{"id":154230,"date":"2026-04-01T11:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/154230\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T11:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T11:20:16","slug":"philly-theatre-week-launches-pay-what-you-can-tickets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/154230\/","title":{"rendered":"Philly Theatre Week launches pay-what-you-can tickets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Darnelle Radford gets it.<\/p>\n

The new executive director of Theatre Philadelphia<\/a> understands how people can walk down Broad Street, past the row of theaters, and feel like they don\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

And that doesn\u2019t even include the less obvious theaters like the ones on an alley-like side street or in a church basement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people who don\u2019t feel they are directly invited,\u201d said Radford, who leads the umbrella marketing organization for city and regional theaters.<\/p>\n

Radford wants to change that. Which is why Theatre Philadelphia is presenting its 10th annual Philly Theatre Week.<\/a> The event, running from April 23 through May 3, lets people pay what they want to see what they want among 49 different productions (and many more performances) in Center City and around the region.<\/p>\n

Tickets are on sale now<\/a> and some shows sell out quickly.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cFascist Groove\u201d at Studio 34 is one part lecture, one part punk rock concert recounting the life of Margaret Thatcher and the rise of neoliberalism. (photo by Janine Renee Cunningham)<\/p>\n

Productions range from \u201cWilderness Generation,\u201d<\/a> a world premiere by former Philly Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright James Ijames<\/a> at the Philadelphia Theatre Co.<\/a> on Broad Street to \u201cApril Clown Slam\u201d<\/a> at Studio 34,<\/a> a yoga center in West Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

April is also the month when area colleges\u2019 theater departments put on their final shows. Temple will present \u201cThe Prom,\u201d<\/a> about a student who wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom, and Villanova is staging \u201cUrinetown, The Musical.\u201d<\/a> Both colleges are setting aside some seats for Philly Theatre Week.<\/p>\n

Philly Theatre Week is also a chance to sample \u2014 at a discount \u2014 works from amateur, yet enthusiastic, thespians in community theater groups. Some examples: The Players Club in Swarthmore will stage \u201cThe 39 Steps,\u201d<\/a> Old Academy Players in East Falls offers \u201cCarrie: The Musical,\u201d<\/a> and the Moorestown Theater Co. presents \u201cDisney\u2019s High School Musical Jr,\u201d<\/a> performed by neurodiverse students.<\/p>\n

Philly\u2019s own Department of Parks and Recreation underwrites a children\u2019s drama program in South Philly, called the Columbus Square Drama Club. In their brand new play, \u201cThe Olympus Tale,\u201d<\/a> Zeus, Hermes, Aphrodite, and other Greek gods attend high school and learn lessons about power and impact.<\/p>\n

There are also solo works \u2014 including \u201cShe Gets Around\u201d<\/a> from comedian Jennifer Childs of 1812 Productions and \u201cThe 40-year-old Ballerino\u201d<\/a> by Chris Davis. <\/p>\n

Or you can try the action yourself with experiences like the \u201cAll Levels Hula Hoop Class\u201d<\/a> or \u201cRoll Play: An Improvised Adventure\u201d<\/a> involving D&D storytelling from SideQuest Theater.<\/p>\n

\"\"Philly Theatre Week includes all kinds of experiences including the interactive All-Levels Hula Hoop Dance Class at Columbus Square Recreation Center. (photo by Tara Estelle Adelizzi)<\/p>\n

Altogether, 46 theater organizations or individuals offer shows, with some groups presenting more than one production.<\/p>\n

Philly Theatre Week \u201callows people to try theater at whatever rate they think is a fair rate,\u201d Radford said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the hope if we can just get them in the door and they can see a production, they\u2019ll understand the value of live theater,\u201d and then return as\u00a0 paying customers, he said.<\/p>\n

To make his point, Radford draws a contrast between going to see a movie \u2013 even at a film house \u2013 and going to see a play.<\/p>\n

The biggest difference? At the movies, every show is the same \u2014 from trailer to credits.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what\u2019s happening on stage tonight only happens on stage tonight,\u201d Radford said. \u201cIt\u2019s live \u2014 tonight\u2019s experience is going to be different than next Thursday\u2019s experience. That\u2019s what\u2019s exciting about live performances in general. And being around everyone else who is being engaged by the same thing you are there for.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat experience is so valuable, and we want everyone to have it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you are unsure, just give it a try.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Chris Davis mixes dance and storytelling in a 50-minute comedy, \u201cThe 40-Year-Old Ballerino\u201d at Studio 34. (photo by Grayce Carson)<\/p>\n

Like the Philly Fringe Festival<\/a> in September, part of the allure can be the no-financial-risk of choosing something that seems different.<\/p>\n

Would you like glowing characters in blacklight masks? Try \u201cOnce Upon A Glow: Stories in the Blacklight.\u201d<\/a> Interested in a lecture performance merged with a punk rock concert recounting the life of Margaret Thatcher and the rise of neoliberalism? Don\u2019t miss \u201cFascist Groove.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, there is a trick to getting the most out of Theatre Week: Each participating theater is only required to set aside 10 seats per performance for pay-what-you-wish prices. And those tickets \u2014 even tickets priced at $0 \u2014 need to be purchased in advance. Tickets went on sale March 23, so it\u2019s probably a good idea to get them as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Theatre Week also serves other functions, Radford said. Some artists may see Theatre Week as a chance to give their fledgling shows a trial run. Clippings \u201926<\/a>, for example, is a night of readings of short plays authored by emerging playwrights, patterned after the Equinox New Play Festival sponsored by the late, and still mourned, University of the Arts.<\/p>\n

Autumn Storm will lead a workshop titled \u201cDreaming of Dramaturgy! Techniques and Applications,\u201d<\/a> and Radford himself will host Community Circle<\/a>, a networking light brunch with artists and aficionados.<\/p>\n

It may seem counterintuitive, but audiences may get to see larger, more elaborate productions on college stages, Radford said. Colleges can draw from a large unpaid casting pool of students. College set designers may have the resources to build more elaborate sets. And of course, colleges never have to worry about renting theater space.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think college productions are a great way to see up and coming artists who will make a more significant contribution\u201d to the future of Philadelphia theater, Radford said.<\/p>\n

As it is, many of Philly\u2019s theater professionals are on the faculty of the local schools. Ijames, for example, taught at Villanova. Amina Robinson,<\/a> an associate professor at Temple, is directing the current production of\u201cRomeo and Juliet\u201d<\/a> at the Arden Theater Co. The Arden is also including one performance of \u201cThe Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales\u201d<\/a> in the Philly Theatre Week line-up.<\/p>\n

You can find a listing of all pay-as-you-can tickets at Theatre Philadelphia\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. Darnelle Radford…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4877,69,71,70,68781,27561,7866,68782],"class_list":{"0":"post-154230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-philadelphia","10":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","11":"tag-philadelphia-news","12":"tag-philly-theatre-week","13":"tag-plays","14":"tag-theatre","15":"tag-theatre-philadelphia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}