With Kimberly Akimbo, Suffs, Shucked, and The Outsiders among the Tony-winning shows in the ’25-’26 lineup, you can save yourself the Amtrak fare. Read More »
The season kicks off in September with the Philadelphia premiere of New York playwright Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust, which won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. And speaking of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, South Philly’s James Ijames, who won the award in 2022 for Fat Ham, closes the season with the world premiere of his latest work, Wilderness Generation. Read More »
480 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA Website
We’re pretty sure we’ve never given out a Best of Philly award for live readings before because, well, they generally inspire yawns. But then we discovered this scrappy young theater company that does dramatic live readings of scripts from movies like Die Hard, Snakes on a Plane and The Fast and the Furious. The events are held at a variety of bars and venues: Watch them do the Nicolas Cage-John Travolta sci-fi action movie Face/Off on September 4th at Tattooed Mom. Read More »
A five-show subscription unbelievably starts at just $125, and you’ll more than get your money’s worth this upcoming season. On the ticket: a play from MacArthur Fellow Lynn Nottage, a world premiere from Philadelphia playwright Michael Hollinger, South Philly Pulitzer winner James Ijames directing August Wilson’s King Hedley II, Philly stage veteran Jennifer Childs at the helm of an uproarious comedy about the presidency, and the return of Rent. Read More »
40 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA Website
Wondering where you can see the latest world premiere from Pulitzer-winning Philly playwright James Ijames? Look no further than this South Philly theater company that’s been pushing boundaries and developing new talent for the past 25 years. As little as $45 gets you Ijames’s Abandon and two other shows this upcoming season. Read More »
1340 South 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA Website
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