Everyman Theatre

The domestic drama unfolding on the stage of Everyman Theatre these days in Michael Weller's "Fifty Words" can get pretty messy — stories about marriage frequently are. But the set that the two actors in this play get to inhabit is a study in calm, careful planning and execution. That set is the work of Tim Mackabee, who is making his local professional debut as scenic designer with this production. It's a particularly satisfying homecoming for the New York-based Mackabee, who was born in Baltimore, raised in Perry Hall and attended the Carver Center for Arts and Technology, the magnet high school in Towson.

Booth, the younger of two brothers in Suzan-Lori Parks' cauterizing play “Topdog/Underdog,” being given a trenchant Baltimore premiere by Everyman Theatre, is determined to perfect the old con game, three-card monte. As he rehearses his spiel before an imaginary audience of potential marks, Booth spouts a rapid-fire mantra, “You pick that card, you pick a loser.” His hands never really move quite fast enough, smooth enough, but that doesn't deter him - he's already decided to change his name to “3-Card” - or dent his contempt for all those supposed losers who will soon lay in his path.

Booth, the younger of two brothers in Suzan-Lori Parks' cauterizing play “Topdog/Underdog,” being given a trenchant Baltimore premiere by Everyman Theatre, is determined to perfect the old con game, three-card monte. As he rehearses his spiel before an imaginary audience of potential marks, Booth spouts a rapid-fire mantra, “You pick that card, you pick a loser.” His hands never really move quite fast enough, smooth enough, but that doesn't deter him - he's already decided to change his name to “3-Card” - or dent his contempt for all those supposed losers who will soon lay in his path.

It might be hard to duplicate the anticipation and publicity that greeted the inaugural season in Everyman Theatre 's inviting new home on West Fayette Street, but that hasn't stopped the company from trying. "I want next season to be even more exciting than the first one," said Vincent Lancisi, Everyman's founding artistic director. "We've got three modern classics and three newer plays. Three of the works are by women. And three are Baltimore premieres. " The 2013-2014 lineup is the first full season in the new venue, which opened in January with an acclaimed staging of Tracy Letts' "August: Osage County.

Design is important to Lisa Reed. The 35-year-old Hampden resident has made it her career as an architect at Cho Benn Holback + Associates. The shape of something is also important when it comes to her personal style. When we "Glimpsed" Reed at Everyman Theatre's gala at the American Visionary Art Museum, she explained her style philosophy: "As long as I have on one nice thing, I can cheapen everything else up and be a little more trendy. But I like to keep one classic piece in the mix."

After the final bows were taken during Everyman Theatre's inaugural opening night performance of "August: Osage County," an exhuberant yell could be heard from behind the closed curtain. It was an expression of the actors' relief at having survived the challenges posed by playwright Tracy Letts' Tony Award-winning black comedy, "August: Osage County. " And it was an expression of delight in finally having a performing home suitable for an established ensemble theater troupe. That sense of accomplishment was the theme of the theater's official opening this weekend, which included a cocktail party and post-performance cast party on Friday; a gala dinner and performance on Saturday, and a Sunday brunch.

We have all seen adults acting - to borrow a song lyric - more like children than children. But, if you're lucky, you've never met anyone quite like the people who spout, spar and spew in “God of Carnage,” the Tony Award-winning Yasmina Reza play currently getting an effective workout at Everyman Theatre. Meet the Novaks, Michael and Veronica, well-to-do parents of a boy who has lost some teeth and a whole lot of playground cred after being clobbered by the son of the likewise well-off Raleighs, Alan and Annette.

There has been a change in the lineup for the second production in Everyman Theatre's new home -- Yasmina Reza's bitingly funny "God of Carnage. " Due to a shoulder injury, resident company member Bruce Randolph Nelson had to bow out. The role of Alan Raleigh, half of one of the two tense couples at the heart of the play, will now be performed by Tim Getman. (Nelson is expected to be back onstage as scheduled for Everyman's season finale, George Farquhar 's "The Beaux' Stratagem.

An area theater that does consistently fine work is beginning its last season in its current home. Everyman Theatre's upcoming season is slated to be its final one on N. Charles Street, in the Station North arts and entertainment district. Work is well under way on its new home downtown in the renovated Town Theater, just around the corner from the Hippodrome Theatre. So this will be a season to remember in the long local history of Everyman. It kicks off Sept. 7 with Lorraine Hansberry's classic drama, “A Raisin in the Sun.” This timeless story about the aspirations of a black family in Chicago in the 1950s still resonates in any discussion of the American dream.

Playwrights love to place human beings and their shortcomings beneath the unforgiving gaze of a microscope. In "Stick Fly," Lydia R. Diamond offers a variation on this methodology — the title refers to entomologists who study the movements of flies by gluing them to sticks. Diamond's specimens don't frequently find themselves put up for observation in the theatrical realm: upper-income African-Americans. The 2007 play, which has received a finely acted, handsome production at Everyman Theatre , centers around family members who arrive at their posh summer home on Martha's Vineyard — the "white side.

