Location: Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Place

Neighborhood: Center City

2018 Fringe Shows: Lay Me Down Softly, Salamander, Shelter, White Feminist

Description: Situated on picturesque Delancey Place in one of Philadelphia’s most coveted neighborhoods, Plays & Players is an attractive unrenovated three-story building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Completed in 1912 by architect Amos W. Barnes, the building was used a dramatic school and a try-out theater for Broadway shows under the name “the Playhouse,” making the building one of the oldest theaters in continuous use in the United States.

Theater company Plays and Players (founded in 1913) bought the building in 1922 and continues to produce theater in the charming mainstage space and the smaller 3rd-floor black box, Skinner Studio, which takes its name from the company’s first president,  Maud Durbin Skinner. Next door Quigs, a private club for P&P members, serves beer and cocktails to audiences before and after most shows beneath theatrical wall paintings.u

The murals on the building facade were painted in 1923 by  Edith Emerson, curator of Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill.

Year built: 1912

Amenities: Plays & Players houses two theaters: the 290-seat proscenium mainstage (including balcony seating) and 65-seat Skinner Studio. Non-accessible bathrooms in basement and on third-floor.

What they’re saying: “Plays and Players is the perfect venue for Lay Me Down Softly because it is one of the most traditional performance spaces in Philadelphia and the characters in our play are trying to find their way in a traditional world. The juxtaposition of a boxing ring and circus tent on a proscenium stage will help intensify that tension. This expansive set would not be possible in other smaller venues.” Kirsten Quinn, Irish Heritage Theatre

Neighborhood features: Little Pete’s isn’t there any more, but I guess there are other restaurants around.

Price: $1,189,900 (2018 tax estimate), but also priceless!