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The Strand is the only brick-and-mortar theater in Baltimore to present outstanding works written ONLY by women artists! We invite you to celebrate our new theater and our commitment to putting women at the center of the creative process. Join us!

Welcome to the 12th Season!
In Her Own Image

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Bright Half Life
by Tanya Barfield
Directed by K. Tony Korol-Evans
September 13th-29th  

Cast – Ayesis Clay, Katharine Vary
 

A moving love story that spans decades in an instant—from marriage, children, skydiving, and the infinite moments that make a life together.  
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“Most relationships develop in one of two ways—they endure or they don’t. Ms. Barfield’s variegated structure complicates this simple either/or, showing the volatility in a long-term partnership, the joy and desolation, the hurt and help—all intermingled, all at once. If these women, these maybe soul mates, could somehow suddenly see what the years will bring, would they still go out on that first date?” —The New York Times.
 
 
A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow
Directed by Melissa McGinley
October 18th – November 3rd
Industry Night October 28th
Cast – 4 Women, 2 Men
 
The setting of the play is the stylish Manhattan apartment of Rose Weiss, the time 1946. Although born in Poland, Rose, now in her 20s, came to the United States with her father, Mordechai, at the age of four and is now completely "Americanized." The plan had been for Rose's mother and sister to join the others, but the sister fell ill with scarlet fever, the mother stayed on to care for her, and soon the rise of the Nazis cut off their escape. Their ordeal in the concentration camps, which only the sister survived, has brought a burden of guilt to the aging Mordechai and deeply mixed feelings as he awaits the arrival of his elder daughter, Lusia, who has, at last, found her way to America. With her halting English and old world ways Lusia is a striking contrast to Rose, who is somewhat embarrassed by her rediscovered sister's presence, and fearful that it will threaten her own hard-won independence. Distraught, and concerned that she may never be reunited with her young husband, Lusia embraces a series of memories and fantasies which make real the joys and horrors of her life before the war, from which her father and sister were spared. But when Mordechai gives Rose a letter from her mother—a letter left many years earlier with a non-Jewish Polish friend—a "proof" of family is somehow restored, and old barriers and griefs give way to a renewed sense of hope and mutual dependence—and the conviction that a better future may yet arise from the bitter ashes of the troubled past.
 
 
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – Adapted by Laurie Brandon and Erin Riley
Directed by Erin Riley
December 6th – 22nd
Industry Night December 16th
Cast – 6 Women, 3 Men – (Doubling and non-traditional casting.)
 
A new and dynamic stage adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved story. The Civil War is in full swing, and the March sisters -- Meg, the oldest, a romantic, the spirited and tomboyish Jo, sweet and loving Beth, and irascible, playful Amy -- live in Concord, Massachusetts with their Mother while their father is on the battlefield. Filled with adventure (both real and imagined), heartbreak, and a deep sense of hope, the struggle of these little  women to find their own voices mirrors the growing pains of a young America. Likewise, the timeless story also provides lessons about the idea of gender and how it is not particularly inherent, but educated and performed.  This concept is executed through the lens the story’s narrator, Jo, a feminist before the movement’s birth. With memorable characters, and a big-hearted message, “Little Women” has been referred to as the “mother of all girls’ books” and is an uplifting tale for the holiday season.  
 
 
Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine 
by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Christen Cromwell
February 21st – March 8th
Industry Night February 24th
Cast - 5 Women, 4 Men (Doubling)
 
A social satire about an ambitious and haughty African-American woman, Undine Barnes Calles, whose husband suddenly disappears after embezzling all of her money. Pregnant and on the brink of social and financial ruin, Undine retreats to her childhood home in Brooklyn's Walt Whitman projects, only to discover that she must cope with a crude new reality. Undine faces the challenge of transforming her setbacks into small victories in a battle to reaffirm her right to be. Fabulation is a comeuppance tale with a comic twist.
 
 
The Most Massive Woman Wins by Madeleine George
Directed by Nicole Mullins
April 3rd – 19th
Industry Night April 13th
Cast 4 Women
 
Challenging, brutal and hilarious, four women of various shapes and sizes sitting in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic explore their perceptions of body image. The women reveal their experiences dealing with their weight issues through monologues, short scenes, and even schoolyard rhymes. From painful childhood memories to frustrations with the opposite sex, these experiences both haunt and empower these women as they imagine their way to a new vision of themselves as beautiful and whole.
 
 
Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love by Mallery Avidon
Directed by Emily Hall
May 15th – 31st
Industry Night May 25th
Cast 10 Women, 2 Men (Doubling)
 
Grace is 27, married to her high-school sweetheart, makes good money, and should be way happier than she is. But her husband lost his job and now all he does is play Xbox and smoke pot and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen might be her best friends but maybe they only like her because she's their new target demographic. Or maybe…they're going to save her. A funny play about sad people.
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2018-2019 Season​        
Thank you for the incredible 11th Season!!
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The Strand needs YOU !!
Please help us reach the goal of $5,000 to support the launch of our 11th Season!  
Your tax-deductible contribution will enable the Strand Theater to:
  • Support more women playwrights, directors, actors, designers, and other talented professionals
  • Bring more quality theater and educational programming to Hamilton-Lauraville.
  • Expand our partnerships and coalitions with local schools and community organizations
  • Fund much needed improvements to our space, including new lighting and sound systems, dressing room renovations, and upgrades to our exterior facade.
The Strand is the ONLY theater in Baltimore dedicated to giving women playwrights and theater artists the opportunities and experience they need and deserve. You can help us achieve it!

Thank you very much for being our friend and supporter !

DONATE
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Strand Theater Second Series
SHE SPEAKS
On-going series of short engagements,  comprising a wide variety of programming, i.e. play readings, workshops, concerts, poetry nights, musical events, and more. The goal of the series is to provide opportunities for women artists and to showcase a wide variety of women’s diverse voices and perspectives. 
Prices vary per event.