Category: Uncategorized

Plays and Players Theater is located at 1714 Delancey Place in Center City Philadelphia (off of 17th and 18th Streets, between Spruce & Pine). This is a small, residential street so please take that into consideration when approaching the theater. IT IS NOT A THROUGH STREET.

Accessibility

Please note: Plays & Players is a historic theater over 100 years old. We are currently working on improving the amenities the theater has to offer including the rest rooms and accessibility. Unfortunately the theater does not currently have handicap accessible rest rooms, nor an elevator. Wheel chairs can get into the main theater, but there are no rest rooms on the ground floor.

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Parking

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Driving Directions

From New Jersey/Ben Franklin Bridge:
From the Ben Franklin Bridge, follow signs to 676 West/Vine St Expressway. Make a left on 17th Street. Main entrance to the theater can be accessed on Delancey Place from 17th street by taking a right on Lombard Street (one block south of Pine Street), right on 18th Street and another right on Delancey Place (essentially making a U-turn from 17th St).

From Points West:
Take 76 East to 676 East (left exit). Take 676 East to the Broad/15th Street Exit. Make a right onto 15th Street (going south). Make a right on Lombard Street (one block south of Pine Street), another right on 18th, and a final right on Delancey Place.

From Points North:
Take 95 South to 676 West. Follow directions from New Jersey/Ben Franklin Bridge above.

From Points South:
Take 95 North to 676 West. Follow directions from New Jersey/Ben Franklin Bridge above.

Public Transportation Subway:

From the Walnut-Locust Station on the Broad Street Line the theater is a 10-min walk. Head west on Walnut Street and then south on 17th street. Delancey Place will be on the right-hand side, just past Spruce Street.

From the 15th & Market Station on the Market-Frankford Line riders can get a free transfer to the Broad Street Line or take a 15-min walk to the Plays and Players Theater (see map above).

Regional Rail: All Septa Regional Rail Lines stop at Suburban Station, where riders can transfer to the nearby Broad Street Line at City Hall Station or take the 15-minute walk to the Plays and Players Theater (see map above).

Riders can also take the PATCO and get off at the 15th-16th St Station on Locust Street and take a 10-min walk.

Bus:
Riders can take any bus to Market Street and get off anywhere between Spruce and Pine and take a short walk west to the Plays and Players Theater.

For further information please contact Plays and Players Theater directly via phone at (215) 735-0630 or via email at mail@playsandplayers.org.

Hosted and curated by Philadelphia comedy trio The Berserker Residents, Your Sunday Best is an evening of variety comedy featuring Philly’s finest actors, stand-ups, and musicians. This FREE 60-minute show begs its performers to try things they have never done before, the result: a ruckus one-of-a-kind comedy night unlike any other in Philadelphia.  Every 3rd Sunday.  Doors at 8:30.  Show at 9:00.

Franklin Evan’s Poker

Play your cards. Play it right. With Poker Night. 10pm up in our favorite Artist’s Playground, Quig’s Pub! Bring your friends and make a royal flush by going all in and staying all night!

Produced with PDC and sponsored in part by the Melissa Lynch Foundation.

For more information on our playwright residency partner, PDC, please go to www.pdc1.org.

2014/15 EAR Residents

PDC @ Plays & Players Playwrights in Residence: Jeffrey Stingerstein

Melissa Lynch Memorial Acting Residents: Joseph Ahmed and Nicole Godino.

BUY YOUR TICKETS TO EAR FUZZ! Members see the show for free as long as they present their membership card.

Read more about this year’s residents

The EAR (Emerging Artists in Residence) program is open to playwrights and actors in the Greater Philadelphia area. This year the Melissa Lynch Memorial Acting Residency will be open to two actors and the PDC @ Plays & Players Playwrights Residency will be open to two playwrights. This 8-month residency, which will run from October 2014 to June 2015, is an exclusive opportunity for actors and playwrights to work on artistic development at one of Philadelphia’s oldest and most respected theaters.

If you are interested in applying for the EAR Residency, applications will be available in Summer 2015.

About EAR

The aim of the EAR Residency is to develop theater artists’ work towards goals that they have articulated for themselves. The focus of this program is artist development, not the development of a specific performance or project. Emerging can mean many things to many people, and the applying artists are encouraged to decide for themselves if that is an appropriate label. Most importantly, we request that the artist decide if this is a year where they would want to prioritize the opportunity to step back, ask big questions, examine why they are making the artistic choices they make and to try to find out what kind of artist they want to be.

