Announcing
Season 59 - 2021/2022
Please understand that all dates are subject to change, based on current public health directives regarding COVID-19. Anyone attending a performance at Spotlighters Theatre must present proof of vaccination and wear a mask at all times while indoors. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Scharf's Schorts . . . an evening of 8 short plays!
written by Mark Scharf
directed by Erin Klarner and Jen Sizer stage managed by Paul Saar Performance Dates: Fri: Oct 22, 29 - 8:00pm Sat: Oct 23, 30 - 8:00pm; Nov 6 - 2:00pm Sun: Oct 24, 31, Nov 7 - 2:00pm Monument What are the things one leaves behind that matter? How much of what we do is part of us? In MONUMENT, a conversation between a roofer with a personality on overdrive and a circumspect writer reveals that the strength of the human connection creates a monument as strong as any work man can craft. Funny, bewildering and crystal clear, MONUMENT is a snapshot of our yearning to understand and be understood -- to do right by each other and to be right with ourselves. Like White on Rice -- A 10-minute play written entirely in clichés, it uses everything from worn-out pick-up lines ("What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?") to threadbare quotations from sources as wide-ranging as Alcoholics Anonymous and Shakespeare to establish a fleeting romantic triangle between a young woman in a bar and two men competing to pick her up. Our Place Almost every couple has that special restaurant, bar, hotel, cabin-in-the-woods or even an open field that they think of as 'our place'. Throughout their long years together, Vince and Christine’s place has been their unostentatious neighborhood restaurant with its friendly faces and good comfort food served in familiar surroundings. But now, Vince’s mind has begun to fail and it seems Christine must remember for two. Can a return visit awaken Vince to all that binds them together? Our Place is a gentle, bittersweet play about the eternal strength and perseverance of love. Wilderness Killer rabbits in the suburbs must be stopped! In this bittersweet and poignant comedy, recently widowed Spencer faces the lawnmower police and wrath of her neighbors when she decides to let nature take its course with her yard. Just where does the reach of your arm end and the beginning of your neighbor’s nose begin? Replay Every night at 4:30 a.m., Josh awakens to find Lee silently watching and waiting for another chance to replay how a promising relationship ended stillborn in pride, misunderstanding and miscommunication. As the play unfolds, we come to question if Lee’s visits are real or if they are only replaying in Josh’s head. Replay is about the journey from regret and remorse to redemption in our shared struggle to connect to another human being before it’s too late. Off the Grid Catherine has a good job, money, food, clothes and a roof over her head; she can take care of herself and can't imagine it being otherwise. Maddie, who had a job, a house, a car, and a cat, is homeless; her job and her money are gone and she knows all too well how easy it is to end up on the street. She sits quietly at the entrance to a metro station in Washington, D.C. seeking spare change and is invisible to most who pass by on their way into or out of the station, including Catherine – until one day... Off the Grid addresses living without a net in America and our responsibility to one another. Making Time Making Time portrays our inability to face, even name, anything uncomfortable and how perception expressed through language is everything -- and that has little to do the truth. And yet, it’s through language that we try to connect. The play is about establishing that connection whether you want to or not. The Last Ten Nuclear Missiles have been launched and there are only ten minutes left before they hit! How much living can you do in ten minutes? While Peggy is sanguine about their approaching doom, George desperately tries make their final moments together count. Will they find a shared peace before it’s too late? In a funny yet piquant journey of love and understanding, Peggy and George learn what really matters as they face their final challenge together. |
PERFORMANCES: Oct 22 - Nov 7
Auditions: Opening Night Reception: Fri, Oct 22, 2021 Join the cast, director & playwright for a post show reception Ten Spot Thursday: Thur, Oct 28, 2021 All Tickets just $10.00 Talk Back w/ Cast, Director & Playwright: Sun, Oct 31, 2022 Immediately following performance OUR CAST
Monument: Nick Cherone & Sean Eustis Our Place: Glen Charlow & Terri Laurino Like White on Rice: Beverly Shannon, Mike Papa, & Nick Cherone Wilderness: Sam David & Glen Charlow Replay: Mike Papa & Sean Eustis Off the Grid: Terri Laurino & Sam David Making Time: Terri Laurino & Nick Cherone The Last Ten: Beverly Shannon & Sean Eustis |
Dickens' A Christmas Carol ... a one man show
written by Charles Dickens
edited & adapted for the stage by Sherrionne Brown and Phil Gallagher directed by Sherrionne Brown stage managed by Performance Dates: Fri: Dec 10, 17 - 8:00pm Sat: Dec 11, 18 - 8:00pm Sun: Dec 12, 19 - 2:00pm TEN SPOT Thursday - Dec 16 - 8:00pm Join us for limited engagement of Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL - in the style that Dickens himself performed the work, when he toured the United States in the 1860s.
