Upcoming in theater: A Play, A Pie and a Pint by Tiny Dynamite
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
"We have produced plays set in a men's toilet, a taxidermy shop and a U.N. climate-change conference."
Adam Rzepka and Susan Giddings in "Letter of Last Resort," part of Tiny Dynamite's fourth season.
Emma Gibson
Emma Gibson
Tiny Dynamite artistic director Emma Gibson posted recently on Facebook about A Play, a Pie, and a Pint’s fourth season: “Oh boy, or should I say, oh girl? We appear to have an all-female producing team, all-female directing team, female stage manager, set designer, graphic designer and dramaturg ...Yup, it’s girl power down here at PPP.”
The groundbreaking series of one-act plays (each under an hour long), at an unconventional time (6:30 p.m.), with pie (pizza) and pint (beer or soda) included for only $15, was a big hit in October 2011, March 2011 and March 2013, and is overdue for a comeback. The new season offers a wider range of plays, from a classic drama by famous playwright Caryl Churchill (A Number, Oct. 9-12) to PPP’s first commission, We Can All Agree to Pretend This Never Happened by Philadelphia playwright Emma Goidel (Oct. 23-26).
Another special PPP feature is the participation of other small companies, including fellow nominees for the June and Steve Wolfson Award for an Evolving Theater Company, Inis Nua (producing David Greig’s The Letter of Last Resort, Oct. 2-5) and Azuka (A Respectable Widow Takes to Vulgarity, Oct. 16-19). The winner will be announced at the Oct. 27 Barrymore Awards.
“I like the idea of creating a theater project that not only serves its audience, but also serves the community of theater makers here in Philadelphia,” says Gibson, a Brit who launched Tiny Dynamite in 2008 to share the works of contemporary British playwrights.
The woman-centric staff — when critics decry the lack of female playwrights on Broadway, and female directors everywhere — wasn’t intentional, but still counts as a PPP feature.
Through all these unique aspects, a PPP aesthetic is growing. “We’re big fans of unusual settings and characters,” Gibson notes. “We have produced plays set in a men’s toilet, a taxidermy shop and a U.N. climate-change conference.”
Moreover, “There’s something a little ‘naughty’ about eating pizza and drinking beer in the theater, and comedy is a perfect condiment.”
Through Oct. 26, $15, Tiny Dynamite at the Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. Eighth St., 800-838-3006, tinydynamite.org.
