Almost every week in the Downtown Devil Curtain Critic column, we review a show from a major theater in the downtown Phoenix area. These shows are pretty consistently entertaining and thought-provoking. They’re also more expensive, though — not the kind of thing most people can shell out money for every week.
But that doesn’t mean you have to sit around the house feeling sad. In fact, by doing that, you miss out on a lot of what’s really happening around downtown — less expensive shows, put on by local performers, that help build the community and involve the people you work with, buy your coffee from and see walking down the street.
I’m clearly a big fan of local performance. And downtown, there’s always something going on. If you’re not in the know, here’s a summary of some of the shows that happen here regularly. As always, I don’t claim complete or comprehensive knowledge — so if you think something was missed, don’t hesitate to comment or contact me.
In my case, an obvious first choice is Lawn Gnome Publishing on Fifth Street between Roosevelt and Garfield streets, which has regular shows on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Every Wednesday at 8 p.m. is “Yarnball Storytelling” for $5, which allows people to participate and tell stories of their own based around a theme. Thursdays bring “PEP Rally” — short for Phoenix Educational Programming — which is an educational variety show that costs $5 and includes music, poetry, storytelling, comedy, academics, scientists, business owners and more.
Curtain Critic has reviewed improv shows at The Torch Theatre on Central Avenue just south of Camelback Road a few times. If you’re looking for uplifting and/or comedic weekend theater, improv at The Torch tends to be consistently clever and entertaining. Two shows of note are Friday’s “Skewed News Hour” and Saturday’s “The Neighborhood”. I personally love “The Neighborhood,” which features a member of the community being brought in to tell stories. Prices vary from show to show.
But that’s not all!
Grand Avenue Pizza Company on Grand Avenue and Fillmore Street has a comedy show every Tuesday. You can also catch comedy at The Firehouse on First Street between Roosevelt and Portland streets the final Friday of every month.
There’s a different performance going on almost every weekend at Space 55 on Seventh and Pierce streets, including the regular Third Friday storytelling show “Storyline” and the monthly comedy show “S&M Comedy Presents…”
That’s not to mention the variety of shows at The Trunk Space on Grand and 15th avenues every weekend, art and performance at galleries all through the downtown area and the show that First Fridays bring the first week of every month.
I think I’ve made my point that there are extensive downtown options for entertainment that don’t break your budget. While it’s not always traditional theater, the variety — from comedy to music to improv to poetry — of these types of performance will, guaranteed, never bore you.
Plus, going to these shows will allow you to support local business and art while you get your fill of fun. When you’re not able to spend on a big production, there are always smaller ones waiting for you with the promise of entertainment, intellect and community building.
Contact the columnist at molly.bilker@asu.edu
