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"Passing Strange," by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, which recently played at the Wilma. (Photo by Bill Hebert)

Wilma Theater Sets 4-Play 2018-19 Season

The season will include plays by James Ijames and Anne Washburn, and a new take on Oedipus by Kate Tarker.

PHILADELPHIA: The Wilma Theater has announced its 2018-19 season featuring four productions.

The season will open with Kill Move Paradise by James Ijames,  a play which chronicles four men grappling with the violence which has torn them from their former lives. The local playwright and Wilma HotHouse Affiliated Artist was inspired by the shooting of Tamir Rice, resulting in a hyper-theatrical play with the contemporary immediacy of Black Lives Matter.

Following will be Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, which imagines the future after society has collapsed. The production will feature the Wilma HotHouse Company. Yury Urnov will direct.

The season will continue with Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Artistic director Blanka Zizka will direct the classic love story, promising in a statement a “gutsy and visceral interpretation.” Taysha Marie Canales and Matteo Scammell will be featured in the title roles.

The season will close with the world premiere of Dionysus Was Such a Nice Man by Kate Tarker, a farcical take on the story of Oedipus from the perspective of the shepherds who raised him. Dominique Serrand will direct.

The Wilma Theatre was founded in 1973 and strives to create adventurous art.

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