Arden Delays 2015-2016 Season Due to Pope Visit

The Arden Theatre Company announced today that it’s pushing back its 2015-2016 season due to Pope Francis’s visit at the end of September. But only by a little.

The first show of the season, Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, will now open a week later, on October 1st, when the Pope and all the World Meeting of Families events are a distant memory. “Our opening show promises to be an extraordinary and visually stunning production, says Arden Managing Director, Amy L. Murphy. “60 percent of the Arden’s ticket buyers live outside of Center City. We would hate for audience members to miss the show or face difficulties getting to and from the theatre during the week of the Pope’s visit.”

Metamorphoses is based on the Myths of Ovid and set around an onstage pool (that, I’m guessing, will not be blessed with holy water). Arden describes the show’s setting as a magical world “where Gods and mortals co-exist and universal tales of fate, lost love, greed and death are shared.” It was nominated for a Tony in 2002 for Best Play. The show now runs October 1st through November 1st on the Arden’s F. Otto Haas Stage at 40 North 2nd Street.

The delayed Metamorphoses dates, of course, mean the next show will be pushed back, too. Bill Cain’s Philadelphia Premiere of Equivocation will now run October 22nd through December 13th on the Arcadia Stage.

More info about the rest of the season, and to purchase tickets for upcoming shows, go here.