The residency provides activities designed to inspire, encourages experimentation, offers support and guidance from artistic leaders, and the structure and discipline to really focus on the journey and seek results. While the residency is an educational opportunity by nature, we are happy to offer the opportunity for absolutely free.

Details of EAR

Residents are members of Plays & Players, and the PDC @ Plays & Players Playwrights Residents, if not already PDC members, become members of that organization (www.pdc1.org for more information.) The residency is designed to accompany a full time career, and requires 15 hours commitment per month. Residents are also required to volunteer for 5-10 hours per month at Plays & Players.

The residency breaks down into four topics:

1. Play Another Part (playwrights become actors, actors become playwrights) – October/November

2. Change Your Medium (try on another style, method, or art form you’ve never tried before) – December/January

3. Fight Your Fear (face the thing that scares you most in your artistic journey) – February/March

4. What Is Theater (attempt to figure out who is the theater artist you want to be) – April/May

Each topic involves five activities over the two month period: two individual meetings, two “group shares”, and tech/performance of EAR Fuzz. Once a month, residency leaders lend an “ear” to check-in with the residents and/or arrange private meetings/workshops with other people of inspiration.  Also monthly, all the residents gather for field trips to spark creativity followed by “group shares,” all based off of the goals defined on an individual and group basis. Past field trips have included a class at the Philadelphia Circus School, a puppet making workshop with Robert Smythe, a discussion with Isaiah Zagar in his private Philadelphia Magic Gardens studio, a tour of Laurel Hill Cemetery, observing a rehearsal from Headlong Dance Theatre, and meetings with couples therapists, dentists, interpreters, and more. In March specifically, residents take a 24 hour artists retreat as their field trip. This work culminates in an open rehearsal of work conceived on the theme of the period, called EAR Fuzz, sharing the growth that unfolds on stage with an audience of fellow members and the general public. Each EAR Fuzz ends with a “communal ritual” with the audience in celebration of the growth, and an opportunity for audience to share their inspiration from the evening on an arts & crafts style feedback board and casual merriment at Quig’s Pub at P & P.

You can support the E.A.R. residency by donating to our Ongoing Campaign, which helps us run all of our programming. If you want your money to go solely to the E.A.R. Residency, please specify when you donate.

DONATE TODAY

  In this class we will play with ways to make unarmed fights work in small spaces using elements such as proximity, breath, and shared knaps. The second hour will continue with a focus on non contact slaps.  

February Artist Co-Op: Arlen Hancock

February 13th 6:00-7:30 in Quigs

Face Time

This is a hands on mask making class that focuses on shaping and polishing a mask of the students’ choosing. The methods will be taught, but are merely suggestions. Overall, creativity and inspiration are paramount, ergo the process in class is guided yet the direction of the crafting will primarily be in the students’ hands. A broken pinata of style, shape and character.

Ideally there will be a brief showcase of the finished products.

*There is a production of Hold These Truths at 8PM. If you attend this Co-Op you can receive a discounted ticket for $10 at the door.

March Artist Co-Op: Joe Ahmed

March 13th 8:30-10:00 in the Studio

 Intro to Juggling

Always been curious about throwing balls in the air for enjoyment and entertainment? Here’s your chance! You’ll learn the basics of juggling, as well as fun basic partner skills to try out with friends. Already know how to juggle? Start learning some more advanced tricks or work on juggling four or five balls.

Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Throwing Light Photography

“We see some 75 plays a year in Philadelphia and New York and have been attending plays at Plays and Players for many years. We can attest to the progress being made in the last few years: we have seen some seven plays produced by the company in that time, and thoroughly enjoyed them all. We never feel that any cast has any weak spots. The range of shows is broad and delightful. We have seen Stoppard and August Wilson, a new musical about Andrew Jackson, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (better than the Public production we saw in New York), and the Disappearing Quarterback, the only honest discussion we have ever seen of the dangers of football. We loved Marcus, of The Secret of Sweet. It had a huge and wonderful cast, all exciting to watch. We look forward to more quality theatre from Plays and Players year after year.”  

