This May, InterAct Theatre Company invites you to experience the unexpected with Variety Pack, a two-weekend festival celebrating Philadelphia’s most unconventional, boundary-pushing alt-comedy acts. It’s not just stand-up, not just improv, not just sketch—it’s a mix of everything and then some. A drag-king pageant, the entire Twilight saga in 60-minutes, a whirlwind cabaret, and live cartoons to name a few. The inaugural Variety Pack festival runs the first two weekends in May at the Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake.

Festival Lineup:

Dan Kitrosser is Karen Tenderness in Have You Seen My House?

You’re going to love Karen Tenderness’ new house — that is, if she can find it! You see, Karen (played by Fringie Award Winner Dan Kitrosser) has lost her house, and now, through a whirlwind cabaret, and with your help, she’s going to find it! While belting songs by Patti Smith, Bette Midler, Dolly Pardon and more, this Karen Tenderness Cabaret answers the age old question: Where is Karen Tenderness’ house?

May 1, 7:00p

Live Theatre, Live!

Legendary disgraced BFA Acting Teacher (former) Leslie Von Kamper leads his “talented” students through the entire play making process in only one hour! With the help of a special Guest Assistant Director and a play that only they know, the students of the LVK Acting Studio for Adults audition, rehearse, perform, and give an enlightening talk back! Perfect for theatre skeptics and lovers alike!

May 1, 8:30 and May 3, 8:30p

Two Letters

Two Letters is an improv duo formed by Philadelphia actors and comedians, Em Harnett & DJ Gleason. Watch as these two people with names that have two letters interview an audience member and create an entire story while playing every single character. It’s just two people. And just two letters.

May 2, 7:00p and May 8, 7:00p

Yes and the City

Yes And The City is an improvised episode of beloved HBO series, “Sex And The City”. Yes And The City will follow your favorite four gals about town as they navigate men, sex, parties, chance encounters, fashion, icks, and maybe even love all in a 60-minute show. Darren Star please don’t sue us.

May 2, 8:30p and May 9, 8:30p

Cartoon Club

A late night block of BRAND NEW freaky-ass original cartoons hosted by Joe Bell! Featuring bits, characters, games but most importantly cartoons!

May 2, 10:00p

The Entire F***ing Twilight Saga…in 60 Minutes

Vampires. Werewolves. Creepy Babies. What more could you ask for? How about all of it…in 60 minutes? Yeah…you heard us. Theatre Contra is taking on the greatest (to some) franchises of all time and doing it all in an hour or less: The Twilight Saga. How is it possible? That’s a great question, but all we can say right now is hold on tight spider monkey, you’re in for one wild ride.

May 3, 7:00p and May 9, 10:00p

Clip Show

Two hosts, three guests, no clue. The Clip Show is a live comedy show hosted by renowned character actresses R. Eric Thomas and Chris Newcomer. Every night they welcome three famous guests who each have a new project to promote. The catch? The guests don’t know what they’re promoting until we roll footage of the clip they’ve supposedly brought. Presented by visionary producer Ms. Piggy, The Clip Show is one-part improv show, one part old-school talk show, one part Pirin tablets, one part other parts.

May 3, 8:30p and May 9, 7:00p

Lady Laughs Pageant

Philly’s only all-women and -queer comedy show brings a drag king pageant to Variety Pack! The finest kings in Philadelphia bring their best moves and tightest jokes to a panel of judges to crown a winner.

May 8, 8:30p

One Tan Show

Comedian Tan Hoang tries her best to perform her one woman show, unfortunately everything is going wrong, and a bunch of characters keep interrupting her.

