Photo by Kyle Cassidy, featuring Josh Hitchens as Ichabod Crane.

Curio Theatre Company has announced its 2013-2014 season and it looks like West Philadelphia’s hotbed of thespian talent has big plans for the upcoming year with an exploration of gender roles and identity.

Curio’s ninth season, which is coined “gender-themed,” kicks off Friday, September 6 in Clark Park with a free production of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the classic 1820 short story following the journey of Ichabod Crane and the terrifying Headless Horseman.

Directed by Cara Blouin, Curio’s adaption of Washington Irving’s spooky tale will ride along with Crane, played by company member Josh Hitchens, as he races for his life from the supernatural knight, weaving in live music composed by Eli Halpern and live sound effects (plus a real campfire) to bring the terrifying journey to life. But, in Curio’s production, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” will extend beyond the fright of Crane’s last night in Tarry Town—the theater company also plans to take a deeper look into the life of Katrina Van Tassel (played by company member Rachel Gluck), the woman whose affection Crane sought and rejection that brought him into the “spook infested” woods that fateful night. Performances of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” will take place at 7:30 p.m. and run through Sunday, September 8.

In addition to a whimsical upcoming season, Curio will also hold benefit talent show on Friday, September 27. Titled “The Best of the West (Philly) Talent Smackdown,” Curio’s 2013 benefit will feature a talent contest umpired by celebrity judges, with the winner receiving a $100 cash prize and goody bag. It will have live music, raffle and prizes, beer, wine, a tapas spread, and a special Wild West cocktail. The event will be held in St. Francis De Sales School, 917 S. 47^th Street, at 8 p.m. and cost $50 per person.

To purchase tickets to the benefit show, click here. The next audition for the talent show will be held at the Curio Center Stage on Friday, September 13 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Call 215-525-1350 to schedule.

Upcoming Productions for Curio Theatre Company’s 2013-2014 Season:

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Directed by Krista Apple-Hodge
Thursdays-Saturdays, October 11 – November 2 (Previews: October 3 – 5  & October 10)

This is not your traditional tale of star-crossed lovers. In Curio’s adaption, Romeo and Juliet are the teenage daughters from two warring families who fall madly in love and spiral down the hole of love-struck tragedy.

Gender Comedy: A Less Stupid Twelfth Night Gay Fantasia  (A World Premiere by Harry Slack)
Directed by Paul Kuhn
Thursdays-Saturdays, December 13 – January 4 (Previews: December 5-7 & December 12)

Written by Curio company member Harry Slack, Gender Comedy is a conglomerate of “gender confusion, needlessly cruel drunks, and love struck cyborgs.”

Dancing at Lughnasa 
Directed by Gay Carducci
Thursdays-Saturdays, February 21 – March 15 (Previews: February 13 – 15 & February 20)

An epic play that explores the lives of the five unmarried Mundy sisters as they move through “long buried desires, vanishing dreams, and a last chance at happiness” through the invocation of Irish tribal dancing.

Oedipussy  (Written by Carl Gross and Spymonkey, adapted by Emma Rice)
A North American Premiere. Directed by John Bellomo.
Thursdays – Saturdays, May 2 – May 24 (Previews: April 24 – 26 & May 1)

Curio closes out its ninth season with this twist on Greek tragedy that follows “the ultimate dysfunctional family” through inspired storytelling and physical comedy. “Think James Bond meets Oedipus.”