Urban Discoveries Baltimore

When it comes to local culture, the least fungible of its elements may be the theatre. Almost everything else can be shipped, mass-produced, outsourced, or phoned in. Theatre, by definition, has to happen where it happens, and there’s so little money in it (actually less than none) that it’s rarely worth the investment to take it on the road. In honor of this most unwieldy of the arts, here’s a list of some small, hyper-local, Baltimore theatres:

1. The Single Carrot Theatre in Station North (120 W. North Avenue) is a company that moved here from Colorado in 2007 and has put up eleven shows since then, including Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, Shakespeare’s Richard III, and Killer Joe by Tracy Letts. Named after a quip by Cezanne, the Single Carrot is currently preparing for its next show, Slampooned, which opens July 9.

2. The Load of Fun Theater which is right next door (so next door it actually has the same address: 120 W. North Avenue) is really more of a venue than a proper theatre company, but the space is protean and the performances are eclectic and often homegrown. Tonight, Friday June 26 at 9:00 p.m. sharp, the LOFt hosts a free presentation of new(ish) work from Smelling Salts Amusements and Performance Thanatology Research Society followed by a double-DJ dance party. There, name earned.

3. The Strand Theater Company also in Station North (1823 N. Charles Street) is dedicated to a more specific Quixotic goal within the thankless toil of the performing arts: advancing roles for women. Although the Strand puts up a variety of productions, it gives particular attention to plays written or directed by women. This weekend, the Strand presents Graveyard Bride by the androgynously named but decidedly female Alex Hewett. Friday June 26 and Saturday June 27 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday June 28 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $5.

4. The Annex Theater in Greenmount West (419 E. Oliver Street) is without question the least refined of the houses on this list, but it may also be the most exciting place to see a show. (A disclosure: several of us here at UDL, including this writer, have previously collaborated with the Annex, but come on, this is Smalltimore. Throw a rock and you’ll hit someone who acted in The Wire.) Located in a converted loft on the second floor of a building with no sign and a buzzer that doesn’t buzz, the Annex will give you the cheap thrill of grittiness before dazzling you with elaborately hand-crafted sets, costumes, and storytelling. This is what community theatre is meant to be. The Annex is currently preparing for a candlelit production of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.

When was the last time you saw a play?

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