Mt. Airy social worker runs theater 'on empty'

by STEVEN STANEK

In their search for a playhouse to call home, hoping that one day they might actually get paid, The Philadelphia Theatre Workshop has a broader mission, a goal unmeasured in ticket sales and monetary gains. With only one production on their resume thus far, Postcoital Variations, which ran through Oct. 24 at the Walnut Street Theater, the fledgling theater troupe is setting out to usher in a new, refreshing flavor, "to produce works of theater that no one else is producing in Philadelphia."

This translates to productions that are outside the mainstream, the plots of which are somewhat unusual and off-kilter. Their themes and dialogue, often grappling with sexual orientation, race, health and gender issues, feature alternative, minority characters, which both challenges people in the audience and the norm of plays on our city's stages. If you catch one of their shows, it is unlikely that you can say you've seen this all before.

Carol Murray, of Mt. Airy, is the managing director, and like the plays she produces, the story of her involvement with the theater is atypical. A social worker by training, the majority of Carol's expertise was in healthcare, organizing large-scale awareness campaigns that needed smart marketing schemes and coordinated production. Though not a linear connection, her experience with marketing and production honed the skills she uses in the world of drama.

Carol worked at Children's Hospital as outreach coordinator, where she became involved with the Adolescent HIV Initiative. She was the co-creator of "Teen Health Connections," for which she won an Emmy award, a program designed to encourage teen health, HIV testing and even cardiovascular well being. She was also co-founder of Community Media Partners, a marketing and communications company that specializes in social marketing with a particular expertise in accessing media resources for nonprofits. Of all her work directing community outreach and awareness campaigns, she reasons, "It is all production in one way or another."

The real seeds of what is now the Philadelphia Theatre Workshop were planted when Carol took an acting class at the Wilma Theater, where she linked up with the instructor, Bill Felty, and freelance director Robin Eisenberg. Bill and Robin originally met as directors in the inaugural season of the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, where they found a common bond and "sensibility," realizing together that no local theater took on the kind of challenging plays they wanted to direct.

Carol, who admits she was an average theatergoer with just a casual interest in acting, took the class as a way to "shift energies." As it turned out, Bill and Robin were considering the formation of a groundbreaking, more risqué theater company, which needed the right kind of marketing and managing to take life. Carol, an experienced organizer and Emmy-award winning producer, brought the right mix of marketing and managerial skill. She readily joined the team.

Carol's work as managing director involves all the little details that make the average company tick. She writes press releases and directs e-mail campaigns, creates postcards and posters, organizes fundraisers and sells ads, accomplishing everything behind the scenes, making a play into a production, from logos to taglines. Perhaps the most telling aspect of her work is that she goes uncompensated, as do all of the organization's volunteer actors, directors, wardrobe and set designers.

With barely enough money to fuel the production, the Philadelphia Theatre Workshop essentially runs on empty, and the real skill of managing director is brought to bear. Finding designers and printers to do their flyers for free, even a Web site they created themselves, the Philadelphia Theatre Workshop pulled off their first full-scale production based on scrounging abilities, good promotion and fundraisers, where the donor lists included family and friends.

The first production sold out five of seven nights and was a success by all accounts, if only for the fact that it even occurred on the limited cash flow and all free work. That is not to say, however, that it was lacking in scale or attention to detail. It even had an original music score.

The idea that the Philadelphia Theatre Workshop functions without much money highlights their second great mission, to create opportunities for actors, playwrights and directors. While they all hope to get paid for what they do someday, making no money whatsoever and then doing it anyway reveals the passion and purity in their craft.

The Philadelphia Theatre Workshop doesn't have much to offer its members other than assuring that their artistic voices are heard. So while one of its aims is to tell unique stories, another is to give breaks to area artists. And to those actors and designers who make the cut, rehearing four times a week, the opportunity to make something new and to be a part of a successful production is the reward.

The first production of the Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, Postcoital Variations, by Alex Dremann, was a "fun, touching romp in and out of the bedroom, exploring all relationship configurations on the sexual identity continuum." About 80 actors responded to a call for headshots, of which 40 were called back, eventually boiling the number down to six equally weighted roles. The world premiere play was directed by Felty and was rehearsed since August.

Their next undertaking will be Kimberly Akimbo, by award-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. This play, again, deals with an uncommon theme and new juxtaposition of characters. The lead role, another "alternative" figure, is a 16-year-old New Jersey girl who has the body of a 60-year-old woman due to an aging disorder. The play is about the interaction of her family and her role as its matriarchal figure, a mother who is pregnant, a father who's a drunk and an aunt who's an escaped con.

Working with inventive scripts and bringing new subjects to the stage, the end goal of the Philadelphia Theatre Workshop is to find a home in one of the city's playhouses and make money for their actors and crew in the process of telling stories that no one else can. Carol Murray's energy shift from healthcare to drama is now complete, although her purpose of raising money and awareness has not much changed. She hopes to continue her work with Bill and Robin to make the Philadelphia Theatre workshop a staple of the local circuit.