All posts by Paul Davis

Review: Julius Caesar at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

Reviews July 30, 2016 Paul Davis

Let me tell you a story. You’ll have to listen well since the cicadas and crickets have devious plots. Plots as thick and syrupy as Cassius’ (Utkarsh Rajawat) to slide vengeance into the noble heart of Brutus (Shannon Ziegler) under the guise of freedom. Baltimore Shakespeare Factory’s production of Julius Caesar is like a story told with a group of friends and family: a campfire tale told in a semi-circle of Tikki torches in the swirling beauty on the ground of the Evergreen Museum and Library.

Review: Henry IV Parts I & II at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews June 4, 2016 Paul Davis

Before Luke Skywalker becomes a man, he started out hanging out with an old man and a pack of ne’r do wells in a crap bar while his dad and more useful sibling were out there ruling the universe. George Lucas snagged a page from Shakespeare and made it his own into the form we know and love today. The Rude Mechanicals have taken this tumultuous two-part history of Henry IV about life,

Review: The Servant of Two Masters at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Reviews May 27, 2015 Paul Davis

Let’s take a moment to have a beer you and I. There. Now we are fully prepared to enjoy one of the finest forms of comedy ever put to stage: Commedia D’elle Arte. Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of Goldoni’s classic The Servant of Two Masters by Timothy Mooney is ready for us. Ensconced, a jewel in the firmament of Reynolds Tavern Courtyard, Director Sally Boyett choreographs a “Commedia D’ell Right Now” that doesn’t just tickle the funny bone it hits it hard and rubs it for you afterwards.

Review: Dream Island at Baltimore Theatre Project

Reviews May 22, 2015 Paul Davis

When I was a lad there was an anime called Paranoia Agent that questioned all perception of reality and illusion. The music was hypnotic and jarring, harmonies clashing with sharp metallic screeches and traditional Noh theater horns and strings. The theme song is called “Dream Island: Obsessional Park.” Baltimore Theatre Project’s exquisite moving work of art, Dream Island, Directed by Naoko Maeshiba, and created by the entire team (listed below) is an obsessional park where dreams are shredded and collaged together in a papier-mãchè sculpture of light,

Review: Dirty Dancing at The Hippodrome

Reviews May 14, 2015 Paul Davis

“Nobody puts baby in a corner.” Johnny Castle’s immortal line repeated like a wave of mantras through the pre-show audience, ranging in age from people who have older siblings who have the film memorized to people who were teenagers during the play’s setting of the summer of 1963. Now appearing in musical form, Dirty Dancing, with Book by Eleanor Bergstein and Music and Lyrics by John Morris, takes to the stage at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center as a part of the Broadway Across America— CareFirst Hippodrome Broadway series.