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.
Hold onto your socks!! Because the MET Fun Company knows how to rock!! And they are ready to rock your socks right off with their adorably nostalgic production of Arthur and Friends Make a Musical. Based on the Arthur book series by Marc Brown, this quaint little kids show, which is wholly appropriate for both the youngins and those of us that grew up in the 90’s watching Arthur on PBS,
We are here to discover what no one has ever seen.
And The Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s penultimate mainstage production of 2025/2026— Arthur Miller’s The Crucible— is unlike any Crucible you’ve ever seen before. It’s a disquietingly innovative hot-take on the production that universally presents it as an everyman tale, wholly investing the ensemble in the story’s narrative burden whilst simultaneously reflecting the harsh reality of the present-day world in which we live— but subtly,
This is passing extraordinary! This lovely, whimsical adventure— Peter Rabbit and the Secret Garden Gate, which is now appearing in the Stage II space at Maryland Ensemble Theatre as a MET Fun Company production! Charmingly devised and Directed by Shea-Mikal Green, a cast of four performers tumble around in the world of Beatrix Potter, most notably with the Peter Rabbit character and it’s delightful; a remarkably felicitous escape into the nostalgic world of childhood,
Once you see the ocean you may never be able to return to the well. Once you say a thing, it’s said and can never be unheard. Once you see Small Mouth Sounds at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre, the first production on their mainstage for the 2026 calendar year, you will certainly never be able to unsee it, and you may find yourself wondering if you need to be on the path of enlightenment.
It’s that time of year when the stage seems to play— every show you see— Christmas Carol – may three ghosts be haunting you… and this review of mine, in the nick of time, wishes you and yours— to experience one too. Why not experience the Maryland Ensemble Theatre production of the Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol presently running through this weekend at the Weinberg Center for the Arts cattycorner to the MET’s home stage in downtown Frederick?
Dear 34th Grade Journal,
I cannot believe it has been a whole ten years— that’s a decade— since I’ve visited Room1. (Literally so unbelievable I had to go count back through the archives, and BOOM! Do the math— 2015 to 2015— that’s ten whole years!) And it’s so wonderful, splendiferious, fabulously good fun to be back in Room1 with Mr. Scary, Junie B. Jones, and all the rest of the zany characters that populate the MET Fun Company’s production of Junie B.
Sometimes the right dress makes all the difference. I’d be hard-pressed to find a more relatable statement, particularly when it comes to going out to the theatre. In the industry for nearly 15 years a reviewer, with the reputation of ‘that one who dresses up to the theme of the show’ the right dress can make all the difference. Knowing nothing about Red Hill Theatre Group (a true shame as they’ve been around since January of 2020— getting one solid production under their belt before that pesky little problem of the global pandemic halted all theatre in person) and producing mostly in the Frederick area,
“Facts are facts. They don’t loosen or tighten. They just are.” ~The Thanksgiving Play; Larissa FastHorse.
Opinions, however, can be loose, tight, and all over the place. Popular or unpopular, we all have them, and we all share them. And that’s an important notion to keep percolating just at the back of the brain as you settle in for this 90-minute, no-intermission, genre-questionable work that is Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre as the second offering of their 2025/2026 main stage season.
It’s astounding. Time is fleeting. Madness…takes it’s toll. But listen closely— not for very much longer— literally a performance tonight and three next weekend— they’ve got to keep control! Do you remember— doing the Time Warp!? It’s that time of year again! And the Maryland Ensemble Theatre has partnered with Frederick Community College to reprise their annual tradition of mounting Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show to the stage of the Jack B.
“I am loved. And I am strong. If I can dream it then I can do it.”
There are few more important words that children (and children at heart) need to hear right now in this topsy-turvy, upside-down world that no longer makes a lot of sense. And you can hear them, feel them reinforced, and live them as the MET Fun Company kicks of their 2025/2026 season with Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Juliany Taveras (based on the book by Christine Baldacchino &
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Shakespeare, ammiright? WRONG. Like so many of those popular “of the times” lines attributed to the plagiarizing bastard, this one also doesn’t belong to Billy Shakes. (It’s actually a deeply distorted misquote from William Congreve’s The Mourning Bride, 1697 but that’s a tale for another time.) But the sentiment is definitely there. Famous. Timeless. Universal appeal. All percolating up and out of the Jacobean Era of England from that historically renowned master of page and pen,
May ya be half an hour in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead. May ya be half an hour into this Martin McDonagh dark drama before you know what you’ve gotten yourself into. Maryland Ensemble Theatre picks up its 2025/2026 season with the deliciously dark work of McDonagh, to whom they are no strangers, this time with The Beauty Queen of Leenane, directed by Elizabeth van den Berg. Perception is a tricky thing,
“Embracing happiness is f**king terrifying.” ~Sarah Shulman A Very Jewish Christmas
We don’t usually censor words around here but tis the season and you never know which little ones might be reading alongside the adults in hopes that Santa Claus or Hanukkah Harry or whichever present-bringing seasonal deity will see them being a good little offspring, reading the theatre review of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s latest new work to grace their mainstage.
Tis your ambition to be happy? Then come to Maryland Ensemble Theatre as they open up their 2024/2025 main stage season with Kate Hamill’s sprightly adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility. Indeed, the season of MET’s happiness kicks off swimmingly with this exuberantly energetic movement-based comedy, Directed by Gené Fouché, this most agreeable and enjoyable afternoon of quirky comedy meets winsome romance is a delightfully balanced romp of pathos and silliness,
author: Jimi Kinstle
Head Over Heels, book by James Magruder, conceived by Jeff Whitty, is open and running at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET) in Frederick, MD. Directed by MET Associate Artistic Director, Gené Fouché, it offers an entertaining evening of frivolity and fantasy while exploring themes of love, acceptance and self-discovery – all set to the sounds of the 1980s high energy band, The Go-Gos.
