There are two types of audience members at any production of The Rocky Horror Show — converts and virgins. Converts are devoted fans, regulars at midnight screenings of the iconic film, who call out and call back as if their lives depended on it, elevating the experience from passive theater watching to a fully immersive one. Then there are the virgins, audience members who have no idea what they’re walking into. Much like the characters Brad and Janet, they are lured in by converts looking to shock and entice — or by theater reviewers with family visiting from out of town. Which is how I found myself on Halloween night introducing my mother-in-law to a sweet transvestite and a muscle-bound creature of the night and watching sexually repressed college students lose their virginity on the Frederick Community College Jack B. Kussmaul Theater stage.

As an introduction to the cult classic, Maryland Ensemble Theatre and Theatre FCC’s co-production of the Richard O’Brien sci-fi/horror opus more than delivers. Featuring a cast and crew composed of MET ensemble members and apprentices, Frederick Community College students, and actors and artists from the DMV, the show moves at a breakneck clip, references the movie liberally, and seamlessly incorporates audience participation.

For the uninitiated, The Rocky Horror Show follows newly engaged couple Brad and Janet as they get caught in a storm with a flat tire and are forced to seek refuge at a gothic castle in the middle of nowhere. Once inside, they find themselves unwilling guests of a mad scientist in a tight corset, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and his eccentric staff and guests. 

(“Are they vampires?” my mother-in-law whispered. Um, no. Just hang in there.)

As Brad and Janet soon find out, they have arrived on a special night. Dr. Frank-N-Furter is about to unveil his latest creation — Rocky, a muscle man created to satisfy the doctor’s every desire. And since the young couple seems so tightly wound, why not extend Rocky’s particular brand of hospitality to them as well? There’s also a murder. And aliens. And a floor show. 

The highlight of MET and FCC’s production is the cast. Eric Jones shines as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, towering over the rest of the actors in platform heels, teasing the audience with off-the-cuff quips, and swinging from seductive to cruel. Jeremy Myers and Mallorie Stern bring to life naïve couple Brad and Janet. Myer’s Brad is deeply closeted and almost cartoonish, with impeccable comedic timing, while Stern’s Janet goes from sweet innocent housewife-in-training to confident sultry sexpot belting out “Toucha Toucha Touch Me.” Willow Kyteler and Melanie Kurstin play Riff Raff and Magenta, Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s devoted staff, with a campy, magnetic flair that is both hilarious and delightful to watch. Rounding out the main cast are Karli Cole as the tap-dancing, manic Columbia, Christian Wilson as a very traumatized and defiant Rocky, Matt Harris channeling the late Meat Loaf as Eddie/Dr. Scott, and Ron Terbush as the Narrator, who inexplicably transforms from sober academic to leather daddy because why not?

Then there’s the Ensemble (Lucy Campbell, Amari Chambers, Cade MacFee, Katie Martin, Finn Martinez, Alex Pietanza, Mars Renn, and Khadeeja Sesay), the individual members of which are known as Phantoms, who serve as Greek chorus, party guests, stagehands, and even set pieces. When they aren’t actively performing in a scene, they lurk along the periphery of the stage, throwing out callbacks or offering commentary almost as an extension of the audience. They also dominate the dance numbers choreographed by Chambers and Melrose Pyne, weaving through the audience during the “Time Warp” or surrounding Dr. Frank-N-Furter with fluttering feather fans as part of “Rose Tint My World.”

Director Tad Janes was also responsible for scenic and sound design. The set dressing was minimal; the Phantoms moved around cylindrical platforms and scaffolding that served as the various set pieces, while different lighting effects (lighting designer Will Heyser-Paone) projected onto the white backdrop. The stage felt a bit too large for the production’s scale, even as the cast did their best to make the most of it. Costume design by Madeleine Davis was on point, a mix of sexy and campy, adjusting to each cast member’s particular body type and referencing the movie while also being unique.

Audience members were also decked out in costumes (it was Halloween, yes, but this is also a thing at any Rocky event) and didn’t miss a beat as they shouted out callbacks. The production even provided props and projected images onto the curtains above the stage when needed. Bless Dr. Frank-N-Furter for working with the novices in the audience and offering “sloppy seconds” when half of us forgot we needed to get our latex gloves ready for snapping.

