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Plays & Players, a Philadelphia institution for over 100 years, offers you theater that reflects our city. In our 104th season, we take a look at what a single voice can… and can’t do. Those who speak up, those who speak out, and those who remain silent. Five one person shows. A chorus of voices. Join us in these amazing stories told with passion, humor, and strength.

The Disappearing Quarterback
September 20-27, 2014

Written and Performed by Mike Boryla, Directed by Daniel Student

“[A] highly enjoyable, attention-commanding world premiere at Plays and Players… a compelling, deeply human story that blends a dash of Spalding Gray, the existential quest of Beckett’s hobos, and the beauty of a tightly thrown spiral.”

-Jim Rutter, Philadelphia Inquirer.

Mike Boryla was the starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1974-1976. He had everything he wanted. But he didn’t want what he had. Two years later, he quit professional football and… disappeared. In a World Premiere encore performance of his hit one-man show that debuted in January at Plays & Players, he returns to Philadelphia for the first time in over 35 years to tell the story of walking away from the sport and the teammates, he loved. With the average life expectancy of a professional football player reported at 55, the effects of concussions becoming ever more clear, and even our president speaking out against its future, should “America’s Game”… disappear? A play for football fanatics and amateurs alike, The Disappearing Quarterback puts you inside the helmet of a unique athlete, a self-described “long-haired hippie,” with a passionate purpose and a story to share as he comes home to the city that made him famous.

Photo credit: Trevor Reynolds

Click the above to read the full Philadelphia Inquirer review!

P.L.A.Y. (Philadelphia Local Artists for Youth) Premiere – Dream House (A Rainy Day Play)

November 6-23, 2014

A world premiere commission written by Jeremy Gable, Performed by Jennifer MacMillan

Dream House: A Rainy Day Play is the second installment of a new yearly series, P.L.A.Y. (Philadelphia Local Artists for Youth), that entertains and inspires theater goers of all ages!  Jenn returns to the old Philadelphia house that she grew up in. With a thunderstorm coming, and the memories of the house haunting her, can she learn to use her imagination to fight her grown-up fears? Written by a local playwright with a focus on original and local stories, this imaginative new program offers a theatrically immersive, interactive experience for young audiences, engaging their creativity to help build and spark each performance, sharing living stories that capture the magic all around us.

Click the above to learn more about Jennifer MacMillan!

Voices of a People’s History of the United States
January 29-31, 2015

Based on the book edited by Howard Zinn, Directed by John Doyle, Performed by Bob Weick as Howard Zinn, and a cast of other Philadelphia favorites

From Martin Luther King Jr. to Susan B. Anthony to Bob Dylan, Voices of a People’s History of the United States brings to life speeches, letters, poems, and songs from the extraordinary history of ordinary people who built the movements that made the United States what it is today. See a diverse cast of Philadelphia actors bring passion and power to the words that helped end slavery and Jim Crow, fight war and genocide, advance gay and women’s rights, and singularly define the American spirit.

Hold These Truths
February 12-March 1, 2015

Directed by Daniel Student, Written by Jeanne Sakata, Performed by Makoto Hirano

“The powerful and moving story of one man, who, in his own words, ‘could not give up on the Constitution.’”
– StageScene LA

Hold These Truths tells a story, buried by history, of one American’s attempt to reconcile his love for a country that labeled him a second class citizen. Gordon Hirabayashi’s real life 50-year journey brings us the astonishing facts of Japanese Internment, the US government’s orders to forcibly remove and mass incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast, through the eyes of a Quaker college student who was simply looking for love and the American Dream. When confronted with the ultimate challenge to his freedom, Gordon embarks on a truly profound and brave defense of our constitution, taking him on a wild adventure of discovering his Quaker faith, hitchhiking to prison, and ultimately, challenging the law in the highest court in the land… twice.  Join Philadelphia actor Makoto Hirano as he gives voice to over thirty characters in this one-man tour-de-force regional premiere, and celebrate the triumph of the power one person has to change a nation.

