Running for the entire month of September — concurrent with the unrelated and definitely not-free Philadelphia Fringe Festival — will be all sorts of weird and wonderful theater and comedy in city parks, dive bars, and a bunch of other random places. Performances are gratis or pay-what-you-can. Read More »
They’ve been putting on city-worthy productions in the western suburbs for 45 years, and this season is totally inspired, with disaster drama The Children (a 2018 Tony nominee), gut-wrenching Mary Jane, and an adaptation of the 1999 Oscar-winning movie Shakespeare in Love. Read More »
39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA | 610-644-3500 | Website
Somehow, artistic director Blanka Zizka’s labor of love just keeps getting better. This season, look for the latest from visionary Philly playwright James Ijames, Romeo and Juliet like you’ve never seen it before, and a dark comedy that explores a post-apocalyptic world ... via The Simpsons. Read More »
265 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA | 215-546-7824 | Website
Yes, they’ve won Best of Philly before, but after such a breathtaking season—most notably A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mary Martello in Gypsy—there’s no worthier troupe. We can’t wait to see what they do next season with A Doll’s House, Cabaret and, for families, Peter Pan. Read More »
40 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA | 215-922-8900 | Website
FringeArts hosts these nights (once a month or more) at which you can see works-in-progress from a diverse range of Philly artists. They’re free, and you should definitely stick around to have a cold one with the talent at Fringe’s Haas Biergarten. Read More »
140 North Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA | 215-413-9006 | Website
For those weary of their Walnut Street Theatre subscriptions, there's this boundary-pushing South Philly company. From stunningly good season- opener Rizzo to brilliant closer The Invisible Hand, Exile broke more ground than any other company last season and left us wanting more. Read More »
1340 South 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA | 215-218-4022 | Website
With the big move to its beautiful Old City venue, Fringe has, after 18 years, officially been cemented as a Philly arts institution. But that doesn't mean head honcho Nick Stuccio and crew have strayed from their original mission of bringing cutting-edge artists from around the world to Philly. In fact, they're doing it better than ever. Read More »
140 North Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA | 215-413-9006 | Website
After just five years, this small repertory company has earned a reputation for creating beautiful adaptations of classic works for the modern stage, like last season's The Three Musketeers and Alice in Wonderland. In their sixth season, you'll want to see Romeo and Juliet, Saint Joan and -- for the kids -- Hansel and Gretel. (They're in residence at the Sedgwick Theater in Mount Airy.) Read More »
Of all of the theater groups in Philadelphia, it was Seth Rozin's 27-year-old company that was the most ambitious and thought-provoking last season, which featured only world premieres, including Christopher Chen's Caught and Jen Silverman's The Dangerous House of Pretty Mbane. Then there's the exciting news that InterAct is getting a new home inside the Drake on Spruce Street. Read More »
Its hard to be funny all the time, but Philadelphia's all-comedy theater company, stationed at Plays and Players, does just that. Last season,Cherry Bomb was, well, the bomb. Their annualThis Is the Week That Is show is always a (smart) hoot. And they changed it up a bit by throwing in a musical cabaret about marriage, to critical acclaim (masters of comic timing, raved theInquirer). Next season, were looking forward toThe First Day of School: A Soccermom Sex Farce (opens 10/1) and April'sAn Evening With(out) Woody Allen. Read More »
Independence Studio on 3, Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA | 215-592-9560 | Website