“Spectacularly magical…Visually stunning. If you are looking for an entertaining, wonderfully weird, and provocatively thoughtful play, then this is one you do not want to miss.” – MD Theatre Guide
JUXTAPOSE | A Theatrical Shadow Box
Happenstance Theater
December 4 – 21
In JUXTAPOSE, the lives of eccentrics co-existing in a tenement building are interrupted and illuminated by a human shooting star who arrives through their roof. Themes of mortality, ephemera, extinction, and community are animated along with curated objects in a theatrical shadow box inspired by the works of Joseph Cornell.
As humanity teeters on the edge of the frame, JUXTAPOSE offers audiences the ability to laugh at fear and offers that the limitless hope of imagination might save us from the despair of ending.
Featuring:
Gwen Grastorf, Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon
Learn more about the show! Click here to listen to the conversation with WBJC’s Gavin Witt and Happenstance’s Sabrina Mandell and Mark Jaster.
Showtimes:
December 4 @ 7:30pm (Pay-What-You-Can)
December 5 @ 7:30pm
December 6 @ 3:00pm
December 6 @ 7:30pm
December 7 @ 3:00pm
December 11 @ 7:30pm
December 12 @ 7:30pm
December 13 @ 3:00pm
December 13 @ 7:30pm
December 14 @ 3:00pm
December 18 @ 7:30pm
December 19 @ 7:30pm
December 20 @ 3:00pm
December 20 @ 7:30pm
December 21 @ 3:00pm
Tickets:
General Admission – $25
Senior & Artists – $20
Students – $15
Please click below to purchase tickets.
MODERN NUTCRACKER BALLET: CHRISTMAS LEGEND
By Aru Dell’Arte
December 23
Once upon a time – more than magic was about to happen the night before Christmas. This show presents themes of human compassion, love, and friendships while spinning a well-known holiday tale and putting out fun, cool vibes.
Aru Dell’Arte is determined in its mission to bring the Legendary, vibrant story to the DMV. Moving past outdated scenes from the original Nutcracker, the company is excited to present a vibrant range of characters, elevate female-lead roles, and include a gender-neutral approach in dance partnering.
CHRISTMAS LEGEND was dubbed as a new-era NUTCRACKER by audiences and national media channels. With premiere shows being SOLD OUT at Cultural DC’s Source Theater, we are excited to bring the show to a Baltimore spotlight.
Showtime:
December 23 @ 7:30pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $32
Please click below to purchase tickets.
LUH YOU, HEAR?!
Created and Performed by Robert Lee Hardy
January 3
LUH YOU, HEAR?! is a one man show of original monologues that honor the voices and people who shaped Robert growing up in Baltimore. It blends storytelling, poetry, transformative character work, and a touch of stand up comedy to capture the rhythm, grit, and humor of the city. The show is a celebration of survival, resilience, and the culture that raised him. Each moment moves between laughter and heartbreak, memory and imagination, revealing the soul of a city that is as radiant as it is gritty. Through these stories, Robert pays tribute to Baltimore’s heartbeat, its people, its language, its love, and how it continues to live through him and his art. At its heart, it is all things Baltimore.
About the Artist
Robert Lee Hardy is a Baltimore-born actor, writer, producer and teaching artist who has worked with over 400 students across Baltimore City through theatre-based after-school and summer programs. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film. His original work combines performance, education, and storytelling rooted in community empowerment.
His television and film credits include The Wire, Jamesy Boy, and Jazz in the Diamond District.
Stage credits include A Time to Kill, The Snowy Day, Home, and Marty and the Hands That Could.
Showtime:
January 3 @ 2:00pm
January 3 @ 8:00pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $30
Please click below to purchase tickets.
DICKENS – A ONE MAN CHRISTMAS CAROL!
By Charles Dickens
Adapted and Performed by Jimi Kinstle
January 6
Former Artist Director of Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Jimi Kinstle, appears in a one man tour de force! Join us for a 12th night celebration of DICKENS – A ONE MAN CHRISTMAS CAROL! Experience ‘Mr Dickens’ performing 18 classical Christmas characters in one hour! Stay for a 12th night cake soirée after the performance! Unwrap the last present of the Christmas season and join us for this 12th night celebration!