Learn more about the show

Learn more about the special events surrounding the show

Click the above to learn more about Makoto Hirano

Daniel Student’s Artistic Statement

The performing arts are the last bastion of human connectivity in an increasingly disconnected world. Artists are connected by making a choice to dedicating their lives to empathy and understanding. In the theater, there are no murderers, molesters, or swindlers. There is Macbeth, The Woodsman, and Topdog/Underdog.  We, artists and audience, gather in a single space, and all who enter sign an unwritten contract that in the time they spend together they will examine the world they share. To prepare, we, artists, gather, in a rehearsal process or a design meeting, and discuss themes, objectives, and making compelling choices, so that the performance can provide excitement and wonder, providing an access point for the audience to feel engaged in the lives presented to them.

I was drawn to the theater as a director by the social consciousness and ideals of youth. In my high school I started the Cultural Awareness Club, edited the Special Issues Section of the School Paper (“Race at Park School!”, “Homosexuality at Park School!” screamed the headlines), and steadfastly refused to give in to the casual segregation I witnessed at the lunch room (the only white kid at the black table). Yet, it was not until my senior year, when given an opportunity to direct a play, and subsequently choosing a play called Night Baseball about group of white guys who use every racial slur known to man and commit racially inspired revenge murders of black youths, that I truly felt that I had made an impact.

For once that audience had signed that unwritten contract to enter our theater that fateful night, they could not divorce themselves from their own emotional reaction, or, for that matter, the emotional reaction of the person sitting next to them and so on and so on. They could no longer say aloud “well, I just don’t agree,” or “I’m not racist, I just choose to sit with my friends,” or any of the various phrases we teach ourselves to help us forget that we, like everybody else, are flawed. That night, in that room, we were all connected to each other. We all saw each other’s reactions, each other’s feelings, each other’s fears, and each other’s reality. It is a feeling I will never forget.

As I grew into a professional director and artist, my interest in the arts grew broader, and my need to feel that every production I was involved in create a cathartic moment for the audience lessened. I have, in fact, become a steadfast campaigner for all arts, all artists, and an artistic community. How different is a broad, big budget musical from a solo performance artist really? Don’t we all still sign the same contract, even if the cost of that contract is $5 or $120?  I have come to understand that a shared emotional release comes in many shapes and sizes, some that make us go bounding down the streets in good spirits and sharing a joke with our friends, and others that make us quiet and still in the car ride home, starting out the window in internal reflection. I yearn for both, and simply can’t get enough of either.

In summation, I direct plays with the intention to be a leader to my fellow artists, and to provide a central vision that allows them to invest their work with creativity and passion, so that the product on stage has a united and shared vision designed to provoke a response from the audience. I am uninterested in being a dictator in my work; it is, in fact, not my work, but our work. I am focused on building a community of artists invested in a final result, each with a lifetime lived and a world of personal experience which enrich the process and production.  In choosing a play to produce, or even the plays that I write, I renounce my least favorite word used in the development process,clarity. My favorite stage direction comes from the Dan Dietz play, Tilt Angel. It is: “The earth tilts on its axis.” What a challenge to the reader’s imagination! But, even better, what a challenge to the actors, the designers, the director, the tech director, and on and on! What does it mean for the earth to tilt on its axis? How would a character feel about it? How would you represent it on stage? How do you build it? And, with that, the artists’ imaginations are provoked, the world they belong to is examined, and the audience who attends feels vividly and kinetically connected to the magic of it all and to the people with whom they are sharing the experience. And to me, that’s what the theater is all about.

Plays & Players is located just south of Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia’s most popular town square. Rittenhouse Square is home to some of the city’s finest shops and restaurants, including P&P sponsors…

Fado Irish Pub at 15th and Locust offers 15% off food for P&P Members who show their membership card. Fado, your place for food, drink, banter.

A premiere Italian BYOB in the Rittenhouse area for 18 years, Porcini at 20th and Sansom, offers 15% for all P&P Members and ticket holders. Come and enjoy delicious Italian food right in the neighborhood.

Square 1682 at 17th and Sansom offers 10% off food for all P&P Members and ticket holders. Where contemporary design, chic urban ecology, and delectable dining, meets bright, bold, and creative takes on Modern American cuisine and cocktails.

Our Friends in the Neighborhood

(P&P Members show your membership card for the 10% discount – Specials excluded)

Victor’s Bar at 2101 Chestnut Street (great Pizza too!)

Oh! Shea’s Pub at 1907 Samson Street

Black Sheep Pub at 247 South 17th Street

Locust Rendezvous at 1415 Locust Street

Women Telling Their Stories Through Art

Mz. Fest is a premiere festival hosted by Plays & Players that brings multiple local theatre companies together for a week to explore, question, and celebrate female stories. This year Mz. Fest attempts to answer “Who are women in today’s world? In yesterday’s world? And in tomorrow’s world?”

