Spark Showcase Festival

Philly’s most exciting small theatre companies take to the stage to perform signature ten-minute plays. From new plays to adaptations, improv to ghost stories, the Spark Showcase Festival is guaranteed to have something for everyone!

WEEK ONE: July 11-16

* B. Someday Productions
3×3+1 adapted by Stan Heleva and Michelle Pauls
Three 3-minute adaptations of classics including MacBeth, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Moby Dick.

* The Brick Playhouse
G.O.T. (Guaranteed Overnite Theater)
The July edition of GOT will yield a provocative crowd favorite from Philadelphia’s version of the 24-hour theatre program, which brings together theatre artists to create theatre literally overnight.

* EgoPo Productions
The Crystal Spider by Madame Rachilde
Terror-Stricken battles the unconscious sexuality of his mother as well as the mystical world that lives beneath the surface of his bedroom mirror.

* Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium
Catastrophe by Samuel Beckett
A parody of agit prop plays as well as a statement of the similarity between a dictatorship and the way in which a director treats his actors.

* MacGuffin Theater & Film Co.
The Cruel Sister adapted by John Rea
An old ghost story about jealous sisters, handsome knights and spirits that just won’t die.

* Madhouse Theater Company
Therapy Session by John Stanton
A young woman comes to grips with a family tragedy: Father had sex with their Thanksgiving turkey. If that doesn’t send you into therapy nothing will.

* Simpatico Theatre Project
Squisho-Ball in Heaven by Angela S. Zuck
Who does your child tell his stories to? Find out what Squisho-Ball is and how a Porsche, Jesus, and Abraham Lincoln fit into it all.

* Tapestry Theatre
Killer Pussy by Tapestry Theatre
An improvised, all girl, action flick. Think Kill Bill meets Charlie’s Angels as improvised theatre.

* Theatre Exile
Naked Lunch by Michael Hollinger
A reconciliation dinner between ex-lovers turns into a stand off between carnivore and herbivore. Blood and chlorophyll are the catalysts for this tincture of tension.

* Tribe of Fools
Heavy Metal Dance Fag Part 2
Conceived by Terry Brennan and created by Tribe of Fools, Heavy Metal Dance Fag Part 2 is a comic exploration of sexual repression and confusion.

WEEK TWO: July 18-23

* BCKSEET Productions
Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, Part II or How We Got America’s Most Wanted and the New York Post by Jonathan Reynolds
An imagined epiphany in publisher Rupert Murdoch’s childhood. A young Murdoch competes with his two siblings to gain the favor of an English school mistress for admission to boarding school.

* Flashpoint Theatre Company
The Box by Dan Aibel
In this quirky, thought-provoking piece, an executive and his assistant contemplate how to dispose of a mysterious box, the contents of which, if leaked, could cause an international incident.

* Green Light Theatrical Productions
The Price of Pleasure by Alexandria Dilks Pandola
Kelly is in purgatory trying to decide whether she should spend eternity in heaven or hell. It’s a tough choice between love and peace in Heaven or pleasure and excitement in Hell.

* Luna Theater Company
Yes, Mamet by Matt Casarino
Two David Mamet-obsessed writers pitch their play, a compilation of all things Mamet to Reginald, a theatre director. But Mametisms aren’t enough to impress Reginald. Will they rediscover their own voices?

* Philadelphia Dramatists Center
Whacking Crazy Joey by Bill Rolleri
Everybody thinks three of the boys went into Umberto’s clam house on Mulberry Street one night back in ’73 and iced psycho Joey Gallo. Guido Catania wants to tell you the true story behind the demise of Crazy Joey. Would Guido lie?

* Philadelphia Theatre Workshop
Click Me by Kathy Anderson
A comic romp through the world of online dating. Will you click with the people you clicked on?

* Random Acts of Theater
Twenty Grand, A Table and Two Chairs by Michael A. Carson
Two guys in black suits and white shirts sitting at a table counting a lot of cash. Who are they? Why are they counting? An absurd view of the meaninglessness, mystery and machismo of male conversation.

* Represented Theatre Company
Break by Darnelle Edwin Radford
Hillary, a coffee artist, takes a coffee break. Alan, a coffeehouse patron, joins her. They wax artistic. Connection?

* Theater Ariel
Hagar the Stranger Calls Home by Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer
A contemporary, part-Arab Hagar calls her Sabra (Israeli born) Mother, Sarah. The women’s modern mother-daughter conflicts echo the old tensions of ancient Hagar and Sarah.

* The Vagabond Acting Troupe
Super Duper
Created in development with the Vagabond Acting Troupe core ensemble, this comic book come to life complete with heroes, evil masterminds, damsels in distress and one epic battle. Oh yeah…and flashlights…lots of flashlights.