Pirate Queens at Christ Church Neighborhood House

Pirate Queens will be presented at the Cannonball Festival, the largest hub of the Philadelphia FringeArts Festival at Christ Church Neighborhood House (20 N American St), running for a limited time beginning September 4th, 2024.

In this relatively true story, written by lead artist Brooke Shilling, we follow the 18th-century tale of Mary Read, a woman dressed as a boy since childhood. The day she is captured by pirates, she meets Anne Bonny. The two share a unique, piratey love story until their end. In this show, three players perform the entire play on a three-foot-by-three foot old, wooden crate. Using only their bodies in this small space, they mime all of the props, set pieces and effects and each play many characters.

Pirate Queens was presented at Cannonball’s Miniball Festival in March 2024 as a part of the Cannonball Crash series. In the days leading up to that event, Playwright Brooke Shilling was announced as a semi-finalist for the Terrence McNally Award for Philadelphia playwrights. This production in Cannonball 2024 is the first time this play has been produced.

Tickets for Pirate Queens are currently on sale by visiting fringearts.com. General admission is $25, with PWYC (pay what you can) tickets available at $5, $10, $15 and $20.