Curio Theatre (4740 Baltimore Ave) has had a great season so far, hitting it off with both the public and critics with their first two shows – Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice and Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist. This week the theater presents the Philadelphia premiere of a work based on Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.

The show is directed by Jared Reed and features seven Curio actors (most of them from West Philly) playing some 40 characters. No one in this show remains the same for long, except the time traveling main character Billy Pilgrim. The dynamic sets (built by Curio’s Artistic Director Paul Kuhn) and cast will often change, adding to the confusion Billy experiences during his travels.

The show preview begins Thursday, Feb.2, and the official opening is February 10. All shows begin at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. For more information and to buy tickets ($10-$20) visit this page.

Beth Nixon, a West Philly-based puppeteer and the founder of Ramshackle Enterprises, is presenting a new show at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) beginning Sunday, Jan. 15. The show, Below and Beyond, is inspired by the long‐submerged Mill Creek of West Philadelphia, by current debate about fracking in Pennsylvania, and overall by what lies beneath our feet.

Beth and her colleagues will be using puppets, pulleys, movement, maps, and their imagination. Dozens of local artists contributed their talent to the creation of the puppets and props.

Below and Beyond is a collaborative performance experiment by Beth Nixon and Sarah Lowry of The Missoula Oblongata experimental theater company. Nixon and Lowry were inspired by interviews with Mill Creek residents, the “landscape literacy” research of Anne Whiston Spirn and Protecting Our Waters ‐ a local grassroots organization fighting against unconventional gas drilling in the region.

There are only four Below and Beyond shows scheduled: Sunday – 7:30 p.m., Monday – 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Tuesday – 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5‐$10 at the door, but no one will be turned away for the lack of funds. Tickets can also be purchased online here.

Tonight is the opening night of Dario Fo’s play Accidental Death of An Anarchist at Curio Theatre (4740 Baltimore Ave). This comedy is probably the best-known play written by Fo and features both real and fictional characters. The shows run through January 7 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets ($15-$20) are still available for tonight’s show. To buy tickets click here.

Check out the promotional video below (it’s hilarious!).

There are only three performances of Curio Theatre‘s Eurydice left. This Thursday, Friday and Saturday are your last three chances to see this fabulous, critically acclaimed play. Tickets are $15-20 and can be purchased here. All performances begin at 8 p.m.

Curio Theatre Company opens its 7th season this week with Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, which will run from October 12 to November 12. The preview shows are on Wednesday, Oct. 12 and Thursday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m.

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, an American playwright and recipient of a MacArthur fellowship, retells the myth of Orpheus from the perspective of his wife Eurydice. Ruhl created some new characters, such as Eurydice’s father, and made several changes to the original myth’s storyline. The play premiered at Madison Repertory Theatre in 2003 and off-Broadway in New York in 2007.

It’s interesting that Curio’s artistic director Paul Kuhn will be playing Eurydice’s father, and Eurydice’s role will be played by his real life daughter, Tessa Kuhn. All in all, it promises to be a delightful show from start to finish.

For more information on the show schedule and to purchase tickets ($15-$20) go to this page.

The Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) will host three afternoons of children’s musical play “Becky Butterfly and the Story of the Wayward Wasp.” The first one is today at 3 p.m. The show is produced by Fantasy Weavers, a production company affiliated with the musical’s author, Philly composer Kate Quinn.

The play focuses on a wasp named Kevin who has been born a male worker in the female workers’ world (and gets bullied because of that by other wasps) and Becky the butterfly whose family Kevin bullies in turn. Basically, the message is: it’s okay to be different and bullying is not acceptable.

The show is free for kids under 10 years old. Adult tickets are $7 and $5 for students, seniors, and children over 10. Other shows are scheduled for Oct. 9 and 16. To buy tickets online click here.