Showtime:
January 6 @ 8:00pm
Tickets:
On Stage Seating: $25
General Admission: $20
Please click below to purchase tickets.
10 BILLION SAPIENS
By S. Schulze
From Theatrical Mining Company
January 16 – 25
Brand had been shot, and is now hospitalized, convalescing from surgery, but resisting therapy to recover his ability to walk. He is a self-proclaimed Neo-fascist with a messianic message of an apocalyptic future wrought by human overpopulation and global warming.
Darlene, the only rehab nurse who will continue to work with him, is his unanticipated match. Well read and spiritually grounded, she is a middle-age woman of color with hidden capacities.
Barry Feinstein directs this stirring new play by award winning playwright S. Schulze. In response to climate catastrophe and a dystopian future, Brand argues for fascism and eugenics. Darlene believes in agencies of grace.
Showtimes:
January 16 @ 7:30pm
January 17 @ 7:30pm
January 18 @ 3:00pm
January 23 @ 7:30pm
January 24 @ 7:30pm
January 25 @ 3:00pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $20
Please click below to purchase tickets.
TOOTH AND CLAW
By GRIDLOCK Dance
January 31 & February 1
Twenty performers. Five giant cement blocks. One mega dance.
Featuring virtuosic movement, original multimedia design, and an ABBA-inspired score, TOOTH AND CLAW is a “conceptually rich and ambitious” (Maryland Theatre Guide) dance show that questions the true cost of the American dream. Choreographed by Madeline Maxine Roman, TOOTH AND CLAW explores the Maryland expression of the “crab basket effect” and its influence on individuals, relationships, and society. This performance will feature professional dancers from GRIDLOCK Dance and student performers from the Baltimore region.
Highlighted in Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch, Madeline Maxine Roman is the Artistic Director of GRIDLOCK Dance in Washington, DC. A standout force among Gen Z choreographers, she has received numerous choreographic commissions and grants, pays her company members an hourly wage, and presents her work across the country. Her choreography is “intellectually probing, politically minded, and personally revelatory” (Dance Magazine), “boldly explores technology’s downsides” (Washington City Paper), and provides a “searing comment on how pervasive social media and mobile devices affect human behavior” (Arts ATL).
Showtimes:
January 31 @ 7:30pm
February 1 @ 2:00pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $25
Seniors & Artists: $20
Students: $15
Please click below to purchase tickets.
THE OTHER SIDE OF HOLLYWOOD
By US Karagoz Theatre Company
February 26 & 27
THE OTHER SIDE OF HOLLYWOOD is a free adaptation of DELI DUMRUL, one of the oldest Turkish literary works, believed to have been written in the 10th century as part of the DEDE KORKUT stories. Rewriting and transporting the tale to Hollywood, Ayhan Hulagu weaves a fantastical world where humor, tradition, and modernity intertwine across cultures.
The story of DELI DUMRUL, a part of the DEDE KORKUT tales, revolves around a brave but arrogant warrior named Dumrul. He builds a bridge in a desolate area and seeks to profit unjustly from those who cross it. One day, a man dies near the bridge, prompting Dumrul to challenge Azrael, the Angel of Death. God punishes to teach him humility: Dumrul must find someone willing to sacrifice their life for him.
In this new adaptation, the tale is transported to Hollywood, with Karagöz, literally Black-Eye, who is the hero of traditional Anatolian shadow play, now taking up Dumrul’s role at the bridge. But this bridge is unlike any other—it connects good and evil, beauty and ugliness, this world and the afterlife. Karagöz, continuing to pursue unjust gains, crosses paths with Azrael once again. To save his life, he must find another soul to take his place. Along the way, he encounters stars like William Shakespeare, Charlie Chaplin, and Marlon Brando, who have crossed from the other world to this one, leading to humorous and entertaining attempts to get what he needs.