-Sam Hopkins and Eileen O’Brien

The America Play; Photo credit: Daria Maidenbaum

OUR PRODUCTIONS

Your generous contributions help us produce theater that is timeless, yet local to Philadelphia. Each year we strive to bring the best in entertainment to our audience, and every dollar donated to our Ongoing Campaign helps us to provide the best quality to you.

“There are a lot of theatre companies in The City Of Philadelphia, and I know many are doing great work, but Plays and Players, with little or money next to none, has been able to have such an impact on the community that during one of our talk-backs during the production of “Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet” an audience member wept and stated, “Thank you for your understanding, kindness, and sensitivity to our community.”’

-Zuhairah McGill, Producing Artistic Director, First World Theatre Ensemble

24 Hour Festival: NAKED

A Community, Open to You

With a continuously expanding Membership program and the Artist’s Playground Quig’s Pub, we provide the theater community a home. And that community is open to you. Whether it is taking classes being taught by our members, or just stopping by for a beer and a conversation, you’re always welcome here at Plays & Players. Your donations to our Ongoing Campaign help us keep this home open, and this community thriving.

 

104 Years And Counting…

Believe it or not, it costs quite a bit to maintain a 104 year old theater. Your donations to our Ongoing Campaign help us keep our doors open, our theater up to date, and one of the best stages in town available for productions.

There are so many reasons to donate to Plays & Players,
that we couldn’t possibly fit them all here.

DONATE TODAY and Support our Historic Theater!

World Premiere Work-in-Progress
Written by Johanna Dunphy, Shoshanna Hill, Joseph Nevin, Ken Sandberg, & Owen Timoney 
Directed by Joseph Nevin
September 3-11, 2009
Plays & Players Main Stage

Starring: Victoria Frings, Davon Williams, Ken Sandberg, Johanna Dunphy, Nicholas Troy, Benjamin Goldman, Nikki Evans, Christopher Morse, Amanda Greco, Susan Roth

It’s a musical. About zombies. Inspired by classic horror films and cult musicals, our story follows a mad scientist, a surly sheriff, a pair of young lovers, and a zombie hunter as they try to survive in a world overrun by zombies . . . and sing about it.

“This show is not a piece of high art – it’s silly, outrageous and fun – everything you’d think a musical about zombie’s should be.”

-Philly Theatre Talk

Early in the Mourning

Photo credit: Drew Hood, Throwing Light Photography

World Premiere
Written by P. Seth Bauer
Directed by Daniel Student
November 5-22, 2009

Starring: Mark Cairns, Robert DaPonte, John Devennie, and Helen McCrane

Plays & Players was proud to present this world premiere by local playwright P. Seth Bauer, writer of 1812 Productions’ hit comedy, “The Karma Cookie.” During a blinding snow storm on New Year’s Eve, Leo and Betty Rosen recall a recent car crash involving their son, Daniel, and his long-time partner whom they never accepted. While debates on  little league strategy, the frugality of firewood, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ensue, unexpected visitors arrive at their Newtown, Massachusetts home, including Daniel himself. Early in the Mourning takes us through the emotional and unexpectedly humorous journey of familial love and loss, and the struggle for Leo and Betty to face reality before it is too late.

Photo credit: Drew Hood, Throwing Light Photography

“Cairns admirably navigates the play’s centerline role with a serious approach that never delves into histrionics. Devennie remains appreciably staid throughout, a much appreciated balance to McCrane’s wrought, though appropriate, hysterics. And DaPonte… plays each revelation with judicious sincerity.”

-Edge Philadelphia

“With a beautiful set and new risers for seating in the Skinner Studio, it was impressive from the beginning.”

–Philly Theatre Talk

Concrete Dinosaur

World Premiere
Written by Nicholas Wardigo
Directed by Carol Laratonda
January 7-24, 2010

Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Throwing Light Photography

Amidst a sprawling garden in Wynnewood, PA, a sculpture of a protoceratops looms over Angelica Busso and her friends as they prepare for a spirited evening of conversation, croquet and cocktails. Joining them for the game is Angelica’s daughter, Marta, who is home on break from graduate school while working on a cure for squirrel overpopulation, and their sexy house boy, Dennis, each with their own secrets to hide.  As the competition begins, more than just points are tallied. These “Desperate Housewives of the Main Line”sift through one another’s sordid pasts and settle old scores.

Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Throwing Light Photography

“Plays and Players definitely found a cast that understood the characters they were cast to play.  Each character was extremely real and each had their own, unique personality, even in portraying characters who are all guarded, and to an extent, fake. Peggy Smith (Angelica) had the audience wrapped around her finger from the moment she opened her mouth to speak. Sincere and a bit scary, she knew what she wanted and wasn’t at all afraid to say it.”

–Philly Theatre Talk

“Lance Moore’s scenic design makes her backyard a big “X” in Plays & Players’ intimate upstairs space, with the audience tucked in corners close to the action, and features the titular stony reptile in a dark comedy that sizzles with sexual tension and naughty secrets. “

–Philadelphia City Paper

Take Me Out

Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Throwing Light Photography

Tony Award for Best Play
Written by Richard Greenberg Directed Daniel Student March 11-27, 2010

Plays & Players 

Main Stage 

Starring: Chuck DeLong, Bill Egan, Sam Han, Gerard Joseph, Joe Matyas, David Mason, Ted Powell, Jerry Rudasill, Dan Sanchez, Ryan Walter, and Peter Zielinski

Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Throwing Light Photography

In this Tony Award Winner for Best Play, America’s National Pastime is forever altered as Darren Lemmings, star of the New York Empires, comes out of the closet to his team, his friends, and to the public at large. As his deeply racist and homophobic teammate, Shane Mungitt, grows incensed by the news, Darren’s gay financial manager, Mason Marzac, finds a new hero, and the other players see their locker room in a whole new light, the only person who seems unaffected is Darren himself. The drama of the season unfolds on and off the field, and in the end we are left with one question: “what will we do till spring?”

“Take Me Out”, presented by Plays & Players, will not only remind you of how you’ve missed watching our beloved Phillies during this long, cold winter, but also hooks hard into the proverbial left field, exploring the life of a star baseball player after he announced his homosexuality to the public.”

–Philly2Philly

Carousel

Written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Directed by Lance Moore
May 27 – June 12, 2010

Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Throwing Light Photography

Starring:  Eileen Cella, John D’Alonzo, Michael Dura, Tomas Dura, Justina Ercole, Joel Evans, Abby Fallen, Teri Leahy, Susan Mattson, Helen McCrane, Hope McQuiod, Molly McQuiod, Will McQuiod, Patti Allis Mengers, Tom Osborne, Jonathan Rivera, David Stahl, Michael Stimson

Photo credit: Ashley Smith, Throwing Light Photography

In this revival of the groundbreaking Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, a mill girl in a small New England fishing village, Julie Jordan, marries a handsome carousel barker, Billy Bigelow, things soon turn sour for the couple. Desperate for money after learning that he is soon to become a father, Billy is killed during an attempted robbery. Several years later, when he is allowed to return to earth for a short time, he seeks out the daughter of his union with Julie. Enter a world of love lost and love regained, and stunning classic musical numbers such as If I Loved You, June Is Bustin’ Out All Over, and You’ll Never Walk Alone.

2010-11 EAR RESIDENTS

Playwrights – Joy Cutler, Quinn D. Eli, Greg Romero.

2011-12 EAR RESIDENTS

Playwrights – Jeremy Gable, Brian Grace-Duff, Jeff Stanley.

2012-13 EAR RESIDENTS

Actors – Amanda Atkinson, Marci Chamberlain, Jenna Horton. Playwrights – Alisha Adams, Tommy Butler, Robin Rodriguez.

2013-14 EAR RESIDENTS

Actors – Andrew Carrol, Sarah Schol. Playwrights – Greg Nanni, Charly Evon Simpson.

Production Sponsored by

in association with the Knight Arts Challenge funded Henry Box Brown Festival

October 17 – November 3, 2013

“An extraordinary event…MARCUS is an engaging, gently provocative, universal tale. And, yes, it’s sweet.” —San Francisco Chronicle.

From the theater that brought you 2012’s hit production of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, comes the Philadelphia premiere from the African-American playwright touted as the “next August Wilson,” Tarell Alvin McCraney. A provocative, poignant, fiercely humorous, and ultimately universal story of a “sweet” young man’s journey to discover the “secret” of who he really is and where he really came from. Days before Hurricane Katrina strikes the projects of Louisiana, the currents of his life converge, overflowing into his close-knit community and bringing three generations of characters, all named after African gods, together in the stirring conclusion of McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy.

