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Darnelle Radford gets it.
The new executive director of Theatre Philadelphia understands how people can walk down Broad Street, past the row of theaters, and feel like they don’t belong.
And that doesn’t even include the less obvious theaters like the ones on an alley-like side street or in a church basement.
“There are a lot of people who don’t feel they are directly invited,” said Radford, who leads the umbrella marketing organization for city and regional theaters.
Radford wants to change that. Which is why Theatre Philadelphia is presenting its 10th annual Philly Theatre Week. The event, running from April 23 through May 3, lets people pay what they want to see what they want among 49 different productions (and many more performances) in Center City and around the region.
Tickets are on sale now and some shows sell out quickly.
Productions range from “Wilderness Generation,” a world premiere by former Philly Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright James Ijames at the Philadelphia Theatre Co. on Broad Street to “April Clown Slam” at Studio 34, a yoga center in West Philadelphia.
April is also the month when area colleges’ theater departments put on their final shows. Temple will present “The Prom,” about a student who wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom, and Villanova is staging “Urinetown, The Musical.” Both colleges are setting aside some seats for Philly Theatre Week.
Philly Theatre Week is also a chance to sample — at a discount — works from amateur, yet enthusiastic, thespians in community theater groups. Some examples: The Players Club in Swarthmore will stage “The 39 Steps,” Old Academy Players in East Falls offers “Carrie: The Musical,” and the Moorestown Theater Co. presents “Disney’s High School Musical Jr,” performed by neurodiverse students.
Philly’s own Department of Parks and Recreation underwrites a children’s drama program in South Philly, called the Columbus Square Drama Club. In their brand new play, “The Olympus Tale,” Zeus, Hermes, Aphrodite, and other Greek gods attend high school and learn lessons about power and impact.
There are also solo works — including “She Gets Around” from comedian Jennifer Childs of 1812 Productions and “The 40-year-old Ballerino” by Chris Davis.
Or you can try the action yourself with experiences like the “All Levels Hula Hoop Class” or “Roll Play: An Improvised Adventure” involving D&D storytelling from SideQuest Theater.
Altogether, 46 theater organizations or individuals offer shows, with some groups presenting more than one production.
Philly Theatre Week “allows people to try theater at whatever rate they think is a fair rate,” Radford said.
“It’s the hope if we can just get them in the door and they can see a production, they’ll understand the value of live theater,” and then return as paying customers, he said.
To make his point, Radford draws a contrast between going to see a movie – even at a film house – and going to see a play.
The biggest difference? At the movies, every show is the same — from trailer to credits.
“But what’s happening on stage tonight only happens on stage tonight,” Radford said. “It’s live — tonight’s experience is going to be different than next Thursday’s experience. That’s what’s exciting about live performances in general. And being around everyone else who is being engaged by the same thing you are there for.
“That experience is so valuable, and we want everyone to have it,” he said. “If you are unsure, just give it a try.”
Like the Philly Fringe Festival in September, part of the allure can be the no-financial-risk of choosing something that seems different.
Would you like glowing characters in blacklight masks? Try “Once Upon A Glow: Stories in the Blacklight.” Interested in a lecture performance merged with a punk rock concert recounting the life of Margaret Thatcher and the rise of neoliberalism? Don’t miss “Fascist Groove.”
However, there is a trick to getting the most out of Theatre Week: Each participating theater is only required to set aside 10 seats per performance for pay-what-you-wish prices. And those tickets — even tickets priced at $0 — need to be purchased in advance. Tickets went on sale March 23, so it’s probably a good idea to get them as soon as possible.
Theatre Week also serves other functions, Radford said. Some artists may see Theatre Week as a chance to give their fledgling shows a trial run. Clippings ’26, for example, is a night of readings of short plays authored by emerging playwrights, patterned after the Equinox New Play Festival sponsored by the late, and still mourned, University of the Arts.
Autumn Storm will lead a workshop titled “Dreaming of Dramaturgy! Techniques and Applications,” and Radford himself will host Community Circle, a networking light brunch with artists and aficionados.
It may seem counterintuitive, but audiences may get to see larger, more elaborate productions on college stages, Radford said. Colleges can draw from a large unpaid casting pool of students. College set designers may have the resources to build more elaborate sets. And of course, colleges never have to worry about renting theater space.
“I think college productions are a great way to see up and coming artists who will make a more significant contribution” to the future of Philadelphia theater, Radford said.
As it is, many of Philly’s theater professionals are on the faculty of the local schools. Ijames, for example, taught at Villanova. Amina Robinson, an associate professor at Temple, is directing the current production of“Romeo and Juliet” at the Arden Theater Co. The Arden is also including one performance of “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” in the Philly Theatre Week line-up.
You can find a listing of all pay-as-you-can tickets at Theatre Philadelphia’s website.
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