Our CuriosiTeens are hard at work. Writing, Directing, AND performing a fully staged production called.....
The Odyssey: A Billy and Argus Story
Join us for this wild adaptation of The Odyssey that starts in a writer’s group that gets hijacked by Homer’s epic tale, which is in turn hijacked by eager members of the group. Odysseus is constantly thrown off course in his desperate attempts to get home, and along the way, he encounters all kinds of characters, from the chilled-out Lotus Eaters to the powerful witch Circe. But there’s more to it: his crew are leading lives of their own, and a will-they, won’t-they romance springs up on the ship. And when he finally gets home to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus, he has to face one final test: will she take him back?
Performances are presented for Curiositeen family, friends and the general public.
Donations at the door are greatly appreciated.
The Odyssey: A Billy and Argus Story
Join us for this wild adaptation of The Odyssey that starts in a writer’s group that gets hijacked by Homer’s epic tale, which is in turn hijacked by eager members of the group. Odysseus is constantly thrown off course in his desperate attempts to get home, and along the way, he encounters all kinds of characters, from the chilled-out Lotus Eaters to the powerful witch Circe. But there’s more to it: his crew are leading lives of their own, and a will-they, won’t-they romance springs up on the ship. And when he finally gets home to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus, he has to face one final test: will she take him back?
Performances are presented for Curiositeen family, friends and the general public.
Donations at the door are greatly appreciated.
Curio’s Barrymore Award winning FREE teen program is recruiting and we're thrilled to invite new members!
We are a company of teens who are now in our 10th season of operation. We meet every Saturday to learn all aspects of theatre, play theatre games to hone our craft, and ultimately produce a play for our community that will have a full production in June 2024.
Come see how we foster an environment that is perfect for our teen artists to let their imagination fly. If you’re between 13-17 years old, we'd love to hear from you! Those interested who are 12 years old may be accepted on a case by case basis.
We meet each week in Curio's home - the Calvary Center for Culture and Community at 4740 Baltimore Avenue from 10am-noon. Please enter through the side door on 48th Street!
If you are an interested Teen, give us a call at 215-921-8243 or email [email protected] for more information. We would love to get hear from you and introduce ourselves!
Read more below for the history of our advanced teen theatre company.
We are a company of teens who are now in our 10th season of operation. We meet every Saturday to learn all aspects of theatre, play theatre games to hone our craft, and ultimately produce a play for our community that will have a full production in June 2024.
Come see how we foster an environment that is perfect for our teen artists to let their imagination fly. If you’re between 13-17 years old, we'd love to hear from you! Those interested who are 12 years old may be accepted on a case by case basis.
We meet each week in Curio's home - the Calvary Center for Culture and Community at 4740 Baltimore Avenue from 10am-noon. Please enter through the side door on 48th Street!
If you are an interested Teen, give us a call at 215-921-8243 or email [email protected] for more information. We would love to get hear from you and introduce ourselves!
Read more below for the history of our advanced teen theatre company.
The Past:
For years, the eldest students in Curio Theatre education programs asked to be challenged. Paul Kuhn, Curio's Artistic Director, long held a dream of creating an advanced young company. This dream was to be the answer to our veterans who wished to take their theatrical education to the next level. The realization of this dream came with the introduction of the CuriosiTeens! in November 2014.
Curio Theatre Company provides ongoing logistical, technical, and professional support to aid these young artists in their efforts to eventually establish a largely autonomous arts organization. This program has always been a 100% FREE program for local teens. While members traditionally range from 13-17 years old, youth nearing their 13th birthday may be accepted on a case by case basis. We are proud that among our membership are several teens who had no theatre program available to them through their K-12 school and we hope to remain a theatrical home for students who lack the opportunity elsewhere.
Unlike theatre camps or traditional school theatre programs, the aim of the CuriosiTeens! program is to have the members remain in the driver's seat. This is where the magic of the CuriosiTeens! stems from. We did not challenge these students by merely prescribing them a challenging play to perform with rigorous and demanding instruction. Instead, we provided them with a blank canvas with which to create a company with meaning to them. Maembers engaged the process of choosing their play, casting its roles, considering all design elements, building the set, and finally, performing for the community. By deviating from the well-worn path of traiditional high school theatre, we allowed for the CuriosiTeens! to grow as actors, friends, and multi-faceted members of society. Most importantly, we allowed for a decade of CuriosiTeens! to discover themselves.
We were thrilled to accept the 2017 Victory Foundation Award for Outstanding Theatre Education Program at the Barrymore's - Philadelphia's professional theatre awards ceremony.
