West Philadelphia’s Curio Theatre Company invites everyone to the Philadelphia premiere of Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, a unique theater/music hybrid inspired by the true tale of two Jewish Romanian refugees finding love after arriving on the shores of Canada in 1908. This hilarious and edgy story is interwoven with a high-energy Klezmer concert.

The play is written by Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch and features songs by Ben Caplan and Christian Barry. At Curio, Old Stock will be directed by Rachel Gluck with sound and music direction by Damien Figueras. Artistic Director Paul Kuhn will bring his set design talents to the stage, using his well-known ability to create detailed worlds using repurposed materials (read more about Curio’s recycling efforts here). In addition to Gluck, Kuhn, and Figueras, Aetna Gallagher joins the crew as Costume and Prop Designer.

The show features themes of hope and of learning to love after being broken by the horrors of war.

“As a Jewish woman, I feel as though Old Stock could be about my ancestors who came to the New World looking for refuge from anti-Semitism at the beginning of the 20th century,” says Gluck. “Old Stock is a raucous, deeply moving punk-Klezmer musical that challenges us all to see ourselves as a part of a larger narrative that continues to this day. It’s the story of refugees banging on the door, begging to be let into a place where they hope that they might finally be safe.”

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Pictured: Paul Kuhn (Photo by Rebecca Gudelunas)

West Philly’s Curio Theatre is returning for its 2023 Spring season to turn Shakespeare on his head!

Following their hit run of Spymonkey’s Oedipussy, Curio takes on the UK company’s hilarious Shakespearian bloodbath, The Complete Deaths. Prepare to see all 74 onstage Shakespearean deaths in 90 minutes (75 if you count the ill-favored fly killed in Titus Andronicus), including Roman suicides in Julius Caesar, the death fall of Prince Arthur in King John, the carnage at the end of Hamlet, snakes in a basket in Antony & Cleopatra, Pyramus and Thisbe, young Macduff, and more.

The Complete Deaths was first presented as a Spymonkey co-production with Brighton Festival and Royal & Derngate, Northampton in 2016.

“During the pandemic, we looked back on the shows we have done, and which ones brought us and our audiences the most joy,” Curio founder and co-artistic director Paul Kuhn said “And without a doubt, it was Spymonkey’s work. The way this piece literally requires laughter, joy, and teamwork – we just felt like the world needs so much more of that right now. We did a training this summer with Aitor Basauri from Spymonkey, and I laughed so hard that I had to be taken to the hospital. Thank god I made it back!” Continue Reading

Trice Baldwin-Browns (left) and Tessa Kuhn in “Gidion’s Knot” (Photo by Rebecca Gudelunas).

Curio Theatre Company begins the season with a play that deals with an incredibly timely issue that is currently in the headlines. Written by Johnna Adams, Gidion’s Knot is a play that brings to light the question of who, if anyone, is responsible when a juvenile makes a tragic decision.

During a 90-minute parent/teacher conference that takes place in real time, a grieving mother, played by Curio company member Trice Baldwin-Browns, and an emotionally overwhelmed elementary school teacher, played by Curio company member and Education Director Tessa Kuhn, grapple with the tragic suicide of fifth grader Gidion. Who failed Gidion and how? Who, if anyone, is responsible for the failure to recognize such profound distress in Gidion? As the two women use Gidion’s own writing to try to get closer to the truth, they come to conclusions both shocking and profound. Continue Reading

Aetna Gallagher is Madame Bovary (Photo by Rebecca Gudelunas)

West Philly’s Curio Theatre Company‘s final performance of the season, a laugh-filled retelling of Gustav Flaubert’s classic novel Madame Bovary, premieres this Friday (April 28).

Yes, that’s right – laugh-filled. Entitled The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary, the play is the North America debut of an adaption of Flaubert’s work by Peepolykus, a UK based touring company.

As you may know, Madame Bovary tells the story of a 19th century marriage in the north of France. The story’s got intrigue, passion and adultery. What it didn’t have is whimsy – until now. The work retells the tragic story of Emma Bovary in a way that may remind theatergoers of Curio’s hilarious adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles in 2013. Peepolykus also wrote that play.  Continue Reading

The Curio Theatre is closing out its season with the rollicking comedy Noises Off, a Michael Frayn play about a play, which previews on April 30 – May 7 and opens on May 8.

Noises Off introduces the audience to the epically incompetent cast of Nothing On – the play within the play – and their travails in everything from dress rehearsals to close of the play’s 10-week run. The play takes its title from the theatrical stage direction indicating sounds coming from offstage.

Peter Reynolds is directing the Curio production, Paul Kuhn designed the set and Tim Martis designed the lighting. The costume designer is Aetna Gallagher, and Kathleen Soltan is the stage manager.

The cast includes Kyra Baker, Newton Buchanan, Steve Carpenter, Isabella Fehlandt, Rachel Gluck and Andrew Carroll.

Tickets for the performances range from $15 to $25 and are available here.

Oh, and here’s an added bonus: If you show up to opening night dressed in 80’s attire (the production is set in the 80’s) you have a chance to win two passes for next season.

Photo by Claire Horvath.

Continuing its season of exploring themes of gender roles and identity, Curio Theatre Company will premiere its production of Brian Friel’s “Dancing at Lughnasa” tonight at 8 p.m. on Curio’s Mainstage, 4740 Baltimore Avenue.

Directed by Gay Carducci, “Dancing at Lughnasa” is Friel’s epic, weaving narrative of five unmarried sisters living in the fictional town of Ballybeg in Ireland’s County Donegal during the summer of 1936. Set around the Celtic harvest festival, Lughansadh, Friel’s TONY award-winning play follows Kate, Maggie, Agnes, Rosie, and Christina as they realize their long buried desires and dashed dreams while dealing with rising tensions that threaten to unravel their close-knit home life. Originally premiered in April 1990, “Dancing at Lughnasa” is loosely based on Friel’s mothers and aunts who lived on the west coast of County Donegal.

“We planned a season with emphasis on gender. ‘Dancing with Lughnasa’ is a memory play. It is a play about hard economic times, deflated dreams, hope, pain, love. It also deals with five adult, in married sisters and their place in the world,” said Carducci in a press release. “To me personally, it is mostly a play about change and how change [affects] us all differently. In this, I find this play to be timeless. All of the themes are themes that will always be present. It is beautiful, lyrical, and touching on so many levels.”

Performances start at 8 p.m. and run Thursday through Sunday night until closing night, March 15th. Tickets are $20 to $25, and can be purchased here or by phone at 215-525-1350.

–Annamarya Scaccia