Theater
The Allens Lane Theater typically presents four mainstage plays each season, continuing a long-standing community theater program that has seen thousands of artists and audience members pass through its doors.
2022-2023 Theater Season
Improv Comedy Night
Fundraiser to benefit Allens Lane Art Center’s Performing Arts Program
June 17, 7:00pm
Join us for this exciting one night only event, full of music, laughs and good times! Featuring Short Form Improv (as seen on TV inWho’s Line is it Anyway), enjoy watching the hilarious antics on stage or if you feel so inclined, get up and participate on stage with us. There is something for everyone in this entertaining show upstairs in our Cabaret style theater! Bring-Your-Own-Food and Beverages encouraged, Pay-What-You-Will light concessions available. You won’t want to miss this great night of comedy in the neighborhood!
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
Written by Martin McDonagh
Directed by Josh Hitchens
September 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 30, October 1, 2, 2022
Set in the isolated mountains of Connemara in County Galway, Ireland, Martin McDonagh’s award-winning play tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a lonely woman in her early forties, and Mag, her manipulative aging mother. When Mag interferes in Maureen’s possibly final chance of a romantic relationship, the war between mother and daughter escalates in ways both hilarious and terrifying. This production is part of the 2022 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Starring: Sam Fineman, Paula Kem, Rochelle Longwill, Steve Travers and Steven R. Butler
Little Women
Written by Louisa May Alcott
Directed by Noel Hanley
December 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 2022
A new adaptation of one of the most beloved books ever written, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women tells the heartwarming story of the four wildly different March sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy – over a period of ten years as they navigate the tempestuous journey from adolescence to adulthood. Filled with joy, tears and laughter, it is guaranteed to delight audiences of all ages.
Starring: Caren Bermudez, Letta Brown, Robynn Delaware, Adam Kimmel, Emily Parker and Taylor Rouillard
In Their Silence – Postponed
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have decided to postpone our production of In Their Silence by TS Hawkins. We are excited to announce that this incredible play will open our 2023-2024 theater season as part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in September. The rest of the current season will proceed as scheduled, and we look forward to seeing you in the audience for Alice in Wonderland and Twelfth Night!
Alice in Wonderland
A Co-Production with The Hum’n’bards Theater Troupe
Directed by CJ Higgins & Travis Rosemarie Curhart-Fischbach
April 14 at 7:00pm
April 15 at 2pm and 6pm
April 16 at 2pm, 2023
Alice follows a rabbit into a hole and suddenly finds themself in a strange place where no one can agree on who – or what! – they are. Can Alice find their way home, and will they stay true to themself along the way? Adapted from the works of Lewis Carroll by The Hum’n’bards Theater Troupe and featuring original music and songs, this Alice in Wonderland is a journey the young and the young at heart will never forget.
Starring: Shreya Ragavan as Alice Diamond Anthony as the Cheshire Cat Travis Rosemarie Curhart-Fischbach as the Caterpillar Jenn Adams as the White Rabbit Wyatt Flynn as the Hatter
Costume Design: Molly Malone Lighting Design: Dakota Adams Set Design: Felix Carte
Poetic Playground
April 22, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
In celebration of Jazz month, join us for an evening of spoken word poetry and Jazz on April 22nd, 7:00 – 9:00 pm. Presenting the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble, Nzadi Keita, Bernard Collins, and surprise guests!
An adventurous jazz outfit that has been playing around Philadelphia since its formation in 1979, the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble was founded by Warren Oree, an acoustic bassist, producer and composer who continues to lead the band. Eclectic and far from predictable, the Ensemble has embraced a variety of acoustic and electric jazz styles (often combining them with African and Middle Eastern music) and has dabbled a bit in R&B.
Writer, teacher, and scholar M. Nzadi Keita is the author of Brief Evidence of Heaven: Poems from the life of Anna Murray Douglass, sheds light on Frederick Douglass’s first wife. Her new book, Migration Letters, will feature poems that center Keita’s perspectives as a first-generation northerner, born and raised in Philadelphia. Beacon Press will publish it in 2024. Journals and anthologies, such as Poet Lore and The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, have featured her work. Keita has earned grants and awards including a Pew Fellowship in the Arts for Poetry. She is a Professor of Creative Writing, American Literature, and Africana Studies at Ursinus College.
