Philadelphia Offers Plays

PHILADELPHIA playwright Bruce Graham brings his new play "The Champagne Charlie Stakes" to the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays, April 17-May 9.

The play, on stage at the Annenberg Center's Harold Prince Theatre, marks the seventh collaboration between Mr. Graham and the theater company. Now in its 11th season, the company's purpose is to develop and produce new plays solely by American playwrights.

"The Champagne Charlie Stakes" continues Graham's love affair with the language and lifestyles of the working class. Directed by James Christy, the play is a comedy about family and friends growing old together and is set at a racetrack where the character Charlie vows to bet his life savings on a race named after him. Audience members will be invited to participate in discussions after curtain calls to help shape the future of the play.

Next season, the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays will broaden its mission to include not just new American works, but new translations, adaptations, and foreign plays.