Ben Fisler

Review: ‘The Tale of Serse’ by The In Series

The In Series is a place for thought, debate, history, and innovation. With the noble goal to invigorate contemporary theatre, to create innovations in “opera and song,” to “reimagine these forms,...

2018 Capital Fringe Festival: ‘Show Business 201’

The XY Players have a delightful option at this year’s Capital Fringe: a farce on show business titled Show Business 201. It’s essentially a romp through the training, rehearsal, and performance work...

2018 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Flight of the Xenophobe’

Iamaman Productions, a start-up company focused on telling stories pertinent to African Americans, has chosen to present as its inaugural production, a tale of the recently-paroled 578 returning to...

Review: ‘Shrek the Musical’ at Charm City Players

Shrek is one of the most enigmatic modern musicals. A work of two of American theatre’s greatest living authors, David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori, it has some outstanding moments; “Big Bright...

Review: ‘Brooklyn the Musical’ at Monumental Theatre Company

From the moment you step into the graffiti-laced environment and make yourself comfortable among the sofas, lawn chairs, and lounge seats, you are surrounded by the aesthetics of a post-modern fairy...

Review: ‘Psycho Beach Party’ at Stillpointe Theatre

If you’re looking for an escape, there’s a thoroughly entertaining performance of Charles Busch’s perennially popular parody of 1960s beach-blanket cinema that’s just what you need. Busch’s script...

Review: Junie B. Jones in ‘Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!’ at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Junie B Jones in Jingle Bells Batman Smells! is a charming piece of family comedy playing at Maryland Ensemble Theatre through January 1, 2017. The Fun Company takes on Allison Gregory’s adaptation of...

Review: ‘Murder Ballad’ at StillPointe Theatre

In 2013, Playwright Julia Jordan and Indie rock singer/songwriter, Juliana Nash (formerly with Talking to Animals), created a ground-breaking minimalist musical about a tragic love triangle. Though...

Review: ‘Blood, Sweat, & Fears: A Grand Guignol Sick Cabaret’ at Molotov Theatre Group

Critics do our best to stay rational and objective, to reflect on the goals and execution of a given piece of theatre, and thus evaluate the work on its own terms, with as little of our personal...

2016 Capital Fringe Review ‘…and a Ghost Grrl’

The King’s Players are presenting an exploration of modern love and supernatural forces, by Founding Artistic Director Timothy R. King, at the Trinidad Theatre for the 2016 Capital Fringe Festival....

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Before the Lights Go Up’

Bucky Mitchell, Jr. presents an intelligently written and thought-provoking new play at the Upstairs Theatre of the Logan Fringe Arts Space, a comedy reminiscent of the cerebral metatheatrical work of...

Review: ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ at The Heritage Players

Thoroughly Modern Millie, a tale of a “modern” gal from small-town America who takes on the business and social world of big-city New York, is a popular choice for community theatre seasons. The score...

Review: ‘Three Sisters’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Chekhov is a challenge for even the most experienced and skilled artists of our profession. It is not merely that his characters are the most psychologically dense in drama (which they are), or that...

Review: ‘Venus in Fur’ at The Colonial Players

Like all David Ives plays, Venus in Fur is built on everyday life becoming fantasy, as the primary devices of drama, language, and character, systematically move from ambiguity, to instability, to...

‘From a Black Egg’ at Yellow Sign Theatre

Yellow Sign Theatre’s mission promises “pranks with a B-movie aesthetic” and low art, and usually they deliver productions that are unapologetic, kitschy fun. Surprisingly, however, their current...

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

In Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, there is an endless menu of farce devices, a beautifully carved and textured faux-marble façade (Daniel O’Brien, the technical...

‘The Journey of Thing Three’ at Boom Theatre Company

What makes productions by Boom Theatre Company so valuable is that they bring to audiences, specifically those in Harford County, theatre that is truly cutting edge. The Journey of Thing Three, an...

‘Shrek the Musical’ at Glyndon Area Players

All the components of a phenomenal production march across the stage of the Sacred Heart School Auditorium for the Glyndon Area Players’ (GAP) 2015 summer musical: Shrek The Musical. There are clever...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Ten Principles )'(‘

The mission of AWol (A Way of Life) Productions is to “share the values of communities by collaborating, creating, and telling stories of the performing arts.” Its current production fulfills this...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Priest/Penitent’

Bob Lohrmann brings Wally K. Daly’s monodrama, a two-sided exploration of the world of Catholic confessionals, to the Capital Fringe this year. The play is a thoughtful, entertaining, and clever...

‘The Business End’ at Yellow Sign Theatre

You have only one more weekend to catch one of the most interesting pieces of theatre in Baltimore, a tragic parody of the plight of the B-horror screenwriter longing to create art. Mike Jancz penned...

‘Marley’ at Centerstage

Director/Book writer Kwame Kwei-Armah showcases the three most productive years of Bob Marley’s career (1975-78) in a jukebox musical experience nearly as electric as the legend and his Wailers...

‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Director Ian Gallanar, and his cast and crew have thoroughly delivered on the promise of a “lusty, fiery production” of the classic tale of woe, that of Juliet and her Romeo. In fact, what makes the...

‘The Secret Garden’ at The Theatre Lab School for The Dramatic Arts

Director Deb Gottesman and Musical Director Buzz Mauro could not have chosen a better piece for The Theatre Lab’s “Creating a Musical Role” class than the Marsha Norman/Lucy Simon musical. The Secret...

‘The Merchant of Venice’ at The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

In sooth I know no other way to write my thoughts of seeing friends both here and past bestride the open boards of a holy cockpit to speak a muse of fire in the music of its day. If ‘twere enough to...

‘The Dum Dums’ at Glass Mind Theatre

While a depression journal might be an unlikely starting point for Glass Mind Theatre’s unpretentious, fast-paced, delightful romp through classic sci-fi and isolation, Joshua Conkel’s The Dum Dums...

‘Evil Dead: The Musical’ at Greenbelt Arts Center

Wildly exaggerated acting work, referential cinematic poses, bad touching, and lots and lots of blood spatter come together in this unapologetically absurd production of the George Reinblatt, Frank...

‘Rent’ at Montgomery College

Director David Gram has handed his audiences quite a treat with this faithful adaptation of the ground-breaking Jonathan Larson musical. Working with Music Director Jonathan Tuzman and Choreographer...