Lantern Theater Company
Encyclopedia
Lantern Theater Company is a not-for-profit regional theater founded in 1994 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Led by founding artistic director Charles McMahon and managing director Anne Shuff, the Lantern produces a mix of classics, modern, and original works for the stage, an audience enrichment series that provides an insider's look at each production, and Illumination, its Barrymore Award-winning education program that engages local students and adults in the world of theater and nurtures their artistic expression through in-school residencies, student matinee performances, and teaching artist training for after school programs.
Lantern Theater Company has been in residence at St. Stephen's Theater at 10th & Ludlow Streets in Center City since 1996, managing the performance space and developing it into an affordable multi-purpose performing arts venue.
named the Lantern "Best Theatre Company" in 2008, describing the company's selection of plays as "impressively diverse in genre and style." Since the inception of the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater
in 1995, the Lantern has received 71 nominations and 15 awards, including eight nominations for Outstanding Overall Production of Play over the past seven years - more than any other theater company in the Philadelphia region.
Barrymore Award Wins:
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Led by founding artistic director Charles McMahon and managing director Anne Shuff, the Lantern produces a mix of classics, modern, and original works for the stage, an audience enrichment series that provides an insider's look at each production, and Illumination, its Barrymore Award-winning education program that engages local students and adults in the world of theater and nurtures their artistic expression through in-school residencies, student matinee performances, and teaching artist training for after school programs.
Lantern Theater Company has been in residence at St. Stephen's Theater at 10th & Ludlow Streets in Center City since 1996, managing the performance space and developing it into an affordable multi-purpose performing arts venue.
Awards and accolades
Philadelphia WeeklyPhiladelphia Weekly
Philadelphia Weekly , is an award-winning alternative newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, published every Wednesday.The paper was founded in 1971 as a sister publication to the South Philadelphia Press. In 1995, the paper became Philadelphia Weekly...
named the Lantern "Best Theatre Company" in 2008, describing the company's selection of plays as "impressively diverse in genre and style." Since the inception of the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater
Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater
The Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater are awards presented by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia for Philadelphia-area theater productions. One journalist referred to the award as "Philadelphia’s equivalent of a Tony."...
in 1995, the Lantern has received 71 nominations and 15 awards, including eight nominations for Outstanding Overall Production of Play over the past seven years - more than any other theater company in the Philadelphia region.
Barrymore Award Wins:
- 2010 Outstanding Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play - Cheryl Williams, The Breath of Life (play)The Breath of Life (play)The Breath of Life is a play by dramatist David Hare. It tells the story of a woman who is confronted by the wife of her lover. Over the course of one day and one night, the two women reflect on their lives and the relationship with the central, yet offstage, male character.Of the central theme of...
- 2010 Outstanding Original Music - Christopher Colucci, The Breath of Life (play)The Breath of Life (play)The Breath of Life is a play by dramatist David Hare. It tells the story of a woman who is confronted by the wife of her lover. Over the course of one day and one night, the two women reflect on their lives and the relationship with the central, yet offstage, male character.Of the central theme of...
- 2009 Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service
- 2008 Outstanding Direction of a Play - Dan Kern, Skylight (play)Skylight (play)Skylight is a play by British dramatist David Hare. It opened at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe, directed by Richard Eyre, in 1995. The production then moved to the Wyndham's Theatre for a short run from 13 February 1996, after winning the Laurence Olivier Award for the 1995...
- 2008 Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play - Genevieve Perrier in Skylight (play)Skylight (play)Skylight is a play by British dramatist David Hare. It opened at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe, directed by Richard Eyre, in 1995. The production then moved to the Wyndham's Theatre for a short run from 13 February 1996, after winning the Laurence Olivier Award for the 1995...
- 2006 Outstanding Overall Production of a Play - Richard III (play)Richard III (play)Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
- 2006 Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play - Peter Pryor, Richard III (play)Richard III (play)Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
- 2004 Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play – Peter DeLaurier, Underneath the LintelUnderneath the LintelUnderneath the Lintel is a play by Glen Berger that premièred in 2001. The sole character—the Librarian—embarks on a quest to find out who anonymously returned a library book that is 113 years overdue...
- 2004 Outstanding Ensemble in a Play - The Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
- 2004 Outstanding Choreography/Movement – Aaron Cromie, The Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
- 2002 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play – Hazel Bowers, The Birthday Party (play)The Birthday Party (play)The Birthday Party is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter and one of Pinter's best-known and most-frequently performed plays...
- 2000 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play – E. Ashley Izard, Beyond TherapyBeyond TherapyBeyond Therapy is a play by Christopher Durang.The farcical comedy focuses on Prudence and Bruce, two Manhattanites who are seeking stable romantic relationships with the help of their psychiatrists, each of whom suggests the patient place a personal ad. Bruce is a highly emotional bisexual who...
- 1999 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play – Joe Guzman, Lovers & Executioners
- 1998 Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play – Jarlath ConroyJarlath ConroyJarlath Conroy is an Irish-born theater, film and television actor. Since 1971, he has become a successful actor appearing in film and television, including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He also appeared in the movie Day of the Dead. His most recent appearance is as the...
, The Steward of ChristendomThe Steward of ChristendomThe Steward of Christendom is a 1995 play written by Irish playwright Sebastian Barry. Its story is about one Thomas Dunne, which was the name of Barry's great-grandfather, who is loyal to the British Crown during the Irish War of Independence and suffers accordingly.-Plot summary:The play opens... - 1998 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play – Maggie SiffMaggie SiffMargaret "Maggie" Siff is an American actress best known for her television roles, notably department-store heiress Rachel Menken Katz on the AMC drama Mad Men and Dr. Tara Knowles on the FX drama Sons of Anarchy...
, Ghosts (play)Ghosts (play)Ghosts is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was written in 1881 and first staged in 1882.Like many of Ibsen's better-known plays, Ghosts is a scathing commentary on 19th century morality....