Philadelphia Dramatists Center - PDC

Nice bit of press coming tomorrow courtesy of the The Retrospect.
https://mustseetheater.org/2024/08/08/112/
Thank you Brett Ainsworth, Susan Ainsworth, Steve Miller, and Lily Gannon.

mustseetheater.org “CONTROVERSIAL DRAMA” The Collingswood Retrospect plays up the angle that the former Director of the Farmers’ Market has a secret identity as a boundary-pushing playwright and the…

Tickets are on sale now for the World Premiere of "Dirty Priest" by PDC member davidbdale as part of the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival FringeArts

DIRTY PRIEST Tickets Tickets are on sale for the MUST SEE THEATER Company production of DIRTY PRIEST by davidbdale, part of the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. phillyfringe.or...

Recognize anyone in the cast? Yes, Mark Falango is actually playing Two Roles. Russ Walsh, Kelci Schlierf, Steve Gaissert, Mark Del Guzzo

Still a few comps for the Theatre Exile show, Saturday Jul 6th. Doors at 7.5pm (mingle w the cast, free drinks & appetizers).
Let me know if you're coming.


The Jewel Robbery at The Grand Metropolitan
Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th St. Phila, 19147
Saturday, July 6th. Doors open 7.15pm

* Includes drink and appetizers *
Theatre Philadelphia
With Ricky Franco, Jenna Wilkinson, Mark B. Knight & director Ken Bingham
A soiree is underway to celebrate the 21st birthday of Olivia Opalsen. But things are not always as they seem. Gems are missing and there is murder afoot. Enjoy some music, a drink and appetizers catered by the Royal Restaurant Group as the Master Sleuth himself, Hercule Poirot, tackles this elegant whodunnit.

Comps for tomorrow. Text me - 215.645.2281
- -
The Jewel Robbery at The Grand Metropolitan
Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th St. Phila, 19147
Saturdays. July 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th. Doors open 7.15.
A soiree is underway to celebrate the 21st birthday of Olivia Opalsen. But things are not always as they seem. Gems are missing and there is murder afoot. Enjoy some music, a drink and appetizers catered by the Royal Restaurant Group as the Master Sleuth himself, Hercule Poirot, tackles this elegant whodunnit.
Adapted from the original Agatha Christie story.
Directed by Ken Bingham
https://www.theatreexile.org/agatha-christie-schedule

Text 215-645-2281 for comps! 215-645-2281
Saturdays 7.30pm, July 6, July 13, July 20, July 27
Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th Street, Philadelphia
* Includes drink and appetizers! *
Theatre Philadelphia
With Ricky Franco, Jenna Wilkinson, Mark B. Knight & director Ken Bingham

- -
The Jewel Robbery at The Grand Metropolitan
Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th St. Phila, 19147
Saturdays. July 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th. Doors open 7.15.
A soiree is underway to celebrate the 21st birthday of Olivia Opalsen. But things are not always as they seem. Gems are missing and there is murder afoot. Enjoy some music, a drink and appetizers catered by the Royal Restaurant Group as the Master Sleuth himself, Hercule Poirot, tackles this elegant whodunnit.
Adapted from the original Agatha Christie story.
Directed by Ken Bingham
https://www.theatreexile.org/agatha-christie-schedule

SHARE WITH YOUR ACTOR FRIENDS
https://forms.gle/TJWKvK3wUjnZcuqk9

NOW AUDITIONING FOR MY PLAY "DIRTY PRIEST"
2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival FringeArts

Friends. Vote pls.
Red or the other one?

The MacProud Foundation is casting the lead, Cally (female actor, 40s & up) for their 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival world premiere of “A PLAY ON SOME PHOBIAS”.
- Rehearsals in August, show in September. See below for rehearsal & show dates.
- Paid: $800 per person for all performers & crew.
- Plus: Equal share of all box office income to all performers & crew.
Kindly send head shot/resume to:
The.MacProud.Foundation+[email protected]

Link to play breakdown: https://t.ly/Phobias.Breakdown

Casting only for Cally. Other parts are cast.
Auditions will be in-person. In-person auditions are preferred.

