Articles Tagged With: non-musical

Kim’s Convenience at Everyman Theatre

Reviews September 8, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

“Look same…not same thing…” a repeated phrase in the first several minutes of Ins Choi’s Kim’s Convenience, the opening bid to Everyman Theatre’s 2026/2027 season. A perfectly humorous, deeply heartfelt, earnest exploration of family dynamic, expectations and dysfunction, this brilliant performance, as directed by Cara Hinh (in co-production with Indiana Repertory Theatre and Portland Center Stage) will tickle the funny bone, warm the heart, draw a tear or two to the eye,

Much Ado About Nothing at Ardeo Theatre Company

Reviews August 22, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Be vigitant! And if you have legs— you will come! To the final production of the 2026 Frederick Shakespeare Festival— Ardeo Theatre Company’s Much Ado About Nothing! Set in the bodacious and totally rad 1980s, this hilarious Shakespearean comedy is directed by Aaron Angello and features a mostly repertory cast from the FSF first main-stage show of 2026, Henry IV Part 1. Witty, humorous, heartfelt, and above all fun,

Deathtrap at Cockpit in Court

Reviews July 28, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Of these two things I am certain; all else is confusion:

Cockpit in Court puts up five shows a year in their summerstock season; two main stage shows, two shows in the cabaret, and a junior show for youth performers over in the admin building.
Deathtrap is arguably the best show they’ve produced up in the cabaret space this side of the pandemic.

It’s thrilleritis-malignus at its finest!

God of Carnage at Cockpit in Court

Reviews June 19, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

Every Brilliant Thing at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews May 19, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

You Can’t Take It With You at Spotlighters Theatre

Reviews April 29, 2026 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

Do Not Be Stingy With The Blintzes: You Can’t Take It With You at Spotlighters Theatre

Now, stop me if you’ve heard this one: What do you get when you cross a tax-evading retiree, a wannabe playwright, a fireworks-obsessed husband and his best friend, a dancer, a xylophonist, a jealous housekeeper, a drunken actor, two Russians, a Scot, a Wall Street bigwig and his wife, some star-crossed lovers,

4am Friends at Endangered Species Theatre Project 📷 Michael Mason Studios

4a.m. Friends at ESP Theatre

Reviews April 24, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

We’ve all got our crew. Our people, our peeps, our “I need help moving a body”— Grey’s Anatomy defined it as “our person.” And several of us have a small army or contingency, but we’ve all got our ‘4a.m. friends’ as the tile of Endangered Species Theatre Projects’ newest work blatantly states. The takeaway from the play is that friends are important. The relationships that you cultivate over the years (and not all good friendships take decades to cultivate) are the ones that float you through life.

The Minutes at Keegan Theatre

Reviews April 14, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Just what kind of community do you want to live in? Ask yourself that the next time you think about running for town council or stepping up to attend a city hall meeting. It’s a valid question. What kind of community do you want to live in? It’s a surface level question that could have a surface level answer. It could also be a fathomless question with a bottomless answer that really gut-checks reality for you.

Her Portmanteau at The Strand Theatre 📷 Shealyn Jae Photography

Her Portmanteau at The Strand Theater

Reviews April 13, 2026 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

Photographs & Memories: Her Portmanteau at Strand Theatre Company

Culture shock is a very real side effect of immigration, to which family can be both a cure and an agitator, in varying degrees. As a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, Mfoniso Udofia knows these struggles intimately, sharing her understanding through Her Portmanteau, a profound dive into the hearts and minds of a family working to find connection despite a divide carved by 30 years and 5,300 miles of distance.

Sweat at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews April 13, 2026 Rick Bergmann

Powerful Acting Carries Sweat at Greenbelt Arts Center

author: Rick Bergmann

We often imagine theater audiences as “predominantly white, affluent, middle-aged or older, and highly educated,” and the stories on stage as far removed from everyday struggle. Lynn Nottage’s Sweat, now playing at the Greenbelt Arts Center, dismantles that assumption. Centered on flawed, hard-working individuals clinging to the promise of the American Dream, the play lays bare how quickly that promise can unravel—and how easily anyone can break.

Murder on the Orient Express at Dundalk Community Theatre

Reviews March 12, 2026 Kenny Sigal

author: Kenny Sigal

Whodunnit? Whodunnit? By golly whodunnit?!? That is exactly what you will find out at the end of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (directed by Joey Hellman) at the Dundalk Community Theater. This murder mystery is chugging down the tracks with an amazing cast for your enjoyment that is sure to keep you entertained throughout the entire show.