The recent announcement that Atomic Books will expand and make beer available at special events is an intriguing -- and promising -- development for all indie bookstores. We've all seen how hard it is for the small stores to compete these days. They've been hammered on all sides -- by giant Barnes & Noble, by discounters such as Walmart, and more recently by the growth of ebooks. It takes a lot of imaginative marketing -- and a fair share of good fortune -- to survive. That's why the Atomic Books expansion in Hampden is so interesting.

We have all seen adults acting - to borrow a song lyric - more like children than children. But, if you're lucky, you've never met anyone quite like the people who spout, spar and spew in “God of Carnage,” the Tony Award-winning Yasmina Reza play currently getting an effective workout at Everyman Theatre. Meet the Novaks, Michael and Veronica, well-to-do parents of a boy who has lost some teeth and a whole lot of playground cred after being clobbered by the son of the likewise well-off Raleighs, Alan and Annette.

There has been a change in the lineup for the second production in Everyman Theatre's new home -- Yasmina Reza's bitingly funny "God of Carnage. " Due to a shoulder injury, resident company member Bruce Randolph Nelson had to bow out. The role of Alan Raleigh, half of one of the two tense couples at the heart of the play, will now be performed by Tim Getman. (Nelson is expected to be back onstage as scheduled for Everyman's season finale, George Farquhar 's "The Beaux' Stratagem.

It looks like a full-fledged trend -- Baltimore theater companies adding performances of productions thanks to popular demand this winter. First to announce was Everyman Theatre, which  extended the run of "August: Osage County. "  Two more companies have likewise found themselves with hits. Katori Hall's "The Mountaintop" isn't for everybody, but this serious/humorous/surreal look at Rev. Martin Luther King's last night, April 3, 1968, has turned out to be "one of the highest grossing plays" in the 50-year history of Center Stage, the company reports.

Families that flay together can't stay together for long. That's just one of life's painful little lessons conveyed to searing effect in "August: Osage County," the 2008 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play by Tracy Letts now receiving its Baltimore premiere under the happiest of circumstances - the inauguration of much-anticipated Everyman Theatre on West Fayette Street. The vibrant production provides a fitting display for the handsome new facility, where the Empire, Palace and Town theaters once operated.

After the final bows were taken during Everyman Theatre's inaugural opening night performance of "August: Osage County," an exhuberant yell could be heard from behind the closed curtain. It was an expression of the actors' relief at having survived the challenges posed by playwright Tracy Letts' Tony Award-winning black comedy, "August: Osage County. " And it was an expression of delight in finally having a performing home suitable for an established ensemble theater troupe. That sense of accomplishment was the theme of the theater's official opening this weekend, which included a cocktail party and post-performance cast party on Friday; a gala dinner and performance on Saturday, and a Sunday brunch.

Everyman Theatre will split its 2012-2013 season between two venues, but a common thread unifies the plays — all are Baltimore premieres. There will be six works in all, up from the usual five. The lineup includes recent works by such notable playwrights as Tracy Letts, David Margulies, Suzan Lori-Parks and Yasmina Reza, as well as adaptations by Tom Stoppard and Thornton Wilder. But the biggest news next season is the company's relocation to Fayette Street, around the corner from the Hippodrome in an area that is fast becoming a viable arts district on the city's west side.

"Shipwrecked!" is stuffed from port to starboard with kid-friendly storytelling and the power of the imagination. The adventure story by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies, which opens at the Everyman Theatre Friday, has fantastic sea creatures and "tribes" of aborigines represented by intentionally rudimentary puppets. The sound effects are created on stage in full view of the audience. And just three actors (Clinton Brandhagen, Bruce Nelson and Tuyet Thi Pham)

Early in the renovations at the former Town Theatre movie house on West Fayette Street, a member of the architectural firm was hoisted on a cherry picker and spotted something beneath the grime up at the top of the facade of the century-old building. It was a single capital letter: "E. " "Everybody got such a kick out of that," said architect Diane Cho of Cho Benn Holback + Associates. "It was very kismet. " That "E," left over from the first commercial establishment on that spot in 1911, a vaudeville house called the Empire Theatre, would fit just fine for the new owner - Everyman Theatre . This week, about 18 months after work on the $18 million renovation project started, Everyman, a 22-year-old professional Equity company with an admired corps of resident actors and designers, opens its new home to the public.

Everyman Theatre has enlisted a food truck to provide dinner for its patrons in its new home. When the professional Equity theater reopens in its new home on West Fayette Street, Charm City Gourmet will be parked outside the theater for several hours before each performance. Patrons will be able to order directly from the truck and consume their food outside, but Charm City Gourmet will be providing table service inside the theater's lobby. The truck, a side project of Shapiro's Cafe , serves a full cafe menu that includes New England lobster rolls, falafel and Israeli salads.