Shakespeare performed just as you like it and coming to Baltimore
Full Disclosure: Claire has appeared and acted with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.
I’m a big, big fan of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. They’ve renewed my love of Shakespeare with the creative genius they give to all his plays.
Ellicott City’s Patapsco Female Institute is the outdoor venue for their latest production, As You Like It, directed by the inspired Patrick Kilpatrick and it doesn’t fail to impress.
The talented cast offer an exemplary performance of this comedy, peppered with moments of real humor (James Jager as Silvius stands out) and showered (literally) with jaw-dropping and hysterical episodes (notably the snowball fight with real ice!).
What makes this performance one of the best I’ve seen in a while is how the cast weave the story together with believable relationships and thought-provoking performances. I defy anyone not to get choked at the final scene between Jacques (Jenny Leopold) and Duke Senior (Gregory Burgess). It’s these little nuances that make the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s work stand apart from anything I’ve seen before.
The CSC is not afraid to think outside the box, to involve the crowd, talk to the audience, give a little more, invite you in to the play and make you really feel like you are in the Forest of Arden with them. Vince Eisenson (Orlando) and Blythe Coons (Rosalind) excel in their roles, showing that when Shakespeare takes you on a journey of exploration into the heart, it’s possible to do it with both a twinkle in the eye and real passion.
The show runs until 20 July. Go see it! More information about tickets can be found here.
CSC in Downtown Baltimore
Excitingly, the CSC is moving to Downtown Baltimore to take up residence in an impressive, specially built theatre where they will be able to present an eight-month season of productions and extensive after-school and weekend educational programs indoors. The building is the landmark 1885 Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company building located at 7 South Calvert Street on the corner of Calvert and Redwood, just two blocks from Baltimore’s celebrated Inner Harbor.
Outdoor Shakespeare fans will be delighted to know that they will continue to perform a full summer season in our outdoor home at the PFI Historic Park in Howard County.
The renovated 20,000 square foot building is now an unforgettable, intimate 250 seat theatre and CSC’s outreach to the community will increase dramatically as they add Baltimore City residents to their community of enthusiastic CSC supporters.
It’s a great thing for Baltimore.
Claire Bolden McGill is a British expat who lived in Maryland for three years and moved back to the UK in August 2015. Claire wrote about her life as a British expat on the East Coast and now works in travel and hospitality PR in the UK. She still finds time to blog about her repatriation and the reverse culture shock that ensued – and she still hasn’t finished that novel, but she’s working on it. You can contact Claire via twitter on @clairebmcgill or via her blog From America to England.