{"id":6790,"date":"2019-02-14T15:07:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T15:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/?p=6790"},"modified":"2022-07-25T15:10:54","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T15:10:54","slug":"south-phillys-theatre-exile-finds-bargain-basement-home-right-where-it-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centercitydevelopment.com\/?p=6790","title":{"rendered":"South Philly\u2019s Theatre Exile finds bargain-basement home right where it started"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Peter Crimmins<\/a> of WHYY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 18 months, Theatre Exile has lived up to its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South Philadelphia theater company lost its home of 10 years at 13th and Reed streets when that building was sold in 2017 and demolished to make way for a mixed-use development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, the company returns to its former address, taking up residence in the basement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like every theater company just starting out, Theatre Exile did not have its own performance space in 1996. It presented plays on whatever stage was available at the moment, usually near Center City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it finally settled, in 2009, in a former taxi garage across from Columbus Square, sharing the building with a transmission mechanic, it made a commitment to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we first started doing shows in South Philly, I told everyone, \u2018I can do the same show in Center City and it would sell better,\u2019\u201d said producing artistic director Deborah Block. \u201cThey may not know it\u2019s Theater Exile. We might be confused with Azuka or Interact, and we may not have our identity, but it would sell better. But it\u2019s been worth the investment in the neighborhood to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Block was sitting in a coffee shop on South Broad Street, a block and a half from her theater and a few blocks from her home. By choosing to stay south of Washington Avenue, where there are no other professional theater venues, Theatre Exile decided to stay small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, by championing new playwrights and developing new works, Exile has become widely known for its edgy sensibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting its site low<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2017 a developer \u2013 Center City Development \u2013 bought the building with the intention of demolishing it and building a commercial space on the ground floor, with 23 high-end apartments above renting from $1,600 to $2,600 a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theatre Exile was not part of that plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Would you consider having a theater as the commercial space?\u2019\u201d Block recalled. \u201cThey said [chuckling], \u2018Deborah, you can\u2019t afford us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new owner, Noah Ostroff, had his sights set on a restaurant as the ground-floor tenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what about the basement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe majority of what a theater does can be subterranean,\u201d said Block. \u201c\u2018They went, \u2018Oh really?\u2019 One week later, they came back with initial designs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, Theatre Exile will open its first production in a new, 125-seat theater with 12-foot ceilings, more than twice the size of its previous performance space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn Oak Tree\u201d (2005) by Tim Crouch focuses on a hypnotist\u2019s stage performance as he and his subject go on an almost psychedelic unspooling of a tragic car accident. The production is a bit rushed as the space is not entirely finished. It only passed electrical inspection about 36 hours before the final tech rehearsal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To accommodate Exile\u2019s 7,000-square-foot stage, lobby, administrative office, and storage, Center City Developers built the space larger than originally planned, with an ADA compliant elevator and an extensive electrical system. It also required petitioning for a neighborhood zoning variance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was all worth it, said owner Ostroff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo be perfectly honest with you, I thought it was pretty cool to have a well-known theater in one of my buildings,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are really great people and they have a great operation. Frankly, we just wanted to be in business with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ostroff also said the numbers worked out. There are not many other ways to make a basement generate revenue, and Theatre Exile is locked into a 10-year lease. It is officially named the Exile Building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Pearce Bunting runs through a rehearsal of “An Oak Tree” with Adam Howard at Theatre Exile’s new space at 13th and Reed streets. (Peter Crimmins\/WHYY)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Peter Crimmins of WHYY Over 18 months, Theatre Exile has lived up to its name. 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