For Mz. Fest 2015, Plays & Players is joined by T.S. Hawkins, Revamp Collective, and Kaleid Theatre to bring you a one week festival the first week of April of women’s’ voices through art.

THE SHOWS:

The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G journeys through the lives of seven girls being escorted into womanhood. Embracing multiple levels of play, the girls teach one another ways to interact with the world at large. Using poetic dialogue, these girls introduce that their similarities expand beyond their assigned genders while exploring how their differences bring them together. Positioning itself as a foreshadowing to Ntozake Shange’s work “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”, The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G highlights the embryonic spark of when all girls gather; soothing one’s aches, sorting each one’s puzzles, and sharing one’s triumphs with her chosen collective.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
TS Hawkins plays include two off-Broadway solo works titled “Seeking Silence” and “Cartons of Ultrasounds” that were created in partnership with Alphabet Arts (NYC). “The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G” is her first full length play. Additionally, Hawkins is an internationally recognized author and an artist of many trades. She adores teaching and conducting workshops for audiences across the nation. In her spare time, she leads a course titled “Legacy & Lineage” which she designed specifically for youth to explore poetic language and hone proficient skills in creative writing to pursue artistic careers in literature. For fun, she runs her own radio station dedicated to promoting a community at large; it currently serves over 42,000 listeners worldwide with satellite offices in the West Coast & London. For more detailed information on TS Hawkins, CLICK HERE.

Shit Men Have Said to Me: Tales of How Men and Women Communicate
by ReVamp Collective

“Shit Men Have Said to Me: Tales of how Men and Women Communicate” is a devised piece about the ways in which men and women interrelate.  The work blends together the thoughts and interactions confronting societal realities—from catcalling to slut shaming, and everything in between, it is a piece about “what is” as well as “what has been” in the lives of women and men.  

ABOUT THE THEATRE COMPANY:
ReVamp Collective is a woman-centric theatre company that strives to create opportunities for women in all aspects of the theatrical process. We create inspiring work that investigates societal constructs and cultivates theatrical discourse–all the while producing established contemporary plays, works by new and emerging artists and collective devised theatre. Both behind the scenes and on the stage, our goal is to reset the woman default in theatre and to explore the direction of the work when women collaborate.

For more information about ReVamp Collective, CLICK HERE  and/or contact Producing Artistic Director Carly Bodnar. 

Take/Sacrifice
By Kaleid Theatre

What do we cling to?
In history and in myth, we sacrifice humans to win battles, abate crop failure, or maintain peace. Iphigenia was sacrificed for wind to take her father’s army to Troy and Jephthah offered his own daughter in exchange for victory in battle. We trade human lives to shape the world and ask for cosmic favors.
Take/ Sacrifice explores this space of desire, a landscape littered with those we have sacrificed to secure the things we want. Surrounded by iconic figures and archeological mysteries, our wishes become reflections of ourselves – what we want from the world, how we want the world to behave, and the lengths we are willing to go to make it so. What do we cling to? What do we want to much that we’ll destroy each other for it?

ABOUT THE THEATRE COMPANY:
Kaleid Theatre (as in kaleidoscope, as in collide) is a physical theatre ensemble that combines an obsession with language, a compulsion to dance, and a thirst for community knowledge to create new work. We are dedicated to exploring the dynamic, contemporary questions our communities are asking today. Kaleid combines language, movement, music, and sound to create a new, multi-sensory, multi-dimensional language, which, allows us to honestly explore the conflicted emotions and urges of these human experiences.

For more information about Kaleid Theatre, CLICK HERE. 

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Tuesday, 3/31, 7PM
Mz. Fest- All Three Works
Single Performance Pass:$10
Festival Pass (All 3 Shows): $20

Wednesday, 4/1, 8PM
Shit Men Have Said to Me: Tales of How Men and Women Communicate
by Revamp Collective
General Admission: $10

Thursday 4/2, 8PM
Take/Sacrifice
by Kaleid Theatre
General Admission: $10

Friday 4/3, 8PM
The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G
by T.S. Hawkins
General Admission: $10

Saturday 4/4, 9pm
Mz. Fest- All Three Works
Single Performance Pass:$10
Festival Pass (All 3 Shows): $20

Sunday 4/5, 2PM  & 9PM
Mz. Fest- All Three Works
Single Performance Pass:$10
Festival Pass (All 3 Shows): $20

This season, focusing on our vision, “seeking to cultivate a sustainable relationship between Philadelphia and its local theater artists,” Plays & Players branched out in a new way. We joined with other theater companies in the Philadelphia area to bring intelligent, inclusive and diverse plays to you through co-productions.