About the Playwright

Tarell Alvin McCraney‘s plays include Wig Out! (Sundance Theatre Lab, Vineyard Theatre, and the Royal Court Theatre) and The Brother/Sister Plays: In the Red and Brown Water (Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition; premiered at the Alliance Theatre), The Brothers Size (premiered at The Public Theater in association with the Foundry Theatre and in London at the Young Vic), and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet (premiered in a co-production by McCarter Theatre Center and The Public Theater). Other productions of The Brother/Sister Plays include those by Steppenwolf Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, and The Studio Theatre, among others. McCraney’s plays also include Without/Sin; Run, Mourner, Run; and The Breach, written with Catherine Filloux and Joe Sutton (commissioned and premiered by Southern Repertory Theater in New Orleans.) He was nominated for London’s Olivier Award for The Brothers Size and has received the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, a 2009 GLAAD Award for Outstanding Play, the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Whiting Award, the first Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, the inaugural New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, and a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University.

Ticketing Information

On the Main Stage

• Wednesday and Thursdays at 7pm
• Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
• Saturdays at 2pm
• Sundays at 3pm

Special Events

The Players: An Actor Talkback Sunday, October 20th

Join the cast of Marcus for an informal talkback after the show, moderated by director Daniel Student.

Post-Show Classroom: Go Back To School with Local Professors Sunday, October 27th

Wish you could go back to college and really analyze a play, its themes, and its ideas? Stay after the show for a panel of guest professors who will shed light on the play. And pay attention, there might just be a pop quiz at the end. Featuring Swarthmore history professor Allison Dorsey, St. Joseph’s University English professor Laura Pattillo and Plays & Players-featured playwright Quinn D. Eli.

Behind The Scenes, On The Stage: Explore the Production Process Sunday, November 3rd

Get a glimpse into what it takes to put a production on its feet and meet production designers in a post-show talkback.  Learn about what different designers do, how a director approaches a script and what the heck a dramaturg is.

Conversation with the Community: Topics at Play in the Real World Time and Date TBA

Plays & Players partners with a local organization whose mission explores the play’s themes in a practical setting.  Gain a more immediate perspective for how elements of the show play out in today’s Philadelphia.

Buy tickets!

Cast and Creative Team

Starring: Janan Ashton, Andre G. Brown, Taysha Canales, Jaylene Clark, Erin Fleming, James Tolbert III and Zuhairah

Daniel Student (Director) serves as Producing Artistic Director at Plays & Players, for whom he has directed Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, A New Brain, Take Me Out, Early in the Mourning, and Oleanna, and starred as Shakespeare in William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead. Other programs he has created at Plays & Players include the Philly Fringe Preview Series, the Philly Bake-Off and PIFA New Play Festival, and the Emerging Artists in Residence (EAR) program. His show he co-created and co-performed with Jennifer MacMillan and R. Eric Thomas, Overexposed: A Slightly Awkward Peep Show enjoyed five sold out performances with Quince Productions before going to the 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also starring Jamison Foreman.) He re-mounted Overexposed in 2013, as well as performing a new show with Ms. MacMillan and Mr. Thomas, (in)voluntary commitment. “Superheroes Who Are Super!,” a classic comic book staged reading series which he created, produced, and frequently directed, won Best In Philly from Philadelphia Magazine in 2010. Other recent directing credits include Beautiful Zion: A Book of the Dead (Philly Fringe), The Pillowman (Bootless Artworks), and Bug (All College Theatre at The College of New Jersey). He is a graduate of Vassar College and attended the 2007 Lincoln Center Director’s Lab.

Set Design by Colin McIlvaine, Costume Design by Amanda Sharp, Lighting Design by Chris Hallenbeck, Sound Design by Dan Kontz, Props Design by Danielle Ferguson, Assistant Direction by Sophie Peyton, Dramaturgy by Nell Bang-Jensen, Assistant Dramaturgy by Eric Thomas, Dialect Coaching by Melanie Julian, Stage Management by Lauren Tracy, and Assistant Stage Management by Lena Barnard

“There is one line after another you will quote to your friends.” – New York Times

Like a hard rock track turned all the way up, Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll is a hilarious, clever, and often riveting roast of the American Male. An intimate one-man show explodes on to Plays & Players’ stage, bringing to life 10 off-beat characters in a smartly profane non-stop tour de force about masculinity, capitalism, and the great American way. After a lengthy run Off-Broadway in the 1990s, Obie Award winning playwright Eric Bogosian’s “brilliant” collection of monologues are remounted June 5-21 with Philadelphia’s own Eric Scotolati, bringing characters from top to bottom of the eat-or-be-eaten food chain from the era of cable, wall street, and “just say no” perfectly back to life and reminding us how little things change about the larger issues that define our time.

