10 Years of Philly Women's Theatre Festival
2024 Season Festival
August 10 - 18
Theatre Exile
1340 S 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Season Lineup
Staged Readings of:
by Kimberly Shimer
Goldie and the Green Mountains
by Reva Stover
One person shows:
To Mz Sabriaya: Mothering Community
by Sabriaya Shipley
Fitting In: Tales of The Fat Ingenue
by Lexi Schreiber and Katherine Perry
by Darby Burghard
And a full production of
Pancake Queen by Brie Knight
Pancake Queen was originally presented as a staged reading during our very first season, and we are honored to bring it back to the stage in a big way!
Eden 2.0
by Kimberly Shimer
According to the biblical story in Genesis, Eve cursed both herself and Adam when she insisted he try the fruit from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. But what if, in fact, Adam was to blame? What if a lie and a supposed video glitch wrongly convicted Eve, leading to millennia of gender inequality? Can a present-day intern at the Command Center in "Almost Heaven, West Virginia" make things right?
Kimberly Shimer
Kimberly Shimer is a returning playwright to PWTF, with her play Talking Over Tea being featured in our 2022 season on mental health. Her first play, “A Ghost of a Chance,” received a Zoom production as a finalist in FutureFest 2020 at Dayton Playhouse. In 2021, it was selected for Cincinnati LAB Theatre’s New Works Festival. Kimberly’s new full-length plays are “Eden 2.0” and “Dear Elsie: Kafka’s Letters from a Lost Doll,” which was part of Ragged Edge Theatre’s New Works Festival. “Talking Over Tea,” her first 10-minute play, won Arts After Hours’ 10-Minute Play Contest and was produced by A Light in Dark Places (Los Angeles) and Breaking Waves Theatre (Guam) in 2021. Kimberly earned a graduate certificate in Practical Theatre at Villanova University, where she discovered playwriting.
Goldie and the Green Mountains
by Reva Stover
When Goldie, a young Black woman, leaves D.C to pursue a teaching career in the small town of Bumfort, Vermont, she discovers that not everything is as it seems. As Goldie fights to survive in the haunting woods of Vermont, she uncovers a conspiracy that spans farther than one could possibly imagine. Will she decide to settle in or find a way out of her new home? Goldie and the Green Mountains is a comedic social horror all its own.
Reva Stover
Reva is a director, playwright, actor, producer, and dramaturg with a BFA acting degree from the University of Central Florida. They are the co-Artistic Director and head of New Play Development at Azuka Theatre. They have written works such as Running (Wings of Paper Theatre), a series of revisited Shakespearean sonnets (Revolution Shakespeare), and Moments (Philly Women’s Theatre Festival). They’ve directed pieces such as Overwinter, A Hit Dog Will Holler, and Tuck Everlasting. Across disciplines, Reva enjoys telling stories that examine how systems of oppression impact marginalized communities while exploring the ways those communities fight back.
To Mz Sabriaya: Mothering Community
by Sabriaya Shipley
This choreopoem captures the journey of a Queer Black woman/nonbinary Femme body from a student to a teacher and back again. To Mz. Sabriaya is filled with movement, sound, and poetry that echo the burnout of being a caregiver matched with a celebration and dedication to nurturing life and future generations.
Sabriaya Shipley
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Sabriaya is a Philadelphia-based poet, educator, and community ethnographer determined to cultivate performance art and archival spaces centered around the expressive freedom of Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. A recipient of the Philadelphia Foundation and Forman Art's Art Works and the Rosine 2.0 Past Visions/ Future Archives Micro-Grant, Sabriaya currently serves as Executive Director of Theatre Philadelphia and community organizer in Philly.
Fitting In: Tales of The Fat Ingenue
by Lexi Schreiber and Katherine Perry
Lexi Schreiber brings charisma, humor, heart, and show stopping numbers in The Fat Ingenue, which will bring you on a journey of love, acceptance, and money notes while sharing stories of her FAT life, being a FAT woman in musical theatre, and what it means for her FAT body to be enough.
