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The quality of the acting in the Silver Spring production is uniformly high.

Even in more recent plays and musicals, a common theme has been the difficulty, or perhaps impossibility, of achieving “The American Dream.” Steinbeck’s success, and that of this production, is to make understandable the emotional impact of the loss of even that tiny dream.

In large part because the director and cast understand that the characters cannot be aware of their being funny — their situations, however ridiculous, are real to them — the RLT production succeeds in in being the exceedingly silly, entertaining, piece it is intended to be.

Randy Johnson’s One Night with Janis Joplin vividly recreates an important piece of the 60s musical and emotional experience, to an enthusiastic reception from Arena Stage’s audience.

Silver Spring Stage provides a strongly acted and well-paced view of the destruction of a presidential campaign.

De Mare is a dynamic pianist, with technique and musicianship to burn. He is equally at home in quiet, lyrical passages and big, fast, technically demanding pieces.

Medea, with her overwhelming passions and command of magic, is a force of nature — a force beyond nature, perhaps — but this is a story without a hero.

Director Shawn Byers keeps the pace of the multiplying complications spinning along smartly. The eight-person cast displays excellent comic timing, making the best of Cooney’s frequent laugh lines.

This production is a good reminder that, notwithstanding the local vogue for “silent” Shakespeare, the power and glory of Shakespeare resides principally in his words and actors’ interpretations of them.

Zemfira Stage’s production of The Producers pulls out all the show’s stops, creating a highly enjoyable evening of theater.