By Cynthia Cooper

Performances: Thurs/Fri/Sat: 8pm; Sun: 3pm.

A sports scholar entices her friend, a designer and running buddy, to help envision a pop-up museum about women in sports. Six characters from sports history come alive, along with the challenges and successes of diverse people in any field of endeavor. Told in monologues by the two performers, the stories include Althea Gibson, first person to break the color barrier in tennis; Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel; Wilma Rudolph, an African-American Olympic runner who overcame childhood polio; Gretel Bergmann, a Jewish-German athlete used by the Nazis for propaganda; Babe Didrikson, one of the best all-round athletes of any gender, and Mamie 'Peanut' Johnson, a professional pitcher in the Negro Leagues. For ages 8 and up.

Performances: Oct 25 - Nov 11, 2018. Showtimes: Fridays @8pm; Saturdays @3pm & 8pm; Sundays @ 3pm.

In this collaboratively devised ensemble work, Happenstance Theater portrays oblivious entitlement on the brink of extinction. We take a physical comedy dive into the late Baroque. We flaunt 18th century finery, wigs, panniers, gestural styling, elaborate ornamentation and the excesses of Rococo. We navigate the dangerous curves of manners and the Age of Enlightenment from the exquisite to the revolting. What fun we will have puncturing one percent pomposity!

Using only 7 actors and their bodies on a tiny stage, Theater Unspeakable recreates the entire American fight for independence in 50 minutes. Age 9+

Performances: Oct 12 @7pm, Oct 13 @1:30pm and 4:30pm; Oct 14 @1:30pm (SF) and 4pm.

A charming rogue who contrives to serve a short sentence in an airy mental institution rather than in a prison soon learns this was a mistake. He clashes with the head nurse, a fierce martinet. A battle of wills ensues between the rebellious McMurphy and the inflexible Nurse Ratched affecting all the ward's patients.

Performances: Weekends, Sept. 7-30, 2018. Fri/Sat: 8pm. Matinees: Sept. 23 and Sept. 30 at 2pm.

Based on a true story.   /   Performances: Aug 9-11, Aug 16-18, 8pm

Less than two weeks after the September 11th attacks, New Yorkers are still in shock. One of them, an editor named Joan, receives an unexpected phone call on behalf of Nick, a fire captain who has lost most of his men in the attack. He’s looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies he must present at their memorial services. Nick and Joan spend a long afternoon together, recalling the fallen men through recounting their virtues and their foibles, and fashioning the stories into memorials of words. In the process, Nick and Joan discover the possibilities of friendship in each other and their shared love for the unconquerable spirit of the city. As they make their way through the emotional landscape of grief, they draw on humor, tango, the appreciation of craft in all its forms—and the enduring bonds of common humanity.

Based on a true story.   /   Performances: Aug 9-11, Aug 16-18, 8pm

Less than two weeks after the September 11th attacks, New Yorkers are still in shock. One of them, an editor named Joan, receives an unexpected phone call on behalf of Nick, a fire captain who has lost most of his men in the attack. He’s looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies he must present at their memorial services. Nick and Joan spend a long afternoon together, recalling the fallen men through recounting their virtues and their foibles, and fashioning the stories into memorials of words. In the process, Nick and Joan discover the possibilities of friendship in each other and their shared love for the unconquerable spirit of the city. As they make their way through the emotional landscape of grief, they draw on humor, tango, the appreciation of craft in all its forms—and the enduring bonds of common humanity.

Less than two weeks after the September 11th attacks, New Yorkers are still in shock. One of them, an editor named Joan, receives an unexpected phone call on behalf of Nick, a fire captain who has lost most of his men in the attack. He’s looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies he must present at their memorial services. Nick and Joan spend a long afternoon together, recalling the fallen men through recounting their virtues and their foibles, and fashioning the stories into memorials of words. In the process, Nick and Joan discover the possibilities of friendship in each other and their shared love for the unconquerable spirit of the city. As they make their way through the emotional landscape of grief, they draw on humor, tango, the appreciation of craft in all its forms—and the enduring bonds of common humanity.