Buy tickets!

About the Playwright

Eric Bogosian is best known as a playwright, novelist and actor. He wrote and starred in the play, Talk Radio (NYSF – 1987; on Broadway starring Liev Schreiber- 2007), for which he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and the Tony award. For his film adaptation of the play, Bogosian received the Berlin Film Festival “Silver Bear.” His six solo performances Off-Broadway between 1980 and 2000, (including Drinking in America, Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee) received three Obie awards. In addition to Talk Radio, Bogosian has written a number of full-length plays including subUrbia (LCT, Second Stage, also adapted to film), Griller (Goodman), Red Angel (Williamstown Theater Festival), Humpty Dumpty (The McCarter), 1+1 (New York Stage and Film). He is also the author of three novels, “Mall”, “Wasted Beauty” and “Perforated Heart” and a novella, “Notes from Underground.” He is a Guggenheim fellow.

Ticketing Information

Third Floor Skinner Studio

• Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm
• Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
• Saturdays at 2pm
• Sundays at 3pm

Special Events

The Players: An Actor Talkback

Sunday, June 8th – following 3pm matinee

Join performer Eric Scotolati of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll for an informal talkback after the show, moderated by director Allison Heishman.

Industry Night

Sunday, June 8th – 9pm show

Join us for a special Industry Night performance of Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll to be held in the Skinner Studio at 9:00 PM. Industry priced tickets will be $10 and regular priced tickets will be $25.

Conversation with the Community: Topics at Play in the Real World

Friday, June 13th – following 8pm performance

Plays & Players partners with a local organization, The Mankind Project of Philadelphia, a committed, diverse and vital community empowering men to live in integrity, authenticity and service. They create a world of love, healing and growing consciousness, and stand for Mature Masculinity, Men Helping Men, and Connection to Feelings. The post-show conversation explores the play’s themes in a practical setting of the work they do, allowing the audience to gain a more immediate perspective for how elements of the show play out in today’s Philadelphia.

Post-Show Classroom: Go Back To School with Local Professors

Sunday, June 15th – following 3pm matinee

Wish you could go back to college and really analyze a play, its themes, and its ideas? Stay after the show for a panel of guest professors who will shed light on the play. And pay attention, there might just be a pop quiz at the end. Current guests include: Kathryn Watterson, English Professor at the University of Pennsylvania; Casey J. Miller, Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College; Zolani Ngwane, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Haverford College.

Cast and Creative Team

Eric Scotolati (Actor) is happy to be working with such a talented and wonderful crew on this beast of a show! Eric graduated from West Chester University with his B.A.  in performance and has been living and working in the greater Philadelphia area ever since. Eric has worked with such companies as: Azuka Theatre, Lantern Theatre Company, Curio, The PAC, Plays and Players, Tiny Dynamite, Inis Nua, Commonwealth Classic Theatre, and The Renegade Company, of which he is also a founding member.

Allison Heishman (Director) is an Artistic Associate at Azuka Theatre, and a freelance ‘theatrician’ throughout Philadelphia. Her work includes Directing, Performance, Script Analysis, Stage Management, and a smattering of Dramaturgy and Writing. She has done work for Azuka (Actor: Long Christmas Ride Home, Director: The Terrible girls, Hazard County,  I Love You I Hate You); National Constitution Center (Program Manager/Educator: Living News, AD/Dramaturg: Fighting for Democracy,Director/Writer: Theatre Exhibition Series); The Wilma Theatre (AD; Angels in America, parts I and II); Tiny Dynamite (Director: Spacewang – A Play, A Pie and A Pint); Flashpoint Theatre (Actor: Autobahn, Dead Guy); Madhouse Theatre (Actor: Pounding Nails into the Floor); Quince Productions (Director: Beebo Brinker, Chronicles, Well of Horniness). Up next she will direct: A Taste of History, An Evening with Chef Staib in collaboration with The Kimmel Center and City Tavern for PIFA; and Failure: A Love Story for Azuka.

