Season
2013/2014 Season
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Plays & Players’ 2013-14 season focuses on brothers and sisters; those with whom we are closest, those who share our blood, and those with whom, familiar or unknown, we seek connection. Through rituals old and new, we continue searching for those who are both distant from and deeply within us as we attempt to unwrap the simplest of notions: brotherhood.
Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet
By Tarell Alvin McCraney
October 17 – November 3, 2013
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.
On the Main Stage
- Wednesday and Thursdays at 7pm
- Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
- Saturdays at 2pm
- Sundays at 3pm
Coming Soon!
January 16 – February 2, 2014
He had everything he wanted. But he didn’t want what he had. Two years later, he … 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 fame. Intrigued? We are too! More to come soon…
Third Floor Skinner Studio
- Wednesday and Thursdays at 7pm
- Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
- Saturdays at 2pm
- Sundays at 3pm
P.L.A.Y. (Philadelphia Local Artists for Youth) World Premiere
By Greg Romero
March 13 – March 30, 2014
Plays & Players proudly launches a new yearly series that entertains and inspires, P.L.A.Y. (Philadelphia Local Artists for Youth)! 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. This season’s work will explore mythic animals local to the area (The Great Blue Heron, The Red Fox, The Box Turtle), people once indigenous to the Delaware River (The Lenni-Lenape), and the rituals and journeys that speak across time and species, reflected through the lens of our season theme, brothers and sisters. P.L.A.Y. is appropriate for ages 4-104!
On the Main Stage
- Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 10am
- Saturdays and Sundays at 11am and 2:30pm
Cloud Tectonics
By Jose Rivera
June 5-22, 2014
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 Jose Rivera, Cloud Tectonics brings new meaning to a “timeless” love story. When Anibal Sanchez 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.
Third Floor Skinner Studio
- Wednesday and Thursdays at 7pm
- Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
- Saturdays at 2pm
- Sundays at 3pm
Special Events
Fringe Recovery 24-Hour Play Festival
September 28, 2013
Taking place just after the annual Fringe Festival has swept through Philadelphia, this play-creation marathon will write, rehearse and present new works to kick off Plays & Players’ new season. Coming together despite the post-Fringe exhaustion, a troupe of Philly’s most promising young artists will write and plan through the night, rehearse all day and premiere new works just hours after their inception. Join us for a bevy of new theatrical experiences in celebration of the season theme, Brothers and Sisters.
Honey Bee Cabaret III
June 15, 2014
To celebrate the closing of another season, Plays & Players hosts the third annual Honey Bee Cabaret, a fundraiser for the Next 100 Years, co-presented by the Melissa Lynch Foundation. As in past years, the cabaret will feature new and much-loved works as well as music, dance and puppetry from both Philadelphia’s up-and-coming and best known performers and public figures.