Trying to explain what The Rocky Horror Show is about, or why people keep shouting at the cast, to someone who has never experienced it makes you realize just how bizarre this show is, but also why it works so well. It’s a show that transcends time, space, and periodic think pieces on why it’s problematic. It’s a show that ultimately builds community and is as much about liberation as it is about queering up B-movie tropes. Like Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s castle, it welcomes and corrupts all who dare to visit.

My mother-in-law’s review? “I have no idea what just happened, but I loved it!”

Running Time is 90 minutes with a 10-minute intermission.

The Rocky Horror Show, a co-production by Maryland Ensemble Theatre and Theatre FCC, plays through November 8, 2025 (8 pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday), at the Frederick Community College Jack B. Kussmaul Theater, Visual & Performing Arts Center, 7932 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick, MD. Purchase tickets ($14–$30) online.

The program is online here.

The Rocky Horror Show
Music, lyrics & book by Richard O’Brien
Directed by Tad Janes

The post ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ more than delivers at Maryland Ensemble Theatre appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

A clown falls from the sky, buoyed by a parasol, and finds himself in a field of marigolds. A large key, as if from a music box, sticks out of the ground, and, unable to resist, he turns it. Behind him, the sun appears to rise, and a woman with gauzy monarch butterfly wings falls into a sprint, a giant metal horse galloping behind her, as dancers in elaborate hummingbird costumes flit around the stage. At this moment, every person under the Big Top is locked in and ready to be awed by Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia.

Luzia takes the audience on a journey through an imaginary version of Mexico, where color, light, and rain are more than just backdrops for the performers’ breathtaking feats of acrobatics and choreography. The name of the show is a mix of the Spanish words for light (luz) and rain (lluvia), and both are used to spectacular effect throughout.

The show’s recurrent characters are the clown, known as the Traveler, and the Running Woman, the one with butterfly wings who appears to command many of the show’s set pieces. But the true protagonist of Luzia is Mexico. The country’s cinema and music, varied landscapes, plants, and animals, as well as old and modern traditions, find a uniquely surreal expression in Cirque du Soleil’s expertly crafted production.

Each scene is sensory overload. Wherever your eye lands, something beautiful is happening: Acrobats dressed as birds flying through hoops on a giant treadmill stage that is also rotating. An agave field where two women in giant metallic hoops perform an elegant choreography, while above them a trapeze artist flies through a sheet of rain. A movie scene set on a beach where a strongman balances on flimsy beams as an overzealous director with a megaphone shouts in Spanish. A jungle where acrobats climb up and down vertical poles and criss-cross in the air while leaping from one pole to the other. An aerial strap performer who paints the air with water from a cenote (sinkhole) as a life-size jaguar stalks him. Speed juggling to the beat of a marimba, footballers showing off deft control of the soccer ball, a contortionist who bends in ways the human body shouldn’t, a beach ball competition with a clown.

The show culminates with a Russian swing act where performers are hurled over 30 feet into the air from one swing, spinning as they go, to land with gymnastic precision on another on the opposite side of the stage. For this production, the two swings are mounted on a turntable so that the audience can take in the performance from all angles.

The show packs stunning moment after stunning moment, tempering the pace with musical interludes and feats of technical wizardry. The most memorable is a giant waterfall where images of animals, plants, and elaborate patterns appear over the falling water, stenciled in light. Adding to the magical and dreamlike quality of the scenes are giant puppets that move with uncanny realism.

Cirque du Soleil may be most famous for gravity-defying visual spectacles, but what weaves the fabric of Luzia together is the music. Before the show even begins, as the audience is settling into their seats, a lone guitarist fills the gigantic space with melodic strumming from a Spanish guitar. Live musicians become characters in their own right, often dressed in eye-catching costumes that pay tribute to the Mexican surrealist movement (several of the costumes are on display in the Big Top lobby with information about the designs). The show’s composer, Simon Carpentier, drew from many Latin American music traditions when creating the score, including cumbia, norteña, huapango, and traditional brass and percussion bands. In a show that is almost oversaturated with color and movement, one of the most enthralling moments featured a lone singer in a white and red dress performing an operatic solo on a mostly dark stage.

