Daniel Collins - Page 3

Three veterans of World War I contemplate their lives, their mortality and a row of poplars just off in the distance in Tom Stoppard's HEROES, now at the Everyman Theater, the last play to be performed at the theater's current Charles Street location.

A town ready for wealth, a naive scientist, men in power and men seeking power, a battle for the truth--it's all grist for playwright Arthur Miller's adaptation of Henri Ibsen's classic, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, now at Baltimore's Center Stage.

It's a story of kings and presidents, grandchildren and generals. It's an evening of steely fire, inspiration and quiet grace. It's GOLDA'S BALCONY, now at the Vagabond theater in Baltimore City.

Maddy, Kat and Julia are high-achieveing, super-stressed seniors on the Cross Country team at Thwaite Academy. An email from their former teammate Sarah threatens to push them over the edge. Why? Because Sarah died after winning last year's Cross Country Championship.

A politically charged murder trial rocks a small Texas town when two wealthy brothers are accused of killing the stalker of a teenaged girl. A determined District Attorney jeopardizes his career in his relentless pursuit of the truth.

his is the last week for director Michael Spellman's The Holdup, now at the Spotlighters Theater (www.spotlighters.org). I caught up with actor Frank Vince who portrays "The Outlaw" in this "inventive, picaresque play that mingles humor and sentiment," as noted on the Spotlighters website. I've had the opportunity to review Frank's work in the past, such as his performance as Roy Cohn in Angels in America, and have "strode the boards" with him when I played Jimmy Tomorrow to Frank's Rocky in the Fells Point Corner Theater production of "The Iceman Cometh' this past winter. In this interview, Frank discusses his love of acting, his time at the Spotlighters, and his role as "The Outlaw'

Guest reviewer Mark Squirek provides his insights into local playwright Mark Scharf's HIRED GUN, a melodramatic meditation on aging, Fender guitars, delusions, the music business and marriage.

Shana lives in a state of constant turmoil and instability as she is visited by a number of characters, each one attempting to budge her from a place of indecision and fear. Are they successful? Is Shana? This unsettling play, 'Shana Unsettled,' is part of the 31st annual Baltimore Playwrights Festival.

To be gay was to be a criminal in Nazi Germany. Martin Sherman's play, 'BENT,' takes on the issue of homosexuality under Hitler's rule in this 2-act, 2+ hour production now at Baltimore's Mobtown Players theater.

What do three prostitutes, an old man, a brother and sister on their way to Utah, a man seeking his grandfather, a faded southern belle, among others, all have in common? They're all about to be evicted from 'The Hot L Baltimore,' now at the Spotlighters Theater.

When a can't-pay-the-rent musician meets a rich-in-coin-but-not-in-talent would-be diva named Florence Foster Jenkins, an unlikely partnership is formed that would shock the Beckstein, as the Vagabond Players present Stephen Temperley's SOUVENIR.

Now at the Fells Point Corner Theater, Lynn Nottage's RUINED is a haunting, probing work about the resilience of the human spirit during times of war.

A British talk show host takes on a former U.S. President in The Vagabond Players' production of 'Frost/Nixon.'

Award-winning actor/playwright/director Mark Squirek offers his insights as a Guest Reviewer into the Mobtown Theater's current production of Darwin in Malibu by Crispin Whittell, a work that's as much about faith as it is evolution.

East Coast battles West Coast with a teenage girl's home address in the balance...a man tries to conceal an unconscious lady of the evening from the lady of the house...an English actress has Oscar dreams and two couples learn you shouldn't visit too many Japanese restaurants on vacation...it's all smiles for the patrons of Neil Simon's 'California Suite.'

A baby lies dead...was it murder? The mother has no knowledge of even being pregnant...and she's a nun. A virgin birth? A psychiatrist with a serious anti-Catholic streak joins forces with a Mother Superior to delve the mystery of John Pielmeier's 'Agnes of God,' now at the Spotlighters Theater in downtown Baltimore.

Martin McDonagh's A SKULL IN CONNEMARA reflects today's attention-span-shortened audience...Concise but clever, with laughing and bashing, a playful bit of a play...but not particularly demanding of its audience...unlike, say Eugene O'Neill's THE ICEMAN COMETH. Does 'SKULL' represent a trend in modern theater? Are the days of 4-hour plays over?

A Mr. Mark Squirek -- a non-facebook subscriber but an individual with an evidently keen interest in theater -- sent me this response to a recently posted review of Eugene O'Neill's THE ICEMAN COMETH, now at the Fells Point Corner Theater. To post responses to BWW reviews requires facebook membership (it's a way to eliminate anonymous, hateful postings), but not everyone has joined the millions taking the facebook plunge. I was impressed enough with the detail and depth of this letter to include it as a READER FEEDBACK column. I will say that I am a member of the ICEMAN cast, so I believe it only right to note that here. In any event, here is Mr. Squirek's comments.

A 1970s resale shop in Chicago is the setting for award-winning playwright David Mamet's 'American Buffalo,' now at Baltimore's Center Stage.

Amanda and Elyot loved each other, passionately. They fought, passionately. They divorced...probably passionately as well. When both find themselves remarried and enjoying their respective honeymoons at the same hotel, well, passions are soon enflamed. It's Noel Coward's PRIVATE LIVES, now at Baltimore's Everyman Theatre.