Articles Tagged With: Greenbelt Arts Center

The Importance of Being Earnest 📷 Rachel Zirkin Duda

The Importance of Being Earnest at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews October 31, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther Leave a comment

Girls never marry the men that they flirt with! Unless they’re flirting with a handbag! There’s something to be said for a tried and true chestnut of the stage. Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, in its originality, is tried and true and presently on the stage at Greenbelt Arts Center under the direction of Stephen Cox. Humorous, salty, and often silly— the three best things one could want for a period comedy of romance and frivolity— this production is charming and well-paced and will tickle your fancy whether you’re new to Wilde and his wondrous strange notions of romantic comedies or cherish his work with great fondness.

(L to R) Ryan Kieft, Stephen Foreman, Clark Elliott, John Sheldon in A Man of No Importance ???? Anthony Rivera

A Man of No Importance at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews April 19, 2024 Alan Duda

author: Alan Duda

“It’s not Immodest, it’s Art!”

Alfie Byrne loves art. Specifically the works of Oscar Wilde. Which he reads daily to the commuters of the Dublin bus he conducts. And nightly as he conducts Wilde’s plays for his community theater at St. Imelda’s church. And everyone loved their Importance of Being Earnest. But as Wilde himself discovered, not everyone loves the idea of them putting on Salome.

Ms. Story’s Living History at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews February 20, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

Dreams don’t have to be deferred. They can grow and bloom; they can bring nourishment to the soul. The sentiment, if not the words exactly, of creator Shemika Renee in the setting the tone for her one-woman production of Ms. Story’s Living History, now appearing at the Greenbelt Arts Center through March 3rd, 2024. Directed by Rikki Howie Lacewell, this educational presentation explores important narratives of historical women of color, telling their stories to help unravel the mystery of history when all too often these stories are overlooked.

Aparna Sri (left) as Lady Macbeth and Jaki Demarest (right) as Macbeth ???? Constantia Rioux

Macbeth at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews February 4, 2024 Amanda N. Gunther

“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,

Merrily We Roll Along at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews January 16, 2024 Stephen Duda

When Director Roy Hammond got the rights for Merrily We Roll Along in 2019, little did he know a pandemic and some Broadway wizardry would interfere. But it’s up! And it’s amazing! This 1981 musical covers the trials and tribulations of three artistic friends … backwards … starting with their ultimate breakup and ending with the hopeful youths staring up on a roof in October 1957. Being Sondheim, you’ll be hard pressed to whistle a melody on the way home,

Ill Met By Moonlight at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews September 1, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther 2 Comments

What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here? Tis a crew of Rude Mechanicals and they indeed find themselves Ill Met By Moonlight. Some six years in the making, TRM finally gets to bring their dream production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to light. UV light, that is. Playing at the Greenbelt Arts Center through September 9th 2023 and Directed by Joshua Engel, this judiciously rendered production of Midsummer is not your grandfolks’ fairy-tale.

Daniel Dausman (left) as the Scarecrow and Marianne Virnelson (right) as Scraps ???? Andy Culhane

The Patchwork Girl Of Oz at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews June 23, 2023 Alan Duda

The Woozy and Yoop and Mangaboos – Oh My!

The Patchwork Girl of Oz is L. Frank Baum’s seventh book in the series. Dr. Pipt brings to life Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, but accidentally petrifies Unc Nunkie. So, along with Ojo the Unlucky, Scraps sets off on a component quest to find the remedy and meet and make many friends along the way. Don’t worry if you can’t at first remember the list of items they need to find,

The Beaux’ Stratagem at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews March 30, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

It’s all true— it’s all true— hilarity will ensue! Down at The Dew Drop Inn— you’ll laugh too— it’s all true! Now granted, my lyrical composition isn’t nearly as hysterical as Jaki Demarest’s when it comes to scribbling together crackpot-laughable words for the 70’s heehaw hoe-down spin-about that happens pretty darn close to the end of Act I with some of the blokes box-stepping ‘round one another in sheer nonsense-grade bliss. Wait— sorry— TIMEWARP!! Back it up— all the waaaay back to the 1970s,

The Belle’s Stratagem at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews February 2, 2023 Amanda N. Gunther

Men are all dissemblers, liars, deceivers! Or something like it, so says playwright Hannah Cowley, author of The Belle’s Stratagem. Not to be confused with The Beaux’ Stratagem, by George Farquhar (though if you stick around in a few weeks’ time, you may see exactly that show on The Rude Mechanicals’ stage!) Belle hit Drury Lane in 1780 whereas Beaux debuted quite a few decades before (and at Theatre Royal) in 1707.

