(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- Curio Theatre Company has announced its 2026-27 season, featuring a live-scored silent horror classic, an interactive family adventure inspired by African folklore, a brand-new adaptation of a beloved French farce, and José Rivera's surreal and apocalyptic modern masterpiece.
The season begins with a special Halloween event October 29 - 31, 2026, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. Accomplished musician and composer Victoria Squicciarini will accompany the silent, black-and-white film with live music from the original score. Directed by F.W. Murnau, Nosferatu is the legendary 1922 German Expressionist film that follows a real estate agent sent to Transylvania to meet the sinister Count Orlok, who brings a trail of plague and death to a German port city. Presented in the Calvary Church Chapel, this Victorian nightmare will unfold in a setting perfectly suited to its eerie atmosphere.
Curio's Make & Partake series returns this winter with The Origin of Anansi the Spider, inspired by an African fable from the Ashanti people of Ghana. Anansi dreams of becoming the lord of all stories and sets out on a mission from the Sky-God Nyame to capture a python, a leopard, and a swarm of hornets. Through cunning wit and trickery, Anansi succeeds and earns his place as the lord of stories. Designed for children ages three and up, this interactive production invites young audiences to help create the theatrical experience by making props, creating sound effects, and even controlling the weather. Exact dates to be announced.
Next comes A Flea in Her Ear (January 27 - February 13, 2027), Georges Feydeau's classic French farce in a brand-new translation and adaptation by Curio Artistic Director Paul Kuhn. Set in Paris in 1907, the play follows Raymonde Chandebise, who suspects her faithful husband Victor of having an affair because he has suddenly lost his libido. Determined to catch him in the act, she orchestrates an elaborate trap that quickly spirals into complete comedic chaos.
The season concludes with José Rivera's Marisol March 31 to April 17, 2027, a beautiful, surreal, and apocalyptic play that follows Marisol Perez, a young Puerto Rican woman and Manhattan copy editor whose world plunges into chaos when her guardian angel abandons her to join a heavenly war against a dying, senile God. As the moon disappears, the air turns toxic, and social order collapses, Marisol must navigate a dystopian New York City in search of hope and human connection. Written in 1989, the play resonates today as an urban fantasy that urges society to wake up and recover the long-lost and much-needed compassion for our fellow man.
"The butterfly effect of one lie can cause horror, a disruption of social order, hilarious pandemonia to the complete disintegration of society," says Artistic Director, Paul Kuhn. "Season 22 will show us that chaos serves a purpose to make us stronger if we stop averting our eyes from it."
Spanning more than a century of storytelling, Curio's 2026-27 season celebrates the enduring power of theatre, folklore, film, and imagination. Through comedy, horror, fantasy, and audience participation, each production offers a unique opportunity to gather together and experience stories that entertain, challenge, and inspire.
For tickets and showtimes, visit www.curiotheatre.org/ Curio Theatre Company is located at 4740 Baltimore Ave in Philadelphia, PA.
The mission of Curio Theatre Company is to serve audiences in West Philadelphia and beyond with high quality, affordable theatre performances; to develop artistic talent through ensemble, company based training and rehearsal processes; and to further academic, social, and personal development through arts education.
The Company operated from 2001 as a touring and outreach company composed of professional artists and administrators in the Philadelphia region before being incorporated as a non-profit organization in October 2004. In January 2005, Curio joined in partnership with the Calvary Center for Culture and Community at 4740 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia. Since 2004, their programming has consisted of productions and education. They produce two shows a year on average for the public. Beyond productions, they also run a theatre school for the local West Philadelphia students, as well as a theatre camp that runs throughout July. In 2015, the Education Department introduced a new program called Curiositeens. This is a free program for local teenagers that runs throughout the school year, and offers the students a chance to go deeper into their theatrical training.