Set & Props Design by Danielle Ferguson, Lighting Design by Andrew Cowles, Sound Design by Daniel Kontz,  Assistant Direction by Erlina Ortiz, Dramaturgy by Lena Barnard, and Stage Management by Lauren Tracy

Adopt-an-Artist “Parents”:

Allison Heishman – Eileen O’Brien and Sam Hopkins
Eric Scotolati – Patrick Tracy

Do you want to adopt-an-artist? A donation of $250 will get you a chance to follow the artist from behind-the-scenes through the final bow. DONATE NOW!

The Playwrights in Residents are co-sponsored by the PDC.

To purchase tickets to E.A.R. Fuzz please click here: Buy Tickets!

*This playwright residency is co-sponsored by the PDC.

How do you think the residency is going so far?

Andrew Carroll

Its truly hard to say. Challenging? Certainly. Rewarding? Certainly. I don’t know if I can answer this question beyond that. The residency has brought up issues and ideas that I’m positive I will be grappling with and striving towards for the rest of my life. Its all useful feedback about your heart and soul coupled with your work ethic that is invaluable to take a stab at figuring out as an artist pretty much always. I have a much better sense about what kind of work and what ways of working that turn me on, so…its going well.

Charly Simpson

I think the residency is going well! Of course, as with anything, hindsight is 20/20. There are some opportunities I wish I had really thrown myself into earlier on, but I think I am finally finding my groove. It is appropriate that the topics covered in the residency are getting more personal, more nitty-gritty now. I am much more present now than I was before.

Sarah Schol

I am so pleased to be a part of the residency because it is forcing me to face some serious questions about the current state of my life and career, and assess how I am achieving and not achieving the goals I want. The past two sessions of “playing another part” and “changing your medium” allowed me to explore things in which I was already interested, which was fulfilling but also what I expected from the residency. This session is the biggest period of struggle for me right now, as I face my fears of failure and self-loathing, and confront how those fears are adversely affecting my art. What is funny is that I have definitely failed at facing my fear adequately, something that I am continuing to struggle with as I prepare for Ear Fuzz.

Greg Nanni

It’s been life changing. In all honesty, I’m not too sure where I would be right now without the residency. It has challenged me in ways that I don’t think I would have challenged myself in if I hadn’t been accepted. But so far, it has changed my life, and I feel as if I know what my artistic statement is now, and before I think I could barely grasp it.

Looking back, what is the one thing you wished you did more of during your previous segments in the residency?

 Andrew Carroll

I wish I’d had the time and resources to actually go up and do the stained glass. Financially and logistically there was no way to make it happen, so I feel like there was a little bit of a loss as far as that “segment” went. Though it seems more and more like the process of coming up with the ideas is proving more valuable than any kind of cathartic sense of “completion”. So there ya go. A little regret, a little victory.

 Charly Simpson

I think it would have to be meeting with Robert Berry, an awesome comic-book artist. He really changed the way I viewed comics and helped me see how playing with the constraints inherent in comic book drawing and writing could help me discover new things about my playwriting.

Sarah Schol

Each session had its most memorable experience. Within the “play another part” portion, it was the meeting and workshop with actors and playwrights where we used different prompts to write. Within the “change your medium” portion, it was the day in which we spoke with a doctor and a dentist about their professions and how they used art in their work. Both of these moments were special because experts in their fields took the time to speak with us and share their insights and ideas. This is something I have learned about the residency overall, which is that mentorship and constant learning is one of the most important tools an artist has. I’m realizing how much I long for a creative community in which to work and grow, a place that challenges me and constantly asks me to assess my work and process.

 Greg Nanni

I wish I was able to devote a lot more time to the Change Your Medium part of the residency. It became a very rushed process for me: rather than consistently working on material throughout the Winter, I found myself doing the majority of my medium changing in two or three weeks. I wish I had taken more time to practice sketching and the different things it brings out. Even now I have tucked it away to the side for later, but I want to devote time one day to the craft of drawing. Other than that, I wish I could meet more artists and hear what they say. I’m hoping to continue that practice beyond the end of the residency.

What are you looking forward to with the rest of the residency?

 Andrew Carroll

More of the same. We’ve been unpacking what art at large means to us, and each resident has a myriad of ideas and passions and fears with very little overlap, which is pretty par for the course I think. We all have intensely personal reasons to pursue with love this beast we’ve fallen deeply for, and of course that kind of picking apart is augmented in a residency. I’m more looking forward to after the residency to try to keep the kind of forward-moving self-exploration active and fresh.