The show revolves around Hercule Poirot (Greg Guyton) who’s commanding stage presence was strong enough that even I almost confessed to the murder!

Women Playing Hamlet at Bowie Community Theatre

Reviews March 10, 2026 Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

author: Charles Boyington & Steven Kirkpatrick

The Questions: If in Shakespearean times, all the roles in his dramas were played by men, should we not have dramas today where all the roles are played by women? If Hamlet is arguably the best character Shakespeare has ever written, should not every woman want desperately to play him? Should you spend your money to see this community production? Yes.

In Women Playing Hamlet,

A View From The Bridge at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews March 5, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

If you say something, you know it. If you don’t say something, you don’t know it. So many people keeping their sayings to themselves so that they— what? Get to remain unknown? Anonymous? Ignorant? Blood may be thicker than water but betrayal— that can cut deeper than any bond. Arthur Miller and his seemingly ageless drama A View From The Bridge is painting a bloody and brutal— and tragically still relevant— picture of the American condition.

Arsenic & Old Lace at Vagabond Players 📷 Shealyn Jae Photography

Arsenic and Old Lace at Vagabond Players

Reviews February 21, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Do you long for a simpler time? A time when things weren’t so complicated? A time, perhaps, when simpler virtues— things like candlelight, good manners, and poisoned wine were on offer in every Old Spinster household? Vagabond Players has got just the show for you, my friends, but whatever you do— DO NOT DRINK THE WINE! That tried and true comedic classic, Arsenic and Old Lace, written by Joseph Kesselring, is now appearing at Vags under the direction of Katie Sheldon and it’s a doozy!

Dawn at Everyman Theatre

Reviews February 11, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

“No one understands their mother!” That was the line that got the most relief-laden laugh during the 82-minute run time of Dawn, a new play by Tuyết Thị Phạm, currently making its world premiere at Everyman Theatre. And while the sentiment may indeed be very true, its placement and timing were the exact break of levity that was required in the heaviness of the work as a whole. Directed by Seonjae Jim,

Dejeanette Horne (left) as Troy and Isaiah C. Evans (right) as Cory in Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s Fences 📷 Kiirstn Pagan Photography

Fences at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews February 7, 2026 Amanda N. Gunther

Some people build fences to keep people out. Other people build fences to keep people in. A powerful statement to be sure; an evocative thought that primes the mind for the emotional journey that is August Wilson’s Fences. Produced at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company as a part of the multi-year, city-wide Baltimore August Wilson Celebration, this striking production is a theatrical pleasure, inviting audiences into the intimate details of day-to-day life in the backyard of the Maxson home in Pittsburgh,

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at St. Gabriel Miracle Players

Reviews November 16, 2025 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

Revenge at Bethlehem: “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” at St. Gabriel Miracle Players

Good lord, another Christmas show. Who does a Christmas show in November? I mean, really! At least wait until AFTER Thanksgiving! Yeah, I get it, there are tons of cute kids, and holiday cheer and whatnot, but still!

Do you know someone who feels like this? Can’t seem to get them into the Christmas spirit until about December 23rd?

Laura Richards Bakin (left) as Grandma with Amanda Thomas (center) as Amelia and Christopher Leatherman (right) as Thomas in Dressing Amelia with Red Hill Theatre Group 📷 Ben Cushwa

Dressing Amelia at Red Hill Theatre Group

Reviews November 14, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

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,

The Thanksgiving Play at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Reviews November 8, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

“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.

Web Of Murder at Bowie Community Theatre

Reviews November 7, 2025 Cybele Pomeroy

author: Cybele Pomeroy

Web of Murder of Bowie Community Theatre: Killer comedy? Or comedy killed?

Really, this show should slay you in your seat. It’s a cozy little Victorian scenario, with all the tropes you’d expect, including lots of doors for popping in and out of, a set decorated to within an inch of its two-by-four life, an eight-member multi-generational cast, dogs, secret passageways, supernatural trances and enough villainous intent to fill an Orient Express.

Tartuffe at Silver Spring Stage

Reviews November 4, 2025 Leonard Taube

author: Leonard Taube

Few plays in world history are mired in as much controversy as the one being currently produced by Silver Spring Stage (Silver Spring, MD). In 1664 France, a delightfully funny yet extremely controversial three-act play by French playwright Moliere was performed titled Tartuffe. While received well by the public, it immediately sparked conflict amongst certain groups who did not take too well to the portrayal of someone who is outwardly pious but fundamentally deceitful.

