Our 2020-2021 Season

The Greenbelt Arts Center is pleased to announce our 2020-21 Season.
Please note that all shows are subject to our ability to safely reopen to the public in accordance with state and local mandates.

Romeo and Juliet
Presented by the Rude Mechanicals
Directed by Claudia Bach
Live online: August 15 – 16, 2020

A reimagining of the Shakespearean classic, set in the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” 1990’s, where both Romeo and Juliet are women.

This Wonderful Life
A guest production from Ken Falkenhagen
December 4 – December 13, 2020

In this one-man stage version of Frank Capra’s classic holiday film, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, veteran performer Ken Falkenhagen inhabits (nearly) every single role – over 30 characters! – from everyman George Bailey; to evil, old Mr. Potter; to Clarence, the dotty angel. It’s a family-friendly reworking of the classic holiday story of the effect that one hard-working man’s life has on the people around him!

The Chromatics Holiday Concert
December 18-20, 2020

Holiday music program, with a mix of covers, originals, and seasonal songs performed by The Chromatics, a Greenbelt a capella group.

Ill Met by Moonlight
Presented by the Rude Mechanicals
Adapted and directed by Joshua Engel
February 5 – February 13, 2021

A site-specific word and movement piece designed for the Greenbelt Arts Center, based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. GAC’s black box and thrust enclosure become a literal blank slate, where the actors (and fairies) can draw the eerie scene around them in chalk. The lovers enter the land of Faerie, where curious ancient entities wonder at the short-lived mortals. Shakespeare’s text is married to deeper myths, producing a powerful and unforgettable Midsummer.

True West
Presented by Prince George’s Repertory
Directed by Chris Dwyer
February 19 – February 27, 2021

True West is a character study that examines the relationship between Austin, a screenwriter, and his older brother Lee. It is set in the kitchen of their mother’s home 40 miles east of Los Angeles.

The Mountaintop
Directed by Rikki Howie Lacewell
Produced by Pamela Northrup
March 5 – March 27, 2021

A gripping reimagining of events the night before the assassination of the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 3, 1968, after delivering one of his most memorable speeches, an exhausted Dr. King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel while a storm rages outside. When a mysterious stranger arrives with some surprising news, King is forced to confront his destiny and his legacy to his people.

Farragut North
Directed by Bob Kleinberg
Produced by Malca Giblin
April 9 – May 1, 2021

Farragut North follows the event behind the scenes of a Democratic presidential primary and the hubris that accompanies the personalities involved.

Cymbeline
Presented by the Rude Mechanicals
Directed by Erin Nealer
May 7 – May 15, 2021

Shakespeare’s Cymbeline is, at its core, a fairytale. A king is possessed by a cruel queen, a pair of star-crossed lovers are separated, a heroine goes on a journey to redeem herself and finds herself instead, a family is torn apart and reunited, and the real treasure is the friends we made along the way. But it’s not always a very good fairytale – it’s goofy, improbable, and relies pretty heavily on mistaken identity and butt jokes. However, there’s a real, honest heart at the core of the play with Imogen and Posthumus’ relationship, a good moral about knowing who your real family and friends are, and interesting character development through an epic quest – and all for a female protagonist, no less! This edited version cuts all of the meandering plot lines that go nowhere and adds in a pair of narrators – a parent and child reading the fairytale of Cymbeline together, like in the beloved film “The Princess Bride”.

Merrily We Roll Along
Directed by Roy Hammond
Produced by Malca Giblin
May 28 – June 19, 2021

Beginning in the present and moving backwards, Stephen Sondheim’s musical traces the lives of wealthy, jaded composer Franklin Shepard and his two estranged friends through each milestone of their personal and professional lives (good and bad). The show ends with a touch of rueful irony, as the three best friends at the start of their careers face a bright future: young, talented and enthusiastic about the worlds waiting to be conquered.

Patchwork Girl of Oz
Directed by Eliot Malumuth
Produced by Jenna Jones Paradis
July 2 – July 24, 2021

This exciting musical is packed with songs and featuring exotic creatures in the wonderful Land of Oz. Scraps, the Patchwork Girl, is brought to life by Dr. Pipt, a lovable old magician on the outskirts of Oz. The same magician accidentally marbelizes Unc Nunkie whose nephew, Oja the Unlucky, sets out to gather the necessary ingredients for a potion to reverse the spell—a shortcut, as it would take the magician six years to produce another dose of life powder. On our adventure with Oja and Scraps we meet the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, of course, plus Johann Sebastian Box, the one and only Woozy, Bo-Hoko, princess Ozma of Oz, Tollydiggle, the Yoop and more!