- REHEARSAL -
18 AUG 2024, SUN 3-5:30pm
21 AUG 2024, WED 6:30-9:30pm
23 AUG 2024, FRI 2-5pm
24 AUG 2024, SAT 2-5pm
25 AUG 2024, SUN 6:30-9:30pm
28 AUG 2024, WED 6:30-9:30pm
30 AUG 2024, FRI 6:30-9:30pm
31 AUG 2024, SAT 6:30-9:30pm
1 SEP 2024, SUN 6:30-9:30pm

- SHOWS -
3 SEP 2024, TUE preview
4 SEP 2024, WED preview
5 SEP 2024, THU preview
6 SEP 2024, FRI eve show
7 SEP 2024, SAT eve show
8 SEP 2024, SUN eve show
12 SEP 2024, THU eve show
13 SEP 2024, FRI eve show
19 SEP 2024, THU, eve show
22 SEP 2024, SUN, matinee 2-4pm
-----------------

Play breakdown & audition notice for CALLY.

ALL PICKS / NO PANS.
1. I saw the InterAct Theatre Company production of "The Last Yiddish Speaker," by Deborah Zoe Laufer, in the Drake Building this afternoon, SAT MAR 30.
2. It runs to SUN APR 21. That gives you three weeks. Go see it, playwrights, for reasons detailed below.
3. It's a World Premiere, which indicates InterAct's commitment to new scripts—all the more reason for playwrights to patronize this long-running company.
4. The cast is never less than strong in this show, often brilliant, with a script that gives them plenty of opportunity to show that they can play to type or against type.
5. It runs about 90 minutes no intermission, the apparent "sweet spot" for new scripts, so seeing it is a good way to judge how much content qualifies as a complete theatrical experience in a full one-act.
6. For any playwright struggling with how to express relevant, contemporary, political outrage on stage, this script offers a brilliant example of One Way. It sets the drama in the near-ish future; it places it in a small town where homogeneity is the norm; it elects a brainwashed sweetheart to represent the oppressive state; it adds a magical element to cut the realism; it ends without bloodshed, but on the brink of bloodshed.
6(a). It is terrifyingly prescient throughout. And often funny. And it embodies the polemics in characters.
7. But that's just One Way. While you're watching, you'll be mentally revising it in any of a number of Other Ways. This script must have been so much fun to workshop!
8. Only one character (on earth?) purportedly speaks Yiddish, and she, presumably, speaks only Yiddish, so: how to handle THAT in a script that gives her 20% of the lines? Handled. Decide for yourself WHICH of the SEVERAL solutions to this problem playwright Laufer manages. I'm still trying to decide how many there were.
9(a). Good playwrights give us characters that make us wonder: "Who is this guy? What will he do next?"
9(b). Good directors and actors show us those same characters acting exactly as we knew all along they would, if we were being honest.
9(c). In this play, even the magical character behaves exactly as we know she had to.
10. On my way out, I picked up a referral card that will get you a discount on your ticket. The code: YIDDISH24
11. interacttheatre.org/buy-tickets

ALL PICKS / NO PANS.

1. I saw "Once Upon a Bridge," by Sonya Kelly, produced by Inis Nua Theatre Company, at the Louis Bluver Theater in the Drake Building, this afternoon, SUN MAR 17.
2. It runs until SUN MAR 24.
3. It's a top-notch production of a show without a set or props and with virtually NO interaction among the three characters (except for the one central moment in which they all do actually connect, graphically and violently, but on projected videotape, not in the playing space).
4. The cast is terrific and deservedly well-known, and the direction is crisp and direct. The characters have little to do but cross the stage and choose an exit.
5. It runs 75 minutes no intermission, useful if you're trying to see "how short is too short" for a standalone evening?
6. Because the entire play is crossing monologues, mostly self-referential but sometimes addressed at the other characters, it's really useful to see how EXTREMELY IMPORTANT it is to cast strong actors. With so little plot, everything depends on how well and fully the actors can deliver these rounded characters. In this show, it's a clinic.
7. For playwrights working in anything other than modern American English, this is a good chance to hear the impact of all three characters adopting accents.
8. The production raises an intriguing dramaturgical question about blending live action with video. In this case, while the actors worked for 45 minutes to establish characters "in the flesh," the pivotal moment of the drama is delivered as a snippet of brutally violent surveillance videotape projected nice and big and repeatedly.
9. Theatrically, it's like a tailor-made Blue Book question: Does this reflect our depersonalized world in which the bodies sharing space don't interact, but in media the three characters violently collide? Are we what the videotape says we are?
10. And did I mention that the acting is terrific?

