights of creativity— the stage a kingdom…” we’ve all heard it. We all recognize it. Do we all know that it comes from one of Shakespeare’s histories? You may have heard it, recognize it, and even know that it comes from Henry V, but you’ve never heard it until you hear it slipping delicately over the lips of Lesley Malin, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s Executive Producing Director— or for the purposes of this performance— The Chorus.
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,