Combining the story of DELI DUMRUL, listed by UNESCO as part of humanity’s cultural heritage, with traditional Anatolian shadow theater, also recognized by UNESCO, Ayhan Hulagu builds a cultural bridge between traditions. The artist crafts all characters by hand, transferring them onto leather in the traditional style, and performs every role himself, bringing the tale to life in a one-of-a-kind performance.
*There will be a talk-back with the Artist following each performance.*
Showtimes:
February 26 @ 7:30pm
February 27 @ 7:30pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $25
Seniors & Artists: $20
Students: $15
Please click below to purchase tickets.
THE FOREST OF THE WITCH
By US Karagoz Theatre Company
February 28
THE FOREST OF THE WITCH is a modern interpretation of Karagoz, literally Black-Eye, who is the hero of traditional Anatolian shadow play. The story of THE FOREST OF THE WITCH is adapted from a play named THE BLOODY POPLAR by Turkish shadow theatre performer Muhittin Sevilen. The story is turned into a screenplay after being rewritten by Ayhan Hulagu. Karagoz and Hacivat are the lead characters of an exemplary subject of THE FOREST OF THE WITCH like all classic shadow texts.
THE FOREST OF THE WITCH is a universal theme for everyone. Karagoz fights with a huge poplar that turns green in the middle of a neighborhood. He cuts all branches of the poplar and then prepares them as wood in order to set it on fire during winter. After a while, he learns that the poplar is magical.
The puppets of Karagoz and Hacivat are made from the hide of a camel or water buffalo like those made during the era of the Ottoman Empire. The puppets are designed and made from natural colors by the performing artist and they are staged with the aim of conventional methods. In general, classical Karagoz music is played during shadow play. All the characters are performed by a single artist.
*There will be a talk-back with the Artist following each performance.*
Showtimes:
February 28 @ 2:00pm
February 28 @ 7:30pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $25
Seniors & Artists: $20
Students: $15
Please click below to purchase tickets.
FRANCES HARPER: AN ACTIVIST/ARTIVIST LIFE
By Sharing Our Legacy Dance Theatre
March 1
FRANCES HARPER: AN ACTIVIST/ARTIVIST LIFE portrays Harper’s multiple accomplishments through a choreographic, multidisciplinary production. Directed by Professor Emerita, Lynnette Young Overby, the program brings to life Harper’s poetry, novels, lectures and enduring legacy that not only informs us of the impactful life she lived from 1825-1911 – but is relevant to the challenges we face today. The production includes Her poems Blessed Hope, Slave Mother, and Sketches of a Southern Life. Her novel, Iola Leroy; short story, The Two Offers; and her lecture, We are All Bound Up Together are also included in the program. Additionally, there are original poems by Glenis Redmond and Original music by Ralph Russell, David Horton and Vianne Reay.
The 14 performers include current and former University of Delaware students as well as local community and professional performers. Seven choreographers have created dances that are evocative and illuminate the meaning of Harper’s work and life. Sheria Benn, a professional actress who has previously performed a solo work based on Frances Harper’s life, embodies Harper as she weaves together the various suites in this program. The production concludes with an adapted version of Every Time I Feel the Spirit, by Arreon Harley-Emerson, performed by his award-winning choir – Elevate Vocal Arts.
Performed by Sharing Our Legacy Dance Theatre, the piece exemplifies “embodied history,” Dr. Overby’s method of interpreting African American narratives through dance, music, poetry, and visual art. Her past works—created through deep collaboration with choreographers, historians, and artists—include David Drake: An Enslaved Potter’s Tale, Sketches: The Life of Harriet E. Wilson, Mary Ann Shadd Cary: Her Life and Legacy, and Women of Consequence.
With FRANCES HARPER: AN ACTIVIST/ARTIVIST LIFE, Dr. Overby continues her vital work of illuminating untold Black stories and engaging audiences through the power of performance. In partnership with #DigBlk, she brings Harper’s legacy to life for a new generation—reclaiming history, honoring resilience, and celebrating artistic activism.
Showtime:
March 1 @ 3:00pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $20
Students & Seniors: $10
Please click below to purchase tickets.
PLEASE
By Felicia Cooper
March 6 – 8
A New Woyzeck is erected as a pea-eating cam girl for the 21st century using puppetry, projection, and pop music. A high intensity trip through expressionism and indie sleaze, this performance explores the depths of surveillance, power and who holds it.