“Bah! Humbug!”
Is there a more famous response to being wished “Merry Christmas!”? Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the trio of Christmas ghosts, and the story of what happens when a bitter old man is given one last chance at redemption, are as well known as any of Dickens’ characters. They’ve been portrayed in films and on TV around the world and now you can meet them all, live on stage in Spotlighters’ captivating, one-man adaptation. Using only Dickens’ inimitable language, Phil Gallagher’s performance will thrill and chill audiences of all ages. With minimal props and costume, Gallagher portrays all these much loved characters and breathes new life into a story that is as moving, relevant, and redemptive as it was when first written over 170 years ago. |
PERFORMANCES: Dec 10 - 19
Opening Night Reception: Fri, Dec 10 Join the cast, & director for a post show reception Ten Spot Thursday: Thur, Dec 16 - 8:00pm All Tickets just $10.00 Talk Back w/ Cast & Director Sun, Dec 12 Immediately following performance OUR CAST
Phil Gallagher |
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
written by William Shakespeare
edited & adapted by Michael Blum directed by Michael Blum stage managed by Mark Merryfield Performance Dates: Fri: Jan 21, 28, Feb 4 - 8:00pm Sat: Jan 22, 29, Feb 5 - 8:00pm Sun: Jan 23, 30, Feb 6 - 2:00pm TEN SPOT Thursday - Jan 27 - 8:00pm Join us for a new look at one of Shakespeare's most loved comedies....
Much Ado About Nothing, a 1598 comedy by William Shakespeare, features two romantic pairings that emerge when a group of soldiers arrive in town. The first, between the two young lovers Hero and Claudio, is almost upset by a villain’s fiendish plot; the second, between the more mature not-yet-lovers Beatrice and Benedick, is hampered by the fact that the two begin by hating each other! “Noting” or “nothing" means gossip, rumor and eavesdropping, and thus witty banter, secrets and trickery form the backbone of the play's comedy, intrigue and action. All this, plus tuneful songs, formal dances and comic turns by the malaprop-afflicted Constable Dogberry create an evening of fun for all. |
PERFORMANCES: Jan 21 - Feb 6, 2022
Auditions: Sun, Oct 24 & Mon, Oct 25 6p-9p More info www.spotlighters.org/auditions Opening Night Reception: Fri, Jan 21, 2022 Join the cast, & director for a post show reception Ten Spot Thursday: Thur, Jan 27, 2022 - 8:00pm All Tickets just $10.00 Talk Back w/ Cast & Director Sun, Jan 30, 2022 Immediately following performance TICKET PRICES
Adults $24 Seniors, Military, Students $21 |
PUFFS
... or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic written by Matt Cox directed by Alanna Kiewe stage managed by Grace Hemphill Performance Dates: Mar 4, 2022 - Mar 20, 2022 Fri: Mar 4, 11, & 18 at 8:00pm Sat: Mar 5, 12, & 19 at 8:00pm Sun: Mar 6, 13, & 20 at 2:00pm TEN SPOT Thursday: Mar 10, 2022 at 8:00pm For seven years a certain boy wizard went to a certain Wizard School and conquered evil. This, however, is not his story. This is the story of the Puffs... who just happened to be there too. A tale for anyone who has never been destined to save the world. Puffs is not authorized, sanctioned, licensed or endorsed by J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. or any person or company associated with the Harry Potter books, films or play. |
PERFORMANCES: Mar 4 - 20, 2022
Auditions: Dec 11, 2021 (11am - 3pm) Dec 12, 2021 (6pm - 9pm) More info www.spotlighters.org/auditions Opening Night Reception: Fri, Mar 4, 2022 Join the cast, & director for a post show reception Ten Spot Thursday: Thur, Mar 10, 2022 - 8:00pm All Tickets just $10.00 Talk Back w/ Cast & Director Sun, Mar 13, 2022 Immediately following performance TICKET PRICES
Adults $24 Seniors, Military, Students $21 |
The Mousetrap
