Last spring, when Single Carrot Theatre said goodbye to its physical performance space in Remington, the experimental ensemble had no idea then that its outside-the-box plans for nomadic performances across Baltimore would come in so handy in 2020.

“We really wanted to be able to move around the city more, showcase different spaces and neighborhoods, and have a deeper relationship with the people of Baltimore,” says artistic director Genevieve de Mahy, with the company’s 2017 Promenade being a perfect example—a boundary-breaking production aboard a bus with audience members watching out the windows as actors performed scenes on the city streets. “We wanted to invest our money into staff, artists, and art making, not into a facility. We were excited and confident about that decision when we made it. Now, during COVID times, literally not being able to perform in a theater venue, we’ve felt very fortunate.”

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Single Carrot had been in the midst of planning its upcoming 13th season after successful runs of Safe Space, a murder-mystery at the Clifton Mansion in February, and Mr. Wolf, a spin on “Little Red Riding Hood” at the St. John’s Church in October 2019. But when the first cases arrived in Maryland this March and quickly shut down performance spaces, their short list of ideas was quickly scrapped to create a nimble lineup fit for social distancing and quarantine.

After hosting a virtual variety show on Zoom in April and an original play on YouTube Live in July, “We did a lot of thinking about how to pull people away from their screens and out into the real world in a safe way, both for our audience and our ensemble,” says de Mahy. “What’s exciting about this time is that, since the way we’re planning is so short term, it actually allows us to create work that’s really reactive to the current moment.”

In that vein, kicking off their new three-show lineup on September 24 will be Keep Off The Grass: A Guide to [something], an original, interactive theatrical experience addressing the moral questions faced in this turbulent year. It all takes place in the great outdoors and uses a silent, contact-free performance across different stations on the sprawling grounds of the St. John’s Church on Old York Road, where they are currently in residency. Similar to museum audio tours, audience members will follow the plot by downloading a playlist onto their cell phones, with some additional devices available for those in need.

“What other delivery methods can we use to make shows that are exciting and interesting and different than what’s been done before?” poses de Mahy. “We wanted to make sure that these shows provoked important thoughts and questions while also making sure we approach them from a place where we can have fun, laugh, and really satirize what’s happening in the world today.”

On January 13, 2021, Single Carrot will also present Healthy Holly’s Hidden Hideaway, a fully phone-based mystery via call and text that envisions a cast of nefarious characters at the undisclosed location holding Baltimore’s Confederate monuments. Later that spring, on April 30, Is Edward Snowden Single? aims to showcase its small-cast, millennial coming-of-age story in person, COVID willing, with more details to follow.

Even as Governor Hogan announces “stage three” of the state’s COVID-19 recovery plan, including the reopening of live entertainment venues, Baltimore City has maintained “stage two” restrictions, with much remaining uncertain for the theater world. Most of the city’s companies yet to announce their fall performances, but de Mahy considers these times as a pivotal moment that could set the stage for the future.

“My hope is that there is no going back,” says de Mahy. “Yes, we’ll do plays inside again, but theater is right on this crux of figuring out if it’s a dying art or not. There are exciting new forms to explore, and I hope these times push theaters to think differently, and more vibrantly. I also hope that when it is safe to be in person again, there will be this joy and appreciation for going out and doing things and being in a room with people that we took for granted before.”

Events

Toward Equity in the Arts
April 13, The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St.  This talk will examine how race and class have impacted access and inclusion practices for funding, promotion, and exhibition opportunities in the arts, and will look at efforts to improve equity in these areas. The conversation includes Jess Solomon of Art in Praxis, Sheila Gaskings, and Darryl Ratcliff. Jonothan Gray and Chelsea Gilmer will open the evening with performances of their spoken word poetry. The annual lecture is held in honor of the Walters’ founding Director of Education, Ted Low, and focuses on an important current topic in the museum field.

Starts Here Reading Series
April 15, Bird in Hand Coffee Shop, 11 E. 33rd St.  This latest reading in the series hosted by Best of Baltimore winner Jen Michalski features Elise Levin, the director of the MA in Writing program at Johns Hopkins University, and Meghan Kenny, who held the Tickner Writing Fellowship in Baltimore and now lives and teaches in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.     

