Star Trek Wrath of Khan the play @ Annex Theatre

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights
Doors: 7:30pm
Show 8pm sharp.


The Annex, Baltimore.

419 E. Oliver St.

The Point! A Puppet Musical

Come out this weekend out check out the Point!
Directed by Ellen Nielson
Musical Direction by Dan Breen



The Point! A Puppet Musical
March 20th and 21st
8pm
$5
5th floor of the H&H

Hanna-Barbera Play Festival @ The Annex Theater

The Annex Theater crew, including Tim Paggi, Evan Moritz, Kaitlin Murphy and Grace Bedwell, never ceases to amaze , improve and present creative ideas in an unimaginably cool and effortless way. The Hanna-Barbera play festival, the latest project of the ever-busy thespians, brought together avant-garde actors and playwrights from Baltimore, New York and Virginia.
The chosen cartoons, Snagglepuss, Wacky Races, Tom and Jerry, The Smurfs and Space Ghost, along with films by Mark Brown and Kevin Blackistone, highlighted different elements of the classic styles. Snagglepuss, fantastically depicted by Andy Abelow, captured the corny dialog and flowery antic of the clueless mountain lion. Wacky Races drove home the looping backdrop phenomenon, while the Smurfs used classic characters to parody the election.
Most notable, however, were Tom and Jerry, directed by and starring Donna Sellinger, with fabulous costumes and props by Dina Kelberman, and Kaitlin Murphy and Grace Bedwell's Space Ghost puppet show. Tom and Jerry's minimal sets, and fantastic lighting emphasized the mime aspects of the original cartoon. The action was in the facial expression and exaggerated body language.

Space Ghost blew my mind-seriously. The sets were fantastic, the props and puppets were surreal and the performance hilariously-perfectly-deadpan (especially Owen Gardner's Space Ghost). With action-packed puppet attacks, and an amazing accompaniment by Snacks' Tom Boram and Dan Breen (who added their magic to all of the shorts), Space Ghost was amazing.


Don't miss Ionesco's Rhinoceros, directed by Kaitlin Murphy, November 13 - 15 @ 8pm

"A Baltimore Love Thing" Closing Night

Tim Paggi's "A Baltimore Love Thing" closed at the Annex Theater this Saturday to a full and enthusiastic audience. The play, starring Maggie Burke and Owen Brightman as a dysfunctional couple in a post-apocalyptic Baltimore, is a smartly written comedy that balances its narrative with a postmodern awareness of the playwriting art.
Paggi introduces the audience to his play with a chorus (played by Sarah Perrich, Mike Farley, and Kevin Blackistone), whom he refers to by their numbers, telling of the changes to Baltimore in the years between now and the Baltimore of the future, citing, among the many atrocities, the Frat Boy Uprising in Charles Village.
As well as the two main characters, Adam Rothstein and Milana Brascavsky are a food-seeking, cat/mouse team of futuristic self-help-gurus. They hatch a scheme to help Terrance (Brightman) find love in return for food. Cat and Mouse choose Ester (Burke) as the girl for Terrance, and help to coach them into a caustic relationship.


Ester and Terrance have a fight at her party over the presence of "The Robot," played by Lana Goldzer, a destructive force in future-Baltimore. The robot, Ester and Terrance make odwallatov cocktails, escalating into a machismo suicide-showdown, the burning of City Hall and a lifestyle change for Ester. The show was excellent, fun, different and entertaining, we look forward to more work from Tim Paggi and his fellow playwrights at the Annex Theater.
Make sure to catch upcoming events The Hanna Barbera Play Festival, Oct 24th and 25th at 8pm, and Ionesco's Rhinoceros, Nov 13 - 15 at 8pm

A Baltimore Love Thing! @ The Annex Theater

Poster by Sarah Matson

A Baltimore Love Thing!
A play by Tim Paggi
October 2, 3, and 4
8 PM
At The Copycat Annex Theater
$5

