Category: Interviews

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A new twist on old history from Round House Theatre

Round House Theatre wraps up its season with a timely, resonant selection timed to coincide with–and to comment on–the national observations of America’s 250th. Penned by the reliably thoughtful, and thought-provoking, Suzan-Lori Parks, the play, Sally & Tom, takes a hard and even uncomfortable look at the truth behind the myths, the reality behind the history we’re often taught.

It does this not in straight documentary form, but by using the frame of a play–not only to set the past within a modern context that provides parallels, echoes, and contrasts; but also to provide a mirror or recapitulation of the storytelling, the fantasy, the fabulation that it’s committed to exposing. It does this by putting the entire story inside the construct that an imaginary theater company has set out to tell this story, only to end up mixing up the personal with the professional, history with fiction, and combustible personalities with inflammatory material. In other words, situation normal.

Dubbed by the producers at Round House “a ferocious and funny dramedy,” Parks’s new play is characteristically hard to pin down for tone and genre; or, rather, is quintessentially generous in her embrace of a range of tones, styles, and approaches. Sally & Tom asks audiences to wrestle with substantial and thorny issues, along the lines of race, gender, identity, freedom, expression, identity, the economics of politics and the politics of economics. It also poses hard questions for itself such as who decides what History is, who gets included and who gets left out, and what we do with the differences. But it also offers laughter aplenty–at our expense, at its own expense, and at the expense of human beings being human.

As you can hear in my conversation with acting company member Ro Boddie, who joined me to reflect on the play and the dual singularity of his roles in it, Sally and Tom asks audiences to revisit what they thought was familiar and to hear, see, and think about it all in new ways.

There’s more information online at https://roundhousetheatre.org/on-stage/explore/sally-tom/

 

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Iron Crow’s brings THE VIEW UPSTAIRS to Theatre Project

With The View Upstairs, playing at Baltimore Theatre Project through June 14th in a regional-premiere production by Iron Crow Theatre, Max Vernon (music, book, lyrics) has created a time- and genre-bending new musical that both remembers a forgotten past and forges forward into a hopeful future, that both mourns terrible loss and celebrates irrepressible resilience. In keeping with other works of kindred spirit, it suggests that all that’s gay doesn’t necessarily glitter, but that to glitter and be gay can be at the heart of forging an enduring community. And, on the heels of an award season filled with Jellicle Ball, it joins in celebrating Pride with an effusion of celebratory, musical abundance in the face of efforts at erasure–or worse.

The piece was inspired by the deadly 1973 attack on the Upstairs Lounge, an iconic gay bar in New Orleans, which event–along with its 32 victims–ended up buried by the silence and judgment of its time. From this painful history and its unsanitized truth, Vernon shapes an electric, abundant, joyous, carnival that defiantly chooses to put connection and resilience at the heart of pain and loss. And to do it with song, music, dance, and a wild party.

To immerse the audience fully in the era and the experience, the production features a fully functioning bar and recreation of the nightclub.

For thoughts and reflections on the piece and the production, you can hear director Sean Elias, Iron Crow’s artistic director, in our conversation here:

You can read more about the production, the artists, the process–and find a digital program here at Iron Crow’s website 

And tickets and other info are here at Theatre Project.

 

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LUMINOUS DEAD comes to life onstage at The Voxel

An adaptation and staging of Caitlin Starling’s debut sci-fi/horror novel, the Bram Stoker Award-nominated The Luminous Dead, gets its world premiere at The Voxel in Baltimore June 2-7. It’s the brainchild of the creative imagination of Andrew Hungerford–who adapts and helms–along with Distance over Time Theater, and the result of one of the Voxel’s creative residencies.

The play picks up the source material’s close, even claustrophobic focus on heroine Gyre, who embarks on an intrepid but risky venture-for-hire to explore a mysterious cavern–sealed up tight in an all-encompassing space suit, accompanied and guided only by a combination voice-in-her-ear and “guy (or gal) in the chair,” Em. Who, along with mission’s many other challenges and potential pitfalls, may prove to be more than meets the eye, or ear.

While Gyre faces plenty of peril from her alien environment (driven as she is to take extreme risks to help fund her search for her mother), the real obstacles and dangers seem to lie within. Ultimately, the claustrophobic constraints of the cave mirror, or even take a backseat to, the psychological tension of Gyre’s efforts to navigate her own secrets and wrestle with what unfolds between her and Em. Relying on her suit and her–possibly unreliable–handler for sustenance and survival, as well as to provide any input from the outside, tangible world, on stage Gyre can lead the audience through an immersive, atmospheric experience. One in which the spelunking proves as emotional or psychic as geological, and what gets discovered can be as much about self and identity as about alien mysteries.

