By Bess Rowen, The Conversation via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Most theater subscriptions offer a patron access to a single theater\u2019s season. But\u00a0Philadelphia<\/a>\u2019s new\u00a0Citywide James Ijames Pass<\/a>\u00a0provides tickets to\u00a0three James Ijames<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 pronounced EYE-ms, rhymes with \u201cchimes\u201d \u2013 plays at three theaters in Philadelphia. Subscribers will also get one mustard-colored beanie, one of\u00a0Ijames\u2019 signature accessories<\/a>.<\/p>\n The full pass, which costs $130, includes tickets for the Arden Theatre\u2019s \u201cGood Bones<\/a>,\u201d which premiered Jan. 22 and runs through March 22, the Wilma Theater\u2019s \u201cThe Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington<\/a>,\u201d which runs March 17 to April 5, and the Philadelphia Theatre Company\u2019s \u201cWilderness Generation<\/a>,\u201d a world premiere that runs April 10 to May 3. There is also a two-show pass for $90 without \u201cGood Bones.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m a theater\u00a0theorist, historian and practitioner<\/a>\u00a0who has written about Ijames\u2019 work\u00a0before<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0after<\/a>\u00a0his 2022 Pulitzer Prize. I believe this landmark collaboration between three important Philadelphia theaters is a fitting celebration of a multi-hyphenate theater artist who continues to champion his longtime artistic home.<\/p>\n Actor, playwright, director<\/p>\n Ijames, 46, was born in North Carolina and attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree at Temple University and stayed in Philadelphia after graduating.<\/p>\n Notably, this playwright\u2019s MFA is in the study of acting. Ijames is also a talented director, and he performed and directed at multiple theaters around Philadelphia before starting to work as a playwright. He was also a tenured professor of theater at\u00a0Villanova University<\/a>, where I had the privilege to work with him and watch his creative process before he moved to New York City in 2025 to run the playwriting concentration at Columbia University.<\/p>\n Ijames was already a local celebrity in Philly before winning the Pulitzer Prize for drama for \u201cFat Ham<\/a>,\u201d his Hamlet adaptation centered on a queer Black Hamlet named Juicy and the legacy of his father\u2019s barbecue joint. The New York theater scene took notice of him when the\u00a0National Black Theatre<\/a>\u00a0staged \u201cKill Move Paradise<\/a>\u201d in 2017. This haunting piece is set in limbo, where unarmed Black men who have been killed by police examine how they have come to this place and how society continues to enable this pattern.<\/p>\n Other Ijames plays include \u201cWhite<\/a>,\u201d a satire of the art world that tells the story of a gay white male artist who hires a Black woman actor to pretend to have done his work to see if that makes a difference in how his art is viewed. \u201cTJ Loves Sally 4Ever<\/a>\u201d sets Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings\u2019 relationship on a college campus where \u201cTJ\u201d is a dean and Sally is a student. And \u201cReverie<\/a>\u201d is a chamber play, which is an intimate meditation with an earnest and somber tone. In it, the father of a recently deceased Black gay man comes to meet the man he believed was his son\u2019s partner.<\/p>\n Most recently, in 2025, Ijames partnered with the Australian pop singer\u00a0Sia<\/a>\u00a0on a musical called \u201cSaturday Church<\/a>.\u201d It is a story about reconciling queer community and Christian faith, and relying on the support of family, both biological and chosen.<\/p>\n Charting new dramatic territory<\/p>\n Although his theatrical styles and genres vary, at his core, Ijames writes nuanced, character-driven works that revolve around interpersonal relationships. His plays are playgrounds for performers, particularly due to his ability to write complex queer Black characters.<\/p>\n