A Murmured Tale

In this adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid by Chloe Tietjen, Rachel Tietjen, Erika Tietjen, and Melanie Paterson, we are transported to an underwater land filled with singing, dancing, and a gold cod piece. There was obviously a great deal of effort and time put into this play because it was phenomenal. It was barely advertised, but the space was filled. The costumes were elegant, ranging from simple body suits to ornate and lustrous mermaid outfits adorned with jewels. This tale is different that the well known and loved Disney version, with a much darker ending. The performers were all very talented and at times it seemed like a ballet. The set was simple with shadow screens and colored lights, yet totally effective in creating a beautiful underwater atmosphere. The use of black light and neon masks was also simply stunning. The jellyfish scene was one of the most gorgeous and memorable in the play. Dark lighting helped create a murky ambiance in which jellyfish danced and undulated as their tentacles flowed. It was spectacular! A perfect combination of sight and sound! Another standout part was the shipwreck scene, where sailors floated in an underwater limbo. The dancers’ movements perfectly captured the sense of being underwater.

At times it was difficult to hear what was being spoken, but it may be because of our seating location. This was overall a very beautiful performance that left you with a feeling of satisfaction and a voyage into imagination.

Written Sara Seidman and Sarah Matson

The Written World @ Copycat Annex

In Evan Moritz’s new play, The Written World, we are shown an apocalyptic portrayal of spiritual abandonment; the ultimate freedom. This original work touches on the idea of a world where God has given up on people. The main character is the Deacon of the Church of God Reworded (played by Tim Paggi). He is the last living human. His lonely existence is plagued by the ghosts of his past; memories that retell the demise of the world. In this work we meet the Reverend (played by Chris Shivers), the creator of the new bible, who believes he made God disconnect from society. We also meet St Katherine of Pittsburgh (played by Kaitlin Murphy) who inspired the mass suicide that destroyed the rest of the living world. Living a life filled with nothing but beauty and pleasure, mankind became bored and that ultimately became the downfall of a perfect society. God created a sonic race (voiced by Rusty Burke and Becca Cohn) to bring beauty and joy to humans, but after years as the last human, the Deacon was annoyed by them.

Over all the play was enjoyable, though confusing. Upon entering the performance space, everyone was handing a glass of wine and was told to wait until “the right time” to drink it. This interactivity was very satisfying as the audience was able to partake in the symbolic drinking of St Katherine’s blood.

The set was very impressive with stacks of books and pages plastered to the walls, as well as an installation by Michael Farley. Music by Owen Gardner. The costumes created by Grace Bedwell were very appropriate, with wild patterns paired with subtle earth tones. Their worn looking construction evoked a utopian time fading and a transition to dissolution of minds and bodies. We only wish that the costumes worn by the Voices were eventually shown to the audience because they were also fantastic.

Installation by Michael Farley:

Written by Sara Seidman and Sarah Matson

New Theater/Venue Alert: The Strand

While attending the menzshow opening at Flux studios, we had the happy accident of catching members of the new Strand Theater company admiring their new facade directly next door. We talked to these guys:

for a bit and found out that they had just put up the sign today, because they are set to open tomorrow with an Open House Event TOMORROW (Sunday) evening:

The event is completely free!

Open House Program Schedule

4-4:20pm – King Cloud (Band)

4:20-4:40pm - BIG Improv

Mister Licorice is part of the Baltimore Improv Group and is a long-form improv troop. Mister Licorice uses suggestions from the audience to open with monologues and then create scenes. Some of those scenes may tie in with the monologues and others will just be inspired!

4:40-5pm - BIG Improv Workshop - Fundamentals

5-5:20pm - Baby Aspirin (Band) – Indie, Blues, Rock

5:20-5:40pm - Love the Poet

Michelle A. Nelson, spoken word poetry

5:40-6pm - Rich Espey Playwrighting Workshop

6-6:20pm - Baby Aspirin (Band)

6:20-6:40pm - Ian Belknap Acting Workshop

6:40-7pm - Single Carrot Performance

Single Carrot theatre presents a brand new, high-energy sketch comedy show. Navigating through communication breakdowns, innuendos, and societal misinterpretations, this comedy-cocktail hits you in a series of short, hilarious bursts.

1823 North Charles Street, next to FLUX Studios.

From their website: Our mission is to create innovative theatre for the purpose of securing a new generation of theatre go-ers. As well as putting an emphasis on works that highlight the feminine perspective.

Check out their website here.