This past Friday night some of my friends and I went out to celebrate our friend Julie’s birthday. We started off with dinner at Ellicott Mills Brewing Company and then headed to the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s production of Pride and Prejudice. Each summer, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company puts on two shows in the ruins at Patapsco Female Institute Historical Park in Ellicott City, Maryland. The Patapsco Female Institute was a finishing school established 1837, whose Greek Revival structure is now in ruins. The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company has built their stage into the ruins in a rather unique way. It’s a great off the beaten path place for outdoor theatre.

This year’s productions are Romeo and Juliet and Pride and Prejudice, which they perform on alternate weeks. We saw Pride and Prejudice mostly because it fell on the night that we wanted to attend. It was a fairly well done production. The actress playing Elizabeth got tongue tied a couple of times, but other than that I think it went off rather well. I love the opportunity to do outside during the summer the things I normally love doing anyway like dining, watching movies, or attending the theatre. I’m happy that the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company provides me the opportunity to enjoy one of these things. There are still several weeks left in their summer run, so if you’re in the area I highly suggest attending one of the remaining shows.