Not all those who wander are lost; time has tested such a
proverb, but what if those who are lost don’t know they are wandering? Wandering
from their faith, wandering from their lives, wandering from themselves, life
is short and full of illusions, so who really understands whether or not they
are happy? An evocative and poignant new drama by Anna Ziegler wanders through
these notions, exploring the paths our lives take when we are lost and
wandering.
A second marriage to a new wife is perfectly acceptable and almost expected when your first wife dies young. It might even go along swimmingly, even if from time to time your late first wife surfaces in conversation. But things tend to go grievously awry when said dearly departed surfaces in her ghostly fatigues right in the center of your drawing room. In the zany high-brow comedy of wit and repartee, Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit is conjured to the main stage of Annapolis Shakespeare Company to kick-start the back end of their 2017/2018 season.
It is the time of year for joy, love, and holiday traditions. One tradition that many people hold dear is a yearly outing to see A Christmas Carol, they pick from numerous theatres all playing the famous production and get their yearly fix of the British miser who changes his ways. It has been a long time since a new adaptation of the famous tale has come around, however at a small theatre in Annapolis that is exactly what has happened.
Directors Donald Hicken and Sally Boyett have created a sparkling Tempest under the stars at the Charles Carroll house in Annapolis. With a spreading tree dominating the scene and a shrub hedge covering the back stage, the hill slopes toward the river for Shakespeare’s watery play. Bring a blanket or a lawn chair… and some bug spray and you’re ready for Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s The Tempest this July.
The early evening and the river bring a hint of cool weather to summer in Annapolis,
Everybody has a right to their own troubles; some people ain’t made for small town life. The quintessential all-American play about the daily doings of small town life, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, marks the inaugural production of Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s new home at 1804 West Street. Directed by Sally Boyett, this theatrical chestnut settles into the turn of the 20th century in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire with a whole mess of Gibbs’ and Webb’s and other small town folk whose stories are important to no one but themselves.
I say there is no darkness but ignorance, and to remain ignorant of the truly sensational production of Twelfth Night that is gracing itself upon the stage of the Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s studio stage would be to remain steeped in the depths of an aphotic gloom of indescribable proportions. Directed by the company’s Artistic Director— Sally Boyett— this reimagined, innovative approach pays homage to the glistening golden era of Hollywood’s silver screen,
He stands amid the roar of a surf-tormented shore, and all that he sees and seems is but a dream within a dream. Appropriate as the autumnal offering and 2016-2017 season starter at Annapolis Shakespeare Company as they roost in residence at Reynolds Tavern just off the city dock shore on Church Circle for the world premiere of Tony Tsendeas’ POE…and All the Others. Directed by Sally Boyett, this newly imagined take on Baltimore’s master of the macabre is an absurd burlesque of memory,
Ireland mustn’t be such a bad place if Colonial Players is willing to do a production that’s set there. Kicking off their 68th season with Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan, Colonial Players of Annapolis invites theatergoers into the world of a small island off the west coast of Ireland in 1934. Directed by Dave Carter, this moving piece of darkly humored theatre is quite the engagement, oh aye.
You must be serious about something if you wish to have any fun in life at all, and the thing to be serious about this spring is procuring a ticket to the exceptionally well-performed production of Oscar Wilde’s The Important of Being Earnest. The house is intimate and tickets are likely to be snatched up once word is out at just how resplendent and amusing the current Annapolis Shakespeare Company production is,
This time of year there is one story that always puts me in the holiday spirit and that’s It’s a Wonderful Life. The story of George Bailey giving everything for the people of Bedford Falls only to have everything he has done come crashing around him when Uncle Billy loses the business’s $8,000 while heading to deposit it in the bank— and on Christmas Eve none-the-less! It is because of this moment that George intends to end his life but when Clarence the angel is assigned to help him;
“One man in his time plays many parts,” declares Melancholy Jacques, and that definitely describes Richard Pilcher’s magnificent performance(s) in Annapolis Shakespeare Company‘s production of As You Like It. A mere eight actors pull off four pairs of lovers, two courts of lords, and an array of miscellaneous country bumpkins. Pilcher plays four separate roles, each strong, distinct, and imbued with life. His Jacques is pitch perfect: melancholy without being glum,
There are some secrets that do not permit themselves to be told. Arising from the grave ruins of memory, a world premier work takes to the stage with Annapolis Shakespeare Company this autumn. POE, as written by Gregory Thomas Martin and Directed by Sally Boyett, explores the final moments of Edgar Allan Poe before his untimely descent into the permanence of madness and death. Situated inside the charming historic 1747 Pub in the cellars of Reynolds Tavern,
Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona is, by turns, hilarious and horrifying, and it’s hard to know which of these is more daunting to a director approaching the play. Annapolis Shakespeare Company‘s Sally Boyett conquers both with flying colors. Her 1920’s-inspired Two Gents is sharp, incisive, fearless, and polished.
Proteus and Valentine (Patrick Truler and Joel Ottenheimer) are young friends on the verge of manhood. Proteus loves Julia (Amy Pastoor),
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.