Philadelphia Theatre Company Presents PTC@Play, 2/18-3/3

Lee Blessing's play For the Loyal receives a reading on Wednesday, February 27. Directed by Lucie Tiberghien, the ensemble cast features Kelly Aukin, Triney Sandoval, Allie Gallerini, Andrew Kane and Jordan Mottram. For the Loyal is a taut drama influenced by the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky scandal, except this time it's up to a young pregnant wife to change the corrupt outcome and fight the manipulation of the system, breaking the silence of the "Boys Club."
Lee Blessing is the author of over twenty plays and screenplays including A Walk in the Woods, which ran on Broadway and London's West End as well Eleemosynary, Cobb, Thief River, Chesapeake and Down the Road, all of which ran Off-Broadway. The recipient of The American Theatre Critics Association Award, the L.A. Drama Critics Award, the Great American Play Award, the Humanitas Award, and the George and Elisabeth Marton Award, his plays have been nominated for Tony and Olivier Awards, as well as for the Pulitzer Prize.

The Festival concludes on Sunday, March 3rd with FuturePhilly@Play, showcasing local talent with an evening of shorts by some of the Delaware Valley's finest emerging voices in theatre. Kicking off with an excerpt from Grillo's All American by InterAct Theatre Company's Playwright-in-Resident A. Zell Williams, a family drama about restaurant wars in South Philly, followed by readings of For Change by Brian Grace-Duff; Motion Capture by Jeremy Gable; Coming From Somebody Like You by Emma Goidel; If Not Now by Ken Kaissar; By Its Middle by Saran Mantell; and The Amazing Irene O'Crowley by David Strattan White. There will be a Closing Party immediately following the reading featuring the West Philadelphia Orchestra, an array of local brews, and more.

During the two-week Festival PTC@Play features two performances of Philly Reality on Wednesday, February 29 and Thursday, March 1. Philly Reality is a unique multi-school student performance program that is part of PTC's Barrymore Award-winning education program Drama Contact. In addition to Philly Reality, Drama Contact enhances the curriculum of theater arts instruction within public schools by offering in-school and at-the-theater workshops, residencies, student matinees, and weekend and summer programs.

PTC@Play is an outgrowth of PTC's annual STAGES program, established in 1986, which also includes commissions, workshops and the Terrence McNally New Play Award. Through STAGES, PTC has developed 90 plays, half of which have gone on to production or publication. Readings that have made it on to the PTC mainstage include the world premieres of Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso and Bruce Graham's According to Goldman. Two of PTC's commissions have been After Ashley by Gina Gionfriddo which premiered at the Humana Festival and Bruce Norris' The Pain and the Itch which premiered at Steppenwolf. On the mainstage PTC has produced 38 new plays and musicals. Recent world premieres include Red Hot Patriot by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel, Terrence McNally's Golden Age, Bill Irwin's The Happiness Lecture, and the recent musical Stars of David.

PTC@Play is made possible with generous two-year grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation. The Terrence McNally New Play Award is underwritten in part by The Peter Arger and Donald Wilf New Play Fund.

Founded in 1974, Philadelphia Theatre Company is a leading regional theatre company whose mission is to produce, develop and present entertaining and imaginative Contemporary Theatre focused on the American experience that both ignites the intellect and touches the soul. By developing new work through commissions, readings and workshops, PTC generates projects that have a national impact and reach broad regional audiences. Under the leadership of PTC's Producing Artistic Director Sara Garonzik since 1982 and Managing Director Shira Beckerman, who joined PTC in August, 2011, PTC supports the work of a growing body of diverse dramatists and takes pride in being a home to many nationally recognized artists who have participated in more than 140 world and Philadelphia premieres. PTC has received 46 Barrymore Awards and 155 nominations. In October 2007, PTC opened the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, their home on Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts, which has helped contribute to the revitalization of Center City Philadelphia's thriving arts district.
For further information, please call 215-735-7356.

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