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“A story of theatrical enchantment, in which the ordinary is suddenly transformed into the miraculous.” – Chicago Tribune

Celestina de la Sol is a young woman who claims to be 54 years old and to have been pregnant for two years. From Obie Award winning acclaimed Puerto Rican playwright José Rivera, Cloud Tectonics brings new meaning to a “timeless” love story. When Anibal de la Luna picks up Celestina in a torrential storm, her arrival to his house literally makes the clocks stop, and that’s only where this enchanting and unconventional romance takes off. With the world outside his house awashed in pain and war, Cloud Tectonics reminds us that simple miracles exist all around us if we care to find them.

About the Playwright

Born in Puerto Rico, José Rivera’s family moved to Long Island, New York, when he was four years old “as part of a mass exodus because essentially the Great Depression never ended on the island.” He wrote his first play at age 12. He is the recipient of two OBIE Awards for Playwriting, a Fulbright Arts Fellowship, a Whiting Foundation Award, a McKnight Fellowship, a Rockefeller Foundation Grant and a Kennedy Center Grant. He studied with Gabriel García Márquez at the Sundance Institute and was writer-in-residence at the Royal Court Theatre, London. Mr. Rivera’s U.S. premieres include The House of Ramon Iglesia, Slaughter in the Lake, Flowers and The Promise ( Ensemble Studio Theatre); Each Day Dies With Sleep  (Circle Repertory Company and Berkeley Repertory Theatre); Marisol, Tape and Cloud Tectonics ( Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays); References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot ( South Coast Repertory); Sonnets for an Old Century (Greenway Arts Alliance); Sueño (Hartford Stage); Giants Have Us in Their Books ( Magic Theatre); Maricela de la Luz Lights the World and Adoration of the Old Woman ( La Jolla Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum; School of the Americas at The Public Theater and LAByrinth Theater Company); Massacre (Sing to Your Children) (Goodman Theatre and Teatro Vista); Brainpeople (American Conservatory Theater); Gliese 581D ( Chicago Humanities Festival); Boleros for the Disenchante ( Yale Repertory Theatre); Yellow ( Collaboraction); Human Emotional Process (a commission by McCarter Theatre), and Pablo and Andrew at the Altar of Words. Mr. Rivera was nominated for a 2005 Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for his screenplay The Motorcycle Diaries.

Ticketing Information

Third Floor Skinner Studio

• Wednesday 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

Join the cast of Cloud Tectonics for an informal talkback after the show, moderated by director Allison Heishman.

Post-Show Classroom: Go Back To School with Local Professors Sunday, June 15th

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. Guest professors to be announced soon.

Behind The Scenes, On The Stage: Explore the Production Process Sunday, June 22nd

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.

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Cast and Creative Team

Starring: Taysha Canales, Eric Scotolati, and Anthony Martinez-Briggs

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 Design by Lindsey Mayer, Costume Design by Amanda Sharp, Lighting Design by Andrew Cowles, Sound Design by Daniel Kontz, Props Design by Danielle Ferguson, Assistant Direction by Erlina Ortiz, Dramaturgy by Lena Barnard, Stage Management by Lauren Tracy, Assistant Stage Management by Lena Barnard

Plays & Players, a Philadelphia institution for over 100 years, offers you theater that reflects our city. This 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 uniquely personal aplomb.

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!

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P.L.A.Y. (Philadelphia Local Artists for Youth)
November 6-23, 2014

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

A “one person show to be named later” 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!  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!

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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

Voices 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: ending slavery and Jim Crow, protesting war and genocide, advancing gay and women’s rights, and struggling to right wrongs of the day.

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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

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Homebody/My Name is Rachel Corrie
May 21-June 7, 2015

Homebody – Written by Tony Kushner
Performed by Corinna Burns
My Name is Rachel Corrie – taken from the writings of Rachel Corrie, edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner
Performed by Isa St. Clair

“[My Name is Rachel Corrie’s] inevitable sentimental power is in its presentation of a blazing young life that you realize is on the verge of being snuffed out.”