We worked closely with parents/guardians and the teen members to produce our inaugural production of William Mastrosimone's Bang Bang You’re Dead! in June 2015. This powerful play was written in response to the rampant school and gun violence of the 1990s and early 2000’s. The aim of our production was an attempt to answer the question “Why?’. In June 2016, the CuriosiTeens! found modern meaning inthe 2,500-year-old play Antigone in the midst of fraught national politics. The following June, members decided to tackle a new genre of theatre: Comedy. By embracing the humor and levity of Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor, the company grew closer and more comfortable in their own skin. In 2018, the students once again challenged themselves to tackle a brand-new genre of theatre in murder mystery through the production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. This production brought the company to the modern day once more, however, instead of tackling the question of "Why?", the students were challenged to relate to their characters and understand how to create an atmosphere of fear and confusion onstage. 2019 marked a year where the students wanted to send a political message. In this age of political unrest, the company aims to break from the theatre norms of male-dominated plays. Instead of performing this classic play in the “accepted” manner, the company tackled Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with a modern day, feministic view. Much like how Miller challenged the audience to think about the repercussions of the blacklisting of Hollywood actors, the CuriosiTeens! ask questions such as “Do we allow the regression of social progress to continue?” and “Are we truly any better than those who stood idly by in Salem?” in order to challenge viewers to think about the repercussions of our political climate.
The Present
For our 2025 season, the CuriosiTeens! continues to recruit new members while also returning to our roots of developing and writing our own play, specific to the current group. As we do this every year for camp, our kids are used to this incredible style of collaboration. It not only gives them creative agency, but it aids in writing and expanding imagination.
2024 brought you The Wolf, introducing different nursery rhyme characters who have been somehow changed by "the Wolf". The cast includes Little Red Riding Hood, one of The Three Pigs and The Boy Who Cried Wolf, along with their group therapist.
Currently, Our CuriosiTeens are hard at work. Writing, Directing, AND performing a fully staged production called.....The Odyssey: A Billy and Argus Story that starts in a writer’s group that gets hijacked by Homer’s epic tale, which is in turn hijacked by eager members of the group.
The Future:
Moving forward, we hope to find the next generation of CuriosiTeens! and set them up for success. We hope these young adults continue to honor the vision Paul Kuhn had over a decade ago by passing their knowledge onto the next generation. This is the final trial for a graduating teen. As they move on to the next phase of their lives, they support their fellow actors by allowing the younger members of the company to take the spotlight. Unlike the eldest members in a high school theatre program, who compete to be the “best” actor in the program, the CuriosiTeens! welcome newcomers with open arms. By allowing these younger members of the company to grow as they have grown, graduating teens ensure that their unique program will continue for years to come.
We stand firmly behind our young company as we know they are excited to be the future of our craft.
For years, the eldest students in Curio Theatre education programs asked to be challenged. Paul Kuhn, Curio's Artistic Director, long held a dream of creating an advanced young company. This dream was to be the answer to our veterans who wished to take their theatrical education to the next level. The realization of this dream came with the introduction of the CuriosiTeens! in November 2014.
Curio Theatre Company provides ongoing logistical, technical, and professional support to aid these young artists in their efforts to eventually establish a largely autonomous arts organization. This program has always been a 100% FREE program for local teens. While members traditionally range from 13-17 years old, youth nearing their 13th birthday may be accepted on a case by case basis. We are proud that among our membership are several teens who had no theatre program available to them through their K-12 school and we hope to remain a theatrical home for students who lack the opportunity elsewhere.
Unlike theatre camps or traditional school theatre programs, the aim of the CuriosiTeens! program is to have the members remain in the driver's seat. This is where the magic of the CuriosiTeens! stems from. We did not challenge these students by merely prescribing them a challenging play to perform with rigorous and demanding instruction. Instead, we provided them with a blank canvas with which to create a company with meaning to them. Maembers engaged the process of choosing their play, casting its roles, considering all design elements, building the set, and finally, performing for the community. By deviating from the well-worn path of traiditional high school theatre, we allowed for the CuriosiTeens! to grow as actors, friends, and multi-faceted members of society. Most importantly, we allowed for a decade of CuriosiTeens! to discover themselves.
We were thrilled to accept the 2017 Victory Foundation Award for Outstanding Theatre Education Program at the Barrymore's - Philadelphia's professional theatre awards ceremony.