Felicia Cooper is a Minneapolis-based artist working puppetry and performance. Her work has been seen at Dixon Place, LaMama Theater’s Puppet Festival, the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Full Moon Puppet Show, In the Heart of the Beast Theater, and more. Her work has been supported by The Tri M Foundation, The National Humanities Center, the National Puppetry Conference, the Connecticut Sea Grant, the Heinz Foundation, the Pennsylvania State Arts Board, and others. She has held artistic residencies with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, The Bell Museum, the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance, Open Eye Theater, Winterthur Museum and Gardens, folkLAB, the New Hazlett Theater, and others. As an extension of her social practice, she conducts contextual research. She holds an MFA in Puppetry from the University of Connecticut.
Showtimes:
Photo by Richard Termine
March 6 @ 7:30pm
March 7 @ 7:30pm
March 8 @ 2pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $25
Seniors & Artists: $20
Students: $15
Please click below to purchase tickets.
REALLY QUITE A LOT OF MECHANISMS
By Alex and Olmsted
March 12 – 29
REALLY QUITE A LOT OF MECHANISMS is a darkly comedic puppet show set in the not too distant Now when nations are at war, bad things happen to good people, and dropped toast always lands butter side down.
Life is illogical but you know what isn’t? Mechanisms! The Lever! The Pulley! And, O! Hail the Inclined Plane!
Life is full of chaos and confusion but, good people, take solace in the knowledge that just beneath the world we see, there are…Really Quite A Lot of Mechanisms.
Showtimes:
March 12 @ 7:30pm (Pay-What-You-Can)
March 13 @ 7:30pm
March 14 @ 3:00pm
March 14 @ 7:30pm
March 15 @ 3:00pm
March 19 @ 7:30pm
March 20 @ 7:30pm
March 21 @ 3:00pm
March 21 @ 7:30pm
March 22 @ 3:00pm
March 26 @ 7:30pm
March 27 @ 7:30pm
March 28 @ 3:00pm
March 28 @ 7:30pm
March 29 @ 3:00pm
Tickets:
General Admission – $25
Students, Seniors & Artists – $15
March 12 (Pay-What-You-Can)
Please click below to purchase tickets.
From IN Series
FOR WOMEN SERVING TIME
Music by Adrienne Torf
Text by Fatemeh Keshavarz
Directed by Timothy Nelson
Musical Direction by Adrienne Torf
April 10 – 12
Persian-American poet and scholar Fatemeh Keshavarz and jazz pianist and composer Adrienne Torf come together to make a new piece of opera-theater that fuses Faure’s Requiem, jazz elements, and Brechtian theatrical traditions in a powerful contemplation of the human experiences contained in “ female incarceration in America”.
This extended poem-opera sheds light on the lives and resilience of women in the U.S. prison system, their hopes, dreams, fears, and day to day experiences, offering a voice to a population often overlooked.
Six acclaimed local performers join the composer herself, leading an instrumental ensemble from the piano, to animate the important original work.
Showtimes:
April 10 @ 7:30pm
April 11 @ 7:30pm
April 12 @ 2:30pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $35
Students: $25
Please click below to purchase tickets.
ESCENAS FLAMENCAS
From Canvas to Life
By Furia Flamenca Dance Company
April 25
ESCENAS FLAMENCAS brings the world of flamenco to life by turning iconic oil paintings into live performances. Each painting represents a different flamenco style. First the scene appears as a still image, full of color and mood. Then the dancers break away from the canvas and carry the style forward with movement, rhythm, and emotion.
The production is created by Furia Flamenca and The Flamenco Workshop. Choreography and dance are performed by Estela and Daniel Paredez from Furia Flamenca. The music is brought to life by Alma and Paul, with the special collaboration of Bruno Lucini, percussionist and drummer from the Latin jazz band Downtown Tumbao.
Together they shape a show that feels both artistic and electric. Each cuadro grows from brushstroke to dance, from silence to guitar, voice, and percussion. The result is a unique espectáculo filled with power, passion, and the spirit of flamenco in its purest form.
