Ben Lauer News

Commedia dell’Arte was a theatrical style that developed in Italy more than 450 years ago. Intended for the lower classes, with exuberant physical movement, improvisation, lots of masks and stock characters like the Harlequin and Pulcinella, it was a celebratory perfect for the carnivale circuit.

Ghostlight Ensemble will continue its series on historically overlooked female playwrights with two one act plays - Mine Eyes Have Seen by Alice Dunbar Nelson and War Brides by Marion Craig Wentworth - that deal with wars and the battles families are forced to fight amongst themselves when someone is called to 'serve.'

THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH at Constellation Theatre is a thought-provoking, skillfully-rendered reminder that chaos and uncertainty are not unique to our time or to any single time. In the sure directorial hands of Mary Hall Surface, Thornton Wilder's masterpiece is a wild time-traveling, allegorical tragicomedy, without the Pepperidge Farm and Hallmark overtones we've now come to associate with the OUR TOWN playwright.

History and theatre buffs alike will love Clover, a new full-length play by Laura Rocklyn and Ty Hallmark. Rocklyn stars as Marian Hooper Adams-called 'Clover' by friends and family.

Ally Theatre Company presents the final production of their inaugural season with Clover, a World Premiere written by Laura Rocklyn and Ty Hallmark and playing at Caos on F September 13-October 28 2017.

Ally Theatre Company presents the final production of their inaugural season with Clover, a World Premiere written by Laura Rocklyn and Ty Hallmark and playing at Caos on F September 13-October 28 2017.

Faction of Fools Theatre Company presents William Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, pairing heightened text with heightened physical comedy in the style of Commedia dell'Arte. One of Shakespeare's most rich and intricate plays is also one of his most controversial, as it explores a burgeoning merchant class and what happens when things get personal. By utilizing masks and physical characterizations from Commedia dell'Arte, Faction of Fools puts the comedy back into the text, allowing the tragic junctures to cut all the more profoundly. Performances run November 18th - December 11th, 2016 in the Eastman Studio Theatre at Gallaudet University.

This fast moving, actor swapping, genre spanning, short play bonanza makes the theatre you demand - performed in the style of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, with a new play written every night! 8 actors. 24 plays. 70 minutes. BOOM!

This fast moving, actor swapping, genre spanning, short play bonanza makes the theatre you demand - performed in the style of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, with a new play written every night! 8 actors. 24 plays. 70 minutes. BOOM!

"Can you fall in love if you don't know what love is?" That question is the central theme in the new play, (a love story), playing as part of the Source Festival.  Playwright Kelly Lusk has woven an intricate look at the lives of three couples, who seemingly are unrelated. The impetus of which is the question of "do you know what love is?" You have the popular high school girl in love with the emo-loner, two gay teenagers awakening their feelings, and an older couple who meet and fall in love through on-line anonymity.

Brave Spirits Theatre opens its first year­round season, beginning with a repertory of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Shakespeare and John Fletcher's The Two Noble Kinsmen. Scroll down for a first look at the actors onstage!

The premise of RICHARD THE THIRD, as presented in NextStop Theatre Company's brilliant first professional production, which includes both deaf and hearing actors, is that the villainous Richard is deaf. Converting Richard from a character who feels alienated because of his appearance to one who feels alienated because he can't communicate effectively resonates with modern audiences.

NextStop Theatre Company continues its inaugural professional season with a new vision for William Shakespeare's Richard III, running today, January 30-February 23, 2014. Directed by Dr. Lindsey D. Snyder, this production re-imagines Shakespeare's most deliciously evil villain as an ambitious Deaf man, ruthlessly seeking power in an hearing world. The cast will be led by Ethan Sinnott (Gallaudet University) playing the title role of Richard.

NextStop Theatre Company continues its inaugural professional season with a new vision for William Shakespeare's Richard III, running January 30-February 23, 2014. Directed by Dr. Lindsey D. Snyder, this production re-imagines Shakespeare's most deliciously evil villain as an ambitious Deaf man, ruthlessly seeking power in an hearing world. The cast will be led by Ethan Sinnott (Gallaudet University) playing the title role of Richard.