ALL PICKS / NO PANS.

1. I saw "Overwinter," by Azuka Theatre last week.
2. It closes tomorrow (SUN MAR 17 3PM), so this is really late notice. I should have posted earlier.
3. The show wasn't perfect, but . . . who cares? I'd rather attend a clinic and learn something. I think you would, too.
4. It's an almost slap-happy two-hander with a moderately-priced set.
5. It runs 90 minutes no intermission, which is an ideal many of us are aspiring to for commercial and practical reasons.
6. The tone is overall goofy-serious, or archly-comic, or apocalyptic-hijinx-tual.
7. The pace is super-fast, dialog sharp, characters broadly stereotypical but not offensive.
8. It wavers between farcical and maudlin. Does your play do that? Do you want it to? Want to see how it works? Where it fails?
9. The "show card" promoting the show makes it look ominous, sober, didactic, scientific.
10. It ain't.
11. The tone—not the language, not the complexity—would be suitable for a children's theater "Bees Are Our Partners" production. But it's rich. And we care, mostly, in a cartoon way, for cartoon characters.
12. But at the speed it's delivered, we stop pretending the science makes sense and try to get our heads around the idea that a literal bee that never appears onstage is a substantial character, sort-of-speaks, and drives the plot.
13. Do you want to take your Aunt Sally? Maybe not.
14. I don't care.
15. ALL PICKS / NO PANS is not that kind of review space.
16. Should every local playwright be in the audience?
17. I think so. There's a lot to learn here.
18. Want another good reason? It's PWYD. God bless Azuka. Pay What You Desire.
19. It's worth quite a bit.

HERE'S AN IDEA: "ALL PICKS, NO PANS"
—I suggest that as followers of this page, all of us interested and invested in plays and playmaking, we share information with other followers about shows WE'VE SEEN and that are STILL RUNNING that would be of interest specifically to PLAYWRIGHTS and THEATERMAKERS.
—Not traditional reviews, and NEVER posts that discourage attendance, these would extoll the aspects of the show that would be of interest to playmakers, even if the show in its entirety is not something we particularly loved or would recommend to our Aunt Sally.
—Anybody can play this game.
—Page moderators will delete any posts that violate the spirit of the program, which is to encourage attendance and learning.
—I'll post one shortly as a demonstration of what I mean.

There will be a Writers Circle on March 11th at 10am at the Community Education Center (CEC), 3500 Lancaster Ave, 19104.

Philadelphia Dramatists Center - PDC updated their address.

1pm, Sat Nov 5th The MacProud Foundation presents a new play reading.
’A Charmed Life’ by Ivan Taub.
A once famous actor & a disillusioned poet wait out the COVID-19 Pandemic in the comfort of their country cottage.
Their sanity is tested, & their relationship redefined by a stranger in the cellar.
At the CEC, 3500 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, 19104
ZOOM: https://t.ly/MacProud-Reads

1pm, Sat Nov 5th we present a new play reading.
’A Charmed Life’ by Ivan Taub.
A once famous actor & a disillusioned poet wait out the COVID-19 Pandemic in the comfort of their country cottage.
Their sanity is tested, & their relationship redefined by a stranger in the cellar.
At the CEC, 3500 Lancaster Ave, Philadelphia, 19104 - https://mailchi.mp/a8b772b30f21/a-charmed-life

We Want Your Script for Philly Fringe! - https://mailchi.mp/58185ce36f20/we-want-your-script-for-philly-fringe