2015/16 Productions

One Minute Play Festival (Co-production w/ #1MPF)

The One-Minute Play Festival (#1MPF) is America’s largest and longest running short form theatre company, founded by Producing Artistic Director, Dominic D’Andrea . #1MPF is a barometer project, which investigates the zeitgeist of different communities through dialogue and consensus building sessions and a performance of many moments. #1MPF works in partnership with theatres sharing playwright or community-specific missions across the country. #1MPF creates locally sourced playwright-focused community events, with the goal of promoting the spirit of radical inclusion by representing local cultures of playwrights of different age, gender, race, cultures, and points of career. The work attempts to reflect the theatrical landscape of local artistic communities by creating a dialogue between the collective conscious and the individual voice.

Juno and the Paycock (Co-production w/ Irish Heritage Theatre)

Sean O’Casey’s stunning drama, Juno and the Paycock, offers a compelling look at the family conflicts of struggling Irish matriarch Juno Boyle and her Herculean attempts to keep her children safe and her husband “Captain” Jack Boyle sober despite his foolish schemes and the ongoing troubles. When offered the chance of a lifetime, the Boyles think that life in the tenements will change completely, yet things rarely go as planned. Set in early 1920s war-torn Dublin, Juno and the Paycock is the second of the Dublin Trilogy that the Irish Heritage Theatre will produce as part of its O’Casey trilogy.

Juno and the Paycock, directed by Peggy Mecham, features an exceptional cast of returning stars and talented professional calibre actors new to the Irish Heritage Theatre stage including: Kirsten Quinn, Ethan Lipkin, John Cannon, Gina Martino, Dexter Anderson, Kevin Rodden, Angelique Bouffiou, Jim Guckin, Jackie Cohen, Thomas Robert Irvin, Carlos Forbes, and David Kuong. The Irish Heritage Theatre is fortunate enough to have as its co-producer, Plays and Players Theatre.

Plutus (Co-Production w/ Once More Theatre)

Aristophanes’ rarely-seen comedy about wealth and inequality in ancient Greece.

Plutus is a political satire of Athenian culture and mores and explores the themes of wealth and inequality. In this modern adaptation, Chremylus, a fish monger and his servant, Cario, are following a blind beggar at the suggestion of Apollo. Stunned to discover the beggar is Plutus, the god of wealth, they develop a plan to restore Plutus’ sight so that wealth can be distributed fairly and to the deserving. Poverty arrives to explain her important role in the human experience, but the citizens of Athens remain unconvinced. After Plutus regains his ability to see and riches are distributed, various characters, an honest man, an informer, a distressed girlfriend, and even Hermes arrive to explain the dire consequences that sudden wealth has brought to their lives. Zeus and Apollo appear to try and undo the mayhem that is plaguing Athens, but are thwarted by the Chorus.
Starring: Kassy Bradford, Jimmy Guckin, Carlos Forbes, Abrham Bogle, Paige Lyles-Edge, Evander Johnson, Zachary Chung Pun, David Kuong, Barbaraluz Orlanda and Nazeer L. Harper. Director Peggy Mecham.

MAME (Co-Production w/ Renaissance Music Theatre Company)

She often proclaimed “Life is a banquet!” And to celebrate the 60 years she has dazzled us with her outrageous charm, Renaissance Music Theatre Company, in collaboration with Plays and Players Theatre, presents the Jerry Herman, Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee musical Mame: A Musical Comedy.

Starting life as the fabled heroine of Patrick Dennis’ 1955 semi-autobiographical, runaway best seller, Auntie Mame: An Improbable Escapade, Mame Dennis has lived the high life in Lawrence and Lee’s 1956 Broadway smash, Auntie Mame, starring Rosalind Russell, and, after a two year Broadway run, Warner Brothers glittering 1958 film Auntie Mame, also starring Russell in a Golden Globe winning performance in the highest grossing film of the year. In 1966 lyricist Jerry Herman joined Lawrence and Lee for the musical Mame, starring two theatre legends, Angela Lansbury and Beatrice Arthur, enjoying a four year run and earning both ladies Tony Awards. The hit production was followed by a lavish 1974 film starring one of the reigning queens of comedy, Lucille Ball. Over the decades “Mame” has enjoyed many revivals and remains as fresh and joyous today, as the first time you heard her exuberant cry: “I’m your Auntie Mame!”