-Ben Brantley, New York Times

“Our minds rush to keep up with the Homebody, and our hearts race with more emotions than we can sort through, as she alternately reads from the book and tells her own story.”

-Nancy Franklin, The New Yorker

Plays & Players pairs two contemporary one-woman shows about the complex relationship between the Middle East and the Western world. Homebody, straight from the brilliant mind of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, hilariously tackles the topic through the eyes of a British housewife sitting in her kitchen, contemplating the Western interpretation of Kabul, Afghanistan, her dysfunctional family and hats. In a world of global isolation, she struggles with questions that thousands of years of civilization have failed to answer. My Name is Rachel Corrie is based on the diaries and emails of the titular American college student who met her death on the Gaza Strip in 2003, revealing the voice of a joyful and brilliant woman who celebrated life to its fullest and was lost to the world too soon. Corrie’s journey from the whimsical poetry of childhood to the essays of idealistic youth inspires us to see the best in others while giving us an unflinching look at the bleak socio-political situation that is Israel. Together, these beautifully contrasting and complementary shows take us past the images we see on television, straight into the hearts of our so-called “enemies,” and show us both the limits and vastness of our ability to understand each other.

Click the above photos to learn more about Isa St. Clair and Corinna Burns

Buy tickets for My Name is Rachel Corrie!

Buy tickets for Homebody!

Daniel Student serves as Producing Artistic Director at Plays & Players, for whom he has directed The Disappearing Quarterback, Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet, 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, the P.L.A.Y. (Philadelphia Local Artists for Youth) series, 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.

Click here to see Daniel’s personal artistic statement.

Click here to see photos of Daniel’s work.

Learn more at danielstudent.com

LILLIAN C. SMITH

Born in Sumter Carolina, the Reverend Lillian C. Smith is a product of the Prince George’s County Maryland public school system. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University, Hampton Virginia, May 1987. In May 1994, Rev. Smith graduated, cum laude, with a Master of Divinity Degree with an emphasis in Systematic Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

A member of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, she was ordained a deacon on June 12,
1994. She was ordained an elder on June 22, 1997.

On July 1, 1994, she began serving as an Associate Minister at the church of her childhood, Asbury United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., with primary responsibilities for Youth and Young Adult Ministries. She also served as Chaplain-Director of the Wesley Foundation – The United Methodist Ministry at Howard University.

Rev. Smith served in the Campus Ministry Section staff of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Nashville, Tennessee from September 2, 1997 – October 18, 2004. As the Director of Ministries with Women and Persons of Color, her responsibilities included program development and administration of the Campus Ministry Section’s work with campus ministers and college chaplains who are women and persons of color. On October 18, 2004, she began a new ministry as Associate General Secretary, Division on Ministries with Young People, of the General Board of Discipleship. There she is charged with the responsibility of guiding the newly created Division on Ministries with Young People as it partners with United Methodist congregations and campus
ministries to “empower youth and young adults as world-changing disciples of Jesus Christ”.

On September 1, 2006, Rev. Smith began serving in ministry as the Executive Director, Congregational Transformation/Director of Connectional Ministries, for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. July of 2011, she began serving as Sr. Pastor,Tindley Temple

United Methodist Church, in Philadelphia, PA

Rev. Smith’s membership and activities, to list a few, include:

Black Methodists for Church Renewal Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated NEJ Multi-Ethnic Center for Ministry, 2008- Urban Theological Institute Advisory Committee, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century Resource Person, 1997 – 2006

Bethlehem Centers of Nashville, Board Member, 2001 – 2006

Working to empower God’s people, Rev. Smith has a deep commitment to doing what God has called her to do, “work for justice, love
kindness, and walk humbly with God”.

An avid reader, writer of numerous articles and publications, Rev. Smith resides, with her husband, the Rev. David Cassidy, and their
sons, David Charles Jasper and Hayward Felton Earl, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Submission Policy

Plays & Players welcomes submissions of full-length and one-act plays. Playwrights should submit a copy of the play in its entirety (with cast-list and a brief synopsis) and a resumé. We accept submissions of one full-length and one one-act play in each 12 month period.