Lexi Schreiber
Lexi Schreiber (she/her) has a Master of Art in Theatre from Villanova University (2017). She completed her undergrad at University of the Arts to receive a Bachelor of Music with a Minor in Musical Theatre (2014). In 2020, Lexi created “@thefatingenue” on Instagram and Tiktok. She uses her talent and skill as a professional theatre artist to advocate for fat representation in theatre. She justifies why fat people belong in leading roles using dramaturgical analysis. Lexi has acquired over 40 thousand followers across instagram and tiktok, multiple videos reach over 100k views, one that reached 1.6 million views! “Fitting In” has been featured in Broadway World, The Broad St Review and Philadelphia Weekly. It premiered in NYC at Don’t Tell Mama NYC in January 2023.
Miss Darby is Missing
by Darby Burghard
A comedic one woman show that explores what it means to be from a place like Mississippi and how that experience shapes one's perception of New York City. Meeting a cast of amusing characters along the way, this show is ultimately about growing up and reckoning with identity and a sense of home.
Darby Burghard
PWTF is excited and honored to welcome Darby Burghard as she marks her first year with the festival! Darby is an actor, writer, and comedian originally from the Deep South. She has been known to wear shoes on occasion. You can catch her doing sketch and standup comedy around NYC.
Pancake Queen
by Brie Knight
In 1893 St. Joseph, Missouri, Nancy Green strives to make peace with her painful past so she may live her future as a free woman. When she finds herself employed by a local miller, Randolph T. Davis, to portray his new, revolutionary merchandising symbol, Aunt Jemima at the Chicago’s World Fair, her past experiences and future dreams collide. As Nancy fights to make a life of her own design, she risks being consumed by Aunt Jemima and the past she wants to leave behind.
Brie Knight
Brie Knight (she/her) is an award winning playwright whose works have been featured at InterAct Theatre, Eagle Theatre, PlayPenn, The Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, and Universities and festivals around the country. She is a graduate of the Philadelphia Playwright’s Incubator – The Foundry. Her play PANCAKE QUEEN won the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s 2018 Playwriting Competition and the Sue Winge Playwriting Award from Villanova University. Her play THE BABY was selected to be a part of NYC’s 2022 United Solo Festival. For Juneteenth, 2021, Brie Co-Produced the virtual theatrical revolution BLACKBESTFRIEND.
Want to see them all? Festival Passes include tickets to all of this season's shows at a discounted rate!
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Join comedian and craft cocktail queen Katie Hewko-Dykes as she guides you through creating a specialty PWTF cocktail, tickling your funny bone along the way! She will be joined by fellow local women comedians for an evening of laughs you won't forget. This event is a masterclass in craft cocktails and a comedy show wrapped in one. Your ticket purchase includes the specialty cocktail you will learn how to make!
Stay Tuned for more announcements about this season's special event!
Celebrate the next generation of Philadelphia theatre makers as we partner with Philly Young Playwrights for an outdoor production made by and for young people! Come see rising freshman Allison Marker’s play “Ends with the Ocean Tides”, directed and performed by professional local theater makers! The day will also include a workshop for young storytellers, crafts, and snacks. This is a pay what you decide event open to audiences of all ages!
Casts and Crew
Meet the incredible talent behind this season's performances!
Director, "Eden 2.0"
Becky Fleckner
Becky is a Philadelphia based actor, director, and teaching artist. She has two degrees in theater and was very blessed at a young age to discover her place and home in theater and be able to carry that through to her professional life. When she isn't performing or auditioning, she is using theater to teach and help grow well-rounded empathetic people. It's through the arts that we learn to feel, think, grow, and help.
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Adam/Jimmy - "Eden 2.0"
Andrew SanFilippo
Andrew Sanfilippo is making their PWTF debut in “Eden 2.0”. We are so excited to have them with us and to continue to follow their journey.
Lee/Brantley - "Eden 2.0"
Jerry Perna
In addition to his appearances in over 75 professional theatre productions, award-winning films, national commercials and TV shows, Jerry Perna is a teacher/facilitator for Special Needs and Senior Populations, an acting coach, stage director & published playwright, as well as, a professional actor. He holds a graduate degree from the American Conservatory Theatre, in San Francisco. He dedicates this to Anita & Matilda.
Peggy, "Eden 2.0"
Kate Scanlon
Kate is thrilled to be here as Peggy in Eden 2.0! Kate is an actor in local shows and recently performed as a saucy sex kitten in the 22nd Annual Colonial Quickies at the Colonial Theater and as a happy starfish in a children’s show at Players Club of Swarthmore. (Kate met the fantastic Kim at that show!) Kate would love to thank Kim and the wonderful team at Philadelphia Women’s Theater Festival.