Luzia is a truly unique show. It’s also family-friendly and overall a fun experience, whether you’re a Cirque du Soleil first-timer or a veteran of the Big Top.

Running Time: Two hours and 20 minutes, including a 25-minute intermission.

Luzia plays through October 18, 2015, presented by Cirque du Soleil, performing under the Big Top at Tyson II, 8025 Galleria Drive, Tysons, VA. Tickets can be purchased at cirquedusoleil.com/Luzia or through TodayTix.

The Luzia program is online here.

SEE ALSO:
Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Luzia’ to perform in DC in 2025 (news story, October 22, 2024)
‘Luzia’ at Cirque du Soleil in Tysons (review by John Stoltenberg, April 15, 2018)

The post Spectacular play of light and rain in Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Luzia’ appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Two prisoners — one a revolutionary, the other a queer idealist — are forced to share a cell while outside the prison an authoritarian regime uses state-sanctioned terror to remain in control. Set in 1970s Argentina, Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig is a classic of Latin American literature, brought back to the stage of the GALA Hispanic Theatre as part of its 50th anniversary. The story of Valentín and Molina is a reminder that even in the darkest times, people find ways to build connection through stories and to show kindness even to those who are different from them.

This is a particularly emotive revival for GALA. The play was staged in 1994 with GALA co-founder Hugo Medrano in the role of Molina, which earned him a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, the first for a Spanish-language performance in DC. On opening night, his wife, executive director of GALA Rebecca Medrano, offered a moving tribute to her late husband and dedicated the production to him.

The play opens with Molina (Martín Ruiz) narrating a movie about a “panther woman” to his reluctantly enthralled cellmate Valentín (Rodrigo Pedreira). Molina is feminine and passionate, obsessed with Hollywood films, and imprisoned for being homosexual (under the charge of “corrupting minors”). He stands in stark contrast to Valentín, a rigidly idealistic and aggressively masculine political prisoner committed to the fight against exploitation and inequality. As Molina attempts to distract them from their ordeal and bring a domestic normalcy to their relationship, Valentín pushes back, fearful that accepting kindness will compromise his ability to continue his fight against tyranny. But as the story progresses, their vulnerability and openness bring them into each other’s worlds, a brief respite from the pain and fear of their reality.

Ruiz and Pedreira have an undeniable chemistry, even when they are at odds with each other. Ruiz portrays Molina with a mix of vulnerability and impeccable comedic timing, a Hollywood heroine who refuses to lose her dignity. Pedreira’s Valentín is a caged tiger, his body language as clear as his line delivery, unwinding gradually as the character slowly puts down his defenses and allows himself to open up, which is the ultimate act of courage.

The production supports the performances through a mix of lighting and original music to mark the transition between scenes and reflect the characters’ emotional tenor. The stage is designed like a black box, the stark gray walls of the cell looming large over the actors. A square platform in the center of the stage serves as their beds and where the prisoners store their limited belongings. Wardrobe is also used to great effect, both as another visual reminder of the differences between the two men and, as it is shed during several powerful scenes, as a way to mark their growing closeness and dependence on each other.

Award-winning director José Luis Arellano weaves deeply intimate moments between the two actors with dramatic and often hilarious interactions. The production maintains a satisfying pace and connects with the audience through the characters’ emotional journey. This is Arellano’s 13th collaboration with GALA and the first time GALA is bringing to the stage an Argentinian play, selected in part as a commentary on the current political climate in Washington. Even if outside the theater, military vehicles and soldiers roam the streets of DC, inside GALA Hispanic Theatre, the audience can find a few hours of escape, of connection and storytelling.

Running Time: Approximately one hour and 50 minutes including intermission.

Kiss of the Spider Woman (El Beso de la Mujer) plays through September 28, 2025, with showtimes on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm at GALA Hispanic Theatre, 333 14th St NW, Washington, DC. Regular tickets range from $25 to $50. Discounted tickets are available for $35 (seniors 65+, military, groups 10+) and $25 (under 25). For tickets and more details go online or call (202) 234-7174.

