Maryland

‘Fires in the Mirror’ still burns at Baltimore Center Stage

Even though 30 years have passed, the tragic stories told in Anna Deavere Smith’s powerful play could be headlines today.

‘Tis the season to be screwball at Best Medicine Rep’s ‘On the Farce Day of Christmas’

Ken Levine’s comedy has the virtue of not being a holiday warhorse.

‘White Christmas’ at Toby’s is a flurry of seasonal magic

A Maryland institution brings a little bit of spice to a beloved Irving Berlin musical, creating a perfect holiday evening out with friends and family.

Landless Theatre Company’s ‘Doyle and Debbie Show’ returns

This “toe-tapping, hysterical parody” of yesteryear’s country western stars plays one weekend only, November 12 to 14.

Joseph Ritsch to perform as his drag persona, Sunrize

For three nights only, a loving satire of contemporary musical theater divas created by the Rep Stage producing artistic director.

Upbeat ‘Little Women: the Broadway Musical’ uplifts at UMD

An evening of delightful entertainment by the University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.

Dance and acting blend thrillingly in ‘Giselle’ from Ballet Theatre of Maryland

Drama and emotion as the company returns home to Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.

Maryland’s AngelWing Project takes audiences to Beale Street

A 1950’s family drama, the play follows two Black cousins from Mississippi who struggle to make a life for themselves in spite of secrets threatening to invade and interrupt their peace.

With ‘Flyin’ West,’ Everyman Theatre delivers on its commitment to EDI

Pearl Cleage’s groundbreaking play features pioneering Black women overcoming daunting odds.

Wildly theatrical ‘Swindlers’ opens at Baltimore Center Stage

The actors are all in top form, but we don’t learn enough about their characters to become invested in what happens to them.

Viva ‘The Revolutionists’ at Colonial Players

An affecting, illuminating production of Lauren Gunderson’s comedy about four brazen women during the French Reign of Terror.

A powerful indictment of racism, in updated ‘Rachel’ from Rapid Lemon

An early 20th-century play set against recent murders of Black men.

Realizing the dream of an arts hub in Downtown Columbia

The Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission and the Howard Hughes Corporation are creating a town center buzzing with arts events.

Free spirit of Bob Marley lifts ‘Three Little Birds’ at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

A silly and light children’s musical full of joy and hope.

Best Medicine Rep sets four new comedies for season five

Live laughs to come at new location.

Baltimore Center Stage 2021/22 season is a go

Five transporting mainstage shows plus new partnerships, initiatives, and programs.

Rockville Little Theatre announces 74th season

A hilarious farce, a psychological thriller, and a boisterous classic—all live and onstage again at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre.

‘Variant Strains’ comedy about a vaccine race is a booster shot of fun

I didn’t think I was ready to attend live theater again — only the prospect of a new play by the always reliable John Morogiello performing in a winning combo with the irrepressible Rebecca Herron at...

Strathmore announces new open-air summer concert series

Full season of concerts kicks off at the new Patio Stage on the Music Center’s Trawick Terrace.

A showcase of extraordinary talents from Ballet Theatre of Maryland

Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s Momentum is a collection of four classical and contemporary works that showcases the extraordinary talents of the company. The first two pieces are choreographed by former...

Four Korean girls defy the male gaze in feminist thriller ‘Man of God’

The Strand Theater Company proudly partners with Asian Pasifika Arts Collective to present Man of God by Anna Moench. The virtual production is directed by Elizabeth Ung. About the play: During a...

Three womxn get back at their ex in ‘Drowning Girls’ from Strand Theater

Continuing its 13th season as the only brick-and-mortar company in Baltimore dedicated to celebrating womxn’s diverse voices and perspectives, The Strand Theater Company presents the regional premiere...

Muslim women’s voices in ‘Unveiled’ serve up tea and empathy

Hot tea is the recommended beverage for viewing Chicago-based playwright Rohnia Malik’s Unveiled, available online through January 2021 from Baltimore Theatre Project. The one-woman show introduces us...

Annapolis Shakespeare Company captures the magic of ‘A Christmas Carol’

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of A Christmas Carol is a moving, faithful adaptation of Charles Dickens’ beloved holiday tale, now playing virtually for stay-at-home audiences. Adapted by...

Happenstance Theater to clown outdoors and online this weekend

The irrepressibly entertaining Happenstance Theater will perform its Pinot & Augustine clown show on Saturday, October 10, 2020, at 2 pm and 6 pm, in the parking lot at Joe’s Movement Emporium (3309...

Élan Ensemble’s ‘Arias for the Autumnal Equinox’ was a garden delight

Élan Ensemble’s outdoor concert, “Arias for the Autumnal Equinox,” was a delightful celebration of 17th- and 18th-century music, performed in the marvelously picturesque garden of the historic...

Black Artist Coalition begins in the DMV

Announced today, the Black Artist Coalition (BAC) has formed in response to the increasing awareness of both macro- and microaggressions that have more often than not tainted Black artists’ experience...

DMV theaters take a knee and take a stand

Beyond mourning and outrage, these DC Metro performing arts institutions have gone on the record with commitments to make a difference and be accountable. (Last updated June 12, 2020, 3:30 pm.: added...

Young Artists of America at Strathmore announces virtual summer camp program

Young Artists of America at Strathmore (YAA) is thrilled to announce Virtual Summer Performing Arts Intensives, an online version of their award-winning summer musical theater program. While COVID-19...