Eve/Aundreia, "Eden 2.0"
Natajia "Tay" Sconiers
Natajia “Tay” Sconiers is a Black theatre and teaching artist from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in theatre arts. A former Arden Apprentice (class 26) and Acting Apprentice at Delaware Shakespeare, she started out in Costume Design and quickly developed a love for all aspects of theatre, working onstage, backstage and administratively at multiple theaters, including McCarter Theatre Center, and Freedom Theater. She is currently an Artistic Associate at Delaware Theatre Company, Board member of Philadelphia Artists’ Collective and a member of Theatre Contra.
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Carl, "Eden 2.0"
Paul Kerrigan
Paul Kerrigan I has been acting, directing, and teaching theater for five decades, primarily with the Players Club of Swarthmore and The Young Peoples Theatre Workshop. He makes his PWTF debut in Eden 2.0. In college (quite sometime ago), Paul played Adam in Mark Twain's Creation of the World and Other Business.
Music Director, Accompanist, "Fitting In: Tales of the Fat Ingenue"
Allison Rossi
Allison Rossi (she/they) has spent decades as an accompanist, piano teacher, and music director in the Philadelphia area. Allison graduated from Full Sail University with a B.S. in Entertainment Business and is currently completing a M.A. in Teaching and Learning at Capella University.Recent credits include various productions with Mainstage Center for the Arts, Ocean County College, Wolf Performing Arts Center, Rowan College at Gloucester County, Audubon High School, Orlando Gay Chorus, the Philly Pops, and other regional groups. When not at the piano, Allison can be found behind the scenes, working as a development assistant, grant writer, and educator. Follow on TikTok @allison.wmv.
Director, "Goldie and the Green Mountains"
Xora Odelle
Xora is a performer, director, writer, and poet. She is incredibly excited to be directing “Goldie and the Green Mountains” with a phenomenal cast. She believes in the transformative powers that stories have on the human spirit. She aims to create work that dances on the edge of controversy in mindful ways that spark change in her audience. When she isn't at home with her cat, Princito, she can be found making people uncomfortable by journaling in crowded bars and queuing Prince songs on TouchTunes.
Goldie, "Goldie and the Green Mountains"
Cheyenne Parks
Cheyenne Parks is excited to be making her PWTF debut! Her regional credits include: “As You Like It” (Shakespeare In Clark Park), “Once On This Island U/S” (Arden Theatre Co.), “Overwinter” (Azuka Theatre), “The Ways of White Folks” (EgoPo Classic Theater), and “School Girls; Or, African Mean Girls” (Arden Theatre Co.). Nominations include: Best Performer In A Play and Best Direction Of A Play (BroadwayWorld Reginal Awards 2022). She has also worked as a Director for Theatre on the Verge, The Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and Azuka Theatre Rising Writers. Special thanks goes to Cheyenne’s family and friends. <3
Stacy, "Goldie and the Green Mountains"
Sabrina Profitt
Sabrina Profitt has been a proud member of Actors' Equity and the Screen Actors Guild for over 25 years. She has worked in regional theaters across the country and on numerous stages in the Philadelphia area. Her upcoming appearance will be in Act II Playhouse's political comedy, The Outsider (Oct 8-Nov 12). Classically trained and a big fan of new plays, Sabrina is the mother of three extraordinary humans and one less extraordinary dog.
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Sky/Ghost 1 - "Goldie and the Green Mountains"
Rachel Dolan
Rachel Dolan is an actress located in Philadelphia. Recent roles include Daniella in the short film “Cold” with Roaming Shadow Productions, the Stranger/Other Woman in “Dead Man’s Cellphone” at Langhorne Players and Louka in “Arms and the Man” with Indecorous Theatre Productions. Rachel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre with a Concentration in Acting from Temple University and a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Performing Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her thesis film, “El Canto de Los Coquis” completed at SCAD, earned her Best Actor and Best First Time Director. Rachel enjoys acting, directing, filmmaking, dramaturgy, and screenwriting. She hopes she can continue to use her work to promote underrepresented stories and bring awareness to social justice issues.
