The Wilma Theater is a non-profit theater company located at 265 S. Broad Street at the corner of Spruce Street in the Avenue of the Arts area of Center City, Philadelphia. The company's current 296-seat theater opened in 1996 and was designed by Hugh Hardy.[1]
 The Wilma Theater in 2024 | |
 | |
| Former names | Wilma Project (1973–1996) |
|---|---|
| Address | 265 Broad Street, Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA |
| Coordinates | 39°56′50.4″N 75°09′52.2″W / 39.947333°N 75.164500°W |
| Capacity | 296 |
| Opened | 1996 |
| Website | |
| https://wilmatheater.org/ | |
History
editThe Wilma Theater began in 1973 as the "Wilma Project", founded to produce original material and to develop community-oriented artists. The name "Wilma" refers to an imaginary oppressed sister of Shakespeare created by Virginia Woolf.[2]
Blanka Zizka and Jiri Zizka from Czechoslovakia joined the project in 1979 as artists-in-residence, and later took over artistic leadership, changing the name to the Wilma Theater. The company staged their productions at a variety of different theaters, in particular a 100-seat converted garage on Sansom Street, but opened their current 296-seat theater on S. Broad Street in 1996.
Jiri Zizka left the theater at the end of the 2009–2010 season and died in January 2012.[3][4]
Awards and honors
editAs of 2018[update], the theater had won 68 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre and received 238 nominations.[5]
On May 22 2024, it was announced that the Wilma would be the recipient of the 2024 Regional Theatre Tony Award, which comes with a $25,000 grant.[6] One of the objects of the award is promoting what often amounts to the incubators of new productions. The Wilma has been noted for this, due in part to its unique organizational structure: it switched from one artistic director, which is standard, to four in early 2020, and then down to three when Blanka Zizka retired in 2021 (leaving James Ijames, Yury Urnov, and Morgan Green), and it also has a permanent troupe of in-house actors, known as the Hothouse.[7][8] Zizka credited the Hothouse for the award, describing them as the "soul" of the Wilma.[8] WHYY's arts and culture reporter Peter Crimmins has similarly noted that "The Wilma is distinctive not only for the excellence of its original productions, but [also] for its unique approach to running a theater company."[8]
References
editNotes
- ^ "History". wilmatheater.org. The Wilma Theater. Archived from the original on October 26, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
- ^ Marchese, John (March 1, 2013). "Wilma Theater Artistic Director Blanka Zizka: Philadelphia's Drama Queen". Philadelphia. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ Klein, Michael (August 19, 2010). "Inqlings: Jiri Zizka ends run at Wilma". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ "Jiri Zizka: 1953 - 2012". wilmatheater.org. The Wilma Theater. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- ^ "The Barrymore Awards". Theatre Philadelphia. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Philadelphia's Wilma Theater Wins 2024 Regional Tony Award". Playbill. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
- ^ Shapiro, Howard (February 18, 2020). "One Wilma Theater artistic director becomes four, in a new leadership model". WHYY.org. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- ^ a b c Crimmins, Peter (May 22, 2024). "Philadelphia's Wilma Theater wins a Tony Award". WHYY.org. Retrieved June 12, 2024.