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Picks for Philly Theatre Week 2024
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, April 4-10, 2024
Kyle V. Hiller
Theatre Philadelphia’s Philly Theatre Week is back starting this week with performances, readings, workshops, and more. From April 4-14, 2024, the seventh annual event is a great chance for theater artists and enthusiasts alike to gather, watch, learn, and connect. Each event this year will also be pay-what-you-can, making all of the events more accessible. For this week’s roundup, I’ve chosen a handful of events happening over Theatre Week that I think you’ll enjoy, but be sure to check out the full schedule, too!
Happy Theatre Week, Philly!
The Good Person of Setzuan
April 3-21, 2024
Wilma Theater, 265 South Broad Street, Philadelphia
When three gods come to the city of Setzuan looking for one good person, they cross paths with Shen Te, a downtrodden young woman trying to lead a good life. After offering the gods shelter and being rewarded with money that is intended as both a gift and a test, Shen Te ends up assuming an alter ego who is consumed by the gods' challenge. If you can’t catch this one in person, the performance will stream from April 22 to May 21, 2024.
Hatshepsut
April 4-13, 2024
Multiple venues
This new dramedy play from Beacon Theatre Productions tells the story of the ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, who became a pharaoh and then was erased from history for over 3,000 years.
Laugh with Crossroads Comedy Theater
Multiple dates and times
Theatre Exile, 1340 South 13th Street, Philadelphia
Crossroads comes to Theatre Week with a half-dozen events. First up, Electoral Dysfunction: Comedy, Yelling, Politics! is an improv debate about the news of the week; Extra Credit: Educational Comedy For Short Attention Spans is exactly as it sounds so there’s no point in testing your attention span to explain it; Laugh of Totality promises to have us laughing at the solar eclipse; Porn Stash asks what happens when the funniest comics and a few sex educators sit down together and watch clips of porn in front of a live audience; and comedian Bobby Sheehan hits the stage with his three passions: American History Sex.
Bright Star
April 5-13, 2024
Jenkintown Music Theatre, 285 West Avenue, Jenkintown
Jenkintown Music Theatre brings Broadway’s Bright Star to its local stage. Bright Star tells the story of literary editor Alice Murphy when she meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. The Tony-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell is set in the backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and 1940s.
Perils of the Flowerbed
Saturday, April 6, 7:30pm
CEC Meeting House Theatre, 3500 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia
Sewer Rats Productions brings Perils of the Flowerbed, a Gothic exploration of queer desire, unreal bodies, and the “frightening inescapability of family ties.” The story is told through the perspective of Greta, a young girl who comes to serve at a castle presided over by a baroness with a mysterious affliction in a world of singing flowers, moonlit monsters, and a bizarre sibling rivalry.
Time Frame
Sunday, April 14, 2pm
Rendell Room in the Kimmel Center, 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia
Acting Without Boundaries will present scenes, songs, and conversations on the theme of time through the lens of disability, society, and the performing arts. The actors will perform songs and share original material that shows how time brings new possibilities, understandings, and fresh starts. A discussion will follow after the show.
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