Jax/Ghost 2 - "Goldie and the Green Montains"
Tariq Kanu
Tariq is excited to be a part of the 2024 PWTF! Tariq received his BA in Theater from Temple University in 2020. Most recent credits include: “As You Like It” at Shakespeare in Clark Park, “Kill Move Paradise” at South Camden Theater Company, “Dreamgirls” at Theater in the X, “Plum Bun” at EgoPo Theater Company, and “Twelfth Night O LO Que Quieras” at Delaware Shakespeare. Tariq would like to thank his friends and family for their unwavering support, as well as the wonderful cast and crew of this production. Enjoy! (IG: tariq.kanu)
Willow/Ghost 3 - "Goldie and the Green Mountains"
Satchel Williams
Satchel Williams is a Brooklyn-born, Philadelphia- based actor and writer. Since graduating Temple University with a BA in Theater Studies, they've had the pleasure of working with many reputable theater companies, including Inis Nua, Tiny Dynamite, Azuka, InterAct, Theatre Horizon, and the Strides Collective, to name a few. When not on/backstage, you can catch her managing a landscape architecture studio and gallery, talking about astrology or Love Island, and procrastinating on video essay scripts.
Mabel/Librarian - "Goldie and the Green Mountains"
Alaina Kopelove
Alana is overjoyed to be making her debut with Philadelphia’s Women’s Theatre Festival, especially being under the direction of Reva Stover in their play, “Goldie and the Green Mountains”! A Philly-based theatre artist, her credits include: “BFG”, “Red Riding Hood” (Arden Theatre Company); “Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story” (Curio Theatre Company); “Peter Rabbit Tales ”(Enchantment Theatre Company). Be sure to check her website, alanakopelove.com, for any updates! Many thanks and love to Reva for selecting her to be a part of something special. Much love to her friends, family and Micah. BFA Acting from Arcadia University.
Jules/Therapist - "Goldie and the Green Mountains"
Christopher Roche
Christopher David Roché is excited to join PWTF as Jules/Therapist in "Goldie and the Green Mountains"! Chris is a North Philadelphia-based, actor, singer, producer, director, and stage manager. In addition to "Goldie and the Green Mountains", he currently is performing in the one-man show, “Adventures of a Revolutionary Solider” as Joseph Plumb Martin at the Museum of the American Revolution. His training includes a B.A in Theatre from Albright College with vocal trianing under Jeffrey Lentz’s studio. He has credits in regional professional theater and in television and media.
She now performs in theater productions, readings, and workshops across the greater Philadelphia area and as a vocalist with ChoralArts Philadelphia. Anna's training includes theater coursework and music coursework at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, and she now studies with Benjamin Bass of Broken Mirror Studio. Anna is a classically trained violinist with orchestra, chamber ensemble, and soloist experience.
Anna enjoys a wide variety of interests, with experience in ESL and Adult Spanish-Speaking Literacy education, immigrant and refugee advocacy, library work, pastry and baking, figure skating coaching, and recently spent a year living and working in Santander, Spain. A Philosophy major with extensive coursework in English from Haverford College, Anna finds that all her experiences and interests inform her theater-making. She's very grateful to PWTF for the opportunity to participate in the 2024 Festival!
Stage Directions, "Goldie and the Green Mountains"
Anna Fiscarelli
Anna is an actor, musician, director, and theater-lover based in West Philadelphia. She made her professional theater debut in Shakespeare in Clark Park's "As You Like It", after many years of student and volunteer theater experience, including directing and co-directing outdoor Shakespeare productions, performing in productions across Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore Colleges' theater departments, and supporting student productions as a member of Haverford's Spotlight Theatre Company board. Her passion for supporting experimental art, emerging art and independent artists led her to pursue several administrative positions supporting artists in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, most recently serving as Interim Coordinator of the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival and Head of the Independent Artist Department at FringeArts.
Playwright, "Ends with Ocean Ties"
Allison Marker
Allison is the playwright of "Ends with the Ocean Tides". She is a rising freshman at Upper Darby High School, and she has strong interests in art and in theater. In the past, she has written and won for contests such as the Delaware County Young Author's contest, and writing this play has been one of her first experiences with Philadelphia Young Playwrights. When she's not writing, Allison enjoys spending time doing Musical Theater at her school, or learning to play instruments such as ukulele and piano.