We are especially committed to producing new work by local playwrights, both through our focus on local world premieres and our annual Emerging Playwright In Residence Program. However, we will give consideration to playwrights who are not from the tri-state area with the inclusion of a statement with the submission (no more than one page typed) about why Plays & Players would provide a good venue for the play. Submissions that do not adhere to these stipulations will not be given consideration.

If you are not familiar with our artistic mission, we value diverse, inclusive and intelligent theater generated by artists local to the Philadelphia area.  Because of our commitment to nurturing and presenting work by local artists, we are dedicated to producing at least one locally written world premiere play or musical each season.  Often this work takes the form of a children’s theater piece commissioned through Philadelphia Local Artists for Youth (P.L.A.Y.), but we welcome submissions by local playwrights for general audiences.  We are particularly interested in highlighting cultural diversity on our stage, including work dedicated to the lives of African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, women, LGBTQ, and more.

Each year we choose three plays for adult or family audiences that fit with an encompassing theme.  Past themes have included “The American Presidency” and “Brothers and Sisters.”  These are performed in one of our two spaces – our MainStage which seats 325 and our Skinner Studio which seats 60.  Plays & Players seeks to be a theater that promotes artists who may have not found an artistic home but have the skill set and drive to work on a professional level.  We welcome works of various cast sizes and production ambitions that speak to the experiences we hope to explore.

When choosing a play to submit to us, we recommend a play that has not yet received a production in the Philadelphia area, that represents minority voices, and does not fall too closely to themes presented in recent seasons; or, simply, send us what you consider your best play and we will let you know if we are interested in reading more. Do not submit a play for young audiences; we only present this work on a commission basis.

Recent world premiere productions at Plays & Players include:

• Exit, Corpse and Concrete Dinosaur by Nicholas Wardigo
• Early in the Mourning by P. Seth Bauer
• Simulations by David Strattan White
• Pardon My Invasion by Joy Cutler
• Delaware Mudtub and the Mighty Wampum by Greg Romero

As a membership organization, Plays & Players is committed to listening to its members. As a member, you have the chance to take part in the literary development of the theater. This can include anything from suggesting and reading scripts for upcoming seasons to invitations to hear readings of plays in development.

Please send all material to Literary Manager Lena Barnard (lbarnard@playsandplayers.org.) To be considered, all work must be submitted for the following season by October 1. Early submission is strongly encouraged.

Playwrights in Residence

Now in its fourth year, the PDC Playwrights in Residence at Plays & Players aims to provide artistic development for Philadelphia’s next generation of professional playwrights. The residency supports chosen local writers who represent the highest potential for further growth and exploration.

The residency develops two to three playwrights towards goals that they have articulated for themselves, through the providing of a safe space for experimentation, through support and guidance from artistic peers, through feedback from play development professionals, and through public performance opportunities. The focus of this program is artist development, not the development of an individual work. Information about applying is posted on our website in June. Application materials are due in mid-July and the new residents are announced in September.

The playwright residency is part of Plays & Players Emerging Artists in Residence program, from more information see their page.

Dramaturgy Listserv

Plays & Players is pleased to announce its Dramaturgy Listserv, created as a way to foster communication between local playwrights and dramaturgs to develop and polish new works.

SPONSORED BY:

INDIVIDUAL SPONSOR: William Finnegan

Plays & Players launches a new yearly series dedicated to introducing young audiences to the power of live theater. This season, P.L.A.Y. (Philadelphia Local Artists for Youth) premieres with Delaware Mudtub and the Mighty Wampum, a work that explores mythic animals local to the area — the great blue heron, the red fox, and the box turtle, as well as the stories of the people once indigenous to the Delaware River — the Lenni-Lenape. The Lenape, meaning “the people,” thrived in the Delaware Valley and passed down folktales about the animals in their midst. They were well-known for crafting wampum beads — the beads, strung together, created wampum belts that told the stories of the Lenape families.