Charly Simpson

To get really clear, or as clear as I can, on what kind of artist I am and want to be.

Sarah Schol

Continuing to play, continuing to challenge myself, and continuing to explore.

Greg Nanni

I’m really interested in meeting other artists and seeing what they think theatre is. I am also looking forward to the discovery, and to be very honest, to see what the other residents come up with. We’ve been working in this program a very long time, so naturally I’m interested in how they end the residency and what journey they choose to continue with in life.

So right now you just had the “Fight Your Fear” presentation at EAR Fuzz. How was the process for that portion of the residency? Do you feel that you have emerged less afraid of your fears than before?

Andrew Carroll

This portion of the residency was jarring as fears looked dead in the face are daunting at first. But once you look fear dead in the face (like head on, right in the eyeballs. You know, ribcage cracked open, “HERE I AM MOTHERFUCKER” kind of way), fear both loses its power in the same instant as becoming very real. They become very real things that you’re attaching dread to and avoiding them at all costs. Avoiding them cause unneeded anxiety and tension. Looking at your fears totally sucks, but its much better than letting them get ahead of me.

Charly Simpson

A big fear of mine is sharing work that I haven’t deemed “near-perfect”. Now that has a number of issues attached to it…the first being that I don’t ever really believe my work is “near-perfect” so I pretty much want to hold on to it forever. Which is difficult if you want to be a playwright who actually has plays performed.

For “Fight Your Fear” I worked on a play that I couldn’t edit and I decided to have actors read a portion of it (the portion was decided on by the audience) aloud. I then gave three strangers in the audience my play to read and critique. In some ways it was terrifying and in others it felt completely fine. I’m not sure I worked through my fear, per se, but I toyed with it, played with it, learned more about it.

Sarah Schol

The “fight your fears” section if the residency was one of true self-discovery for me. I’ve realized how much I literally hate myself and believe that nothing I do is valuable. The realization of this underlying thinking is the first step towards changing it, but I know that will be a long road. The feelings of self-doubt must be constantly fought against; I’m learning how to think positively again and create without doubt, and this residency has allowed me to begin that process.

Greg Nanni

The process was not an easy one. My fear was becoming open to a very serious depression that I had for 5 years, and then the realization that turned my life around. The process was basically opening up to people that I have known for differing spans of time, starting with the more short term friendships and moving up to people who have known me forever. It culminated into a conversation with my parents, who never knew the extend of my depression. The fear of being open about it was one of being judged, and one of paranoia, but I’ve found that people, rather than thinking that there’s something wrong with you or treating you differently, open up about their own sadness. It has taught me a lot about how much we internalize as a culture. So now I’m very open about it, and I continuously seek to be open about it through conversation. So… Basically this residency gave me the chance to change how I perceived my life and the people around me, and it did. I’m no longer afraid of hiding my weaknesses.

 Why should people be excited for the last EAR Fuzz “What is Theatre?”

Andrew Carroll

Come and see. I don’t think there’s anything more or less exciting than any of the other units. If you enjoy seeing very different artists throw some ideas up against the wall in a very scratch night setting, you should be excited.

Charly Simpson

Because I have no idea what it will be like or look like! Greg, Sarah, Andrew, and I all have different connections to theatre. Some overlap. Others don’t. It will be lovely to see how this residency comes together.

Sarah Schol

I think we all have very different ideas about what type of theater we want to do, and I think the culmination of this year-long process will be the diving off into the next stage of our careers. We are ready to fight and work towards what we want, now having the (even slightest) idea of what we want to create.

Greg Nanni

I feel like it’s a life long journey to define who you are as an artist, but we’ve been given the opportunity—or at least, I have, as this is still relatively new to me—to really develop and reach a defining point to move forward from. I think that’s really exciting, and you get to see why we got to do this in the first place. Seeing people’s passions is just contagious, and even if you’re not a theatre person you should come and be inspired to find out what moves other people into their passions.

The next EAR Fuzz for “What is Theatre?” is on Monday, May 19^th, at 8pm at Plays & Players Theatre. It is open to all people with a suggested donation of $5.00 for current members, and $10.00 for nonmembers. Please come out and support them, and this program that celebrates the journey of artistic progress.