Category Archives: Drama

National Puppetry Festival at Clarice Smith, Jul 19-22

National Puppetry Festival at Clarice Smith, Jul 19-22

2023 National Puppetry Festival

All events are in person or livestream. Purchase separate tickets for each performance.

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Wed, Jul 19, 2023 . 09:00PM to 10:00PM
Marooned! (Alex and Olmstead)

Alex and Olmsted’s Jim Henson Foundation grant awarded MAROONED! A Space Comedy is an innovative new puppet show, featuring music from the Voyager Golden Record, that takes place at the outer reaches of space. An astronaut crashes on an uncharted planet. Will she be able to survive strange creatures, anomalous atmosphere, and isolation in order to find her way home? See for yourself… in MAROONED!

Thu, Jul 20, 2023 . 09:00PM to 10:00PM
SPINOKIO (5P1N0K10)

Using music, video, and magical marionettes, the show spins the story to which its title and Jeghetto’s moniker refer into an Afrofuturist parable about a robot that longs to be a real B boy in a post apocalyptic future. The 5P1N0K10 universe takes the stage. This Hip Hopera created by Jeghetto and cowritten by Pierce Freelon was awarded grants from the Henson Foundation two years in a row.

Fri, Jul 21, 2023 . 09:00PM to 10:00PM
National Puppetry Festival: Terry Fator

The most successful performer to emerge from the America’s Got Talent franchise and Las Vegas legend Terry Fator will share a special program exclusively for the Puppeteers of America National Festival. Part performance, part discussion, and part Q&A, Terry will perform several pieces showcasing his amazing vocal abilities and share stories of his experiences in the national spotlight. Terry is eager to join puppetry colleagues on the campus which has been so important to the history of American puppetry, and he hopes to help inspire the next generation of puppeteers.

Sat, Jul 22, 2023 . 07:00PM to 09:00PM
National Puppetry Festival: Awards Ceremony

Sat, Jul 22, 2023 . 09:00PM to 10:00PM
PACKRAT by Concrete Temple Theatre

Set deep in the Sagebrush Desert, PACKRAT is a visually stunning puppet play that contemplates humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Puppetry, projections and an original score elegantly come together to shape what The New Times called, “a journey of rescue and redemption…Thoroughly mesmerizing … amazingly expressive.” Inspired by the classic adventure novel, “Watership Down,” PACKRAT follows one peculiar rodent, Bud, who has a penchant for hoarding humankind’s goods.

Tickets: In-person performances, tickets are $30. Livestream tickets are $20. Award ceremony is pay-what-you-wish, minimum $5. Click here.

African Folklore Family Campfire at Marietta House Museum, Jul 15

African Folklore Family Campfire at Marietta House Museum, Jul 15

M-NCPPC presents:
Marietta House Museum
African Folklore Family Campfire
at the Marietta House Museum

Saturday, July 15, 2023 at 6:30pm.

Gather ’round the campfire to listen to folktales from the Southern Ashanti region and the Gold Coast of West Africa. Enjoy these stories handed down through the ages, by storyteller and re-enactor Shemika Renee. Fee includes light snacks. Limit of 30 registrants; please register early. All ages (children must be accompanied by an adult.)

Tickets: $5 (Resident) and $7 (Non-Resident). For more information and to register, email: mariettahouse@pgparks.com.

Gidion’s Knot at Laurel Mill Playhouse, Jul 14-16

Gidion’s Knot at Laurel Mill Playhouse, Jul 14-16

Laurel Mill Playhouse presents
Gidion’s Knot
By Johnna Adams
Directed by Rachel Kilgallon and Larry Simmons
Produced by Maureen Rogers

July 14 – 16, 2023
Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Location: Laurel Mill Playhouse

Over the course of a 90-minute parent/teacher conference, a grieving mother and an emotionally overwhelmed primary school teacher have a fraught conversation about the tragic suicide of the mother’s son, the teacher’s student, Gidion. Gidion may have been bullied severely– or he may have been an abuser. As his story is slowly uncovered, the women try to reconstruct a satisfying explanation for Gidion’s act and come to terms with excruciating feelings of culpability.

Ticket prices: $20 general, $15 students/military/seniors

LMP strongly urges that all patrons that come to LMP be vaccinated and wear masks. At this time, we will not require vaccination cards and masks in LMP but reserve the right to change the guidelines should the positivity rate rise significantly.

Buy tickets here.

For further information, please call 301-617-9906, or contact Maureen Rogers at maureencrogers@gmail.com or 301-452-2557.

Upstage Artists presents A View from the Bridge, Jun 2-11

Upstage Artists presents A View from the Bridge, Jun 2-11

Upstage Artists presents:
A View From The Bridge
by Arthur Miller
Directed By John Cusumano
Assistant Directed By Michael and Megan Safko

Show dates: June 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 2023

Location: Upstage Artists, performing at the Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 11416 Cedar Lane, Beltsville MD, 20705

Audience warning: adult language and themes.

Eddie Carbone is devoted to his wife Beatrice and his niece Catherine. When Beatrice’s cousins Marco and Rodolpho enter the US illegally, desperate to find work having fled the poverty of Sicily, the pair is welcomed into the Carbone home. But as Rodolpho and Catherine fall in love, Eddie’s adoration of his niece is no longer touching, but terrifying. Simmering with jealousy and obsession, Italian-American immigrant life of 1950s Brooklyn colours Miller’s searing drama of tragic proportions. The universal story of family, immigration and justice cuts deeply.

Tickets: $11.50. For more information click here.

The Children’s Hour at the Greenbelt Arts Center, May 19-Jun 3

The Children’s Hour at the Greenbelt Arts Center, May 19-Jun 3

The Greenbelt Arts Center Presents:
The Children’s Hour
By Lillian Hellman
Directed by Pauline Griller-Mitchell and John Bartkowiak

May 19 – June 3, 2023

Location: Greenbelt Arts Center

The play, which premiered in 1934, was a professional success for the playwright, Lillian Hellman. Set in a private school for girls, the play explores how lying, bullying, and the insidious effect of slanderous innuendo can upend plans and lives.

Ticket prices: $24 General Admission, $22 Seniors/Military, $12 Student/Youth. Buy tickets here.