Turtle carries the world on her back, leading us into the performance space, taken over by nature. Fox stares back at us, her smile unveiling her sharp teeth. Silent, determined, the Great Blue Heron enters, searching. Otters Earle and Pearl, brother and sister, raft together, drifting with the current of the Delaware River. The ground vibrates, the wolf’s howls grow closer, the moon’s reflection sings a lullaby, and the animals must survive the land and each other. In this immersive play with movement, acro-yoga, and puppetry, we invite you to join the Philadelphia native wildlife, to participate in their stories, helping them weave together the wampum belt of their lives.

About the Playwright

Greg Romero is originally from Louisiana.  His plays, site-specific projects, and sound art collaborations include The Most Beautiful Lullaby You’ve Ever Heard, The Milky Way Cabaret, Of Plastic Things and Butterfly Wings, Radio Ghosts, Dallas, and The Babel Project, and have been presented in theaters and found spaces in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Dallas, Austin, Baltimore, Washington DC, Louisville, New Orleans, as well as Toronto and Zurich. Romero has been a finalist for the Heideman Award, a semi-finalist for the Princess Grace Award, nominated for the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theater Artist, and was selected as the first-ever Resident Writer of the ArtsEdge Residency.  He is one of three playwrights to inaugurate the Philadelphia Dramatists Center/Plays & Players Playwriting Residency and is an alum of the 2012 WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory. He is published by Heinemann Press, YouthPLAYS, and Playscripts, Inc. and is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America. Romero received an MFA in Playwriting from The University of Texas-Austin where he held the James A. Michener Fellowship.

Ticketing Information

Third Floor Skinner Studio

• Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 10am
• Saturdays and Sundays at 11am and 2:30pm

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Cast and Creative Team

Starring: Andrew J. Carroll, Heather Cole, Katie Croyle, Tyler Garamella, Maria Konstantinidis, Tess McChesney Kunik and Mary Beth Shrader

Adopt-an-Actor “Parents”:

Andrew Carroll – Todd & Wendy Fleischman (http://www.centercityphillydentist.com/)
Heather Cole – Mark Reidenauer.
Do you want to adopt-an-actor? A donation of $250 will get you a chance to follow the actor from behind-the-scenes through the final bow. DONATE NOW!

Candace O’Neil Cihocki (Director) is a Director and Choreographer. She is a New York City, Vermont, Florida transplant who has settled in Philadelphia . She received her Masters of Fine Arts in Directing from Florida State University in 2010.  This year in Philadelphia, she has had the pleasure of serving as a Co-leader for the new Acting Residency program at Plays and Players Theatre, as well as the new Company Manager for FlashPoint Theater. Candace earned her BFA in Acting from Adelphi University in 2001, where she also studied modern dance and choreography. Her past directing work has been seen at On the Square Productions in NYC, Hybridge Arts Collective, The Philadelphia Fringe, Plays and Players, and FlashPoint Theatre. She currently works and practices at Dhyana Yoga, is a Holistic Nutritional Health Coach focusing on completing her 250 hour Yoga Teacher Training. Recent adventures include dance projects, exploring acrobatics, Acroyoga,  and community based nutritional education programs. You can visit www.the-ethical-eater.com for wellness information!

Set Design by Colin McIlvaine, Lighting Design by Andrew Cowles, Costume Design by John Hodges,  Dramaturgy by Laurel Hostak, Puppet Design by Leila Ghaznavi

Donors

Bear Cub ($22-$60)–  Brandi Burgess, Joy Cutler, Danielle Deckard, Rachel Dukeman and Trevor Reynolds, Raymond Fallon,  Angela Giampolo, Melissa Grande, Green and Spiegel, Stephen Hayward, James Introcaso, Catherine Jones, Melanie Julian, Amy Kurzban, Kaitlin  Mallouk, Gina Martino, William Melton, Cathy Mostek, Nancy Mouton, Tanya O’Neill, Lucille Passaretti, Seth Reichgott, Mary-Beth Sheridan, Janet Stojak, Michael Tannenbaum,  Mike Vernusky, Robert Weick, Valdemar Zialcita

