Acton

In the overwrought production of Hamlet at Washington's Shakespeare Theatre, Hamlet's mother's bedchamber is completely encircled by sheer red curtains, and her bed is covered in red velvet. When Hamlet slays the old councilor, Polonius, who is hiding behind the curtains, the drapery cascades onto his corpse like an enormous pool of blood, and the murder is accompanied by a shrieking Psycho-like chord. Subtlety is not a hallmark of Australian director Gale Edwards' production, or of Wallace Acton's portrayal of the title character.

LET'S SAY you're into - and I mean really, really into - "The Sopranos," the stylish HBO series about the Jersey wiseguy life. Let's say you love everything about the show: the snitches getting whacked, the long-suffering mob wives pulling wads of cash and automatic weapons from the heater vents, the coked-out mistresses, the moral relativism of it all, the treachery and deceit and black humor. You love it so much, it's like an IV drip of espresso - it keeps you up for hours after each episode, because you want to testify about the brilliant characters, the crackling dialogue, the wonderful story arcs.

The plan to redevelop the former site of Anne Arundel Medical Center - the first major residential construction project in Annapolis' historic district in decades - appeared to satisfy the city's Board of Appeals last night. The board expects to meet again to draft and vote on an official opinion on the proposed development. In its discussion last night, the board seemed ready to approve the 114-unit Acton's Landing development of condominium apartments, townhouses and single-family homes, despite opposition by a group of nearby residents who had pushed for fewer homes on the site than proposed by the developer, a limited partnership led by Virginia-based Madison Homes.

On June 4, 2005 RUSSELL THOMAS; beloved husband of 62 years of Ellen Hite (nee Maloney); dear brother of Mary Parks, Helen Menickelly, Nancy, Aubrey, Richard and Jerry Hite and the late Gertrude Acton, Ruth Warren, William and Donald Hite. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the Chapel of the Angels, Charlestown on Wednesday from 9 until 10 A.M. at which time a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated. Interment at 2:30 P.M. at Cedar Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to the Parkinson's Disease Association, 1501 N.W. 9th Ave., Miami, FL, 33136-1404 or St. Agnes Hospice, 3421 Benson Ave., Baltimore, MD 21227.

The Annapolis Board of Appeals will hold its final hearing Tuesday night on plans for the first major redevelopment project in the historic district in decades - the construction of 114 homes at the former site of Anne Arundel Medical Center. But whether the board approves, rejects or modifies plans for Acton's Landing, the project is likely to end up in court, leaving boarded-up buildings for several months longer than anticipated when the 4.5-acre site was vacated in December. The meeting - the board's sixth - will feature closing arguments by attorneys for the developer, a limited partnership led by Virginia-based Madison Homes, and neighbors who oppose the project and have formed a group known as ALARM (Acton's Landing Area Residents Monitor)

PHILADELPHIA -- Old childhood memories flooded back, as the Washington Capitals laced 'em up for yesterday morning's breakfast special at the Spectrum.In the NHL, you skate henever the schedule maker tells you to skate. In this case that meant 11 a.m. to give the hometown Philadelphia Flyers time to prepare the building for today's annual "Flyers' Wives Fight for Lives" carnival to raise money for cancer and blood-disease research. The Capitals probably should have stayed in bed, as they lost to the Flyers, 3-1.The Capitals didn't complain that by the time they had awakened, it was too late -- primarily because they knew they were the ones who had let the desperate Flyers off the hook.

Why does one restaurant succeed and another one, seemingly just as worthy, fail? In the case of Pazza Luna, I always felt owner Kim Acton was the reason -- she was such a presence there. She created the decor of the Locust Point rowhouse herself, with its whimsical sun, stars and moon motifs. The menu read like her personal food diary, and still does: "Danny Dickman taught me how to make this classic [Caesar salad]. He would say to me ... 'Kimmie, you need lots of garlic, lots of anchovy, lots of lemon.

The program for the Shakespeare Theatre's latest production describes the setting as, "The landscape of King Richard II's mind." Unfortunately, in this interpretation it's not an especially interesting mind to visit. Director Gerald Freedman's metaphorical setting makes some sense since, for most of "Richard II," the king is unable to see beyond himself. As portrayed by Wallace Acton, he's a weary, almost apathetic hedonist, a man who doesn't give a great deal of thought to much of anything, except self-indulgence.

They call themselves "old broads," but the way they labor could put many good men to shame. With the stamina of people less than half their age, this intrepid crew of women handles heavy machinery on the road, makes and hauls street signs, cuts raw aluminum. "I got good health, hon," says 74-year-old shop steward Katherine "Kass" Acton, pulling up her goggles after slicing an aluminum sheet with a jigsaw at a Brooklyn shop. "It's that good old German stock," adds her 60-year-old baby sister, Marge Krieg, pausing to flex an arm as she affixes vinyl sheeting to a "No Right Turn" sign.

A little boy who refuses to grow up is at the core of the bold, intriguing production of Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt" at Washington's Shakespeare Theatre.Think of Peer as an existentialist Peter Pan or perhaps a Kierkegaardian Candide. When he was a boy, Peer's mother tells us, she regaled him with fables and fairy tales. They had a lasting effect, though Peer hardly lived happily ever after. Instead of facing reality, he deluded himself, and his life turned into a series of ever grimmer fairy tales.