As adapted and staged (including both direction and lighting design) by Hungerford—with essential environmental support from scenic designer Sarah Beth Hall—The Luminous Dead aims to translate the original novel’s acclaimed interior journey with highly physical, science-fiction horror storytelling, delving deep into audiences’ imaginations with a mix of world building, projections, audio immersion, and rough theatrical magic.

There’s more online, including info, tickets, and showtimes, here: https://voxel.org/events/luminous-dead/

Hear Andrew’s reflections on the piece and the production here:

 

 

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Celebrating America’s birthday with century-plus of Broadway greats

On Sunday, June 28th, the Center for the Arts at Towson University will conclude its Summer at the Center Arts Festival performances with a remarkable look back at more than a century of musical theater greatness, celebrating not only the extraordinary creators–composers, lyricists, performers, producers, directors, and others–who helped to conceive and create this truly American art form, but also the breadth and depth of cultural, national, ethnic, and social backgrounds that they represented.

Conceived, created, directed (and in part performed) by Carolyn Black-Sotir as part tribute to America’s 250th anniversary commemorations and part tribute to the immigrant spirit of those who shaped “The Great White Way”–and with it, helped to craft the story the nation tells itself, of itself–My Regards to Broadway offers something for any and all fans of musical theater, or even just music itself. Featuring work by nearly every big name who ever put pen to musical staff or shaped a snappy lyric (many of them a bit of both), the show weaves more than 20 musical selections into a brisk 90 minutes that include narration, staging, projected images, and a torrent of talent to bring it all to life.

There’s more information, and tickets, online at https://tickets.tuboxoffice.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=231

The project highlights the idea that, from songs to shows, the significance of America’s musical theater goes beyond beautiful melodies or clever lyrics; it forms and even helped to craft an integral part of our heritage and our collective national identity. Regards to Broadway, in its salute to Lady Liberty and to the history and legacy of the form, aims to offer a way to connect with our past, add understanding to the present. and look ahead to a shared future. As it needs must, steeped as Broadway has always been in the music and words, ideals and experiences of a particularly American blend–immigrant, European, Jewish, African-American, and more–any such celebration also gives voice to our diverse national community.

The staged concert will feature iconic Broadway work spanning 130 years by the some of the theater’s most influential composers and lyricists such as Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields, George M. Cohan, Jerome Kern, the Gershwins, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Arlen and Harburg, Dietz and Schwartz, Lerner and Loewe, Flaherty and Ahrens, Jerry Hermann, Duke Ellington, Stephen Sondheim. And more.

Their music and lyrics will be showcased within the framework of a dramatic narrative and supported by projected images, working in harmony to provide historical and cultural context for the development of the Broadway musical as well as its subsequent (and continuing) role in reflecting and shaping social, political, and cultural trends and events.

Hear Carolyn Black-Sotir’s further observations on the piece in our conversation here:

And here is the link that takes you to the program page which also has the box office link:  https://tickets.tuboxoffice.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=231

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Aristophanes gets a new look at Glass Canon

From May 23 through June 7, Glass Canon Theatre Company is producing a new take on an old classic, with a dynamic new adaptation of Lysistrata, the classic comedy by the ancient Athenian playwright Aristophanes. Directed by Emma Jaster and adapted by Jaster and Gil Mitchell (with assistance from Stephen Halliwell, Sarah Ruden, and others) this production aims to infuse resonant new life into a familiar story using a combination of contemporary relevance, raucous theatrical energy, a mixtape of musical chestnuts, and an unbridled spirit of mirth.

Lysistrata famously, even notoriously, explores themes of power, resistance, and unity–along with some age-old issues of gender politics and the ethics of war–through the imaginative, farcical leaps of one of history’s most enduring comedies. Its premise is both simple and revolutionary: after years of devastating warfare, the women of deathly rivals Athens and Sparta seek to overcome their differences and force the men to make peace; what follows is a sex strike and all the complications that entails.

In this world-premiere adaptation, using an inventive and physical staging and a fresh, new rendering of the text, Glass Canon aims for a bold-but-engaging revival–one that looks to highlight both the wit and the urgency of Aristophanes’ original while also finding new ways to speak directly to modern audiences.

Performances will be at Dance Loft on 14 (4618 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C.).