Mame will be directed, designed and choreographed by Lance Moore, founder and director of Renaissance Music Theatre Company. Mr. Moore is well known for his brilliant, revisionist productions of many Broadway classics: Kiss Me, Kate, Cabaret and A Little Night Music. The talented cast of local actors from around the Philadelphia metropolitan area will be headed by Lance Moore as Mame Dennis, Peggy Smith as Vera Charles, Patti Mengers as Lindsay Woolsey and Christine Riggio as Agnes Gooch.

An Evening with Neil Simon presented by Plays & Players members

From “California Suite”: In “Visitor from Philadelphia,” Marvin awakens to discover a prostitute named Bunny – an unexpected gift from his brother Harry – unconscious in his bed. With his wife Millie on her way up to the suite, he must find a way to conceal all traces of his uncharacteristic indiscretion.
Directed by: John D’Alonzo

From “Plaza Suite”: In “Visitor from Forrest Hills,” Mimsey has locked herself in the suite’s bathroom and refuses to come out for her wedding. Her parents, Roy and Norma, in a frantic state and sometimes with comic attempts, work to cajole her to come out and get married! Directed by: Peggy Connolly

Featuring some of your favorite actors including Ray Smith, Gwendolyn Rooker, Nancy Segal, Ed Miller, Audrey Serfes and more!

Plough and the Stars (Co-Production w/ Irish Heritage Theatre)

In this gripping third installment of Sean O’Casey’s famed Dublin Trilogy, tragedy strikes during the Easter Uprising of 1916. The play centers around the Clitheroe family and their community. Wife Nora desperately fights to keep her husband Jack from joining the fight for Ireland’s freedom. This dramatic historical play features a fascinating cast of characters in the midst of a critical moment in Irish history. 2016 is the 100th year anniversary of the Easter Uprising, and The Irish Heritage Theatre is proud to be commemorating it with this production.

Plough and the Stars, directed by Peggy Mecham, will feature an exceptional cast of returning favorites and very talented newcomers to the Irish Heritage Theatre including: Victoria Bonito, Harry Watermeier, John Schultz, John Cannon, Kevin Rodden, Mary Pat Walsh, Jimmy Guckin, Michelle Pauls, Ian Agnew, Barbaraluz Orlanda, Dexter Anderson, Eric Dann, Kyra Baker, Cris Welti, Mark Knight, David Kuong and Carlos Forbes. IHT is fortunate enough to have as its co-producer, Plays and Players Theatre.

The Jaws Project (Co-Production)

Stephen Spielberg’s Jaws was shot on location at Martha’s Vineyard, MA in 1974. It was a legendarily disastrous production that resulted in one of the greatest movies of all time and an unprecedented financial success. Devised by Philadelphia theatre artists Robert Daponte, Mary Tuomanen, and Sam Henderson, The Jaws Project is a wicked rude comedy, an unlikely love story, and an unflinching examination of a turning point in American culture.

We could always use a second set of hands. Help us with:

• Ushering
• Office work
• Painting
• Join a committee (current openings in Marketing, Development, Building, Historic Preservation)

Email us and let us know how to contact you and what you are most interested in doing. We would love to have you on board. 

As a coalition of theatre artists and enthusiasts, Plays & Players strives to provide intelligent, inclusive and diverse plays that engage and entertain audiences, to invest in local talent, and to preserve its historic landmark home.

VISION

Plays & Players seeks to cultivate a sustainable relationship between Philadelphia and its local theater artists.

Posted by admin on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 · Leave a Comment 

Thank you to the cast and crew of Plutus and the members of Once More Theatre for a great show!  Don’t miss their next production! Stay tuned!

 A Festival of New Works-In-Progress Created By Women To Tell Their Stories Through Art 

CLICK HERE To Check Out The Full Schedule and All of the Special Events
That Were In Mz Fest 2015!