Bromo Spectacular
April 22, 29, various locations in the Bromo Arts District
These free, 90-minute walking tours of the arts district that includes downtown and the Howard Street corridor will invite people into invisible public spaces and storied buildings while learning about the speculative and spectacular efforts shaping the neighborhood. This free, 90 minute New Public Sites walking tour will feature little known histories, urban design successes and challenges, and current artist-led redevelopment projects, including Le Mondo and Current Space.

Exhibits

Thought Forms
April 20-May 27, C. Grimaldis Gallery, 523 N. Charles St.  This exhibition of paintings by Lisa Beck, Lydia Dona and Joan Waltemath stages the work of these New York artists who have simultaneously developed distinct practices in conceptual abstract painting. They are united by their strategic approach, in which a painting operates as a structural field that animates the subject’s relationship to architecture, machinery, and the universe surrounding it. 

Sacrifice
April 13-May 14, Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.  About this exhibit, artist Rene Trevino writes: “History is subjective; there are many blurred lines and so much distortion.  Context and point of view are very important. One person’s hero is another person’s villain…it depends on who tells the story.  As a gay Mexican-American I have always felt excluded and under-represented by history.  By using a historical context as a backdrop for my work, I can reweave these “lessons” of the past.”

Performances

David London’s Weekend of Magic
April 13-15, Theater Project, 45 W. Preston St.  Magician David London combines magic with storytelling, comedy, puppetry, philosophy, surrealism, and that which cannot be defined, to create original shows of magic unlike anything you have experienced before.

Rise Bmore
April 19, Union Baptist Church, 1219 Druid Hill Ave.  This free evening of words and music, of and for Baltimore, is in honor of Freddie Gray, who died on April 19, 2015. The event starts with a conversation featuring writers Sharea Harris, LOVE the poet, Brittani McNeill, and Hannah V. Sawyerr. The concert that follows features music by Peabody Conservatory professor Judah Adashi, Tariq Al-Sabir, Ruby Fulton, Lafayette Gilchrist, Brooks Long, and Martina Lynch, as well as poetry by Tariq Touré and images by Joseph M. Giordano.  

A Short Reunion
April 20-30, Single Carrot Theatre, 2600 N. Howard St.  For its latest play, Single Carrot is breaking out of its theatre space and onto the streets of Remington. Local businesses have partnered with Single Carrot to help transform this sprawling piece – a Frankenstein hybrid of never-before-seen shorts – into a short walking tour of the neighborhood. Charmington’s, Miller’s Court, Parts & Labor, Sweet 27, B. Willow, and Brick and Board will all be stops on the journey, along with neighborhood landmarks like the Remington ‘R’. In addition to creating new foot traffic and introducing potential customers to the businesses, A Short Reunion will give audience a taste of the complex and changing flavor of the neighborhood as a whole.

Spectral Lines
April 23, Maryland Science Center, 601 Light St.  Digital art, science, and music meet on and under the Planetarium dome. Local artist, Kevin Blackistone, inspired by extrasolar planets, manipulates computer software to create digital art for the Planetarium dome. The immersive visual art is enhanced by live music performed by Baltimore band Wume. 

Charm City Bluegrass Festival
April 29, Druid Hill Park, 900 Druid Park Lake Dr.  This fifth iteration of this celebration of all things bluegrass (and in a stunning setting) has a heck of a lineup, including Supergroup, which blends members of Yonder Mountain String Band and Leftover Salmon, The Lone Bellow, and local boy Cris Jacobs.

News

The Enoch Pratt Free Library announced this week that Heidi Daniel would be taking over as president and chief executive officer. Daniel has served as the executive director of The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County in Ohio since 2012. Daniel called the Pratt “one of the crown jewels of public libraries in the country, and I believe it is an integral part of the future success of Baltimore.”

You might remember that a few months ago we brought you the story of Throw, a documentary that told the story of East Baltimore resident Coffin Nachtmahr, who found acceptance among a subculture of yo-yo “throwers” and it turns out, he’s a virtuoso. He now helps others find a creative and social outlet by sharing what inspired him. Earlier this week, Throw was named as a nominee in the 21st Annual Webby Awards by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. The nomination for the Internet’s highest honor is in the category of Documentary – Branded, where it will be judged against four other films. Other Webby nominees include the Netflix series Stranger Things, Pokemon Go and Beyonce.

The students who are a part of the iRhyme program at  Lakeland Elementary Middle School have done something most of their peers have not—they’ve created and starred in a music video, Guns Weak. And that video won the grand prize earlier this month at an art contest sponsored by Shock Trauma’s Violence Prevention Program. Take a look at it here: