Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s touring and community engagement initiative Shakespeare Beyond returns for a third year, bringing free performances to parks and outdoor spaces all over the region. This year, they’re remounting It’s The Comedy Of Errors, Hon!, CSC’s love letter to Baltimore.
The play first opened earlier this year at the company’s downtown theater during their 2024/25 mainstage season (see DCTA’s rave review, Laugh-packed ‘It’s The Comedy of Errors, Hon!’ at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company). Adapted by CSC Founding Artistic Director Ian Gallanar from Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, this fast-paced classic is transformed into a playful celebration of Baltimore: its icons, accents, and traditions. Now performed on the Wagon — Shakespeare Beyond’s mobile performance unit — the audience is treated to an all-new production, revised to be compatible with the changing landscape of the outdoor tour.
Shows are free to attend, and in its third year, the tour reaches deeper across Maryland. “We’re enthusiastic about reaching more neighborhoods, more Marylanders, and more students this summer,” says Gallanar. Shakespeare Beyond’s first two years received overwhelmingly positive participant feedback and incredible turnout. In the summer of 2024 alone, the program reached more than 3,700 people across ten neighborhoods in Baltimore City and surrounding counties. Continuing this trajectory, in Summer 2025, CSC is on track to serve over 8,000 people across the state of Maryland from Frederick to the Eastern Shore.
In addition to presenting It’s The Comedy Of Errors, Hon!, Shakespeare Beyond brings professional teaching artists to lead workshops in acting, improv, stage combat, mask making, and more. The residencies are a vital part of the tour, allowing CSC to build relationships beyond the walls of the company’s theater and discover new ways to engage people of all ages with the arts.
Last year’s season began with a brand-new mobile performance unit, which will return this year. “Designing, engineering, and building the Shakespeare Wagon meant solving challenges learned from the company’s pilot-year,” says Chester Stacy, Production Architect and Technical Director for Shakespeare Beyond. “This modest, but dynamic, 400 square feet of performance space was built from an Isuzu NPR HD with a Morgan 16-foot dry freight box. In less than two hours, a stage is built.”
The Shakespeare Wagon enables the company to travel even deeper into neighborhoods. It has the ability to stage a performance in parking lots, at street festivals, and of course, in local parks across the state of Maryland. The addition of this fully mobile stage emphasizes the mission of the program and the company’s desire to meet people where they live and work. Public performances, workshops, and collaborations with local artists in those respective towns will be open to all.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES:
Carroll Lutheran Village | June 21, 7:30 PM
300 St Luke Cir, Westminster, MD 21158
North Four Corners Local Park | June 24, 7:30 PM
Parking lot, 315 University Blvd W, Silver Spring, MD 20901
Towson University | June 26, 7:30 PM
250 University Ave, Towson 21204 (Towsontown Garage)
Carroll Park Mountclare Museum | June 28, 7:30 PM
1500 Washington Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21230
Rock Creek Regional Park | July 8, 7:30 PM
6700 Needwood Rd, Derwood, MD 20855
Wyman Park Dell | July 10, 7:30 PM
2929 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218
Blackhill Regional Park | July 15, 7:30 PM
20930 Lake Ridge Dr, Boyds, MD 20841
Maryland Center for Visual + Performing Arts | July 17, 7:30 PM
2503 S. Tollgate Road, Bel Air, MD 21015 (Emily Bayless Graham Arts Campus)
Cromwell Valley | July 19, 7:30 PM
2002 Cromwell Bridge Rd, Parkville, MD 21234
Dundalk Heritage Park | July 22, 7:30 PM
2717 Playfield St, Dundalk, MD 21222
Rockburn Park | July 24, 7:30 PM
6105 Rockburn Branch Park Rd, Elkridge, MD 21075
Charles County Public Library Potomac Branch | July 29, 7:30 PM
3225 Ruth B Swann Dr, Indian Head, MD 20640
The Observatory at Patterson Park | August 2, 7:30 PM
27 S Patterson Park Ave, Baltimore, MD 21231 (Observatory Entrance)
Middle Branch | August 5, 7:30 PM
3301 Waterview Ave, Baltimore, MD 21230
Druid Hill (Parks & People) | August 7, 7:30 PM
2100 Liberty Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217
Federal Hill Park | August 9, 7:30 PM
3301 Waterview Ave, Baltimore, MD 21230
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
It’s The Comedy Of Errors, Hon!
By William Shakespeare
Adapted and Directed by Ian Gallanar
CAST LIST
Governor William Donald Schaefer - Zach Brewster Geisz
Aegeon – Nathan Garcia
Officer - Aura Gallanar
Dromio of Pennsylvania – Matt Harris
Antipholus of Pennsylvania – Lloyd Marcus*+
Fishmonger - Mae Phillipe-Auguste
Connie – Aura Gallanar
Dromio of Baltimore – Matt Harris
Antipholus of Baltimore - Lloyd Marcus*+
Adriana – Rachel Johns
Luciana – Tia Thomas
Lillie – Aura Gallanar
Barry – Jake Stibbe
Angelo – Oz Heiligman
Luce – Mae Phillipe-Auguste
Billie Holiday – Aura Gallanar
Earl Weaver – Zach Brewster Geisz
Walter Johnson – Rachel Johns
Courtesan – Mae Phillipe-Auguste
Reverend Doctor Pinch - Nathan Garcia
Abbess - Mae Phillipe-Auguste
Busker - Zach Brewster Geisz
CREATIVE TEAM
CSC Founding Artistic Director, Shakespeare Beyond Executive Producer – Ian Gallanar*
CSC Producing Executive Director - Lesley Malin*
Associate Artistic Director – Seamus Miller*
Associate Director For Education And Community Engagement – Molly Horton Booth*
Assistant Director – Kathryn Daniels*
Stage Manager – Ryan Anthony
Production Manager – Sarah Curnoles
Props Designer – Katherine Offutt Ross
Costume Designer – Hannah Brill
Music Director – Seamus Miller*
Fight Director – Chris Niebling
Production Architect, Technical Director – Chester Stacy*
Assistant Stage Manager – Shelby Kiesel
