By Emma Gibson, Tiny Dynamite Productions Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia winner Tiny Dynamite Productions was awarded $25,000 to broaden theater audiences by producing a Play, a Pie and a Pint, a U.K. performance phenomenon where residents can stop by after work to enjoy a one-act play, a pie and a beverage for a low ticket price. Today they check in with an progress update…

“A Play, a Pie and a Pint” was first launched at Oran Mor in Glasgow in 2004 as a response to the drastic cuts in Arts funding. Now in their 7th year with over 200 plays under their belt, the project has become a Scottish success story. British writers including Simon Stephens, David Grieg, David Harrower and Marie Jones have been produced there and it is no surprise that the work has transferred to London, Edinburgh and beyond.

In just under two weeks we will be presenting the Philadelphia version of “a Play, a Pie and a Pint,” which we have adapted for a US audience. Instead of lunchtime theatre (and drinking) we have scheduled our shows for ʻhappy hourʼ at 6pm. We have also extended the scope of our playwrights to include US and local Philadelphia writers as well as the British playwrights that we want to celebrate here. The other noticeable difference is that we have substituted a slice of Pizza for the British meat pie and our pints arenʼt quite pints and come in a bottle! Such is the transatlantic shift!

We are honored to be working with David OʼConnor, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop and Inis Nua Theatre Company in our first season. Our goal is to unite our community of artists, writers, directors and producers here in Philadelphia and produce something so brilliantly casual that audiences will not only want to come back to us, but will also want to sample some of the other amazing theatre that Philadelphia has to offer.