Mz. Fest 2015 was a premiere festival hosted by Plays & Players that brings multiple local theatre companies together for a week to explore, question, and celebrate female stories. In 2015, Mz. Fest attempted to answer “Who are women in today’s world? In yesterday’s world? And in tomorrow’s world?”

For Mz. Fest 2015, Plays & Players was joined by TS Hawkins, ReVamp Collective, and Kaleid Theatre to bring you a one week festival the first week of April of women’s’ voices through art.

Be Sure To Check Out All Of the COMMIT TO CREATE Projects at the Bottom! 

Mz. Fest 2015 Producer
Amber Emory

THE SHOWS IN MZ FEST 2015:

The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G journeys through the lives of seven girls being escorted into womanhood. Embracing multiple levels of play, the girls teach one another ways to interact with the world at large. Using poetic dialogue, these girls introduce that their similarities expand beyond their assigned genders while exploring how their differences bring them together. Positioning itself as a foreshadowing to Ntozake Shange’s work “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”, The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G highlights the embryonic spark of when all girls gather; soothing one’s aches, sorting each one’s puzzles, and sharing one’s triumphs with her chosen collective.

Featuring: Nastassja Baset, Marisol Custodio, Jackie DiFerdinado, Kimie Muroya, Kaitlyn Pribulsky, Zoe Richards, Rebekah Sharp and special guest appearance by Steve Wright

TO READ MORE ABOUT THE CAST OF THE SECRET LIFE OF WONDER, CLICK HERE!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
TS Hawkins plays include two off-Broadway solo works titled “Seeking Silence” and “Cartons of Ultrasounds” that were created in partnership with Alphabet Arts (NYC). “The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G” is her first full length play. Additionally, Hawkins is an internationally recognized author and an artist of many trades. She adores teaching and conducting workshops for audiences across the nation. In her spare time, she leads a course titled “Legacy & Lineage” which she designed specifically for youth to explore poetic language and hone proficient skills in creative writing to pursue artistic careers in literature. For fun, she runs her own radio station dedicated to promoting a community at large; it currently serves over 42,000 listeners worldwide with satellite offices in the West Coast & London. For more detailed information on TS Hawkins, CLICK HERE.

Shit Men Have Said to Me: Tales of How Men and Women Communicate
by ReVamp Collective

“Shit Men Have Said to Me: Tales of how Men and Women Communicate” is a devised piece about the ways in which men and women interrelate.  The work blends together the thoughts and interactions confronting societal realities—from catcalling to slut shaming, and everything in between, it is a piece about “what is” as well as “what has been” in the lives of women and men.  

Written By: Carly Bodnar, Erin Carr, Greg Nanni, Katherine Perry, Slade Roff, and Kristen Scatton
Choreographer: Peter Andrew Danzig
Sound Design: Carly Bodnar & Matt Dargan
Featuring: Slade Roff, Lisa Fischel, Colleen Hughes, James Kern, Adam Rzepka, and Ryan Tygh.

TO READ MORE ABOUT THE CAST OF SHIT MEN HAVE SAID TO ME, CLICK HERE!

ABOUT THE THEATRE COMPANY:
ReVamp Collective is a woman-centric theatre company that strives to create opportunities for women in all aspects of the theatrical process. We create inspiring work that investigates societal constructs and cultivates theatrical discourse–all the while producing established contemporary plays, works by new and emerging artists and collective devised theatre. Both behind the scenes and on the stage, our goal is to reset the woman default in theatre and to explore the direction of the work when women collaborate.

For more information about ReVamp Collective, CLICK HERE  and/or contact Producing Artistic Director Carly Bodnar.

Take/Sacrifice
By Kaleid Theatre

What do we cling to?
In history and in myth, we sacrifice humans to win battles, abate crop failure, or maintain peace. Iphigenia was sacrificed for wind to take her father’s army to Troy and Jephthah offered his own daughter in exchange for victory in battle. We trade human lives to shape the world and ask for cosmic favors.

Take/Sacrifice explores this space of desire, a landscape littered with those we have sacrificed to secure the things we want. Surrounded by iconic figures and archaeological mysteries, our wishes become reflections of ourselves – what we want from the world, how we want the world to behave, and the lengths we are willing to go to make it so. What do we cling to? What do we want so much that we’ll destroy each other for it?

Featuring: Pratima Agrawal, Jess Brownell, Jess Jacob, and Rachel O’Hanlon-Rodriguez. 