The production is in Spanish with English surtitles. Friday night socials featuring live Latin music and karaoke will take place Friday nights through September 26 in the GALA lobby.

GALA Theatre is fully accessible, with an elevator and wheelchair seating. Validated parking ($4) is available at the Giant garage on Park Road NW, with additional parking at the Target garage. GALA is one block from the Columbia Heights Metro (Green/Yellow lines).

The playbill is online here (scroll down).

Kiss of the Spider Woman
By Manuel Puig
Directed José Luis Arellano

CAST
Martín Ruiz as Molina
Rodrigo Pedreira as Valentín

CREATIVE TEAM
Tony Cisek (Scenic Design), Hailey LaRoe (Lighting & Projections Design), Cidney Forkpah (Costumes Design), Koki Lortkipanidze (Sound Design), and Tessa Grippaudo (Properties Design). Luz Nicolás is Assistant Director and Technical Director is Anson Stevie. Ilyana Rose-Dávila is Production Manager, Company Administrator is Lorena Suárez, and Delbis Cardona is Artistic Associate.

SEE ALSO:
GALA Hispanic Theatre launches 50th season with ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ (news story, July 31, 2025)

The post An emotive and intimate ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ at GALA appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Hedwig Robinson is washed up, sipping vermouth straight from the bottle with a long pink straw, while her ex, who stole all her songs, plays a sold-out concert across the street. She’s at the center of a scandal and she is delighting in it, cracking jokes, flirting with the audience, even as years of pent-up hurt and rage sometimes bubble over into yelling at her bandmates or storming off stage. But just as quickly, she composes herself, checks her makeup, adjusts her wig, and continues telling the story of how a botched sex change operation led to this “anatomically incorrect musical odyssey.”

Inside the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET), the audience sits in a packed room, with Hedwig and her punk rock band almost at touching distance, which is exactly how Hedwig and the Angry Inch is meant to be experienced.

The show was written and first performed by John Cameron Mitchel in 1998 with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, and then became a queer cult classic film in 2001. This is how director Anna See-Jachowski and musical director Eric Jones first discovered this iconic genderqueer character. And like many queer and trans people before and after them, they were impacted by the joy and trauma held in Hedwig. It took See-Jachowski and Jones seven years to bring Hedwig and the Angry Inch to the Frederick stage (the COVID pandemic being one of the major hurdles). Faithful to the show’s origins, they’ve managed to create an experience that combines the energy of an unhinged drag show with the edginess of an underground punk rock club.

Hedwig narrates her journey from being a young gay man in East Berlin pre-fall of the Berlin Wall to becoming a sex worker in Kansas and meeting Tommy Gnosis, whom she thought was her soulmate. Except he betrays her, steals all the music they wrote together, and becomes an international rock star, leaving Hedwig in obscurity until a recent scandal brings her back to relevance. This is Hedwig’s hilarious and heartbreaking attempt to reclaim her narrative and her music.

“Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical that tells the story about identity, about the human experience, about our raw, unfiltered need for love. It’s a story about what can become of us when the parts of us that develop to help us survive can harm others,” stated See-Jachowski, who is also a licensed therapist. “Our take on Hedwig’s story is one in which she is able to take stock of all of the different versions of a person she has had to be.”

MET’s Hedwig is brought to life by Off-Broadway actor and drag performer Lynwood McLeod, whose range is on full display. McLeod flows from effortless charisma and humor to moments of genuine vulnerability and distress, masked as anger. They also assume a number of voices and accents as they narrate the different chapters of Hedwig’s life. As a vocalist, McLeod appears at ease whether belting out punk rock anthems like “Tear Me Down” and “Angry Inch,” taking a melodious turn in power ballad “The Origin of Love,” or bringing in the audience for a sing-along in “Wig in a Box.”

But no Hedwig is complete without her reluctant husband, Yitzhak, played with side-eyeing disdain by Melanie Kurstin. Yitzhak’s story is a prime example of what many trauma therapists describe as “hurt people hurt people.” Yitzhak was a Jewish drag queen who married Hedwig as a way to escape his oppressive country, mirroring how Hedwig married an American soldier to escape her own oppression. And much like Hedwig was forced to give up a piece of herself – her gender as a man – she forces Yitzhak to give up ever performing as a woman again, for which he deeply resents her. Kurtin showcases her vocal talents as backup vocals in most of the songs, then as lead vocals on the melancholic “The Long Grift,” and at her full diva-level at the end of “Midnight Radio.”

