Together Again (Photo provided by Aversa PR)
Attention Theatre Lovers!
The 3rd annual Philly Theatre Week returns February 6 through February 16. The 10-day celebration features 75+ organizations and 300 events and performances. Events will include full performances, workshops, panels and more in Philadelphia and suburbs, plus in New Jersey and Delaware. All tickets for participating shows are free, $15 or $30. Philly Theatre Week tickets are officially on sale now at www.phillytheatreweek.org
Philly Theatre Week was the brainchild of Theatre Philadelphia Executive Director Leigh Goldenberg and her team. The idea dates back to 2017 when Goldenberg was in search of a new flagship program that would focus on inclusivity and reducing barriers to participation.
Theatre Philadelphia Executive Director Leigh Goldenberg said, “Philly Theatre Week is not only an exciting new tradition for arts, culture and theatre audiences, but it has developed into one of the city’s most exciting and anticipated festival style events that joins the ranks of Philly Beer Week, Philly Tech Week and Center City Restaurant Week. The 10 day celebration showcases the breadth and diversity of artists and organizations that make Philadelphia a vibrant hub for performing arts.”
Visitors and residents will find something for everyone with a diverse collection of world premieres, cherished classics, lavish productions, low-budget readings, experimental workshops, award-winning actors, in-depth discussions, local voices, and more. Participating organizations include a range of professional theatres, community theatres, academic institutions, self-producing artists and small-budget companies. Activities will take place everywhere from Center City to the suburbs, Bucks County to Wilmington, and South Jersey to the Main Line.
Goldenberg explained, “Philly Theatre Week was designed to introduce new audiences to our region’s theatre scene, while encouraging existing theatre-goers to step out of their comfort zone and try something new with a variety of events and discounted price points. There is truly something for everyone, from every walk of life, and from every corner of the region.”
While the website for Philly Theatre Week has a full rundown of organizations, events and performances, here’s a teaser of activities divided by category:
For local premieres:
Philadelphia Theatre Company’s Everything is Wonderful; Inis Nua Theatre Company’s A Hundred Words For Snow; Curio Theatre Company’s I ♥ Alice ♥ I; Interact Theatre Company’s Man of God; The Wilma Theater’s Describe the Night; Quintessence Theatre Group’s Rachel. Kaleidoscope Cultural Arts Collective’s Khepera; Raw Street Productions’ Matt & Ben; The South Camden Theatre’s Abigail 1702 / A Twice Told Tale – A Regional Premiere; People’s Light’s The Children; Lantern Theater Company’s The Vertical Hour; The Strides Collective’s Whirlpool by Jonathan Edmondson; and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts’ Grey Rock.
For world premieres:
Arden Theatre Company’s My General Tubman; Ruth and Estelle’s Ruth and Estelle’s A Sequins of Fortunate Events; Tribe of Fools’ You Shouldn’t Be Doing What You’re Doing On That LADDER; Theatre Exile’s Babel; Automatic Arts’ HURT and other possibilities; Philadelphia Dramatists Center’s A Thin Line Between Love & Hate; Beacon Theatre Productions’ Under The Bonnet; and Hella Fresh Theater’s Osceola.
King Lear (Photo courtesy of Bristol Riverside Theatre)
For the love of the classics:
Bristol Riverside Theatre’s King Lear; The Idopathic Ridiculopathy Consortrium’s The Bald Soprano; Rutgers -Camden Theare Hamlet; Walnut Street Theatre’s A Woman of No Importance; and EgoPo Classic Theatre’s Fool for Love.
For regional stages:
Bucks County Playhouse’s Forever Young, One Man Star Wars Trilogy, and One Man Stranger Things – A Parody; People’s Light’s The Children; Delaware Theatre Company’s Outside Mullingar; The South Camden Theatre Company, Inc.’s Abigail 1702 / A Twice Told Tale – A Regional Premiere; and Uptown Knauer Performing Arts’ The Linda Ronstadt Experience and Opera tutti! The True Story of Cinderella.
For our area’s Universities:
Temple Theaters’ Temple/Theatre Philadelphia Raise Your Voice Symposium; Rutgers-Camden Theater Hamlet; and Team Sunshine Performance Corporation’s ¡BIENVENIDOS BLANCOS! OR WELCOME WHITE PEOPLE! At Swarthmore College.
For food and drink lovers:
Jenna Kuerzi and Val Dunn’s Johnny Depp: A Retrospective on Late-Stage Capitalism; Temple Theaters’ Temple/Theatre Philadelphia Raise Your Voice Symposium; Ruth and Estelle’s Ruth and Estelle’s A Sequins of Fortunate Events; Dani B Productions’ Brilliant: Staged Reading of a New Musical; The Savoy Company’s Gilbert & Sullivan’s Guide to Courting; Tiny Dynamite’s Valentine’s Day 2020, with Tiny Dynamite; Lightning Rod Special’s Big Bad Funtime Bash and The Bearded Ladies Cabaret’s Bon Voyage to the Beards: A Trestle Inn send-off party.
For the musically inclined:
Ruth and Estelle’s Ruth and Estelle’s A Sequins of Fortunate Events;The Hum’nbards The Artists’ Temple; Julia Kershetsky’s Too Legit. To Quit; Players Club of Swarthmore’s Next to Normal; Walnut Street Theatre’s Grace for President; 1812 Productions’ Together Again for the First Timeand Philly Improv Theater’s Philly Song Jawn with Sean.
Black History Month-themed events:
Quintessence Theatre Group’s Rachel; Arden Theatre Company’s My General Tubman; Walnut Street Theatre’s Thurgood; Philadelphia Artists’ Collective and Theatre in The X’s In Splendid Error and Philly Improv Theater’s Hoffman + No Diggity.
For the whole family:
Ants on a Log Curious’ Think Outside the Pipeline!, and Walnut Street Theatre’s Grace for President.
Valentine’s Day events:
Curio Theatre Company’s I ♥ Alice ♥ I; Ruth and Estelle’s Ruth and Estelle’s A Sequins of Fortunate Events; Theatre Contra’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon – A Live Reading; Tiny Dynamite’s Valentine’s Day 2020, with Tiny Dynamite; Unattended Baggage’s The Bed Show; Tongue & Groove Spontaneous Theater’s In Bed; The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre’s Shakespeare In Love: Open Mic Poetry Night.
LGBTQ+ productions:
The Hum’n’bards’s The Artists’ Temple; Indecorous Theatre Productions’ Romeo & Juliet; Ruth and Estelle’s A Sequins of Fortunate Events; Theatre Exile’s Babel by Jacqueline Goldfinger; Bearded Ladies Cabaret’s Bon Voyage to the Beards: A Trestle Inn send-off party; Curio Theatre Company’s I ♥ Alice ♥ I.
Bright Invention (Photo provided by Aversa PR)
Tickets
Philly Theatre Week tickets are on sale now at www.phillytheatreweek.com
For additional information, please visit www.phillytheatreweek.