TO READ MORE ABOUT THE CAST OF TAKE / SACRIFICE, CLICK HERE!

ABOUT THE THEATRE COMPANY:
Kaleid Theatre (as in kaleidoscope, as in collide) is a physical theatre ensemble that combines an obsession with language, a compulsion to dance, and a thirst for community knowledge to create new work. We are dedicated to exploring the dynamic, contemporary questions our communities are asking today. Kaleid combines language, movement, music, and sound to create a new, multi-sensory, multi-dimensional language, which, allows us to honestly explore the conflicted emotions and urges of these human experiences.

For more information about Kaleid Theatre, CLICK HERE. 

COMMIT TO CREATE PROJECTS: 

During our Post Show REVEAL Panel on March 31st, we revealed a series of programs committed to creating opportunities for female artists in Philadelphia. Be sure to check them out below! 

COMMIT TO CREATE PROJECT #1: 

Pointbold: A Neighborhood Project:

Point Breeze is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia that is changing fast: some of the change is positive and some of the change is not, depending on who you talk to. But that’s the problem…residents and developers and city officials are having a hard time talking. Pointbold, a collective of professional performers, educators, and creatively minded neighbors, wants to help these conversations happen productively – so everyone’s voice is heard.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND SUPPORT THEIR CAUSE!

LIKE THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE! 

COMMIT TO CREATE PROJECT #2: 

Girls Rock Philly

Girls Rock Philly is a volunteer-based non-profit music and mentoring organization dedicated to empowering girls and young women from the greater Philadelphia region through music education and activities that foster leadership skills, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE! LIKE THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE! 

COMMIT TO CREATE PROJECT #3: 

SHE Directs: 

SHE Directs will feature a variety of Philadelphia-based emerging female directors. Each participant will present a short showing of work that represents their point of view as a theatre artist. Reject Theatre Project strives to provide a showcase opportunity for emerging female directors and create an evening that celebrates female theatre artists.  The evening will be hosted by Philadelphia lady-director-favorites Kathryn MacMillan (Associate Artistic Director of Lantern Theater Company & Freelance Director) and Amy Smith (Co-Director of Headlong Dance Theater, Director & Choreographer).

SHE DIRECTS IS ON AUGUST 1ST @ THE PLAYS & PLAYERS MAIN STAGE

TO LEARN MORE, OR TO PARTICIPATE, CLICK HERE!  LIKE THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE! 

COMMIT TO CREATE PROJECT #4: 

#RM2B: 

Part of the Souls of Black Folk Bridal Salon over at The Painted Bride

Do we give ourselves room to be ourselves? Or do we allow societal structures to solely shape how we navigate and exist in the world today? Using W.E.B DuBois work as a template, these six women explore how the concepts of “to be the problem” and “to live in privilege” collide, survive and thrive physically and linguistically in everyday life.

SHOWCASE IS ON MAY 19TH AT 7PM

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!

COMMIT TO CREATE PROJECT #5: 

Diana: 

Diana is an ensemble that champions women through a diverse body of work. They seek to create theater through which they can explore the past and dream in the present to build a future where women can just be themselves without being confined or defined by traditional relationships. Nothing in life is black and white, including women. Diana seeks to show the black, white and resulting gray within the female experience which is, after all, everyone’s experiences. By challenging dualities and stereotypes, Diana hopes to truthfully portray the lives of a myriad of women and share their unique stories from the familiar to the fantastical while inspiring audiences to think critically.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE! 
 

COMMIT TO CREATE PROJECT #6: 

Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival: 

PWTF fosters and encourages women in the performing arts by offering unique opportunities for exposure, professional and artistic and personal development and a platform for performance.

FESTIVAL IS ON JULY 30TH – AUGUST 2ND

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!  CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED! LIKE THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE! 

Want to know more about the EAR (Emerging Artists in Residence) program? CLICK HERE!

Or Watch The Video Below To Learn More About The Program, AND Our Residents!

Melissa Lynch Memorial Actors-In-Residence

Joseph Ahmed is a 2014-15 Acting Resident at Plays & Players. He is also a cast member of Foodplay’s touring educational show ToBe Fit: The Juggling Nutrition Magician, and will be joining Enchantment Theater Company as a teaching artist in January. He has worked at Shakespeare & Company as a teaching artist, where he performed as Leander in Les Faux Pas. He was most recently seen as the Narrator in PaintBox Theater’s Pirate Girl. Other roles include: Vince in Buried Child at Boston University, and Firefly in Ti-Jean and His Brothers at Central Square Theater. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston University with a major in Theater Arts, and studied at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy for a semester. Apart from acting, he has functioned as a director, a choreographer, a writer, a juggler, a clown, a deviser, a musician, a lighting designer, and a dancer.

