7 things to do in Annapolis: New ‘Tale of Two Cities’ adaptation goes for suspense

Charles Dickens had a lot to say about social upheaval and political violence in “A Tale of Two Cities.”

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair ...”

And those are just the opening lines.

To say Sally Boyett, artistic director of the Classic Theatre of Maryland, set an ambitious goal for herself when she decided to adapt Dickens’ 1859 historical novel for the stage — well, that’s an understatement.

“People are probably thinking they are going to sit through three hours of history lessons,” she said. “That’s not what this is.”

Boyett’s version of “Tale of Two Cities” captures the essence of Dickens’ story — love and intrigue set in London and Paris during the French Revolution.

She’s whittled down the 19th-century author’s main characters and his many colorful passing figures, assigning the remainder to her cast of nine. Thirty-five scenes — Dickens wrote in vignettes — transition across the company’s West Street stage with simple sets, lights, music and atmospherics.

“I tried to distill it to the flash points,” Boyett said.

Max Hunkler plays Stanley Carlton, the diffident English lawyer. Gabriel Newman plays the French aristocrat Charles Darnay, and Jennifer Preston plays the romantic thread that ties the story together, Lucie Manette.

There will be people who see this production and draw parallels with the present. Dickens wrote his book as a critique of social and economic inequality and a warning of the potential for violent revolution.

That is still relevant today.

Boyett, though, said her production focuses on the claustrophobic sense that time is running out for the main characters. French revolutionaries are closing in on Darnay and his family, with the guillotine just a tumbrel ride away off stage.

It all leads to the moment when Carlton sacrifices himself to save Darnay for Lucie’s sake, uttering one of the most famous lines in English literature. Ronald Colman halting, nasal accent is probably how most people hear it in their heads — 91 years after his film version.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

Boyett hopes that Newman’s delivery will be just as powerful, a profound performance in its own right.

“Deep down, it’s a suspense thriller.”

“A Tale of Two Cities” runs through March 15, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with matinees at 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $58-$85, plus taxes and fees.

Here are some other great things to do through March 4.

A life enslaved

3 p.m. Thursday

Two historians will talk about what daily life was like for enslaved servants at the Hammond-Harwood House Museum, a National Historic Landmark dating to the Colonial era.

Julie Rose and Joyce White will focus on Mary and Matilda Matthews, Juliet, and Harry — all enslaved by the 19th-century owners of the Georgian-style mansion whose lives were filled with cooking, cleaning, child care, gardening and keeping the hearth fires burning.

Tickets are $15

A familiar movement

7:30 p.m. Friday

Guest Pianist Olga Kern will join the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra for a strangely familiar piece of classical music, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 1901 “Second Piano Concerto.”

Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen based the chorus of his 1975 hit “All by Myself” on the work, believing it was in the public domain.

Rachmaninoff’s estate sued, and Carmen eventually had to give them a percentage of the royalties and a co-writing credit. Twenty years later, Canadian singer Celine Dion covered the song to great success, so that’s almost a century of payoffs for the dead Russian.

Other music included in the Echoes of Heritage performance includes Silvestre Revueltas’ “Janitzio” and William Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony.”

The concert repeats at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and again at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda.

Tickets are $25-$100, plus taxes and fees. Tickets to the Sunday performance are sold on the Strathmore website.

Roots music

7:30 p.m. Saturday

Annapolis musicians Gary Wright, Leah Weiss and Jimmy Jacobs will perform an evening of American roots in the back room at 49 West Coffeehouse.

Admission is $15 and reservations are recommended.

Jazz takes stage

7 p.m. Sunday

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis brings his famous quartet to Maryland Hall as part of a national tour.

The performance includes original compositions and masterful covers of jazz and pop classics, including music from Marsalis’ latest release, “Belonging.”

Tickets are $65 to $100, with a discounted price for students, plus taxes and fees. By Wednesday, only a few seats remained.

Catfish and photos

5-8 p.m. Monday

Annapolis photographer Jay Fleming will talk about his work documenting the impact of blue catfish on Maryland watermen.

The meet-the-artist lecture is part of the Severn Sailing Association Smart series, and includes a catfish tasting menu curated by Chef Matthew Lego of Leo Annapolis.

Tickets are $15-$25.

Oh, Cleo

7 p.m. Wednesday

The A/V Club at Maryland Hall will screen “Cleo from 5 to 7,” a 1962 French film.

Director Agnès Varda follows selfish pop singer Cléo as she waits for her biopsy results, time she spends wandering Paris until she meets a soldier on leave from the Algerian War.

The movie is a key entry in the French New Wave, an independent film movement of the 1950s and ’60s that included films by François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard.