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The Bandits shut down Berks, poetry with Blue Stoop, PAAFF preview, and more this weekend
Kyle V. Hiller
This weekend features a handful of theatre performances from Quintessence Theatre and Phoenix Theatre companies, Applied Mechanics and The Bandits are here to support Shut Down Berks, and beginning and advanced poets alike can level up their skills with poet laureate Trapeta Mayson for a wellness-themed workshop. Playhouse West kicks off its 7th annual short film festival, and PAAFF season is alive and well with a preview party to round out the weekend.
The Bandits Album Release Party
Applied Mechanics is hosting the debut album release party for The Bandit’s We Are Bandits on Friday, October 9 at 8pm. The house punk band has “all the tone of riot grrrl with late 80s punk at its core,” with band members Izzy Sazak, Mary Tuomanen, Emily Schuman, Thomas Choinacky, Anita Holland, and Lucas Campbell. The audience can take part in the virtual party and catch cameos by original band members Aime Donna Kelly (The Marvelous Ms. Maisel) and Adam Kerbel (Almanac Dance Circus Theatre) just to name a few. The release party serves as a fundraiser for Shut Down Berks, a campaign to shut down the publicly-owned Berks County immigrant detention center in Pennsylvania.
Tickets are free. Register in advance and consider a donation if you can swing it.
Blue Stoop is teaming up with Philadelphia Poet Laureate Trapeta Mayson for the Writing Wellness: A Healing Verse Writing Workshop for all levels of writers. The workshop runs through all of October every Thursday, starting October 8. Participants will explore their own experiences and create free verse, confessionals, praise, healing verses, elegiac poems, and other styles. Join in the healing online.
The Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival is having its preview party on Thursday, October 8 at 6:30pm. Join in for an exclusive sneak peek at this fall’s festival lineup. The stream will be live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch.
Phoenix Theatre is keeping it alive in its second season, going virtual with its first show of the season, Henry VI, Part III. Running October 9 through 11, audiences can view the rarely performed Shakespeare piece that tackles chaos in families, revenge, and power. The performance is free, with a suggested donation. Connect online or watch it on YouTube.
The 7th annual festival convenes virtually this year on Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11, with a collection of 29 short films. Check out the full lineup online.
Quintessence Theater shouts into the void
Quintessence Theatre Group is launching a livestreaming series Shout into the Void: A Virtual Play Reading Festival starting Monday, October 12. Each Monday at 7pm, they will present a new classic play reading, complete with additional interviews, articles, and other supplementary materials to pair with the experience. The first edition starts with Githa Sowerby’s Rutherford and Son, a critique of the patriarchal Northern England industrial system during the British feminist movement in 1912. Find out more about the show and the rest of the lineup online.
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