On The DL

To the Wall Productions' One-Year Birthday Bash

by Julia Terruso

Mon., July 28, 8 p.m.-2 a.m., $5, The Dive, second floor, 947 E. Passyunk Ave., tothewallproductions.org

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

You only turn one once. For To the Wall Productions, a new Philly theater company already known for putting on edgy, original shows, that calls for an all-out celebration at the spot where it began: upstairs at the Dive. Last year, it debuted at the South Philly bar with Oedipus Kings: The Drinking Game, a comic twist on Oedipus Rex that had audience members interactively guzzling beer as the plot unfolded. This year, it'll return with Charles Busch's Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, which follows two seductive, rival vampiresses, at the Fringe Festival in early September; and The Cupid Psyche, written by the Wall's artistic associate director, Sarah Bowden, and the company's second drinking-game production.

In addition to a sock puppet preview of the upcoming season's offerings, there'll be dance music (courtesy of Pittsburgh's DJ CrazyStripes), cake, beer and, appropriately, a tournament game of Quarters. The playfulness and imagination behind the bash mirrors a larger mission the company hopes to fulfill: "The majority of people who go to the theater are older," says Bowden. "We are trying to invite people from all different economic backgrounds, ages and experiences back into the theater."

Still, you must be 21 to attend this one-year-old's event.