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Theater
A vibrant, diverse and distinctive theater town
The Walnut Street Theatre, originally built as a circus in the early 19th century, is the oldest continuously producing theater building in the United States, where many luminaries of both the 19th and 20th century performed. The beautifully preserved house is home to the largest theater company, the Walnut Street Theatre Company, which produces large scale musical revivals, some straight plays and a variety of more experimental work in two intimate 50-seat workshop theaters.
Most of the mid-size companies have developed over the last 30 years. The Philadelphia Theatre Company presents recent New York hits and new plays in the charming turn-of-the–century Plays and Players Theater. The Wilma Theatre, our most avant-garde mid-size theater, produces a range of European, British and new American work in a handsome new theater on the Avenue-of-the-Arts. The Freedom Theatre, our premiere showcase for black drama, boasts a beautiful new facility on North Broad Street; it presents a wide range of theater including their yearly signature piece, “The Black Nativity.” The Prince Music Theatre occupies a newly renovated theater right off the Avenue-of-the-Arts; their specialty is new and innovative American musical theater. The Arden Theatre, in a recently created two-theater space in Old City, presents a wide-ranging season including classics, musical theater, new plays, and contemporary drama.
A variety of other venues in Center City house smaller theaters: InterAct Theatre, with its commitment to socially meaningful drama; Mum Puppetheatre, with its highly artistic use of puppetry; the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, concentrating on the Bard; the Lantern Theatre with its emphasis on classics and modern work; theaters specializing in comedy, such as 1812 Theatre including Brat Productions, Theatre Exile, Amaryllis Theatre Company, Comedy Sportz and Society Hill Playhouse.
The Philadelphia Fringe Festival burst onto the scene in September of 1997 as a ten-day event mostly in venues in the Old City area. For two weeks Old City becomes a dazzling urban playground of theater, dance, art and music, with nearly 200 artist groups giving more than 560 performances. The young iconoclastic Pig Iron Theatre Company produces edgy work at the Festival and also plays through the year. New Paradise Laboratories and The Big House also produce avant-garde work at the Festival and develop projects and present performances through the rest of the theater season.
The region is also rich in theater outside the centre of the city. The picturesque Hedgerow Theatre in Moylan dates back to the early part of the century. People’s Light and Theatre Company in Malvern presents a broad ranging season in a beautiful suburban complex. Others include the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival in the summers in Allentown, the Bristol Riverside in Bristol and Act II Playhouse in Ambler.
Some of the smaller theaters might take some searching on the web or by phone, but you will be rewarded for your effort with a unique and intimate theater experience. Philadelphia no longer closes down after dark or on the weekends; there is now a vibrant, variegated downtown nightlife in which theater is a major element. Get to know Philly through its actors and performances.
For more information on theater in Philadelphia, please visit the Theatre Alliance of Greater Phiadelphia (www.theatrealliance.org)
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