The Angry Inch band completes the rest of the stage cast, with Jones and Andy Wright on guitars, Ray Shaw on bass, Shayden Jamison on drums, and David Weinraub on keyboard. As musicians, they bring the punk rock energy and tempo that the songs demand, while sound designer Ryan Edwards manages to keep decibel levels at a range most elder millennials would approve of (audience members are also provided with “ear tampons” if they want them). As actors, they bring the realism of being part of a band whose lead singer is hanging on by a thread but they have a show to put on.

The production value is amplified by an immersive set design by Jones and Stephanie Davis that includes murals featuring the Berlin Wall’s iconic graffiti the Fraternal Kiss and spray-painted messages like “No More Walls No More Wars,” which are still painfully resonant today. The lighting design by Will Heyser-Paone brings a colorful, frantic energy to the show and is used to great effect. As part of the sound design, the Tommy Gnosis concert next door creeps its way into the venue each time the main doors are opened and the sounds of fans cheering and Tommy being a narcissist are clearly audible. Additionally, a screen projection on the side of the stage complements Hedwig’s narration, with pre-recorded scenes directed by Robin C. Farrell, animations designed by Elizabeth Miranda (including an homage to the film), and original Tarot card designs by Justin Johnson that mirror the story and punctuate story beats.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch may have graced major stages, including its Broadway revival featuring NPH a few years ago. But the show’s origins and spirit live in underground drag punk venues like the one MET was able to create, where queer performers put themselves out there in a show that takes an outrageous and at times absurd character and turns Hedwig’s story into one about catharsis and completion.

Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch plays through August 23, 2025, at Maryland Ensemble Theatre‘s Robin Drummond Main Stage, 31 W Patrick Street, Frederick, MD. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by phone at 301-694-4744, online, or in person at the MET box office, open Tuesday to Thursday, 12 – 6 p.m., Fridays 12 – 4 p.m. and one hour before performances. Donations are accepted to benefit the Frederick Center and MET.

Performances will take place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. with a bonus 5 p.m. performance on Saturday, August 23. The Friday, August 22 performance will feature ASL interpretation services.

A MET-X production
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Text by John Cameron Mitchell
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Trask

The production team is led by Anna See-Jachowski (Director) with MET Ensemble Members Eric Jones (Music Director), Olivia Pietanza (Assistant Director/Stage Manager), Sam White (Assistant Stage Manager), Cody James (Technical Director), and Matt Harris (Production Manager). The design team also includes MET Ensemble Members Rachel Grant Smith (Costume Supervisor), Eric Jones (Co-Set Designer) and Sam White (Graphic Designer). Rounding out the design team are Will Heyser-Paone (Lighting Designer), Ryan Edwards (Sound Designer), Stephanie Davis (Co-Set Designer), Nancy Jones (Scenic Painter/Assistant Costume Supervisor), Jesye Havrila (Hair/Wig/Make-Up Supervisor), Tekla Taylor (Tarot Artist), and Elizabeth Miranda (Animation Designer).

The cast features MET Ensemble Members Eric Jones, Shayden Jamison, and Will Marian. They are joined by Lynwood McLeod, Melanie Kurstin, David Weinraub, Andy Wright, and Ray Shaw.

COVID Safety: Facemasks are strongly encouraged but not required. MET’s Safety policy can be found here.

The post ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ exactly as it was meant to be, at Maryland Ensemble Theatre appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

When The Tempest was first performed in 1611, it was staged with an all-male cast, as was the standard of the time; the sole female role was likely played by a boy. Just over 400 years later, the Endangered Species theatre Project (ESPtheatre) subverts that practice and brings William Shakespeare’s tragicomedy to the stage with an all-female cast as part of the seventh-annual Frederick Shakespeare Festival.

