SELENA AND JUDY GO DANCING - Space 55 - June 6-15, 2025

For 19 years Space55 has been bringing unusual, underseen, and adventurous new work to the Valley. We’re proud to continue our mission in June to bring you the good and weird stuff when we premiere a new play directed by Chris R. Chávez & written by Ashley Naftule to Metro Arts in downtown Phoenix. 

From the ariZoni Award-winning playwright of Orange Skies and Radio Free Europa, Selena and Judy Go Dancing is a romantic comedy with an experimental twist: dramatic & comedic scenes play out as normal, but a Master of Ceremonies is always present onstage, calling out changes to the action & dance moves like a line dancing MC directing the crowd. Not only do Selena and Judy have to contend with the hurdles of ex-girlfriends, crypto bros, romantic insecurities, and their mounting dread over America’s fascist makeover, they also have to put up with some weirdo telling them to drop everything & do the cha-cha.

Inspired by the films of Jacques Demy, Love & Rockets comics, and the plays of Eugene Ionesco, Selena and Judy Go Dancing weaves together modern pop songs, dance steps, absurdist comedy AND grounded relationship drama to tell a story about love in the time of autarchy.

Starring Madeleine Miller, Marcella Grassa, Megan Holcomb, Shelly Trujillo, and Spencer Beckwith, Selena and Judy Go Dancing plays at Metro Arts (1700 N. 7th Ave, Phoenix) from June 6 to June 15. Friday and Saturday shows at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2pm. There will also be a performance on Thursday, June 12, at 7:30pm. On Saturday, June 7, there will be a Pay What You Want matinee performance at 2pm.

Tickets are $20 and available at the door or online via Space55.org.

Plot Synopsis:

Selena and Judy live together, dance together, love together. The couple spend their nights looking for the right beat to dance to while navigating all the hazards that can trip lovers up: jealousy, secrecy, anxieties about the future & surprises from the past, living in the patriarchal now while dreading the fascist tomorrow. Following them everywhere is The Master of Ceremonies, who directs their dancing, calling out moves they must dance to. Is The Master an angel or devil? Life coach or dictator? Friend or foe? And what does this mysterious, sexually ambiguous being want with our two ladies?

Space 55 presents 7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN, April 4 & 11

Join Space 55 at Metropolitan Arts Institute for the return of their no-holds-barred, anything goes variety show! 

Host Shelly Trujillo will take you on a joyride through 10 acts who each get 7 minutes to do anything they want on stage. Space 55 has no idea what you'll see! Poetry? Maybe! Sketch comedy? Very possible! Something really weird that we've never seen on stage before? Almost certainly! Space 55's fan favorite series is BACK, baby!

Tickets are only $10 and are available at the link below or at the door!

Tickets: https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/7-minutes-in-heaven

BABALON - Ronin Theatre Company and Space 55 - January 30-February 16, 2025

Space55 & Ronin Theatre’s New Season Blasts Off With A Play About Rockets, Sex Magick, & L. Ron Hubbard

Space55 has been putting on rarely seen and world premiere plays for 18 seasons in downtown Phoenix. From showcasing the work of local playwrights to putting on avant-garde classics like Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi, Space55 is dedicated to spotlighting underground art that’s adventurous and uncompromising. 

Ronin Theatre Collaborative focuses on storytelling and adding a unique voice to the valley through rarely done or premiere plays. Space55 and Ronin Theatre are opening their latest seasons with a co-production, bringing a North American premiere from a celebrated UK playwright to downtown Phoenix:: Babalon by Paul A. Green.

In the 1940’s, Jack Parsons worked in his lab by day to build rockets; by night, the young scientist would host occult parties in his Pasadena home. Both a pioneering rocket scientist and disciple of Aleister Crowley, Parsons attracted strange souls to him like moths to a flame. People like the mysterious artist Marjorie Cameron and the notorious L. Ron Hubbard. Together these three would work mystic rituals in the desert to invoke the goddess Babalon and usher in a new era. They would make history together… and tragedy

Based on an incredible true story, Paul A. Green’s Babalon follows Parsons, Hubbard, Cameron, and Crowley as they commune and scheme and conjure their futures into being. A U.S. premiere, Space55 and Ronin Theatre Company are proud to bring this poetic, haunting work of speculative theatre to life.

Directed by BJ Garrett, Babalon features performances by Angel Lopez, Clara Bentz, Matt Clarke, Cody Goulder, Melody Knudson, Maddie Miller, and Ken Bailes. 

Babalon will be performed at two venues: The Irish Cultural Center (Jan. 30-Feb. 2) and Stage Left Productions (Feb. 7-16).

Friday performances at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 2pm & 7:30pm, Sunday performances at 2pm. Thursday show at ICC is at 7:30pm. The closing day performance on Feb. 16 will be at 5pm. 

Tickets can be purchased online via the following links:

Irish Cultural Center: https://www.azirish.org/ronin-theatre/

Stage Left Productions: https://tinyurl.com/stageleftboxoffice

About the playwright:

Paul A. Green grew up in London and studied at Oxford and the University of British Columbia. Several of his works for the stage have been collected in Babalon and Other Plays (Scarlet Imprint). In addition to writing several novels (including The Qlipoth and Beneath the Pleasure Zones) and poetry (collected in 2012’s The Gestaltbunker), he has made radio documentaries on aspects of the occult and paranormal featuring Colin Wilson, Francis X. King, and Iain Sinclair, among others; while the plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, CBC Canada, RTE Ireland and Resonance FM and have been staged by Travesty Theatre and New Theatre Works. He has performed or presented at many venues, most recently at the Final Academy, Magickal Arte Bristol, the Moot with No Name, the Electric Palace Hastings and St Augustine’s Tower in Hackney. He has especially enjoyed collaborations whether with musicians like the late Vincent Crane or with the artist Jeremy Welsh, creating video poems like The Slow Learning and Radial City. He now lives in Hastings.