Set in an Elizabethan-esque fairy tale world,
Our subject tonight?
The Squirrels. Better still— The Squirrels at Maryland Ensemble Theatre as the penultimate production of their 2023/2024 main stage season. Written by Robert Askins (Hand To God) and Directed by Julie Herber…well… buckle up, you discerning patrons of the arts, because this one’s a doozey. Hell— I’ll say it. It’s nuts!
Playwright Robert Askins is wringing audiences in Frederick through the high-octane spin-cycle of this satirical washing machine.
Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel has local origins; originally a co-production between Baltimore’s Center Stage and California’s South Coast Repertory in 2003, it went on to a 3-month Off-Broadway run starring Viola Davis. The material also has a direct link to Nottage’s family history and was inspired by her great-grandmother’s life as a seamstress in the early 1900’s. Nottage found that the narrative and stories of black women in the early 1900’s were largely absent by researching her great-grandmother’s life.
Deck the MET with cans and corks! Fa-la-la-la-laa! La-la-la-laaa!
Gather round ye hist’ry dorks! Fa-la-la-la-laa! La-la-la-laa!
Don you now your drunk apparel! Fa-la-la-la! La-la-la! La-la-laaaa!
And hear the tale of A Christmas Carol! Fa-la-la-la-laa! La-la-la— hold-up. Nah. That’s not right. Shoot.
Inebriated Holiday. D’oh! That’s the one this one is about! Good grief, how many Three Kings draft beers did I have at Maryland Ensemble Theatre last night!?
In a follow up to last year’s presentation of Angels in America, Part 1, the Maryland Ensemble Theatre has endeavored to complete the series with Angels in America, Part 2, Perestroika. The production of these two pieces is a monumental undertaking creating almost a seven-hour total theater experience.
It’s hard not to write a comparative review. The cast and design team remain relatively the same.
They come across my inbox like they always do; a cool drink of water— code for ‘new play’— just asking to be looked over. Not in distress or nothing, see? These ‘new works’ they hold their own. But I wouldn’t be a very good T.I. if I didn’t give it a once over, now would I. T.I.? What’s that? You don’t know? Theatrical Investigator. That’s me— Amanda Gunther, T.I. – and this new one— Craft Town?
Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America, was ambitious in 1993, taking on difficult subject matter, and the Maryland Ensemble Theatre is ambitious to take on such a challenging production. ‘Set in the mid-1980s amid the AIDS crisis and the Regan administration, the characters struggle with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell’*. Originally intended for a season three years ago but sidelined by COVID, Angels now marks the MET’s 150th production overall and falls during its 25th anniversary,
Is there anything more shocking and wonderful than a true literally classic done up and decked out for Christmas? I jest not; Jane Austen never had the chance to show us the festive holiday season in her romances, but Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melcon have done exactly that! Miss Bennet Christmas at Pemberley, now playing on the main stage of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre, nestles itself in the cozy bosom of three days before Christmas…two years after the conclusion of Pride &
Story is the way organize our lives. Narrative is how we make sense of what’s happening around us; it serves as a way to conceptualize, to frame our existence. But what about truth? What about facts? And where do they fit into our narrative? Our story? Opening their 25th Anniversary season with a play that feels topically relevant to this day and age, with a prescience that is unmistakable given that the essay, book, and play itself predate the concept of ‘fake news’,
Up on the housetop, reindeer paws— out jumps good ol’ Santa Claus. And Sandy Claws! And Odin!? Why, yes, Virginia! There is— someone on your roof— or something— heck— it could even be— THUNDERSNOW! Put on your believing hat and your holiday hat and wind your way on over to the Maryland Ensemble Theatre this December season for a MET original— No, Virginia— A Grown-Up Holiday Farce. Written by company member J.D.
It’s a surreal experience— being in a crowd of enthusiastic, energetic, theatre people after over a year of being isolated from that crazy, amazing, loving bunch of people who have so much to offer to the performing arts community in Frederick. But in minutes of being amid the Maryland Ensemble Theatre 24th season launch gala, it felt as if no time had passed at all, as if just last season this exact thing had happened.
I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say that indeed dreams— rare visions or not— do come true; live theatre with in-person audiences have returned to us once more. The Maryland Ensemble Theatre is at their finest in bringing a most peculiar, wondrous and intriguing theatrical endeavor to those of us who have waited so long to return to the theatre. Directed by Julie Herber,
Have you ever taken one of those intro to acting classes
where nobody’s really sure they want to be there but they all desperately want
to learn all the secrets behind good acting? Then this show might be for you.
Have you ever taken one of those acting classes where all of the exercises that
are supposed to be revealing all the secrets to good acting feel a bit like the
instructor is trying to unload some of their own personal garbage from
childhood onto the students?
Skilled labor isn’t cheap; cheap labor isn’t skilled. An innocuous
enough statement of truth that might just ruffle the feathers of the pleasantly
situated. But isn’t that art and theater at its core? Comfort the disturbed and
disturb the comfortable? No surprises that politically charged, prescient and
topically relevant drama by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage
is being produced upon the Maryland Ensemble Theatre stage. Directed by Gené
Fouché, this ensemble-driven drama is laced with humor around the visceral edges
of political upheaval in the town of Reading,
Amanda N. Gunther | TheatreBloom
There is so much light in the world. Light from the sun,
light from inside that glows out from the human spirit, there’s all kinds of
light. But what about artificial light that’s natural? The disturbing glow the
illuminates from a diabolically dangerous substance? Radium. Playwright D.W.
Gregory historically fantasizes a dark spot on American history, shining an
incandescent beam of harrowing truth, with dramatic flair, onto historical
events of the shadowy 20th century.