written by Agatha Christie directed by Paul Saar stage managed by Brandi Robinson Performance Dates: Apr 15 - May 1, 2022 Fri: Apr 15, 22, & 29 at 8:00pm Sat: Apr 16, 23, & 30 at 8:00pm Sun: Apr 17, 24 & May 1 at 2:00pm TEN SPOT Thursday: Apr 21, 2022 at 8:00pm The scene is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by a snow storm discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst. Who can it be? One by one the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts until at the last, nerve-shredding moment, the identity and the motive are finally revealed. The Mousetrap is the longest-running play in the history of London's West End. |
PERFORMANCES: Apr 15 - May 1, 2022
Auditions: Sat, Feb 12, 2022 (11a-3p) Sun, Feb 13, 2022 (6p-9p) More info www.spotlighters.org/auditions Opening Night Reception: Fri, Apr 15, 2022 Join the cast, & director for a post show reception Ten Spot Thursday: Thur, Apr 21, 2022 - 8:00pm All Tickets just $10.00 Talk Back w/ Cast & Director Sun, Apr 24, 2022 Immediately following performance TICKET PRICES
Adults $24 Seniors, Military, Students $21 |
Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
written by Alan Ball directed by Hillary Mazer stage managed by Kathy Case Performance Dates: May 27 - June 12, 2022 Fri: May 27, June 3, & 10 at 8:00pm Sat: May 28, June 4, & 11 at 8:00pm Sun: May 29, June 5 & 12 at 2:00pm TEN SPOT Thursday: June 2, 2022 at 8:00pm During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below. They are Frances, a painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist; Mindy, the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom; Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; Meredith, the bride’s younger sister, whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret; and Trisha, a jaded beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question when she meets Tripp, a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye. As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny, irreverent, and touching celebration of the women’s spirit.
An irreverent and funny look at the intricacies of friendship and the power of similar dressing. “…[a] wonderfully entertaining play…” —NY Post. “FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS is a fresh-as-a-daisy comedy, funny as can be…” —NY Daily News. “Ball has the comic writer’s requisite talent for dialogue that ricochets snappily around the stage.” —TheaterWeek. |
PERFORMANCES: May 27 - June 12, 2022
Auditions: Sat, Mar 26, 2022 (11a-3p) Sun, Mar 27, 2022 (6p-9p) More info www.spotlighters.org/auditions Opening Night Reception: Fri, May 27, 2022 Join the cast, & director for a post show reception Ten Spot Thursday: Thur, June 2, 2022 - 8:00pm All Tickets just $10.00 Talk Back w/ Cast & Director Sun, June 5, 2022 Immediately following performance TICKET PRICES
Adults $24 Seniors, Military, Students $21 |
Zanna Don't
written by Tim Acito (Book, Music and Lyrics); with additional book & lyrics by Alexander Dinelaris directed by Stephen Foreman musically directed by Michael Tan choreographed by Rikki Lacewell stage managed by Felix Cooke Performance Dates: July 8 - 24, 2022 Fri: July 8, 15, & 22 at 8:00pm Sat: July 9, 16, & 23 at 8:00pm Sun: July 10, 17, & 24 at 2:00pm TEN SPOT Thursday: July 14, 2022 at 8:00pm Welcome to Heartsville USA, a wholesome, patriotic town in a parallel universe where the captain of the chess team is a sex symbol, the quarterback is a nerd, and everyone happens to be LGBTQIA+—well, almost everyone. Enter Zanna, a magical, hall monitor with the power to bring true love to one and all! Unfortunately, lurking beneath the loving surface are a few prejudices the town has never been forced to confront. Until now... With soaring pop-tunes and unapologetic optimism, Zanna Don't forces us all to think about for what—and whom—we will make a stand. Sponsored in part by The Horizons Foundation (www.HorizonsFoundation.org), ... investing in LGBTQ nonprofits, strengthening a culture of LGBTQ giving, and building a permanent endowment to secure our community’s future for generations to come.