 Heron Family ($62-$99)- Nick Durso, Quinn Eli, Cindy Falteich, Jamie Grace-Duff, Daniel Student

P.L.A.Y. List ($100 and up)- Betty Chomentowski, Leila Ghaznavi, Robin Rodriguez, Julie and Shafat Shaon

Adopt an Actor  ($250 and up)- Todd & Wendy Fleischman, Mark Reidenauer

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 one-man show, 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-span of a professional football player being 55 (Time Magazine, 2010), 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 novices alike and set in the intimate Skinner Studio, 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.

About the Performer

Mike Boryla was a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles during the  1974-76 seasons  and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1977 to 1978. He was an All-American at Stanford University. In the 1976 Pro Bowl he threw two touchdown passes in the final minutes of the game to lead the National Football Conference team to a 23-20 win. . He has recently morphed into a writer. In the last few years he has written seven plays: Long Ago And Far Away, Shannon’s Hope, Ministers Of Satan, The Clone, Overtime, Black Oak and The Disappearing Quarterback. Long Ago And Far Away will be staged sometime in 2013 by Inspire Creative at the PACE Theatre in Parker, Colorado. He is happily married to Ann with four sons (Daniel, Tim, Pete and Ryan) and living small somewhere in Colorado. For the last 26 years he has been a director of Shannon’s Hope, a Christian home for unwed mothers in Arvada, Colorado.

Check out an interview with Mike Boryla on football, theater and his return to Philly, first aired on Comcast Sports Nite.

Video courtesy of BNProducers.

Get informed before you see the show. Click below to download a copy of our Disappearing Quarterback education packet.

Education Packet

Ticketing Information

Full price tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at the door

In the Third Floor Skinner Studio

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

Special Events

Conversation with the Community: Topics at Play in the Real World (EAGLES ADDITION!) Friday, January 17th

Plays & Players partners with local voices who can explore the play’s themes in a practical setting.  Eagles press will join in the conversation; current guests include Pro Football Hall of Fame Sportswriter Ray Didinger and special guest Mike Benedetto of the New York State Legislature (who has sponsored a bill to ban youth football.) Gain a more immediate perspective for how elements of the show play out in today’s Philadelphia and beyond.

The Players: An Artist Talkback Sunday, January 19th

Join Mike Boryla for an informal talkback after the show, moderated by director Daniel Student. Also welcome local playwrights David Robson and Michele Aldin Kushner to discuss “What is a playwright in the 21st Century?” What benefits does theater provide for people like Mr. Boryla, who have their own personal stories to tell, instead of the more common realms of books, film, and TV.

Conversation with the Community: Topics at Play in the Real World (EAGLES ADDITION!) Friday, January 24th

Plays & Players partners with local voices who can explore the play’s themes in a practical setting in a post-show talkback.  Former Eagles players will join in the conversation; current guests include three time Pro-Bowler Charle Young, Pro Bowl linebacker Frank LeMaster, hometown hero Kevin Reilly, 1980′s star Eagles tight end John Spagnola and Eagles Hall of Fame Director of Ticket Services Leo Carlin. 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
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.

Saturday, January 25th (Matinee performance)

Current guests for Jan. 25 include Dr. James T. Reese Jr., Associate Professor of Sports Management at Drexel University and Dr. J. Milo Sewards, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine at Temple University.

Sunday, January 26th

Current guests for Jan. 26 include Dr. Heidi Freeman, Program Director of Exercise Science and Wellness Management and Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at University of Sciences; Doug Horton, Lecturer, Department of Biokinetics, Clinical Coordinator, Athletic Training Education Program and Director of Life Fitness Program at Eastern University; and Dr. Beth Linker, Associate Professor at The University of Pennsylvania in the Department of History and Sociology of Science.

Filming the Show
Thursday, January 30th

Want to be part of the beginning? Join us for the first filming of the production, which will be used to promote Mike Boryla’s ability to take the show to other cities in the United States, and maybe even abroad!