Bernard Collins is a proud South Philadelphia native who now resides in Lawnside, NJ, with his two children, Lily and Layla, and his wife, Dr. Tamika Jones. Since the early nineties, he has written and performed his poetry with various musicians, choreographers and dancers. The humorous style he often employs harkens back to the “Toasting” traditions of African American culture seen in poems like the Signifying Monkey or Shine. Bernard Collins is also a talent visual artist with a BFA from Temple University Tyler School of Art and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. His paintings often feature local artists and poets. Bernard strives to have the verbal and the visual collide in unexpected, informative and exciting ways.
And we are bringing back cafe-style seating in our theater space. Which means you can enjoy this event with BYO dinner and beverage! Guests must take their trash home with them.
This event is free and open to the public and made possible by the generous support by the City of Philadelphia Office of Arts Culture and the Creative Economy.
Twelfth Night
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Ryan Walter
May 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, June 2, 3, 4, 2023
Welcome to Illyria: a world of wildly mistaken identities, passionate loves, and side-splitting misadventures! Get ready for an immersive Shakespearean experience where you will find yourself at the center of all the action since the entire theater space at Allens Lane will be part of the play. Come join the fun as this troupe of delightfully ridiculous characters embark upon one of the most hilarious and miraculous journeys of love and self-discovery to ever grace the stage.
Starring: Jenn Adams, Monroe Barrick, Matt Carter, Britt Fauzer, Jackie Marino-Thomas, Ifeoluwa Ogunyinka, Eliza Waterman, and T.J. Zale.
The Trouble with Harry
May 20, 1:00 pm
“The Trouble With Harry” was a film made by Alfred Hitchcock in the 1950s, which was derived from the novel of the same name by Jack Trevor Story.
This beautifully written, romantic, witty, lush novel is totally captivating in the way in which it tells the story of an unusual group of people, living in a rural village, who initially are virtual strangers but come together to form alliances in their quest to solve “The Trouble With Harry”.
Former Artistic Director and Board member of Allens Lane, Noel Hanley, derived this project, working with Josh Hitchens, current Artistic Director, to adapt this novel into a charming theatre script.
Tickets are free but reservations are encouraged. For reservation please email noel.s.butcher@gmail.com
History
Since its establishment in 1953, Allens Lane Art Center has been a vital cornerstone in the Mount Airy, Germantown, and Greater Philadelphia communities with the mission of Growing Together Through the Arts. Allens Lane typically presents four Mainstage productions each season, continuing a long-standing community theater program that has seen thousands of artists and audience members pass through its doors. We are committed to producing purposeful, challenging, and unique theater experiences including the best of contemporary drama, exciting new works, plays for young audiences, and boldly reimagined classics that reflect the rich diversity of the neighborhoods surrounding Allens Lane Art Center. In addition to our Mainstage season, we offer a Reader’s Theater program to present staged readings of new plays by local writers. The theater at Allens Lane aims to bring people of all ages together through the communal power of the arts and is committed to diverse representation in our productions both with the actors onstage and the artists working behind the scenes.
Theater Tickets
In-Person Individual Play Ticket Prices:
$20 General Admission
$15 Senior and Student Discount
Subscription Ticket Prices (includes Main Stage & Reader’s Theatre):
Current Season Subscription Rate: $100
Returning Season Subscription Rate: $80*
*Must have been a subscriber within the past 3 years
Tickets for Reader’s Theater and Alice in Wonderland are Pay-What-You-Wish.
Showtimes
Fridays & Saturdays @ 8:00pm
Sundays @ 2:00pm
Non-subscribers are let in 20 minutes prior to curtain for each performance. Subscribers are let in 30 minutes prior (a benefit of being a subscriber). Reservations for each performance are required. No physical tickets will be issued. Please give your reservation name at the box office when you arrive.
