A Shayna
Maidel is a play I had never heard of, and that’s really a shame,
because it was a powerful experience that left me thinking, for days. I’ve seen favorite plays performed in an
underwhelming way, and also saw a play I didn’t anticipate liking performed by
such talented thespians that I was converted to a fan, but the real treat with
this particular production of A Shayna Maidel,
Ten actors. Ten plays. Ten minutes. One stage. It’s happening right now in a theatre near you— the Fells Point Corner Theatre, to be exact. Appearing as a new revision to their annual tradition of a 10-minute play festival, this year four directors take ten actors across the course of ten different ten-minute one-act plays. Polished, poignant, and perfectly humorous, this bundle of shorts is perfectly palatable for those who prefer their theatre in quippy clips and devourable morsels.
As God is my witness, you shall never be hungry again, at least your comedic appetite will be sated when you turn up to the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre for their first production of 2016, Moonlight & Magnolias. A madcap malady of hilarious proportions Directed by Michael Zemarel, this play is a zany two hour trek across Hollywood’s most manic melodrama, Gone With the Wind. Only in the most truncated and hysterical fashion possible,
Gay. Straight. They’re just words, aren’t they? Why should it matter what you sleep with, shouldn’t the focus be on with whom you sleep? In a riveting and provocative production of Mike Bartlett’s Cock, the Fells Point Corner Theatre begs the question of sexual persuasion and its correlation to identity. Primed to spark a discussion, this engaging and somewhat shocking drama Directed by Steve Goldklang delivers high-octane intense scenes of emotional turmoil,
People take great comfort in proof, especially when it comes to the unknown. But sometimes the proof is the explanation. Baltimore-based playwright Mark Scharf debuts his newest work, The Quickening— a ghost story for the stage— as a part of the Baltimore Footlights Reading Series 2015-2016. Hosted by the Dramatists Guild of America, this reading series provides the opportunities for local playwrights to have staged readings of their new works, generating a chance for workshopping new ideas based on feedback given by the audience.
Is there life beyond death? An age old question that plagues the minds of the masses. Science has answers. Religion has answers. Should not the theatre also have answers? In a brand new work by Baltimore-based playwright Mark Scharf, The Quickening, perceived as a ghost story for the stage, dabbles into the uncharted territories of the unknown. In a TheatreBloom exclusive interview we sit down with Mark Scharf to discuss his latest work.
The lost art of communication speaks volumes about the devolution of our existence as human beings. Most of us don’t know our neighbors names or what they do for a living, because who borrows a cup of sugar from the neighbors anymore? Who has time to bake anyway? Fells Point Corner Theatre is baking up a world of poignant drama and dark humor, making the communicative connections that our modern society lacks with the Baltimore premier of Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit.
America is a promise. A promise of hopes and dreams and live theatre at your fingertips. The Vagabond Players are all American, not only because they’re approaching their 100th anniversary season, but because they’re participating in the 2015 Baltimore Playwrights Festival with an area premier of a political zinger. And as the play says— politics is theatre, all that matters is that you say “here I am! Look at me!” Mario Correa’s Commander takes hold of the stage giving local stage manager Chelsea Dove her full-length Directorial Debut in this poignant dramedy of sexuality in politics.
Telling the truth is an expensive hobby. The costs are steep, the prices are high, and in the end the results can be catastrophic. In this riveting and politically charged Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by Jon Robin Baitz, Fells Point Corner Theatre showcases an extraordinarily talented cast under exceptional direction with their production of Other Desert Cities. Directed by Michael Byrne Zemarel, this intense familial story focuses on opposing political views across the parental and child generations with a shocking family secret that can destroy the foundation upon which such a life was built.