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Presents From the Past: Little Beasts at the National Gallery of Art

Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World is on view at the National Gallery West Building Here’s an opportunity to see three-dimensional specimens juxtaposed with representations of them by curious minds of the 16th and 17th centuries, when the study of natural history was just beginning to be codified. Continue reading

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Review: Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!)

When I saw the notice for Woolly Mammoth’s current play, Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live and active cultures!), I thought, “Oh, boy!  Another play using food as metaphor!” and I wasn’t wrong. Continue reading

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Suzy Creamcheese Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

Mark Kurlansky is known more for his deeply researched nonfiction on single subjects (cod, salt, milk, onions) than his fiction.  Cheesecake marries the two genres in a highly entertaining novel incorporating the oldest written recipe for its namesake into a tale about the gentrification of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Continue reading

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The Right Words Can Change The World: Review of Bad Books at Round House

Wit and irony sparkle from the start of Bad Books, as Kate Eastwood Norris and Holly Twyford engage in a face-off about control of children’s reading. Continue reading

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Happy Pie Day!  Celebrate With Not One But Two Contests

Yes, in honor of that unique mathematical relationship and MIT cheer (Cosine secant tangent sine, 3.14159), not to mention the tastiest of round desserts, we present: the Olney Theatre Center Pie Eating and Baking Contests! Continue reading

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Plaster on the Corn: Review of Shucked at the National Theatre

You want to do a musical comedy about corn? Are you worried about being accused of writing folksy, hokey humor and groaner puns? Here’s the answer: lean into it! Continue reading

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Pie in the Sky: Review of “Waitress” at Olney Theatre Center

If the singing and acting weren’t so enthusiastic and entertaining, this play might be upstaged by the hydraulics. Continue reading

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Wretched Excess– And After: Valentines Day 2025

On the evidence of two local supermarkets, Valentine’s Day has blown up to proportions unseen in modern history. The Harris Teeter in Olney and the Wegman’s in Columbia have gone to extremes to coax the last dollar out of last-minute swains desperate to impress their significant others. Continue reading

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Review: What the Constitution Means To Me at Round House Theatre

Before I saw Round House’s production of What the Constitution Means To Me, I was only vaguely aware that this play was about a teenager debating the Constitution. I hoped that it would not be tedious, or tendentious, as that description suggests – but it’s only ninety minutes long, so how bad could it be?

I was totally unprepared for how energetic, funny, poignant, timely, and engaging this production is, with its fine performance by Kimberly Gilbert in the part originated by the playwright Heidi Schreck. Continue reading

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Worth Its Weight in Gelt

So for something completely different from all those Nutcrackers and Hallelujahs this season, Round House presents a mash-up of Dickens, Fiddler on the Roof, and wised-up Millennial humor – and it’s hilarious. Continue reading

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