Performances: Aug 8-18, 8pm

A quirky comedy by "This is Us" producer Bekah Brunstetter, "Be a Good Little Widow" contemplates how devotion and hope can persevere in the midst of unexpected loss.

Performances: July 12-August 5; Thu/Fri/Sat: 7:30pm; Sat/Sun: 2pm

A quirky comedy by "This is Us" producer Bekah Brunstetter, "Be a Good Little Widow" contemplates how devotion and hope can persevere in the midst of unexpected loss.

Performances: July 12-August 5; Thu/Fri/Sat: 7:30pm; Sat/Sun: 2pm

Becky’s New Car is a hilarious screwball comedy with serious overtones, a devious and delightful romp down the road not taken. Have you ever been tempted to flee your own life? Becky Foster is happily married to a good man, and together they struggle to survive in a bad economy and to support their son, who lives in the basement while he works toward his degree. Becky takes a trip on the “wild side” with a billionaire who just happens to enter the car dealership where Becky works, only to discover that her inability to say “no” has created a trunk-full of problems. How can a nice person who has done something bad get herself out of this car wreck?

Presented by Bowie Community Theatre, Becky's New Car is a play written by Steven Dietz.

Performances: July 13-July 29: Fri/Sat 8pm, Sun: 2pm; Additional matinee: Sat July 21, 2pm

Bring one non-perishable food item for donation to the Bowie Food Bank in exchange for one FREE concession item!

By William Shakespeare
A guest production from The Rude Mechanicals. All that glitters is not gold. So warns Shakespeare that all may not be as we think in one of his most controversial yet increasingly relevant plays. In a mythically splendorous city full of wealth and celebration, injustice and cruelty lurk beneath the surface. One Jewish man, tired of his repeated abuses and losses, is presented with an opportunity to make Venice confront its own hate and hypocrisy. What follows is a dark series of events that challenges our understanding of right and wrong and forces us to examine what we might see if we could look past the glister and the gold.

Performances: June 15-30

The Heidi Chronicles
by Wendy Wasserstein
Directed by Matt Jameson

June 8 – 23, 2018
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm.

The Pulitzer Prize winning drama comes to the Hard Bargain Stage for the very first time! The fictional story of feminist art historian Heidi Holland takes the audience on the life-shaping journey from young adult to womanhood. The play’s themes of feminism, equality, and social injustice are just as important today as they were 30 years ago, proving the vitality of Wasserstein’s masterpiece.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
By William Shakespeare
Abridged by Rachel Wallace
Directed by Rachel Wallace

May 10-19, 2018
Thursday-Saturday at 8:00pm

An abridged version of William Shakespeare’s classic comedy is coming to a space where it was always meant to be performed: right under our beautiful canopy of trees and starlight! Come join the royals, the starry-eyed lovers, the Rude Mechanicals, and the mischievous woodland faeries as they spin their magical tale!

Lawrence Jameson makes his lavish living by talking rich ladies out of their money. Freddy Benson more humbly swindles women by waking their compassion with fabricated stories about his grandmother’s failing health. After meeting on a train, they attempt to work together, only to find that this small French town isn’t big enough for the two of them. They agree on a settlement: the first one to extract $50,000 from a young female target, heiress, Christine Colgate, wins, and the other must leave town. A hilarious battle of cons ensues that will keep audiences laughing, humming and guessing to the end! Performances are weekends April 20 - May 12. ($)

By Ken Ludwig
Directed by Ann Lowe-Barrett
Yes, that Baskerville, a comedic take on Conan Doyle's famous story by the darling of Broadway, Ken Ludwig. Holmes, Watson and 40 other characters (played by 3 other actors) gallop through the English countryside in search of a murderer. They find butterflies, red herrings, love, and plenty of laughs along the way!

Performances: Apr. 13-May 5, 2018; Fri & Sat: 8pm; Sun: 2pm