What’s impressive is how this minimalist production, directed by Richard Costes, manages to divide 15 roles among six actresses, relying on their ability to transform (often right on stage) and embody a new character with their own physicality, costume, and voice in the blink of an eye. The production also creates the illusion of a deserted island using barebones staging, clever sound design, and the audience itself, with cast members weaving in and out of the rows of camping chairs and blankets dotting Hood College’s Hodson Outdoor Theatre.

The Tempest was one of Shakespeare’s last plays and is considered by some to be the Bard’s farewell to the theater through the character of Prospero  — or in the case of this production, Prospera. It should also be noted that in ESP’s performance of The Tempest, some characters are changed from male to female while others are played as male.

Prospera (Greta Boeringer) is the deposed Duke of Milan, who has been stranded on an island with her daughter Miranda (Emma Justine Roeder) for 12 years. Prospera is also a magician and works with the spirit Ariel (Roeder), whom Prospera has bribed with the promise of freedom. Their dysfunctional found family is completed by Caliban (Marnie Kanarek), a monstrous slave who Prospera abuses and berates. When a ship carrying the King of Naples, Alonso (Ellie Sullivan), his son Ferdinand (Kayla Swain), his brother Sebastian (Emma Hooks), Prospera’s usurping sister Antonia (Kanarek), and other nobles passes near the island, Prospero and Ariel conjure a storm to wreck the vessel. At Miranda’s pleas, all survive and are scattered to different points of the island. What follows is equal parts comedy and tragedy, mixing political intrigue and passionate romance with a drunken murder plot and trickster spirit-induced hallucinations, and ending with forgiveness and a betrothal.

The cast is led by Boeringer as Prospera, a moody matriarch who is as kind and nurturing to her daughter as she is cruel and conniving against those who wronged her. In terms of physicality, no one works harder than Roeder, one moment flitting around as the spirit Ariel, setting magical traps, the next swooning over Ferdinand, literally the first guy she’s ever met, as teenage Miranda. A close second place goes to the mini-ensemble of Sullivan, Hooks, and Kanarek playing butler Stefano, jester Trinculo, and slave Caliban, respectively. They serve as the comedic heart of the production, chugging down homemade booze while plotting to murder Prospera and being manipulated by Ariel. In other scenes, Hooks and Kanarek trade the slapstick for more serious murderous intent, as Antonia and Sebastian plot to murder the king and take his throne.

All this to say, The Tempest as a play has a lot going on. Costes made the very intentional decision to pare down the production as much as possible. Costumes and props are used in a utilitarian fashion (costume design by Deanna Kinzie and Rebacca Kohn, props by Liz Long). A shirt, dress, staff, or hat is used as a visual indicator of which character is being portrayed. A collection of chests of different sizes serves as the main staging (scenic design by Costes), with the actors moving and flipping them in order to sit on, stand on, or hide behind them as needed. The trees surrounding the outdoor stage along with wild soundscapes and songs fill in the rest of the scene (sound design by Irene Silbert and Jackson Peters-Mosere).

“The plays I remember most fondly are the plays that are stripped of artifice, that are just people putting on the barest of theatre. The ones where it feels like everyone involved has just come together to have fun,” Costes writes in his Director’s Note. “My favorite memories of theatre are the ones where it feels like a close-knit group has gathered to put on a show for their friends. This production is designed to hopefully capture that feeling.”

Running Time: Approximately two hours with one 10-minute intermission.

The Tempest plays through August  21, 2025, presented by Endangered Species theatre Project as part of the Frederick Shakespeare Festival, performing at Hood College’s Hodson Outdoor Theater (601 Blazer Trail, Frederick, MD) and Hidden Hills Farm and Vineyard (7550 Green Valley Rd, Frederick, MD). All tickets are available on a pay-what-you-will basis. Tickets can be purchased in advance online, at esptheatre.org/fsf, or at the door.

The cast and crew bios are online here.

The post An impressive stripped-down ‘Tempest’ from Endangered Species <i>theatre</i> Project appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Unstrung Harpist’s production of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, part of the Frederick Shakespeare Festival, is a whimsical rendition of the famous gender-bending romantic comedy.

