Category Archives: Shakespeare

Return to the Forbidden Planet at the Greenbelt Arts Center, May 18-Jun 9

Return to the Forbidden Planet at the Greenbelt Arts Center, May 18-Jun 9

Return to the Forbidden Planet
Directed by Jeff Lesniak
Music directed by Chris Wells
Choreography by Rikki Howie Lacewell

May 18 – June 9, 2018

Location: Greenbelt Arts Center

Shakespeare’s forgotten rock and roll masterpiece! Blast off on a routine flight and crash into the planet D’Illyria where a sci-fi version of The Tempest set to rock and roll golden oldies unfolds with glee. The planet is inhabited by the sinister scientist Dr Prospero; his delightful daughter Miranda; Ariel, a faithful robot on roller skates, and an uncontrollable monster, the product of Prospero’s Id, whose tentacles penetrate the spacecraft. Book by Bob Carlton, directed by Jeffery Lesniak, choreographed by Rikki Howie Lacewell.

Ticket prices: $25 General Admission, $22 Students/Seniors/Military, $14 Youth (12 and under with adult). Buy tickets here.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Hard Bargain, May 10-19

A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Hard Bargain, May 10-19

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
By William Shakespeare
Abridged by Rachel Wallace
Directed by Rachel Wallace

May 10-19, 2018
Thursday-Saturday at 8:00pm

An abridged version of William Shakespeare’s classic comedy is coming to a space where it was always meant to be performed: right under our beautiful canopy of trees and starlight! Come join the royals, the starry-eyed lovers, the rude mechanicals, and the mischievous woodland faeries as they spin their magical tale!

Location: Hard Bargain Players.

Tickets for Hard Bargain Players performances are $12 for adults, $10 for students, seniors and members of the Alice Ferguson Foundation.

To reserve tickets, click here.

Off The Quill presents Violent Delights at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Apr 27-May 6

Off The Quill presents Violent Delights at Joe’s Movement Emporium, Apr 27-May 6

Violent Delights: A Shakespearean Brawl-esque Sideshow
By Patrick Mullen, Leanne Dinverno, J. Peter Langsdorf, Katie Wanschura & William Shakespeare

April 27 – May 6, 2018

Location: Joe’s Movement Emporium

Step into the Circus of Violent Delights. Blending stage combat, dance, physical theater, clowning, and traditional theatrical convention, our charismatic Ringmaster will lead you through Shakespeare’s most spectacular life or death scenarios.But remember, Violent Delights have violent ends.

Tickets $23 General Admission, $17 Students/Seniors. Click here.

Twelfth Night at Clarice Smith, Apr 20-22

Twelfth Night at Clarice Smith, Apr 20-22

Twelfth Night
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Tommy Hegarty, Assistant Directed by Lillianna Righter

April 20 – 22, 2018 . 2PM & 7PM

Fri, Apr 20, 2018 . 7:00PM
Sat, Apr 21, 2018 . 2:00PM
Sat, Apr 21, 2018 . 7:00PM
Sun, Apr 22, 2018 . 2:00PM

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Kogod Theatre

Come see the Maryland Shakespeare Player’s production of Twelfth Night! The Bard’s classic comedy grabs some giggle water and showcases some goofs and lollygags in the Roaring Twenties. The 1920’s in America were times of great precarity. Stuck between the First World War and the Great Depression, Americans enjoyed a period of unchecked wealth, culture, and social change. Twelfth Night exemplifies this precarity — characters are constantly almost running into each other, plots are almost falling apart, all against a backdrop of wealth and high social status. Much like in the ’20s, the role of women in society is questioned and subverted throughout the play.

No tickets required, general admission!

Click here.

Rude Mechanicals present Arden Now (As You Like It) at the Greenbelt Arts Center, Aug 18-Sep 3

Rude Mechanicals present Arden Now (As You Like It) at the Greenbelt Arts Center, Aug 18-Sep 3

The Rude Mechanicals present
Arden Now (As You Like It)
By William Shakespeare
Adapted by Melissa Schick, Diana Dzikiewicz, and The Company
Director: Melissa Schick
Assistant Director: Eric Honour
Composer: Diana Dzikiewicz

August 18 to September 3, 2017

PARENTAL ADVISORY: Recommended for ages 13 and up. This show contains profanity.

Location: Greenbelt Arts Center

Using William Shakespeare’s As You Like It as a framework, this play celebrates the diversity of love using modern concepts of romance, relationships, gender, and sexuality. The show takes place in a gender blank alternate universe where gendered pronouns are unnecessary. The story line is also altered to represent love in its many forms. We feature monogamous relationships, polyamorous relationships, kinky relationships, and asexual queerplatonic friendship. The show is scored with live music and we borrow songs and poems from other sources to round out the experience. You’ll even see Shakespeare in languages including Spanish, French, Tamil, Italian, and ASL. Come see the delightful chaos in the Forest of Arden, and see it resolved by Hymen, the God of Enthusiastic Consent, along with a special appearance from Orlando’s long lost sibling to wrap the whole thing up in a bow. You might even get a snack at the end, we’re just saying.

This collaborative adaptation sets Shakespeare’s As You Like It in a world where ideals of beauty and desirability are more celebratory of people’s unique individuality and where mainstream society does not attempt to impose a restrictive binary concept of gender to categorize people. Striving to tell this classic story in ways that are fully inclusive, body-positive, and sex-positive, the Rude Mechanicals have cut the original text down, made some creative edits, and have added music, movement, and poetry that express love and exuberance through a variety of times, cultures, and genres. Because if all the world’s a stage, everyone should be represented.

Ticket prices: $22 General Admission, $20 Students/Seniors/Military, $12 Youth (12 and under with adult). Buy tickets here.

Tags: Greenbelt Arts Center, Greenbelt Maryland, Rude Mechanicals, As You Like It, William Shakespeare, Melissa Schick, Eric Honour, Diana Dzikiewicz