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,
I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes— and moreover, I will go with thee to— the black box at Tatem Arts to crash a rehearsal? Bet Shakespeare didn’t see that one coming! And neither, perhaps did the fantastic four— Beatrice, Benedick, Claudio, and Hero— as they were beset upon by me for a romping jaunt of a round-robin interview! In a TheatreBloom sit down exclusive, we’ve picked the brains of Shakespeare’s living finest…Gillian Shelly,
Is not truth the truth? Instinct is a great matter. And your instincts ought be telling you to get thee to Frederick for the inaugural production of the 2026 Frederick Shakespeare Festival— Henry IV Part 1 as presented by Unstrung Harpist. Directed by Evan Crump, this jam-packed history can turn even the most skeptical of audient into a history appreciator if not wholly an enthusiast. Remarkably well executed, this sword-clashing, heartbreaking, villainously ripe tale doth tread upon the heels of Richard II,
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.
O’ wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! And it takes just one goodly creature, in this case, an actor, to sit down with us and chat all about Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s upcoming production of The Tempest. In a TheatreBloom sit-down exclusive, we’re talking to Christopher Marino, currently playing Prospero in The Tempest, which opens on April 24th as the final show (on the indoor mainstage) of the 2025/2026 season.
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.
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,
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,
If love be rough— be rough with love! Or get on down to Club Escalus for Mercutio’s Funky Boogie Woogie! Or both! All of the above. Groove to rhythm of ’75, baby— and nah, we don’t mean no 1575. We’re talkin’ 1975, ya dig? And we’re talkin’ Baltimore Baby! Closing out their 2023/2024 season on their Main Stage (and please join them for their fabulous summer fling out at the PFI in Ellicott City when R&J closes) Chesapeake Shakespeare Company is bringing you the grooviest production of Romeo &
author: Wes Dennis & Liana Olear
How shall you beguile the lazy time, if not with some delight? Perhaps by running off to Silver Spring Stage for their performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and spending the evening with besotted Athenian lovers, pranking fairies, and those oddest of creatures, amateur actors!
The Director, Emma Hooks, shows a solid understanding of Shakespeare’s language, and her actors illustrate the words with enthusiastic action (though language purists – or audience members not expecting to hear multiple F-bombs punctuating the iambic pentameter – may not appreciate the choice to also insert modern phrases to add reactions where the bard neglected to spell them out).
“Such welcome and unwelcome things at once ‘tis hard to reconcile.” Macduff, ActIVsc.iii
I spent hours trying to find the way I felt about the current Rude Mechanical’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth only to have Billy Bard having already wrapped it up for me more than halfway through the show. This particular production is a balancing act of strong performances, questionable conceptualizations, impressive technological inclusions, mismatched aesthetics, and a barrage of death,
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.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) was conceived and written by Adam Long,
In a modern context, the production of William Shakespeare’s works largely hangs upon the performers’ ability to voice these verses in such a way that the audience not only instantly and instinctually understands their meaning, but may also benefit from their specific notes of humor, tragedy, etc. In this sense, Spotlighters Theatre’s Twelfth Night – the classic gender-bending romantic comedy – is a decidedly mixed bag.
The older generation of performers seem to know exactly what they’re doing here,
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.
Ay, me! What’s in a name? Would a show by any other name still be so tragic? Probably. The Bard’s Wagon Players have surfaced for their annual summertime “Shakespeare in the Park” production! And this year— the sizzling summer of 2022— it’s none other than the infamous tragedy, Romeo & Juliet. Directed by Nathan Rosen, Produced by Bob Frank, and Stage Managed by Liana Olear, this outdoor offering has two different locations— Hannah More Park in Reisterstown and Catonsville Community Park in Catonsville— over the course of two different weekends,
“Friendship is constant in all other things, Save in the office and affairs of love.”
Love is in the air; but some may need a little meddling, I mean “help,” from their friends to realize it. As for the audience, it is easy to feel the love in Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s Much Ado About Nothing. Playing under the open sky and in the ruins at the PFI Historic Park in Ellicott City now through July 24th,
Hello.
My name is Amanda Gunther.
You killed all 37.
Prepare to be reviewed.
Going out with a rather impressive bang— though by no means are they finished producing or existing— The Rude Mechanicals, now in full-time residence at The Greenbelt Arts Center, have attained one of their coveted company goals: Produce all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays. Cymbeline, Directed by Erin Nealer, completes the quest of all 37.