May 10, 8:30p

If You Go:

• Venue: Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake
• Dates: May 1 – 10, 2025
• Tickets: $10, https://ci.ovationtix.com/35072/production/1218116

Get ready to turn up the volume as PCS Theater presents “Rock of Ages”, a high-energy musical celebration of 1980s rock anthems, big dreams, and even bigger hair. The show runs April 11–26, 2025, and features hits like “Here I Go Again,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

Charles Harrison in “Rock of Ages” at PCS. Photo by Carmen Rossi.jpg 

Set in 1987 on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, Rock of Ages follows aspiring rock star Drew Boley (Charles Harrison) and small-town girl Sherrie Christian (Catherine Callahan) as they pursue their dreams of making it big. Their journey unfolds in the legendary Bourbon Room, a gritty rock club under threat from developers who want to turn it into a sterile corporate strip mall. With the help of larger-than-life personalities like club owner Dennis Dupree (Mark Thompson), wacky narrator Lonny Barnett (P.J. Witkowski), and rock icon Stacee Jaxx (Andrew Staub), Drew and Sherrie must navigate love, ambition, and the excesses of the 80s.

PCS Theater has assembled a powerhouse cast of both new and returning talent including Meg Cranney (Regina Koontz), Shawn Weaver (Ja’Keith Gill) Deirdre McGettigan Henry (Justice Charlier), Ken Locicero (Hertz Klinemann), Nicholas Sewcheck (Franz Klinemann), Gabrielle Impriano (Dance Captain) and many more!

Director Anthony SanFilippo shares a personal connection to the show, recalling his own formative years in 1987—when he first discovered his love of music, theater, and sports.

“I have never had a more fun night at the theater,” SanFilippo says of seeing Rock of Ages on Broadway. “The energy of the show. The over-the-top, yet stereotypical characters. The bawdy humor. It was all thrust upon the audience at warp speed in and around a couple dozen rock hits, each that I listened to repeatedly on my Walkman as an impressionable 13-year-old back in 1987.” He hopes audiences will embrace PCS Theater’s Bourbon Room as a place to revel in the “spicy naughtiness, indelicate suggestiveness, and unrepentant humor” of this unforgettable era.

Tickets

• Friday, April 11, 7:30 pm (opening night)
• Saturday, April 12, 7:30 pm
• Sunday, April 13, 2 pm (matinee and post-show talk back with actors and staff)
• Friday April 18, 7:30 pm
• Saturday, April 19, 2:00 pm (matinee)
• Saturday, April 19, 7:30 pm (featuring understudies Michael Mann and Erika Dandridge as Drew and Sherrie)
• Thursday, April 24, 7:30 pm
• Friday, April 25, 7:30 pm
• Saturday April 26, 2:00 pm (matinee featuring understudies Michael Mann and Erika Dandridge as Drew and Sherrie)
• Saturday, April 26, 7:30 pm (closing)

Seating is limited, so early booking is encouraged! Tickets are available at pcstheater.org.

PCS Theater, 614 Fairview Rd, Swarthmore, PA 19081
Box Office: 610-328-4271 | Email: tickets@pcstheater.org

To reserve your seats, visit www.pcstheater.org or contact the box office at 610-328-4271.

“Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay-Abaire, opens at The Stagecrafters on April 11. The play premiered on Broadway in 2006 and won multiple Tony Awards followed by being awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2007. It was later made into a film starring Nicole Kidman.

Janine Silano as Izzy and Olivia Gendron as Becca in The Stagecrafters’ upcoming production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Rabbit Hole.”

The play is about grief, loss, change and how the five characters cope differently with a tragic event. Despite its dark premise, the play is filled with moments of humor as the characters begin to face reality with grace and joy. 

If You Go:

The Stagecrafters, 8130 Germantown Ave. (Chestnut Hill)

Performance dates Apr 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 @8pm

April 13, 26, 27 @2pm

Tickets $26 online

$30 at the door 

(Thurs. 2 for $40 online) 

Senior and student discounts available at door with ID.

For reservations: 215.247.9913

Visit thestagecrafers.org for more information. 

On May 1, Pennsylvania history comes to life in a new play at Quintessence Theatre Group in “The Return of Benjamin Lay” by playwright, screenwriter and poet Naomi Wallace and University of Pittsburgh Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History, Marcus Rediker. Presented as a co-production by Quintessence and New York’s Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company, the one-man play starring stage and screen actor Mark Povinelli is inspired by the true story of an 18th-century Quaker man, born a dwarf in Copford, England who emigrated to America and settled in Abington, Pennsylvania. Lay lived his life as an activist revolutionary who fought and advocated for the abolition of slavery in Colonial America.

