Arden Theatre Company Announces 2015/2016 Children’s Theatre Season

August 12, 2015

(Philadelphia, PA) Arden Theatre Company announces Children’s Theatre programming for the 2015/2016 Season, and continues their mission to present great stories by great storytellers for family audiences.

The 2015/16 Children’s Theatre Season includes two adaptations of classics stories, and one is a World Premiere by playwright, director and screenwriter Laura Eason. Eason is considered one of today’s major playwrighting voices with over 20 full-length plays to her name, and is a writer for the TV series House of Cards.

Arden Producing Artistic Director Terrence J. Nolen says, “Arden Children’s Theatre is dedicated to creating world class theatre for kids, and we’re so excited to be bringing these two stories to life on our stage with such extraordinary artists. We commissioned Laura Eason to write Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates because we want our most exciting playwrights to be writing work for kids, and we can’t wait to share the wildly creative and very funny stories of The Stinky Cheese Man with our audiences.”

 

The two-show season includes:

HANS BRINKER AND THE SILVER SKATES – World Premiere
By Laura Eason, commissioned by Arden Theatre Company
Based on the book by Mary Mapes Dodge
Directed by Whit MacLaughlin
November 24, 2015 – January 31, 2016
Press Opening: Saturday, December 5, 2015 
F. Otto Haas Theatre

A great skating contest is announced, and the winner will receive a shiny pair of silver skates.  But will Hans Brinker and his sister Gretel, with their hand-carved wooden skates, be able to compete against children who own fine steel blades? Set against a backdrop of frozen canals in 19th century Holland, this new production celebrates the importance of grit and determination, the value of generosity, and the thrill of flying down the ice on a pair of skates.

THE STINKY CHEESE MAN
Based on the book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
Adapted by John Glore
Directed by Matthew Decker
April 6 – June 12, 2016
Press Opening: Saturday, April 9, 2016
Arcadia Stage

What do you get when you take fairy tale classics and turn them on their heads? The widely acclaimed Caldecott Award-winning book comes to the stage in a wildly creative new production featuring a cast of characters including Jack (of the “beanstalk” fame), Chicken Licken (who believes the sky is falling), The Really Ugly Duckling (who grows up to be…a really ugly duck), and The Stinky Cheese Man (who you just have to smell to believe.) Filled with song and madcap adventure, The Stinky Cheese Man is fun for all ages!

Subscription Information
Children’s Theatre Subscriptions are now on sale for the 2015/16 Season and range in price from $26 – $50 for the two-show series. Group tickets for students and others are also now available and range in price from $10 – $18. Single tickets are not yet on sale. Call the Arden Box Office at 215.922.1122, view details and order online here or visit the box office at 40 N. 2nd Street in Old City, Philadelphia.

About the Arden
Founded in 1988, Arden Theatre Company is dedicated to bringing to life great stories by great storytellers–on the stage, in the classroom, and in the community. Five productions are staged each season as part of the Mainstage series and two productions through Arden Children’s Theatre, the city’s first resident professional children’s theatre program. New work is produced through the Independence Foundation New Play Showcase. The Arden’s Education Department includes: Arden for All (AFA), a theatre access and education program for underserved young people; Arden Drama School, the after-school, Saturday, and summer camp classes for students in grades pre K-12; Teen Arden, an immersive after-school access program for Philadelphia-area based teenagers; and the Arden Professional Apprentice Program, a nationally renowned comprehensive theatre management training program. The Hamilton Family Arts Center is the new facility dedicated to education programs and new play development.

The Arden has received numerous honors including 62 awards and 301 nominations from the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre.  The Arden is a winner of four “Theatre Company of the Year” designations (Philadelphia Inquirer), six Philadelphia Magazine “Best of Philly” awards and three “Best of Philly Kids” awards, the City Paper’s Reader’s Choice Award and the prestigious “Great Friend to Kids Award” from the Please Touch Museum for Arden Children’s Theatre work. For accessibility efforts, the Arden was named a “Keystone of Accessibility” by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Arden Theatre Company is a professional, nonprofit 501(c)(3) theatre company and a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the League of Resident Theatres, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Old City Arts Association. The Arden also participates in The Barrymore Awards, a program of Theatre Philadelphia.

# # #