“The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremble.”
Shakespeare’s tale of the roles and
duties of fathers and sons is brought to life with energy and thoughtfulness in
director Rosa Joshi’s 1 Henry IV at the Folger Theater. The second
installment of the Henriad tetralogy, the play deftly balances the personal and
political consequences of the deposition of Richard II.
C. Stanley Photography The cast of Folger Theatre’s 1 Henry IV (Peter Crook as King Henry IV at center) C.
This green plot shall be their stage! And by this, tis meant
the Hodson Outdoor Theatre of Hood College, unless of course it rains, and then
there’s an indoor option, but speak not, yet mortals, of tempests— that’s
another Shakespeare altogether! Think instead upon the season, the season of
midsummer, and attend ye well to the first-annual Frederick Shakespeare
Festival, presenting productions by Endangered Species (theatre) Project, and
in this case the production be A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
I am amazed; I know not what to say. Though the words be but
borrowed from The Bard, the sentiment bares much troth for feelings in my left
pap, where heart doth hop, in regard to The Bard Wagon Players. Striking up
against adversity— both of weather foul and ill-sentiment to their company’s
original namesake— the little mobile wagon full of Shakespeare doth enter its
third season upon the grassy fields of performing outdoor* Shakespeare here in
Maryland.
Shakespeare Theatre Company brings its
Summer Free For All program to life for a 29th season, this year reviving its
2018 production of Hamlet, originally directed by Michael Kahn and
remounted by Artistic Associate Craig Baldwin, and starring Michael Urie as the
title role. The show is a power-packed run at over 3 hours, but a scattered
performance from the cast and an incohesive design leaves the audience feeling
every minute of it.
For fans of Shakespeare’s comedies, Love’s
Labour’s Lost should not be overlooked. Often brushed off as a draft for
Shakespeare’s later hits, there is joy and humor in this play that would be
criminal to dismiss. The performers in the Folger Theatre’s current production,
directed by Vivienne Benesch, rise to the challenge at every turn and carry the
audience along for a raucous and heartfelt ride.
The
Colonial Players of Annapolis have decided to mount a production of Shakespeare
for the first time in over 20 years and after seeing the production the one
question to ask is why have they waited so long? The Merry Wives of Windsor, running now through March 23rd
at the Colonial Players, is a fresh take on a classic Shakespearian Comedy and
a thrilling joy of a night of theatre!
The real King John of England has a murky reputation. We know him for the Magna Carta. We know him as a villain from the tales of Robin Hood. And, at a stretch, we know him as Shakespeare’s earliest monarch, chronologically. Folger Theatre capitalizes on a chance to tell the rarely-told tale of this questionable king in its current production of Shakespeare’s King John, directed by Aaron Posner.
As the Folger describes,
Oh, God! I Hate Shakespeare! That’s right! I said it! I do! I really hate Shakespeare! I just don’t get it! How a mediocre actor from a measly little town is suddenly the brightest jewel in England’s royal crown! Oh, God, I HATE SHAKESPEARE! His plays are wordy— ooh. Wait. Maybe I shouldn’t sing all about it. Something is rotten in the state of— Essex!? Actually that’s sort of funny (Essex is in Shakespeare somewhere…isn’t it?) No,
Macbeth at the Folger Theatre is unlike any production you will have seen before. That’s a guarantee the Folger can make as they stage for the first time since its origination Macbeth by William Davenant, a Restoration-era adaptation of Shakespeare’s text. Director Robert Richmond, in a collaboration with scholars and the Folger Consort musicians, presents a production that is the result of years of research and work to present something unseen by a modern audience.
Shakespeare Theatre Company is in its 28th year of presenting the annual Free for All program, offering free productions every summer. This year features Romeo & Juliet, the STC’s most often-produced play, as directed by STC Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul. STC’s Free for All emphasizes accessible, relatable Shakespeare, and in that goal, this production excels. For those who have never seen Romeo & Juliet,
If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly. With expedience and precision one can readily say 4615 Theatre Company’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth were done both well and quickly. Directed by Jordan Friend, this intimate production unfolds in the laps of the audience, shaking tremors of terror and raw Shakespearean storytelling into the minds of 30 individuals at a time, ensuring that they shall burn for dreams restlessly and indeed sleep no more.