Directed by Ron Daniels, The Return of Benjamin Lay runs from May 1 to 18, with 15 performances on stage at Quintessence Theatre at the Sedgwick.  

It’s 2025. In the silence of a Quaker meeting house, Benjamin Lay (Mark Povinelli) – a shepherd, sailor, radical, and the British Empire’s first abolitionist – returns from the grave almost 300 years after his death, as feisty and unpredictable as ever. The four-foot “David” confronts the “Goliath” of slavery as he demands once again to be readmitted into the Quaker community that disowned him for ideas considered dangerous and disruptive.  

 The play was first performed at the Finborough Theatre in London in 2023, produced by Arsalan Sattari  Productions.  

Philadelphia is a city steeped in history, and some know stories of the local little person who put on anti-slavery protest theater on the streets of colonial Philadelphia by covering himself in blood. Quintessence is honored to welcome Mark Povinelli and The Return of Benjamin Lay to share the extraordinary life of one of America’s first activists and change makers, a Philadelphian who risked all by standing in opposition to the leaders of his country and his Quaker faith to insist upon life and liberty for all.” – Quintessence’s Producing Artistic Director Alex Burns

The co-production is directed by Ron Daniels, who has directed productions at numerous theatre companies across the U.S., including the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge  (where he formerly served as the Associate Artistic Director), the Public Theatre in New York City, and the Old Globe in San Diego. 

TICKETING INFORMATION 

The Return of Benjamin Lay runs from May 1 to 18, and opens on Saturday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. All performances take place at the historic Sedgwick Theater (7137 Germantown Avenue), a flexible black box theater. The play has a 70-minute runtime with no intermission and is recommended for audiences ages 10 or older. 

General Admission tickets start at $50, with Premium seats available starting at $60.  Ticket link: Quintessence Theatre Group 

Public and street parking is available throughout the Mt. Airy neighborhood.  

SPECIAL PROGRAMMING 

Two Post-Show Convos: Thursday, May 1, after the 7 p.m. performance and Sunday, May 4, after the 3 p.m. performance – The Return of Benjamin Lay co-playwright and award-winning historian Marcus  Rediker and actor Mark Povinelli join the audience for a post-show conversation.  

Opening Night and Book Signing: Saturday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. – Co-playwright and author Marcus  Rediker will be present to sign copies of his book The Fearless Benjamin Lay – The Quaker Dwarf Who  Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist; ($22) and the graphic novel, Prophet Against Slavery,  illustrated by David Lester with Marcus Rediker and Paul Buhle ($16). Quintessence supports independent booksellers and is in partnership with 50 Watts Bookstore of Chestnut Hill. 

Meet-the-Artist: Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m. – Stay after the performance for a discussion with the star of The Return of Benjamin Lay, and enjoy the conversation and Q&A moderated by Quintessence Director of Education, Adam Pelta-Pauls. 

Pay-as-Led Night: Thursday, May 15, at 7 p.m. – In Friends tradition, Pay-as-Led is a way of acknowledging that wealth is not distributed evenly among Quakers. You may determine your own ticket price for this performance.  

LPA Meet-the-Artist: Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m. – Stay after to meet the star of the show, Mark Povinelli.  This evening celebrates Mark and Little People of America (LPA). Everyone is welcome!  

InterAct Theatre Company presents the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of RIFT, OR WHITE LIES, a gripping new drama by award-winning playwright Gabriel Jason Dean, running from April 4 – 27, 2025. Directed by Seth Rozin, this provocative play explores the deep and painful fractures within a family, the weight of shared trauma, and the search for reconciliation in an era of extreme ideological division.