Adventure Theatre honors API Heritage Month with streaming special events

Though the sea of online content is deep at the moment, that’s not stopping Adventure Theatre MTC. They are diving right in with a full lineup of API Heritage Month storytimes, interviews, and digital...

Lessons in creative coping during COVID-19: Bowie State University theater and dance faculty tell how it’s going

With university campuses closed because of COVID-19, how is student education continuing forward? This is a critical question, especially for higher education theater and dance departments—where...

Round House Theatre premieres ‘Homebound’ web series

Round House Theatre is making streaming news with their project Homebound, a new web series bringing together DC-area playwrights, actors, and designers to explore life under stay-at-home orders in...

Quotidian Theatre Company to close, a casualty of COVID-19

Those of us in the arts are all getting used to a new normal. Unfortunately, a return to any kind of normal will not be possible for some organizations. And, sadly, it turns out that Quotidian Theatre...

The Pandemic Players offer a helping hand to Baltimore theaters

It is said that the best actors know how to improvise—and a group of DMV-area performers is doing just that, by forming a fully online theater company from the ashes of Baltimore live performance....

Arts Barn previews compelling 2020–2021 season

Arts On The Green, the organization that provides indispensable arts programming at a collection of venues on the beautiful Gaithersburg campus, has recently offered audiences a sneak peek at the...

Olney Theatre Center announces ambitious 2020–2021 season

During a recent live-streamed event, Olney Theatre Center Artistic Director Jason Loewith unveiled a lineup of 17 plays, concerts, and presentations coming in 2020–2021 as part of the company’s 83rd...

Olney Theatre Center’s ‘The Amateurs’ is a comedy of ‘epidemic’ proportions

There is nothing like a good old-fashioned plague to get you pondering life’s big questions: the Bubonic Plague, the AIDS Crisis, COVID-19, really any epidemic will do. Of course, Jordan Harrison’s...

‘Rasheeda Speaking’ is a ticking time bomb of workplace racial animus

Something struck me as incredulous about Rasheeda Speaking, a ticking time bomb about racial paranoia interlaced with the destructive power of office politics. But its recently deceased playwright...

Small-town redemption still resonates in Rockville Little Theatre’s ‘The Spitfire Grill’

The Spitfire Grill was in Off-Broadway previews on 9/11. In part because its heartwarming, American roots/small-town spirited songs and characters struck a powerful emotional chord in the days that...

Artistic Director Dianna Cuatto reflects on 17 years at Ballet Theatre of Maryland

Dianna Cuatto, artistic director of the Ballet Theatre of Maryland (BTM), recently announced she would retire in June after leading the company for 17 years. She answered DC Theater Arts’ questions...

Caught between worlds in ‘Kill Move Paradise’

Don’t let those off-putting promos for Kill Move Paradise at Rep Stage stop you from turning out for its solid regional premiere at Howard Community College. This 2016 piece of theater is less a...

Walt Whitman’s vivid accounts of the Civil War come to life in ‘Leaves of America’

Chris Dwyer uses Walt Whitman’s poetry and his many hospital visits to bring vivid accounts of the Civil War to life in Leaves of America: Walt Whitman’s Stories of the Civil War. Whitman fans be...

Theatre@CBT’s Peter Pan: something to crow about

Filled to bursting with Warrior Girls, Lost Boys, dastardly Pirates from tiny to extra-large, and flying children, Theatre@CBT’s Peter Pan is a treat from start to finish. Director Kevin Sockwell,...

‘Perfect Arrangement’: Silver Spring Stage explores perfect present, future dreams

Recipe for a Perfect Evening: Take heaping cups of American mid-century corn (straight from the pages of Good Housekeeping), place it in a beautifully crafted Dutch Oven (from the pages of the...

The political becomes personal in Olney Theatre Center’s ‘Miss You Like Hell’

At Friendship Park, on the US-Mexico border just south of San Diego, from 10 am to 2 pm Saturdays and Sundays, 10 people at a time on the US side can see, and talk through a fence, with friends or...

Playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer on directing her play ‘Be Here Now’ at Everyman Theatre

I’d say Deborah Zoe Laufer is having a bit of a moment right now, but it’s been going on so long I think it’s fairer to say she’s having a bit of an amazing career. Laufer’s plays have been produced...

Getting a hometown kick out of ‘Kinky Boots’

Sizzle sells, or as Kinky Boots proved on Broadway in 2013, “The Sex Is In the Heel.” Why was the musical named Kinky Boots? Maybe Fetish Footwear didn’t have quite the same kick. … Sorry. Toby’s...

‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ hits the road to 50

Jesus wears his hair in a man-bun and Mary Magdalene appears a bit like a millennial caught outside her “safe space”—but there’s still plenty of power and glory on display in the new 50th Anniversary...

‘Holiday Singin’ Pops’ kicks off the holiday season at Strathmore

To kickstart the Christmas season, the National Philharmonic and the National Philharmonic Chorale performed Holiday Singin’ Pops at the Music Center at Strathmore with guest performers. The two-act...

‘Murder on the Orient Express’ thrills at Everyman Theatre

All Aboard! Get your ticket for Everyman Theatre’s Murder on the Orient Express and enjoy a visually striking whodunnit that is twisty-turny fun for this holiday season. In attendance opening night...