September is here but outdoor theatre is still alive in West Philly. Beginning Wednesday, Sept. 13, Curio Theatre Company will present a series of FREE performances of I, Peaseblossom in the Woodlands Cemetery (40th and Woodland). The play is based on Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and is presented as part of the 2017 Fringe Festival.

Imagine if the story of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” had been told by one of Lady Titania’s fairies who has only four lines with a total of five words in the play! I, Peaseblossom is a funny and interactive play which establishes a relationship between the audience and the performer.  Continue Reading

Production photo of The Birds by Conor McPherson.

Here’s some great news for Curio Theatre Company: the West Philly arts organization has been nominated in four categories for the 2017 Barrymore Awards! The nominees include Paul Kuhn, the company’s artistic director, who received a nomination in the Outstanding Scenic Design category for the 2016 production of The Birds, and Chris Sannino – also for the production of The Birds in the Outstanding Sound Design category.

The company also received nominations for the Victory Foundation Award for Outstanding Theatre Education Program, and the June and Steve Wolfson Award for an Evolving Theatre Company.  Continue Reading

Scribe Video Center’s Street Movies! program returns this month for its 20th season with free outdoor film screenings and live performances. All events are family-friendly and take place in neighborhoods across Philadelphia, including in West Philly.

Scribe Video Center partners with local organizations for Street Movies! to guide the selection process and choose the best film programs for their communities. This August, the traveling series will feature a range of short films, from internationally recognized award-winning fiction, documentary, and animation to local community- and youth-produced works.  Continue Reading

Photos West Philly Local.

Theatre in the X last night staged the premiere of Running Numbers, the tale of a graduating high school senior trying to navigate his way through obstacles in his neighborhood and his family to get his way into college and, just as importantly, pay for it.

In our decidedly unsophisticated opinion, it is really, really good.

The play follows CJ, a brilliant student, as he tries to figure out how he is going to pay for a Penn education. He could get student loans, but his mom doesn’t want to sign the forms (she wants to hide her under-the-table earnings) nor does she want him saddled in debt for the rest of his life. Or, he could go work for the local pimp and drug dealer and make fast cash. Both options weigh heavily on CJ, but he takes the second option and we find him in the opening scene undergoing police interrogation after his arrest.  Continue Reading

Some of the best – and probably the most intimate – theatre in the city gets underway in Malcolm X. Park (51st and Pine) next week when Theatre in the X opens the world premiere of Running Numbers.

Running Numbers is a drama about a high school senior “whose dreams and desperation of going to college and overcoming his environment lead him to fast cash and dangerous situations.” The work is inspired by  “Financial Aid”, an incredible spoken work piece by Carvens Lissaint.

Cheyenne Barboza wrote Running Numbers and Christina May directs. The cast includes Abdul Sesay, Jarrett McCreary, Khadijah Davis, Iman Aaliyah, Aurica Hurst, Angelica Jackson-Thomas, Carlo Campbell, Walter DeShields, Niya Colbert, Brandon A. Drummond and Dwayne Alistair Thomas.  Continue Reading

Free Shakespeare in Clark Park performances have just ended, and now it’s time for some free movies. Movies in Clark Park, an annual program by University City District (UCD), kicks off Friday, Aug. 4, with a free screening of the classic E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. Film screenings will be held every Friday (weather permitting), through Sept. 1., beginning at 8 p.m. Please bring your chairs or blankets!

In addition to movie screenings, there will be food and dessert offerings from a rotating list of vendors and some extra activities from local businesses and organizations. Here are more details on the scheduled screenings and extra activities (courtesy of UCD):  Continue Reading