Baltimore by Kirsten Greenidge

(13)
Productions (41)
Drama
|
90 - 95 minutes
6 W, 3 M, 
Content Notes: Adult language.
Set: Minimal. The set does call for projections, but designers can find a way to represent this element creatively. Few large set pieces are called for and the playing space is meant to be fluid.

When a racially-charged incident divides her first-year students, reluctant resident advisor Shelby finds herself in the middle of a conversation she does not want to have. As pressure to address the controversy mounts from residents, the new dean, and even her best friend, Shelby must decide if she will enter the fray or watch her community come apart at the seams. Sharp, funny, and searing, Baltimore is a timely drama about racism on college campuses.

Pricing Information

Min. Performance Fee* $85
Standard Edition $13.99
eScript Digital Edition $17.5
Stage Manager Edition $24.99
Archival Video License $150

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Play Details

When a racially-charged incident divides her first-year students, reluctant resident advisor Shelby finds herself in the middle of a conversation she does not want to have. As pressure to address the controversy mounts from residents, the new dean, and even her best friend, Shelby must decide if she will enter the fray or watch her community come apart at the seams. Sharp, funny, and searing, Baltimore is a timely drama about racism on college campuses.

  • Drama
  • |
  • 90 - 95 minutes
  • 6 W, 3 M, 
  • Content Notes: Adult language.
  • Set: Minimal. The set does call for projections, but designers can find a way to represent this element creatively. Few large set pieces are called for and the playing space is meant to be fluid.
  • Standard Edition ISBN: 978-1-68069-018-7

Published Reviews

"There's a compelling urgency running through Baltimore, and the play is another demonstration of Greenidge's grasp of social nuance, along with her understanding of racial and ethnic experience and identity in all their complexity... In the diversity of its dramatis personae and in the issues that drive the play, Baltimore feels utterly contemporary."

The Boston Globe

"The play ended with a push to start the conversation, so forceful that the minute it ended, I turned to my friend and began discussing what we just saw... I have never before experienced a performance where such a variety of ethnicities, political ideologies, sexual orientations and economic classes were addressed."

The Writer's Bloc, University of Maryland

"The trap that playwrights can fall into when forging a piece around burning social issues is that the dialogue can become preachy and trite. Kirsten Greenidge avoids this by creating a very real central character who is as confused and frustrated by race issues as the audience. Shelby wants a world in which race doesn't matter so badly that she puts blinders on and pretends it's already true."

Lansing CityPulse

"The gap Greenidge explores here, of knowledge versus information (and wisdom versus opinion), is a recurrent one in literature but it's never been more timely than it is now."

The ARTery

Production History

APR 24, 2026 - MAY 03, 2026
Syracuse University Dept. Of Drama
Syracuse, NY United States
Syracuse University Dept. Of DramaSyracuse, NY United States
FEB 25, 2025 - MAR 01, 2025
Hope College
Holland, MI United States
Hope CollegeHolland, MI United States
NOV 21, 2024 - NOV 23, 2024
Trinity College Theater/Dance Dept
Hartford, CT United States
Trinity College Theater/Dance DeptHartford, CT United States
APR 14, 2024 - APR 14, 2024
Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater
Middletown, CT United States
Oddfellows Playhouse Youth TheaterMiddletown, CT United States
OCT 19, 2023 - OCT 22, 2023
NC Agricultural & Technical State University
Greensboro, NC United States
NC Agricultural & Technical State UniversityGreensboro, NC United States
MAY 06, 2022 - MAY 06, 2022
SUNY Potsdam
Potsdam, NY United States
SUNY PotsdamPotsdam, NY United States
MAR 03, 2022 - MAR 06, 2022
Hood College
Frederick, MD United States
Hood CollegeFrederick, MD United States
FEB 28, 2022 - MAR 07, 2022
Tent Theatre
Springfield, MO United States
Tent TheatreSpringfield, MO United States
NOV 19, 2021 - NOV 21, 2021
Elgin Community College
Elgin, IL United States
Elgin Community CollegeElgin, IL United States
OCT 07, 2021 - OCT 10, 2021
Emerson Stage
Boston, MA United States
Emerson StageBoston, MA United States
1 of 5
APR 24, 2026 - MAY 03, 2026
Syracuse University Dept. Of Drama
Syracuse, NY United States
Syracuse University Dept. Of DramaSyracuse, NY United States
OCT 20, 2016 - OCT 27, 2016
New Repertory Theatre
Watertown, MA United States
New Repertory TheatreWatertown, MA United States

Awards (1)

Big Ten Theatre Consortium New Play Initiative, 2015

eScript Details

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