Pier Players Theatre Company is back at it with another comedy just in time for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Etiquette, which runs from Sept. 5-14 at the Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom St., is written by David Lee White, directed by Barrymore Award-winning director Charlotte Northeast and produced by Chelsea Cylinder.
Etiquette begins in fall 2021. Live theater is back. But when theater icon Lauren Ellis spots an audience member filming her, she stops the show and refuses to perform. Etiquette is a hilarious new comedy about the theater world, featuring in-fighting, diva tantrums, internet trolls and characters who have no etiquette at all.
“The theater world got a little wacky back in 2021,” White said. “I still wasn’t going out much, but I saw a lot of it online. I didn’t understand what was happening. Four years later, I still don’t understand what’s happening. So it seemed like the perfect time to write about it.”
White is known for writing and co-creating The Angry Grammarian, the hit musical that brought local, national and international acclaim to Pier Players last year. It ran at South Philly’s Theatre Exile and experienced a second run at the Arden Theatre Company’s Arcadia Stage. The group carries momentum into its current project Etiquette. Tickets ($20) on sale at https://phillyfringe.org/events/etiquette/.
“I can’t wait for audiences to see this play,” added Cylinder, Pier Players’ co-founder and artistic director. “This script is truly fantastic. While utterly hilarious and entertaining, this play also has so much on its mind. Etiquette gives an insightful look into the theater world and its challenges, and it does so through witty lines, nonstop laughs and great characters. And, I can’t say that I’m surprised that the script is so great when it’s penned by David Lee White, whom all of us at Pier Players are elated to be collaborating with for the third time.”