Creative Team

Daniel Student (Director) serves as Producing Artistic Director at Plays & Players, for whom he has directed Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet, 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 Danielle Ferguson, Costume Design by Jill Keys, Lighting Design by Amanda Jensen, Sound Design by John Kolbinski, Projection Design by Mike Long, Animation by Emily Homrok, Stage Management by Lauren Tracy, and Assistant Stage Management by Lena Barnard

Need a Place to Stay?

La Reserve Bed and Breakfast is offering a 10% discount special to all Disappearing Quarterback ticket holders. La Reserve is located on 18th and Pine Streets, just a block away from Plays & Players. Please call La Reserve Bed and Breakfast to make arrangements.

POST-SHOW TALKBACK: 

Theater Centric Opportunities Panel

There will be a panel of lady artists following the performance announcing exciting female-centric opportunities coming up in the next 6 months. We will open up the floor for discussion about where we go from here and opportunities we think we still need to create.

Moderator: Claire Moyer
Panelists: Corinna Burns, Polly Edelstein, Liz Filios, Sarah Stearns , Allison Heishman, Cheryl Williams, Meredith Laboon, Elaina Di Monaco, and Mz Fest 2015 Leaders

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PRE-SHOW EVENT @ 6PM: 
Reading of I Dream Before I Take The Stand by Arlene Hutton
In this twenty-minute one-act play, a defense lawyer cross-examines a woman during her testimony in a sexual assault case—and in doing so, horribly distorts her perfectly innocent walk in the park. The play was called “a new feminist classic” when it premiered in Edinburgh in 1995.

Featuring: Karina Balfour and Matt Dell’Olio

PRE-SHOW EVENT @ 6:30PM: 

Making Sounds with Regular Folks: A Vocal Workshop with Gina Purri, Kaleid’s Composer Come shake off your workaday cares and indulge in some fun and freeing musical games.  No experience or instruments necessary – just bring yourself and your willingness to be playful!  Led by Gina Purri, Take/Sacrifice’s composer & musical director.

WORKSHOP LEADER BIO:

Gina is a Philadelphia-area teacher, composer, workshop leader, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. She believes that to be human is to be musical: everyone has equal access to the joy and connection that music provides.

She is currently teaching a private studio of around 15 students, aged 4 to 73 years; working as the composer and music director for Take/Sacrifice; singing with the Philadelphia Singers; developing vocal empowerment workshops; and creating music educational videos to be released as web content. Find her at shamelessmusiclessons.com.

POST SHOW EVENT @ 10PM: 

Ladies Night Poker, in Quig’s Pub

In support of Mz. Fest, Free Poker Night is sponsoring a special game. Women will be seated first up to the usual 11 seats limit, with all other players — of any description — welcomed to join the alternates list as usual, first come first listed. Seating will be by order of arrival, with the start time determined by the end of that night’s performance of Take/Sacrifice.
Your co-dealers will be Franklin Evans and Kevin Rodden. Blind schedule and other details to be provided via updates here. There will be a special first prize.

WANT TO JOIN?  CLICK HERE AND POST ON THE FACEBOOK EVENT TO GET IN! 

PRE-SHOW EVENT @ 6PM: 

Poetry Workshop:“Putting Your Poetic Thoughts in Rhythmic Motion”, with TS Hawkins and Sam King
TS Hawkins and Sam King have teamed up to help the community become composers of their own journey. In this workshop, participants will venture through their poetic thoughts with TS then receive one-on-one time with Sam to arrange their poetry to music! As a bonus, participants will have an opportunity to record a snippet of their fresh new work.
WORKSHOP LEADER BIOS:
TS Hawkins is an international author, performance poet and an artist of many trades. Her newest work, The Secret Life of Wonder: a prologue in G, is debuting at Plays & Players during Mz. Fest. Publications: Sugar Lumps and Black Eye Blues (2006), Confectionately, Yours (2007), Mahogany Nectar (2009), Lil Blaek Book: all the long stories short (2011), The Hotel Haikus (2012). Off Broadway credits: Seeking Silence (2011), Cartons of Ultrasounds (2012). Short works: Too Late To Apologize (2013). For more detailed information, visit www.tspoetics.com

Samantha King is an alternative/rock guitarist/composer and actress from Philadelphia. She teaches guitar and is a backup guitarist for “Ang & The Damn Band” who has opened for “Pizza Underground” and “Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys”. Currently, she is living in New York, networking, writing original music with other musicians and taking acting classes at the Barrow Group School in Manhattan.   