We worked closely with parents/guardians and the teen members to produce our inaugural production of William Mastrosimone's Bang Bang You’re Dead! in June 2015. This powerful play was written in response to the rampant school and gun violence of the 1990s and early 2000’s. The aim of our production was an attempt to answer the question “Why?’. In June 2016, the CuriosiTeens! found modern meaning inthe 2,500-year-old play Antigone in the midst of fraught national politics. The following June, members decided to tackle a new genre of theatre: Comedy. By embracing the humor and levity of Neil Simon’s The Good Doctor, the company grew closer and more comfortable in their own skin. In 2018, the students once again challenged themselves to tackle a brand-new genre of theatre in murder mystery through the production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. This production brought the company to the modern day once more, however, instead of tackling the question of "Why?", the students were challenged to relate to their characters and understand how to create an atmosphere of fear and confusion onstage. 2019 marked a year where the students wanted to send a political message. In this age of political unrest, the company aims to break from the theatre norms of male-dominated plays. Instead of performing this classic play in the “accepted” manner, the company tackled Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with a modern day, feministic view. Much like how Miller challenged the audience to think about the repercussions of the blacklisting of Hollywood actors, the CuriosiTeens! ask questions such as “Do we allow the regression of social progress to continue?” and “Are we truly any better than those who stood idly by in Salem?” in order to challenge viewers to think about the repercussions of our political climate.
The Present
For our 2025 season, the CuriosiTeens! continues to recruit new members while also returning to our roots of developing and writing our own play, specific to the current group. As we do this every year for camp, our kids are used to this incredible style of collaboration. It not only gives them creative agency, but it aids in writing and expanding imagination.
2024 brought you The Wolf, introducing different nursery rhyme characters who have been somehow changed by "the Wolf". The cast includes Little Red Riding Hood, one of The Three Pigs and The Boy Who Cried Wolf, along with their group therapist.
Currently, Our CuriosiTeens are hard at work. Writing, Directing, AND performing a fully staged production called.....The Odyssey: A Billy and Argus Story that starts in a writer’s group that gets hijacked by Homer’s epic tale, which is in turn hijacked by eager members of the group.
The Future:
Moving forward, we hope to find the next generation of CuriosiTeens! and set them up for success. We hope these young adults continue to honor the vision Paul Kuhn had over a decade ago by passing their knowledge onto the next generation. This is the final trial for a graduating teen. As they move on to the next phase of their lives, they support their fellow actors by allowing the younger members of the company to take the spotlight. Unlike the eldest members in a high school theatre program, who compete to be the “best” actor in the program, the CuriosiTeens! welcome newcomers with open arms. By allowing these younger members of the company to grow as they have grown, graduating teens ensure that their unique program will continue for years to come.
We stand firmly behind our young company as we know they are excited to be the future of our craft.
Above: Photos from the CurosiTeens! Performance of And Then There Were None.
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The inaugural class of CuriosiTeens! included: Michael Adams, Otter Jung-Allen, Danny Gallagher, Judy Gallagher, Cassandra Hand-Northrop, Dominick Jenkins, Chance Lee, Angelica Moyer, Andy Niedermeier, Liam Swiggard, and Charles Taylor.
CuriosiTeens! 2016 Class included: Michael Adams, Danny Gallagher, Judy Gallagher, Dominick Jenkins, Angelica Moyer, Andy Niedermeier, Liam Swiggard, Charles Taylor, Isabella Walls and Miles Lowe. Curiositeens! 2017 Class included: Danny Gallagher, Judy Gallagher, Dominick Jenkins, Angelica Moyer, Andy Niedermeier, Liam Swiggard, Isabella Walls, and Charles Taylor. Curiositeens! 2018 Class included: Danny Gallagher, Dominick Jenkins, Angelica Moyer, Andy Niedermeier, Liam Swiggard, Isabella Walls, Esme Veda, Maggie Lapp, Andressa Galman-Barbosa, Summer Andrews, Malaika Roepel, Violet McShane, Uri Mack, Edwin Lapp, Gabe Frishkoff, and Eden Hershey Curiositeens! 2019 Class included: Danny Gallagher, Dominick Jenkins, Angelica Moyer, Andy Niedermeier, Liam Swiggard, Isabella Walls, Esme Veda, Maggie Lapp, Andressa Galman-Barbosa, Summer Andrews, Violet McShane, Pearl McShane, Uri Mack, Edwin Lapp, Gabe Frishkoff, Isaiah Kirkland, Trinity Crossen, and Eden Hershey Curio Theatre Company expresses its sincere gratitude to all parents, guardians, and financial backers who have helped us to make this dream a reality. 
Cast photo of the inaugural class of 2015 |