Art at Everyman Theatre

Reviews October 28, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s often said that death brings out the worst in people; you see family’s tear one another apart over left-behind possessions in the wake of someone’s passing. But what happens when the death of a friendship is eminent? How do friends behave when the threads that bind them are no longer frayed but thinly grizzled and hardly friends at all? So much so that a singular choice— one might even say a matter of personal taste and opinion— or a disagreement over said choice,

Kong’s Night Out at UpStage Artists

Reviews October 16, 2025 Wes Dennis

author: Wes Dennis

In Jack Neary’s Kong’s Night Out, the current production from UpStage Artists, Myron Siegel (Neil Swanson-Chrisman) has a problem. Once a big name among Broadway producers, Siegel longs to recapture the fame and reputation he’s lost following a string of flops — most of which failed due to the meddling machinations of one Carl Dennam (Peter Rouleau), a rival producer known for traveling to exotic locales to obtain thrilling on-site footage.

The Crucible at Silhouette Stages

Reviews October 14, 2025 Leonard Taube

author: Leonard Taube

Intense. Thought provoking. Suspenseful. Relevant. Those are just some of the adjectives I can think of to describe the powerful piece of theatre that is Silhouette Stage’s (Columbia, MD) current production of The Crucible by American playwright Arthur Miller. This dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692-1693 may be part fiction, but one thing is for sure. While the play was written as an allegory for McCarthyism (when the US government persecuted people accused of being communists),

Murder On The Orient Express at Manor Mill Playhouse 📷 Zoe Leonard

The Second Conductor: Murder On The Orient Express at Manor Mill Playhouse

Reviews October 7, 2025 Chris Pence

author: Chris Pence

It was the one case that kept Poirot awake at night, the one that had more twists and turns than a rail line through the mountains, the Murder On The Orient Express. Agatha Christie’s timeless mystery finally comes to the stage, roaring into the station at Manor Mill Playhouse.

Based on the novel of the same name by the Mistress of Murder herself, Dame Agatha Christie,

The Hot L Baltimore at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews October 5, 2025 Steven Wilson

author: Steven Howell Wilson

When an ensemble cast meshes seamlessly, hitting every cue, overtalking in the right places,
quipping and bickering, interweaving a dozen diverse life stories, it’s uniquely satisfying. It’s as
impressive as watching the coordinated dives and catches of a troupe of aerial acrobats. Well,
maybe the audience’s blood pressure stays lower with the actors than with the acrobats.
Greenbelt Arts Center’s production of The Hot L Baltimore hits this satisfying mark.

Not Your Mama’s Oleanna: An Interview with M. Eden Walker & Teagle Walker on their company WFB Productions and their upcoming production of Oleanna

Interviews September 16, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Not your father’s root beer. Not your granny’s bingo. Not your mama’s— Oleanna!? The David Mamet play, which I can recall studying a bit during my BFA program at UMBC (though I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen or reviewed live on stage) is coming to the Motor House for a limited three-performance engagement. With a brand new theatre company, getting its feet wet and spreading its theatrical wings. WFB Productions— a family-run small professional company founded by M.

Craigslisted at Nu Sass Productions

Reviews September 15, 2025 Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

author: Steven Kirkpatrick & Charles Boyington

Nu Sass Productions’ production of Sharai Bohannon’s Craigslisted is best described as a dramedy even as early smiles lead toward fear and possible disaster. The play presents an engaging, though psychologically murky, narrative and is well-suited to younger adult audiences, as its protagonist utilizes social media while searching for straightforward solutions to a prevalent concern among today’s students. This production is well acted and deftly produced in an intimate setting.

Four Old Broads at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Reviews September 15, 2025 Amanda N. Gunther

Grab your turbo-strength girdle! Put your teeth in! And pull-up those big-girl panties! Because all hell’s about to break loose at the Magnolia Place Senior Living Home! But before we let the broads loose on the audience for approximately two and a half hour’s stage traffic, we should take down the particulars! Laurel Mill Playhouse is the where! This upcoming weekend (September 19th, 20th, and 21st 2025) is the when! (Also 8:00pm on Friday &

Julius Caesar at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Reviews June 26, 2025 Erin Tarpley

author: Erin Tarpley

“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once.”

As the sun begins to set behind the many hills of Historic Ellicott City, the air begins to cool. But tonight (or today, if you go on a Sunday), you are not in Historic Ellicott City. No, my friend. You have travelled back in time and space 2,000 years to the historic seven hills of Ancient Rome.