Hear Emma Jaster’s thoughts on the play, the production, and the process from our conversation:

Glass Canon’s production opens with preview performances on May 23 at 7:30 PM and May 24 at 2:00 PM, followed by opening night on Sunday, May 24 at 7:30 PM, with a reception to follow. Additional performances run Thursdays through Sundays through June 7–with Industry Night and a celebration of Glass Canon Theatre Company’s first anniversary on Monday, June 1 at 7:30 PM, Women and Nonbinary Affinity Night on May 28, BIPOC Affinity Night on June 5, and Pride Night on June 6.

More information is on the company website here.

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Boating Safety 2026

 

The U.S> Coast Guard Auxiliarty is the volunteer arm of team Coast Guard, and has the primary mission of education he general public on recreational boating safety. More information about the Coast Guard Auxiliary and boating safety can be found at http://cgaux.org .

Additional information  about boating safety is at http://https//www.safeboatingcouncel.org/resources/recreational-boating-facts/

National safe boating week is May 16-22.

Nationwide in 2024 there were 3,887 boating accidents reported:

–556 were fatalities

–20% of the total deaths were alcohol related

–The majority of the accidents were caused by human werror or poor judgement and NOT the result of faulty equipment or environmental factors.

–About 85% of all drowning victims were not wearing life jackets.
–More than two thirds of the fatalities are suffered by people without formal boater education.

 

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Ingenious meets Indigenous at Creative Alliance in performances & exhibition

On Saturday and Sunday, May 16th and 17th, Creative Alliance will host to extraordinary live performances as part of an ongoing exhibition in their Rothschild Gallery, “When the Butterflies Would Visit,” conceived and curated by Tavia La Follette and running through June 13th.

The live components are Panama Jam, created and performed by JAM, and the eponymous When the Butterflies Would Visit, which was devised and created by–and will be performed by–a large contingent of Towson University students under the guidance of Professor La Follette. Both works as well as the exhibition as a whole emerge from extensive, immersive research, grounded in history, culture, science, and nature as much as out of original creative imagination–inviting audiences as active participants in an investigation, perhaps more than as witnesses to discovery.

Panama Jam came out of time spent in Panama by researcher and performer JAM in conversation and collaboration with members of the indigenous Guna community. It was shaped by observation and immersion; by questions about the collision between cultures and traditions, between technology and the natural world; and by documentary practice filtered through, and into, performance. And it’s also a jam.

When the Butterflies Would Come Visit takes its title–as the other piece and as the exhibition as a whole–from a line in a play by Analisa Dias, The Invention of Seeds. Using bits of text and ideas from that play as well as a host of other material, La Follette led a group of Towson University theater students through a devising process to create an entirely original performance that includes reflections on the same Guna community in Panama alongside larger questions surrounding climate, forms of knowledge, history and storytelling, and much more, all while drawing on a host of theatrical techniques.

Both performances and the event as a whole center on a set of questions–questions that lay at the heart of their creative processes and that live on in the experience of their performers and the audiences encountering them. Such questions as: how we keep knowledge alive, how knowledge itself can be a living thing, how we as technological societies can live in better harmony with life and the natural world, and well as others local and global that emerged out of the exploration. Shaped by a sense of play and a spirit of inquiry, both works aim to pose sometimes tough questions for audiences more than simply provide comforting answers.

For some basic answers, however, you can find more information about the performances online here and about the exhibition here.

My full conversation with Professor La Follette is here:

 

 

 

 

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Strand Theater wraps up season with a launch

The 18th season of Strand Theater Co. in Baltimore finishes with a bang, or at least a Bounce–the world premiere of a new play by Somnia Mari Feral.

The play follows a young single mother who returns to her childhood church after a stay in a mental health facility. Seeking stability, she enters a marriage with a recently widowed pastor, only to discover that the expectations of her new role conceal deeper tensions. As her circumstances shift, she confronts questions of control, identity, and personal agency. But along a turbulent, troubling path fraught with challenges also comes plenty of heart and humor to lighten the way.

Strand’s Artistic Director Alma Davenport will direct the production. Of the choice to launch the play, Davenport has reflected that “producing the world premiere of BOUNCE at the Strand is about giving a platform to an emerging playwright brave enough to tell the truth.” She adds that, with this piece, [the playwright] generously shares a slice of her own life, and I was immediately drawn to her lack of pretense”–further celebrating the play for its ability, and courage, to “to find humor in dark, painful situations.”

In all, from the time the two first broached the possibility of telling this story to its opening night in Baltimore, its been a decade; the development process alone has lasted nearly nine years, including multiple readings both virtual and in person. Now, at last, Bounce is ready to meet the world.

Hear what Somnia and Alma had to say here:

Find out more online at https://www.strand-theater.org/