HAPPY HOUR TOMORROW MON AUG 08 BAKEOFF THU AUG 11 - https://mailchi.mp/ec25a430b45a/happy-hour-tomorrow-mon-aug-08-bakeoff-thu-aug-11

PREHEAT YOUR OVENS FOR BAKE-OFF! - https://mailchi.mp/114d7e1b618f/happy-hour-mon-jul-6106840

HAPPY HOUR MON JUL 25

HAPPY HOUR MON JUL 11 - https://mailchi.mp/ccb54f445a57/happy-hour-mon-jul-11

LONG TABLE READ SUN JUL 03 MATINEE 3PM - https://mailchi.mp/bc7a2572207b/long-table-read-sun-jul-03-matinee-3pm

Casting: Paid reading, Sun Jun 3. 1 female actor, 65+up. Pay: $50

Sbmissions: https://forms.gle/CBg5MqswkFJkYw24A

CASTING: female actor, 65 plus
- Roles: Doubling
- GIS (Mother of lead)
- ELLIE (Daughter of lead)
SCRIPT (in progress):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13wr-lEJmjwDoVZpWu_yWrhGWe8i5rmtFAXLITR7bChg/edit?usp=sharing

SCHEDULE, SUNDAY, JUNE 3RD:
- Read-thru, ZOOM 12.15p-2p:
- www.us02web.zoom.us/j/83039168265
READING
- *IN-PERSON*, The Whole Shebang, 11th St & Moore, Philly:
- 2.45p - All called.
- 3.10p-5p.
__________

accounts.google.com

HAPPY HOUR MON JUN 27 - https://mailchi.mp/9b87740f93ef/happy-hour-mon-jun-27

HAPPY HOUR TONIGHT MON JUN 13 LIVE AND ON ZOOM - https://mailchi.mp/e48359585b49/happy-hour-tonight-mon-jun-13-live-and-on-zoom

HAPPY HOUR MON MAY 23 - https://mailchi.mp/47879bb537f3/happy-hour-mon-may-23

Auditions for an IN-PERSON reading of "Point Blank" by davidbdale. (PAID)
Part of the PDC's new "1ST SUNDAY LTR" (Long Table Readings)
www.fb.com/events/778531183130470

ZOOM auditions for an IN-PERSON reading of "Point Blank", a new play by davidbdale.

PAY: $100 per person.
WHEN:
Sunday, June 5th.
- Rehearse: 11am-1pm
- Reading: 3pm-5pm
WHERE:
The Whole Shebang, S. 11th St. & Moore St, Phila 19148

CHARACTERS:
ARMED: The person holding the gun for most if not all of the play.
TARGET: The person at whom the gun is being pointed at the beginning of the play.
SPOUSE: Married to TARGET.
CHILD: Child of TARGET and SPOUSE.

- The characters are archetypes.
- Pronouns are provided for convenience.
- The roles may be cast with actors of any gender.

Auditions will be on ZOOM. The reading will be IN-PERSON

CONTACT:
Email [email protected] with your resume & headshot & to arrange an appointment to audition.
____

Auditions for an IN-PERSON reading of "Point Blank" by davidbdale. (PAID).
Part of the PDC's new "1ST SUNDAY LTR" (Long Table Readings)
www.fb.com/events/778531183130470
ZOOM auditions for an IN-PERSON reading of "Point Blank", a new play by davidbdale.
PAY: $100 per person.
WHEN:
Sunday, June 5th.
- Rehearse: 11am-1pm
- Reading: 3pm-5pm
WHERE:
The Whole Shebang, S. 11th St. & Moore St, Phila 19148
CHARACTERS:
ARMED: The person holding the gun for most if not all of the play.
TARGET: The person at whom the gun is being pointed at the beginning of the play.
SPOUSE: Married to TARGET.
CHILD: Child of TARGET and SPOUSE.
- The characters are archetypes.
- Pronouns are provided for convenience.
- The roles may be cast with actors of any gender.
Auditions will be on ZOOM. The reading will be IN-PERSON
CONTACT:
Email [email protected] with your resume & headshot & to arrange an appointment to audition.
____