Starring Barrymore Award-winning actors Matteo Scammell and Jered McLenigan, RIFT, OR WHITE LIES follows two estranged brothers—one a progressive novelist, the other a convicted murderer and high-ranking member of a white supremacist prison gang—who must confront their turbulent past and their irreconcilable differences. Each night, Scammell and McLenigan will alternate roles, offering audiences a chance to experience the play from two unique perspectives. Patrons who see one performance will have the opportunity to return for a special $12 ticket to witness the reversed casting.

 We are thrilled to bring this powerful and urgent story to the stage. In a time when ideological divides seem wider than ever, RIFT, OR WHITE LIES asks: Can love bridge the chasm between us? Can we truly see one another beyond our beliefs? This production invites audiences to grapple with these complex questions through a deeply human lens. – Director Seth Rozin

If You Go:

As a company dedicated to civic discourse, InterAct hosts discussions for audience members almost every day of the week after non-preview performances. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays are facilitated by Artistic Director Seth Rozin. Saturdays  are artist talkbacks with literary manager, Chaz T. Martin, and special guests including South Philly native, Frank Meeink (Author of “Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead”).

Performances of RIFT, OR WHITE LIES will take place at the Proscenium Theatre at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street, from April 4 – 27, 2025. Tickets are available at www.interacttheatre.org/rift-or-white-lies.

Special $12 tickets are available for patrons who return to see the reversed casting. RIFT, OR WHITE LIES is also part of Philly Theatre Week, and a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets are available for performances April 4 – 13.

To celebrate Curio’s 20th season in West Philadelphia, Curio was slated to bring back their original comedy, 2009’s A FUNERAL FARCE. April 30 – May 17. The theater has just announced it will cancel the production due to serious family illness. They hope to stage the show in their 21st season.  Any tickets purchased will be refunded.

Curio Theatre Company is at 4740 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia.

For more information, visit Curio Theatre Company

The Dramateurs, Inc. at the Barn Playhouse’s 2025 Season opens with the Broadway’s tuneful and meaningful ‘The Prom’ opening on April 25.  ​

If you go:

The Barn Playhouse is at 1700 Christopher Lane, Jeffersonville
Performances : April 25, 26 and May 2, 3, 9 & 10 at 8 pm
April 27 and May 4 at 2 pm.

Tickets: $24, with a $2 discount for seniors/students

Is it possible to love someone whose beliefs you hate?

InterAct Theatre Company presents the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of RIFT, OR WHITE LIES, a gripping new drama by award-winning playwright Gabriel Jason Dean, running from April 4 – 27, 2025. Directed by Seth Rozin, this provocative play explores the deep and painful fractures within a family, the weight of shared trauma, and the search for reconciliation in an era of extreme ideological division.

Starring Barrymore Award-winning actors Matteo Scammell and Jered McLenigan, RIFT, OR WHITE LIES follows two estranged brothers—one a progressive novelist, the other a convicted murderer and high-ranking member of a white supremacist prison gang—who must confront their turbulent past and their irreconcilable differences. Each night, Scammell and McLenigan will alternate roles, offering audiences a chance to experience the play from two unique perspectives. Patrons who see one performance will have the opportunity to return for a special $12 ticket to witness the reversed casting.

We are thrilled to bring this powerful and urgent story to the stage. In a time when ideological divides seem wider than ever, RIFT, OR WHITE LIES asks: Can love bridge the chasm between us? Can we truly see one another beyond our beliefs? This production invites audiences to grapple with these complex questions through a deeply human lens. – Director Seth Rozin

If You Go

Performances of RIFT, OR WHITE LIES will take place at the Proscenium Theatre at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street, from April 4 – 27, 2025 (press opening April 10). Tickets are available at www.interacttheatre.org/rift-or-white-lies. Special $12 tickets are available for patrons who return to see the reversed casting. RIFT, OR WHITE LIES is also part of Philly Theatre Week, and a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets are available for performances April 4 – 13.

As a company dedicated to civic discourse, InterAct hosts discussions for audience members almost every day of the week after non-preview performances. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays are facilitated by Artistic Director Seth Rozin. Saturdays  are artist talkbacks with literary manager, Chaz T. Martin, and special guests including South Philly native, Frank Meeink (Author of “Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead”).