The Last Five Years (Book Cast) at Greenbelt Arts Center. AnnaBelle Lowe (left) and Matt Wetzel (right). ????Kris Northrup

The Last Five Years at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews November 5, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

I’ve got a feeling— things are moving way too fast! And by things I mean the weekends left in this 2022 calendar where you can see The Last Five Years at Greenbelt Arts Center! It’s the first, fully staged, live, in-person production since January of 2020 and it’s a sensational one. Directed by Meg Nemeth, with Musical Direction by Rolanda Brown, this emotionally astonishing musical is a two-person show weaving the experience of a relationship over the last five years between Jamie and Cathy.

12 Angry Women at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews September 2, 2022 Amanda N. Gunther

What is a reasonable doubt? Google + Merriam-Webster says, “A reasonable doubt exists when a factfinder cannot say with moral certainty that a person is guilty or a particular fact exists. It must be more than an imaginary doubt, and it is often defined judicially as such doubt as would cause a reasonable person to hesitate before acting in a matter of importance.” Perhaps we’re not asking the right question. Perhaps the question should be “what causes someone to have reasonable doubt?” If you want the answer to that,

Cymbeline at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews November 5, 2021 Amanda N. Gunther

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.

Motherhood Out Loud at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews October 31, 2019 Tommy Malek

Motherhood: sometimes a complete joy,
sometimes an utter pain… but either way, the ladies (and gentleman) at
Greenbelt Arts Center are taking us through ALL the motions; the good, the bad,
and the ugly of being a mom in Motherhood Out Loud by Leslie
Ayvazian, Brooke Berman, David Cale, Jessica Goldberg, Beth Henley, Lameece
Issaq, Claire LaZebnik, Lisa Loomer, Michele Lowe, Marco Pennette, Theresa Rebeck,
Luanne Rice, Annie Weisman and Cheryl L. West.

Director
Rikki Howie Lacewell guides this voyage of vignettes with a skillful hand and a
keen eye.

Jekyll & Hyde at Wolf Pack Theatre Company

Reviews October 3, 2019 Wes Dennis

Before we plunge into the guts of
this review, let me offer an admission: I am not generally a fan of musicals.
That said, I am incredibly fond of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case
of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. I even reread it in preparation for reviewing
Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical, with book and lyrics by Leslie Briscusse
and music by Frank Wildhorn. I imagined that my affection for the source
material would,

The Wild Party at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews August 31, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Queenie was a blonde.

And Burrs will make you happy.

And Kate is the life of the party.

And maybe they like it that way.

They’re raising the roof over at The Greenbelt Arts Center with their wild, wild party. Not just any party, but Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, directed by Jeffrey Lesniak with Musical Direction by Elizabeth Alford, and Choreography by Rikki Lacewell.

The Country Wife at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews August 14, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

For my part, I will have only those glorious, womanly
pleasures of being very verbose and very favorable to The Rude Mechanical’s
production of William Wycherley’s The Country Wife. A far cry from very
slovenly, though indeed ‘tis very drunk, this quirky Restoration comedy
(apparently there was humor in the restoration era) under the direction of Alan
Duda, finds its footing not in its original setting but rather in the posh and
swanky New York City of the 1950’s.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews June 14, 2019 Amanda N. Gunther

Mendacity is the system we live in. Death is one way out.
Liquor is the other. Unless of course the crystal decanter top fuses into the
bottle-neck and prevents you from your liquor. (Try the screw-top.) Feeling a
little uncomfortable yet? A little like a Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof? Then you’ve found your way to The Rude Mechanical’s
production of Tennessee Williams’ other play, or his other, other play. Not the
one with the street-screaming for Stella or the one with all the little glass
animals and the jonquils and gentlemen callers,

A Perfect Arrangement at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews February 6, 2019 Rachel Zirkin Duda

Amanda N. Gunther | TheatreBloom

In the post-modern age, people
have the right to express who they are unabashedly and the freedom to
experience connections with a wide variety of people – without judgment. A
person may identify as cis- or transgender, non-binary, or agender – gay,
straight, or bisexual – single or married – monogamous or polyamorous – or any
combination of these – and this diversity is tolerated (for the most part.)
It’s a brave new world we live in,

Stonefish at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews January 19, 2019 Holly Trout

Amanda N. Gunther | TheatreBloom

Stonefish is an original play by
Erica Smith and directed by David Dieudonne.
Without wishing to spoil, Stonefish
revolves around fraternal twins Mason and Dixon (both played by Amanda Zeitler)
their younger brother Lewis, (Ren Stone) their father Stan, (Sean Butler) and
their piano teacher, Christopher (Matt Baughman.) The play itself deals heavily with grief and
trauma.

There is
little one can say about the plot without spoiling the thread of the story
except in that while it is a clever concept,

The Toxic Avenger at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews November 3, 2018 Holly Trout

The Toxic Avenger, directed by Jeffery Lesniak, is a musical based on the movie of the same name and both a playful parody of the superhero genre and of conventional musical theatre sensibilities. The plot revolves around a toxic dump of a fictional New Jersey town called Tromaville and its dark knight—Melvin Ferd the Third, a sweet, stereotypical nerd with a crush on his pretty (and blind—beware there are a lot of blind jokes that get old quickly) librarian friend Sarah and deep-seated convictions about cleaning up the town and calling out the corrupt mayor Babs Belgoody.

