The Wilma Theater

Since it began in 1973, the Wilma has been known for theater with a distinctively European, often avant-garde sensibility, along with a tremendous visual panache. Still led by Blanka Zizka, one of the company’s founders, season offerings here will likely include devised work alongside plays, and familiar works (Hamlet, a few years ago) getting a fresh spin. Tom Stoppard’s plays are a specialty, often getting exceptional productions. The best of the Wilma is intellectually rigorous and bracing—but for some, it can provoke head-scratching. Their 300-seat theater is one of Philadelphia’s best venues in which to take in a show.