The Mystery Plays

Nov. 15-30, $15-$18, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop at Walnut Street Theatre Studio 5, 825 Walnut St., 215-316-1361, philadelphiatheatreworkshop.org.

by Mark Cofta

theater

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I associate the term "mystery plays" with the medieval form of traveling Bible stories, so I was intrigued when I learned that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's The Mystery Plays is scary and spiritual in a very different sense. Horror film auteur Joe (Dallas Drummond) finds his real life becoming like one of his movies after surviving a train wreck and suffering the hauntings of a ghost of a not-so-fortunate passenger. Meanwhile, lawyer friend Abby (Jennifer Nehila) returns to her hometown to make peace with the man (Dylan Clements) who, 16 years ago, murdered her parents and sister. Philadelphia Theatre Workshop's Bill Felty realized, after directing a reading of Aguirre-Sacasa's The Muckle Man, that "this was a new and unique voice in the American theater." Felty was surprised to find that this prolific young playwright had never been produced in Philadelphia, and made it his mission to rectify that situation."His works deal with the world we know and the things that lie beyond," says Felty, "the natural and the supernatural."

Nov. 15-30, $15-$18, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop at Walnut Street Theatre Studio 5, 825 Walnut St., 215-316-1361, philadelphiatheatreworkshop.org.