Wolf Pack Theatre Company's Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening at Wolf Pack Theatre Company

Reviews September 14, 2018 Alan Duda

Spring Awakening – Charity, Chastity, Choreography

Every generation thinks they invented sex. Spring Awakening is how they invented it under the Second Reich. Wolf Pack Theatre Company brings you this oft-censored 1890 play which was revamped as a musical in 2006 to win eight Tony Awards.

Co-director William Leary usually chooses dark and heavy adult subject matter, and continues to do so with Spring Awakening – this time with adolescents.

Timon of Athens at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews September 1, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

How goes the world? A loaded question if ever there was one to be asked, especially in this day and age. But set yourself back from this day and age, set your dial of existence back to 1978 in order to prepare yourself to digest The Rude Mechanicals’ latest offering: Timon of Athens. Directed by Joshua Engel, this miscreant play of Williams Shakespeare’s is finding a new lens through which to be viewed in the hands of The Rude Mechanicals.

Frankenstein at Off The Quill

Reviews August 14, 2018 Rachel Zirkin Duda

“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.” – Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

If there were a conceivable method to resuscitate the dead, would you want to use it? How far would you go to achieve this goal? What if it all went horribly awry? Fictional character Victor Frankenstein attempts to do just that in an infamous novel published in 1818 by author Mary Shelley.

The Merchant of Venice at The Rude Mechanicals

Reviews June 18, 2018 Amanda N. Gunther

Neither a borrower nor a lender be. While The Rude Mechanicals aren’t currently producing Hamlet, there’s logic in that quote that could and should be readily applied to The Merchant of Venice, which The Rude Mechanicals are currently producing. Said advice would go far for both Antonio and Shylock and save everyone the trouble of their various plights fraught with woe and unfortunate circumstances. But alas, Shakespeare didn’t pen it that way,

Return to the Forbidden Planet at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews May 23, 2018 Rachel Zirkin Duda

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a young man named William Shakespeare who was a huge science fiction playwright. No, wait. That’s not right. Let’s try that again. There was once a man named Bob Carlton, who penned a science fiction play called Return to the Forbidden Planet, an homage to the classic works of William Shakespeare – and of course the classic 1956 film,

Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews April 17, 2018 Rachel Zirkin Duda

Back in 1887, Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced the world to the now-infamous sleuthing mastermind, Sherlock Holmes. More than a century later, playwright Ken Ludwig adapted Doyle’s third crime novel, the well-known Hound of the Baskervilles, as a madcap, sometimes dizzyingly fast-paced farcical comedy, called simply – Baskerville. Directed by Ann Lowe-Barrett and produced by William Powell, this adaptation is currently being performed at the Greenbelt Arts Center to raving audiences.

Almost, Maine at Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews January 28, 2018 Rachel Zirkin Duda

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

– Maya Angelou

What is love? Why does it happen? How does it grow? When does it end? The residents of a little area way up north – Almost, Maine – have the same questions, and Director Bob Kleinberg brings their stories to the Greenbelt Arts Center just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The Wizard of Oz at Greenbelts Arts Center

Reviews November 28, 2017 Rachel Zirkin Duda

Ordinarily, the day after Thanksgiving consists of folks sitting around the house with still-loosened belts, eating delicious leftovers, perhaps catching up on missed episodes of favorite TV shows, and/or attempting to recover from the tryptophan-induced comas still plaguing them from the night before. But this year – at least for some – things unfolded a little differently. Instead of relaxing in their living rooms, dozens and dozens of people filled the seats at the Greenbelt Arts Center to watch a visually stunning,

Beau Jest as Greenbelt Arts Center

Reviews October 23, 2017 Rachel Zirkin Duda

Introducing a significant other to Mom and Dad is a ubiquitous rite of passage that can be simultaneously exciting and terrifying. You want that first meeting to go perfectly. You hope your partner will like your parents. You pray your parents will return the feeling and give you both their blessing. But, what do you do when your family DOESN’T approve of your relationship? If you are Sarah Goldman, the main character in the Greenbelt Arts Center production of Beau Jest (written by James Sherman and Directed by GAC staple Norma Ozur) the answer is clear– you conjure up a more “suitable” suitor to introduce to your parents– and then hire an actor to bring the character to life.

Midnight Cigarette at Wolfpack Theatre Company

Reviews September 8, 2017 Alan Duda

Content Warning! Midnight Cigarette contains nudity, racist, derogatory and inflammatory terminology, sexual situation, graphic content, coarse language, controversial conversations regarding politics, abortion, incest, rape, domestic violence, and scenes of substance abuse.

So reads the insert in the program of William Leary’s latest play. Set in a coal town with no more coal, Midnight Cigarette revolves around the remains of those still trying to live there. It’s a small town where everyone knows most everything about everyone,