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PERFORMANCES: July 8 - 24, 2022
Auditions: Apr 24 & 26, 2022 (6:30p-9:30p) More info www.spotlighters.org/auditions Opening Night Reception: Fri, July 8, 2022 Join the cast, & director for a post show reception Ten Spot Thursday: Thur, July 14, 2022 - 8:00pm All Tickets just $10.00 Talk Back w/ Cast & Director Sun, July 17, 2022 Immediately following performance TICKET PRICES
Adults $24 Seniors, Military, Students $21 |
Baltimore Playwrights Festival Production
Captain Hook, My Story, or, How I Clawed My Way to the Top Performances: Aug 12 - 21, 2022 ALL BPF TICKETS - $20 written by Peter Boyer (bio below) directed by Miriam Bazensky stage managed by Sharon Weaver Everyone knows about Captain Hook, Peter Pan's one-handed nemesis, who met his end in the stomach of a ticking crocodile. Or did he? Captain Hook, the legend, the myth, the man(?), survived, and don't worry, he'll tell you how he managed that. He will also tell you his side of the story – the untold story of his own treacherous journey from an ordinary, mediocre child in London to the most feared pirate in Neverland, and his profound yet thoroughly justifiable hatred of the dastardly Peter Pan... With some help from a skeleton... While baking a cake. Performance Dates: Aug 12-21, 2022 Fri: Aug 12 & 19 at 8:00pm Sat: Aug 13 & 20 at 8:00pm Sun: Aug 14 & 21 at 2:00pm Reception with Playwright, Director, & Cast following Aug 12 performance Talk Back with Playwright, Director, & Cast following Aug 14 performance TEN SPOT Thursday: Aug 18, 2022 at 8:00pm (All tickets $10!) A New work by a local Baltimore Playwright. Produced in collaboration with the Baltimore Playwrights Festival. For more information on the BPF, please visit: https://www.baltplayfest.org/ BIO - Peter Boyer Peter Boyer started creating a backstory for Captain Hook, including the origin of his hatred toward Peter Pan, while rehearsing and performing the role of Hook in the play Tinkerbell by Patrick Flynn at Adventure Theatre, during which he read JM Barrie’s play and novel versions of Peter Pan and Wendy. During the last couple of years, the pandemic gave him unexpected time to put pen to paper and go further with Hook’s story, resulting in the one-person stage play Captain Hook: My Story, Or, How I Clawed My Way To The Top as well as a similarly titled radio play. Peter has been involved in professional theatre as a performer, director, and writer for most of his life, starting from his graduation thirty years ago from the University of Virginia, where his focus was performance, but he also studied directing and playwriting. As a performer, he appeared on stages all over the country before settling in the DC / Baltimore area, where he has performed at many local theatres including Ford’s Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Rep Stage, Olney Theatre Center, Bay Theatre, Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre, DC Fringe Festival, Alliance for New Music Theatre, and the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival. Notable roles include Ebenezer Scrooge in A Broadway Christmas Carol at Metro Stage, Groucho Marx in Groucho: A Life in Revue at Wayside Theatre, and Charles Dickens in Discord at Washington Stage Guild, where he also recently appeared as Mr. Praed in George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession. He has also directed several stage productions, including David’s Red-haired Death in Ohio, A Spell of Cold Weather at Red Branch Theatre in Columbia MD, the professional premiere of HIVers in Los Angeles, and an outdoor production of Hamlet in Ohio for an audience of over 600 people. While a graduate student at the University of Mississippi, Peter wrote several short theatrical pieces. His professors complimented his work and encouraged him to create more, so he wrote and directed the 30-minute one-act play Cow. Cow was also performed locally at Howard Community College as a part of Arts Collective’s Play Reading Series and directed by Adam Grabau. Peter was head writer for Arts Collective’s production of Love Hurts, a series of stage combat related sketches, conceived and directed by Jenny Male. Upcoming writing projects include a full length play about Milady from The Three Musketeers and possibly a story about show chickens in search of adventure. Peter lives just outside the Baltimore beltway with his wife Jenny and their dog Mabel. www.petersbrain.art |
PERFORMANCES: Aug 12 - 21, 2022
ALL TICKETS - $20 Opening Night Reception: Fri, Aug 12, 2022 Join the cast, playwright, & director for a post-show reception Talk Back w/ Cast, Playwright, & Director Sun, Aug 14, 2022 Immediately following performance Ten Spot Thursday: Thur, Aug 18, 2022 - 8:00pm All Tickets - just $10.00 |