Stay in the Loop
BSR publishes on a weekly schedule, with an email newsletter every Wednesday and Thursday morning. There’s no paywall, and subscribing is always free.
Your guide to the 2025 Philly Theatre Week
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, March 27-April 2, 2025
Kyle V. Hiller
Philly Theatre Week is here, and we’ve got some picks for you for this year’s edition. Celebrating its eighth anniversary, the citywide event features new pieces, workshops and readings of up-and-coming creations and works in progress, encore plays, and more. This year is also entirely pay-what-you-can (PWYC) for every show, so no one will miss out due to lack of funds. The week kicks off March 31, 2025 at the Temple Performing Arts Center (1837 North Broad Street) from 6-8:30pm, bringing preview scenes, songs, and interactive performances from participating companies. The festival runs through April 13.
Total Modeling
Thursday, April 3, 8pm; Friday, April 4, 7:30pm
Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Avenue
Total Modeling is a clown show about cybernetics taking place on a boat. There's a blind man, an invisible man, a donkey, and a bird. Part lecture, part throwdown, this philosophical odyssey weaves professional wrestling, despair, nakedness, invisibility, and buffoonery.
The Reckless Romance Repertory
Antony & Cleopatra
Thursday, April 3, 7pm; Friday, April 11, 7:30pm
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Friday, April 4, 7:30pm; Thursday, April 10, 7pm
We gave the Reckless Romance Repertory a shoutout back in February, and we’re here again giving Quintessence Theatre Group yet another shoutout as we move into April. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, four Athenian youths reject their parents’ efforts to interfere in their romantic lives, and choose to run away instead of facing the love-limiting laws of the land. They stumble upon a fairy kingdom in conflict so great that it threatens to alter the earth’s orbit and suspend its seasons. Then, in Antony & Cleopatra, Julius Caesar is assassinated, the rebellion foiled, and the Roman Empire is now ruled equally by three men, of which Mark Antony is the most powerful. When Mark Antony summons Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, to demand submission, he instead is subdued by Cleopatra’s beauty, wit, and charm. Will Antony and Cleopatra’s passions lead to the fall of the empire? The productions run through April 27, but the dates above offer a limited number of PWYC performances associated with Philly Theatre Week. (Don't miss the BSR review of both shows.)
Agape: A Love Letter for Unity
April 4-5, 7pm
Randall Theatre in Annenberg Hall, Temple University, 2020 North 13th Street.
Agape, derived from the Greek word agapan, represents the highest form of selfless, universal, and unconditional love, one that seeks the best for everyone. In today’s world of loneliness, division, and injustice, it is more crucial than ever to remember to love, support, and uplift one another. The performance, which looks like there will be some song, dance, and poetry, comes from Celebration of Color, an organization that aims to give students of color opportunities in the performing arts beyond the constraints of white supremacy and eurocentrism.
Miniball
April 4-7
FringeArts, 140 North Columbus Boulevard
Miniball is an artist-driven weekend of performances that serves as an extension of the Cannonball Festival and a chance for artists to experiment, connect with audiences, and bring fresh creative ideas to life. Theater, dance, circus, and more are set for this year’s series.
The 40-Year-Old Ballerino
Saturday, April 5 and Sunday, April 13, 7pm
Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Avenue
As an adult, Chris Davis seizes on ballet class as a way to replace all other addictions— drugs, alcohol, Modern Family, and the toxic tropes of 90s John Cusack movies. With only a barre for support, Davis mixes dance and storytelling in a comedy that shows you change is always possible, no matter what your age. We reviewed The 40-Year-Old Ballerino for Fringe last year—give it a read before you go.
new heaven, new earth - a reading
Monday, April 7, 7pm
Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 North American Street
While haunted by visions of her ill-fated mother, Cleopatra (another show featuring Cleopatra in one week!) becomes entangled in sexual and political brinkmanship that puts more than Ptolemaic Egypt at stake. Caught in a web between the Roman Empire, Mark Antony, and a crocodile, Cleopatra must choose between desire and duty. new heaven new earth, presented by Rayne and Shakespeare in Clark Park, spans 30 BCE to the here and now, blending ancient myth with contemporary zeitgeist.
the Are We Free Yet? project by TS Hawkins
Monday, April 7 through Tuesday, April 8
Streaming online
Commissioned by AngelPirate Productions, the Are We Free Yet? project by TS Hawkins weaves wonder from Tina's Strawn's book Are We Free Yet? The Black Queer Guide to Divorcing America. Through sound and verse, sojourn in an afro-future encapsulated within a Sunday dinner unpacking decades and dynasties of epigenetic memories. Spend some time with Antiquity and Destineé as they contemplate life, love, and a longing to still be free.
Freedom Rain Speaks
Saturday, April 12, 5:30pm and 8:30pm
Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Avenue
Freedom Rain Speaks is a poetry-in-motion performance led by Filipino American poet Malaya Ulan, Philadelphia’s current Youth Poet Laureate. The performance is a mother-daughter project between Malaya Ulan and her mother, multidisciplinary artist Ani Gavino. They will merge dance, text, music, and writing modalities.
One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show
April 13, 2-5pm
Community Education Center, 3500 Lancaster Avenue
A middle-class black family in Philadelphia gets their lives shaken up when a smart-talking niece from the country comes to live with them. This comedic play set in the 1970s deals with the clash between middle-class and working-class Black folks with sharp wit, a whirlwind of humor, and heart. This is a screening of Theatre in the X’s 2024 production in Malcolm X Park.
For more info about Philly Theatre Week and the full lineup of shows, head to Theatre Philadelphia.
Sign up for our newsletter
All of the week's new articles, all in one place. Sign up for the free weekly BSR newsletters, and don't miss a conversation.