Showtime:
April 25 @ 2:30pm
April 25 @ 7:00pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $25
Seniors & Artists: $20
Students: $15
Please click below to purchase tickets.
From Music in Words
ENOCH ARDEN
Words by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Music by Richard Strauss
Transcription for string trio by Molly von Gutzeit
May 15 – 17
The narrative poem ENOCH ARDEN was published by ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON in 1864 during his tenure as England’s poet laureate. The poem tells the emotionally charged story of a fisherman-turned-merchant sailor who becomes lost at sea, and it gives its name to the legal precedent whereby a person can remarry in the event of a spouse’s absence and presumed death. In 1897, RICHARD STRAUSS set the poem as a recitation for speaker and piano. These performances mark the world premiere of a transcription for string trio accompaniment by Molly von Gutzeit.
JUDITH KRUMMECK, Speaker
NIKITA BORISEVICH, Violin
BENJAMIN VON GUTZEIT, Viola
MOLLY VON GUTZEIT, Cello
*Running time: 75 minutes with a brief intermission
Showtimes:
May 15 @ 7:30pm
May 16 @ 7:30pm
May 17 @ 3:00pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $30
Seniors: $25
Students: $20
Please click below to purchase tickets.
THE VIEW UPSTAIRS
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Max Vernon
Iron Crow Theatre
May 29 – June 14
THE VIEW UPSTAIRS is a fiercely original, soul-stirring tribute to queer history, community, and resilience. With a lush, genre-blending score by Max Vernon, this boundary-pushing work transports audiences to 1973 New Orleans and into the Upstairs Lounge—a vibrant gay bar and haven for queer joy, chosen family, and radical self-expression.
Inspired by the true story of the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ+ community in U.S. history prior to the Pulse Nightclub tragedy, THE VIEW UPSTAIRS reclaims a moment in our collective history many tried to erase. It invites us to gather in solidarity with those we lost, and challenges us to confront what allowed the world to look away.
Showtimes:
May 29 @ 8pm
May 30 @ 8pm
May 31 @ 3pm
June 5 @ 8pm
June 6 @ 8pm
June 7 @ 3pm
June 12 @ 8pm
June 13 @ 2pm
June 13 @ 8pm
June 14 @ 3pm
Tickets:
Available soon
Please click the crow below for more information.
From IN Series
THE SONG OF SAKUNTALA
Music by Timothy Nelson
Texts by Sarojini Naidu Rabindranath Tagore, Vidyapati
Direction and Dance by Hari Krishnan
June 19 – 21
With its story taken from India’s most famous dramatic work, Kalidasa’s 5th century play SHAKUNTALA, itself made into an opera by composers such as Alfano and Schubert, this new opera by IN Series Artistic Director Timothy Nelson fuses Western baroque instruments with Indian classical instruments to create a “dance-opera” on the themes of love, loss, and redemption. Its libretto is formed from the texts of formational Indian poets from across centuries, as well as the sacred Mahabharata words.
Imagined in the still of a concert of Indian classical music, it promises an evening like a “single song, permutated across the hours, in a mood of evocation and remembrance and longing illuminated by swirling, dizzying aspiration – meditation, yearning, whispering, calling, chanting, talking and touching late into the night.”
Featuring: Aryssa Leigh Burrs, Teresa Ferrara
Showtimes:
June 19 @ 7:30pm
June 20 @ 7:30pm
June 21 @ 2:30pm
Tickets:
General Admission: $35
Students: $25
Please click below to purchase tickets.
**Parking Alert**
The parking garage across the street from Theatre Project has been closed. If street parking is not available, we recommend the Fitzgerald Parking Garage, at the corner of Mt. Royal and Oliver Streets. It is about two blocks from the theatre and is adjacent to the Lyric. Click here for map & directions.
Other available garages within a two block walk are the Maryland Avenue garage, located at 1120 Maryland Ave, and the Symphony Center garage, located at 1030 Park Ave.
If using Google Maps to locate the theatre, please type in the address, 45 West Preston Street, Baltimore, MD for accurate directions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