A sample of Joseph’s statement of purpose for EAR:

How does an actor, always speaking the words of others, become an autonomous artistic being? I seek to be not only a performer who brings to life the scripts of others, but one who also creates narratives of his own. My work in this area will focus on three themes from my life. The first is the deli play which I am already developing. The second is the exploration of my biracial heritage as a half white, half-Bangladeshi American. The third is my rediscovery of Philadelphia after five years away studying. In changing my medium, I will focus on the study of dialect in performance. To examine the specific dialects and physical expressions of characters very different from myself, I will create characters based off of people I have met, with the goal of precisely inhabiting their voice and physicality as specifically as possible.

Nicole Godino is a founding member of Resonance Ensemble, a company with a focus on new works inspired by classic texts. Favorite credits include Katherine, The Taming of the Shrew (2002 OOBR Award for Excellence) Vasilissa (Lower Depths) and Lady Bracknell (The Importance of Being Earnest). She has appeared onstage at NJ Rep in Octet, and in staged readings of The Spirit House, and Summer in Closed Rooms. Regional credits include The Empty Space, Open Circle and AHA! Theatres in Seattle, performing such roles as Solange (The Maids), Desdemona (Goodnight Desdemona) and Athos in The Three Musketeers (The Musical!!!), which she and her cast-mates created with Eddy Levi Lee. Film credits include the role of Laura (lead) in Sleep Furiously, and Angelina in Remedy. Nicole is a graduate of the Trinity Repertory Conservatory and RADA, a former intern of Milwaukee Rep, and has been studying the art of staged combat since 1995.

A sample of Nicole’s statement of purpose for EAR:

Fresh out of conservatory I was a brash, bold, quirky, daring young actor. I’m still that actor now, however I think there’s so much more I’m not tapping into. I’d really like to experiment with mask work and puppetry. My partner and I have an idea for a four-woman adaptation of Macbeth using mask work and puppetry that would examine the play in terms of the elements, gender, and transformation. I find that my desire is to create a challenging space, to challenge audiences to ask questions. I believe [this] residency would give me a chance to further explore how the variety of skills I’ve acquired over the years work together to make me an even more daring, creative, and collaborative artist than that twenty-something actor.

PDC @ Plays & Players Playwrights-In-Residence

Jeffrey Stingerstein’s full-length plays include Forgive Us Our Trespasses, Where the Body Is Not, Angel, Martha Martinez Washington, Battle Not with Monsters, Hear Me Pray, and others.  His short plays include “Weaving,” “Towed,” “Dinner with Peter and Polly,” “Violet & Pacific,” and others.  Where the Body Is Not was nominated for the Cherry Lane Mentor Project 2013, and was also a semifinalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2012 National Playwrights Conference.  Hear Me Pray was a semifinalist for the 2013 National Playwrights Conference.  Martha Martinez Washington was a semifinalist for the 2014 National Playwrights Conference.  Jeff received his M.F.A. in Playwriting from Smith College in May 2011, where he studied under Len Berkman.

A sample of Jeffrey’s statement of purpose for EAR:

“I have many interests outside theatre, and I very much seek consilience with those interests in my practice, when possible. I think it is healthiest that all artists have interests outside their primary mediums. This allows an artist to explore territory that can enrich her/his art, and it makes the art a vital part of the experience of being a participant in the larger community in which he/she lives. As part of my practice, I actively read work in other fields, such as Psychology, and I make a concerted effort to witness creative acts in and out of the theatre. In college I was a figure model, and in that role I witnessed many artists learning to draw and paint. I tried drawing once, but lost interest quickly. I haven’t yet painted. Perhaps I would explore that. Perhaps I would give drawing a chance anew I might also want to try creating a puppet show, which is something I have absolutely never attempted, and which scares me.” A musical, too, would be a worthwhile form for me to confront. Or maybe what would be best is to attempt to bring them altogether by creating a musical puppet show in front of a set that I have drawn or painted. Such a thought fills me with fear and excitement at the same time!”

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