The Monroe Doctrine at Baltimore Theatre Project

THE MONROE DOCTRINE, a world premier new play by award-winning Baltimore playwright Mark Scharf, at the Baltimore Theatre Project 

This new play asks: what does success mean in America? What does it mean when you don’t make it? In THE MONROE DOCTRINE, poet and adjunct professor Real Monroe tries to hold his world together from his trailer on Hog Island on Maryland’s eastern shore.

Poignant, personal, powerful and, at times funny, the play examines intergenerational bonds and their resilience in the face of 21st century challenges. It’s Memorial Day weekend and the men of the Monroe family, counterbalanced by the influence of three strong and grounded women, gather for what may be the last time to meet the wishes of Real’s Korean War veteran father, a VA nursing home refugee. 

When Real’s estranged sons arrive, expectations and reality collide and even the students he has tried to help leave him scrambling for solid ground in a shifting landscape of obligations and power. The play can be thought of as an elegy to the lost place of the artist in the world and to twentieth century versions of masculinity, the ideal now which is ever changing like a shapeshifter with amnesia. 

Directed by the collaborative and inventive Baltimore-based theatre artist, Ann Turiano (who is also the co-artistic director of Sisters Freehold). The production features a veteran ensemble cast: Nick Cherone, John Covaleskie, Griffin DeLisle, Makeima Elise Freeland, Anne Hammontree, Michael Sullivan, and Yodelle Tan.

The production runs from August 15th - 31st, 2024 at the Baltimore Theatre Project located at 45 W. Preston Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Friday and Saturday performances start at 8:00 pm and Sunday matinees begin at 4:00 pm. There will be a “pay-what-you-can” preview performance on Thursday, August 15th. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased through Baltimore Theatre Project: The Monroe Doctrine at the Theatre Project Tickets.