The show opens with most of the cast gathered around the stage, several wielding instruments, laughing and singing, wearing colorful costumes that blend Sgt. Pepper’s-esque ’60s aesthetic with a medieval cut. But director Evan Crump’s take on the play doesn’t only musicalize the Bard’s original songs; it also incorporates pop and rock classics that mirror the story about to play out. Songs like The Kinks’ “Lola,” Simon and Garfunkel’s “Celia,” and Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man” are a wink to some of the play’s themes and characters. Because As You Like It is the original mistaken-identity, cross-dressing rom-com.

Rosalind (Maureen O’Neal) and Orlando (Jacob Waeyaert) meet at the Duke of Frederick’s (Brian Keith MacDonald) court, and that brief encounter sparks an almost obsessive passion (no one gets young love quite like Shakespeare). Unfortunately, Rosalind is banished by her uncle, the duke, and flees to the Forest of Arden with her cousin Celia (Kira Simmons) and the court jester Touchstone (MacDonald). For protection (and also on a whim), Rosalind decides to disguise herself as a young man named Ganymede.

Struggling with family problems of his own, Orlando runs away from his home to the Forest of Arden, where he busies himself posting love poems about Rosalind across trees and fields (Shakespeare’s version of oversharing about your crush on social media). He eventually gets taken in by a band of musicians led by Duke Senior (Corey Ahearn), the cruel duke’s exiled brother. Inevitably, Rosalind and Orlando meet again, except he doesn’t recognize her now that she is living as a shepherd. Rosalind, under the guise of Ganymede, offers to “cure” him of his love for Rosalind by having him woo her.

While the story centers Rosalind and Orlando, the supporting characters add hilarity and complications to the absurd situation the unwitting lovers find themselves in. Celia is Rosalind’s biggest supporter and encourages her pursuit of Orlando while also financing their stay at Arden. She employs the level-headed Corin (Reiner Prochaska) to tend to her newly purchased flock of sheep, and he acts as an adviser to the young lovers. Touchstone for his part — played with manic scene-stealing delight by MacDonald — is divided by how much he loves the freedom of the pasture but misses the manners and intrigue of the court, until he becomes utterly smitten by a female goatherder (Elle Sullivan) and a male guitarist (Jake Urtes). Rosalind also finds herself caught in a love triangle when goatherder Phebe (Melissa Wilson) falls for Ganymede while being relentlessly pursued by Silvius (Daniel Summerstay). The play’s best-known monologue — “All the world’s a stage…” — is delivered by Jacques (Gillian Shelly), a moody lord loyal to Duke Senior, and is one of the highlights of the performance.

The production utilizes minimal staging, incorporating the trees and fields surrounding Hood College’s Hodson Outdoor Theatre as an extension of the story’s Forest of Arden. The first half of the show relies on the summer evening sunlight and, as night falls, switches to a simple but effective lighting setup that illuminates the utilitarian stage.

Music is almost another character in the show. The mellow notes of guitar, mandolin, and fiddle are woven throughout the performance, while a box drum and bodhrán are used to add tension to scenes. Musical director Gillian Shelly also doesn’t miss any opportunity to showcase the cast’s vocal abilities with joyous enthusiasm.

The show concludes with several emotional family reunions and a four-way wedding because a happy ending is a prerequisite of any romantic comedy. As You Like It is fun, a little ridiculous, and ultimately a celebration of love. Even back in the 1600s this was a feel-good show, and the Unstrung Harpist Production puts on a freewheeling, musical rendition of this Shakespearean classic.

Running Time: Approximately two hours with one 15-minute intermission.

As You Like It plays through July 26, 2025, presented by Unstrung Harpist Productions in
conjunction with the Frederick Shakespeare Festival, performing at Hood College’s Hodson Outdoor Theatre (601 Blazer Trail, Frederick, MD) with a special 2:30 p.m. matinee on July 20 at the Avalon Black Box Theatre inside Hood College’s Tatem Performing Arts Center. All tickets are available on a pay-what-you-will basis. Tickets can be purchased in advance online at esptheatre.org/fsf or at the door.

The post A fun and a freewheeling ‘As You Like It’ from Unstrung Harpist Productions appeared first on DC Theater Arts.