PRE-SHOW EVENT @8PM: 

Miss Appropriation, an Improv Group

Featuring:  Sarah Clemency, Wendy Lenhart, Cynthia Marie, Meredith McDonald, Mallory Rhodes, and Elizabeth Samti

POST-SHOW EVENT @ MIDNIGHT: 
Festival Dance Party, Featuring DJ Intense (from Synergy Sound & Entertainment)

POST-SHOW EVENT @ 5:15PM: 

Stretchmarks the Spot presents CHURCH

Join us on Easter Sunday, April 5th for an exciting night of worship, celebration and fellowship in female comedy. Featuring Father Elise Thomson-Hohl, The Holy Ghost, Children’s Director Reverend Caitlin Feeney, Jewish People, Deacon Kate Banford, The Devil and a singing Gospel Choir.

ABOUT STETCHMARKS THE SPOT: Caitlin Feeney, Elise Thomson-Hohl and Kate Banford are ‘Stretchmarks the Spot’. Together, they have been writing and performing since early 2014 after performing stand-up in Philadelphia and genuinely enjoying each other as people. They’re best friends! Their style of sketch comedy is hilariously offbeat and unpredictable, you can call them “The Bad Boys of Comedy” because other people have and it’s cool to follow trends.

POST-SHOW EVENT @ 7pm: 

SLAM. Competition, a friendly competition of Theatre-in-Creation

SLAM. is a live theatre game where playwrights face off in a 5-minute battle-of-the-plays. Playwrights show new work within a timed setting, are assigned actors, and are judged by industry professionals and their peers. The Winner’s prize? A free evening in the Plays and Players 3rd Floor Skinner Studio to showcase the SLAM. Champion’s piece.

CLICK HERE to read more about SLAM.!

CLICK HERE to join the Facebook Event!

POST-SHOW EVENT @ MIDNIGHT: 

The Nimble Cats

A Bluegrass Band founded by Cindy Spitko & Ed Swidey, with new members Kevin Chick, Josh Totora, and Jake Blouch.

CLICK HERE to check them out on Facebook! 

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.

THANK YOU!

Andrew Shankman, who received his Ph.D. from Princeton University and is Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University, Camden, is the author of over two dozen essays and reviews.  His book Crucible of American Democracy: The Struggle to Fuse Egalitarianism and Capitalism in Jeffersonian Pennsylvania was a History Book Club selection.  His article “A New Thing on Earth: Alexander Hamilton, Pro-Manufacturing Republicans, and the Democratization of American Political Economy” received the Program in Early American Economy and Society best article prize and the Ralph D. Gray Society for Historians of the Early American Republic prize for best article published in the Journal of the Early Republic.  His edited collection of essays, The World of the Revolutionary American Republic is forthcoming from Routledge in 2014.

Laura Grace Pattillo, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, earned her B.A. in Theatre and English at the University of Richmond and her Ph.D. in English with a minor in Theatre at Louisiana State University. She is an Assistant Professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University, where she teaches courses in dramatic literature, playwriting, and dramaturgy and serves as Co-Artistic Director of the SJU Theatre Company.  Her research focuses primarily on American drama with a specific interest in Southern and Appalachian plays, and she also wrote a chapter on drama for a 2005 reference book, The American President in Popular Culture. In addition to having acted in dozens of plays before coming to Philadelphia, Pattillo also co-directed two prison inmate theatre companies producing original inmate-created works in Louisiana and Kentucky. She is currently directing her tenth production at SJU, Arthur Miller’s version of An Enemy of the People, which runs Feb 14-24.