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The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective presents:

“The Contrast”

Written in 1787, “The Contrast” was America’s first comedy and an indisputable hit in its time!

by Royall Tyler
directed by Ann Garner

April 9-26, 2026
The Bluver Theatre @ the Drake

The sentimental Maria is unhappily engaged to Dimple, a dandy whose recent European tour has given him expensive tastes and a tendency to flirt with her friends. They all seem on track for a life of misery until Colonel Manly and his salt-of-the-earth waiter Jonathan arrive in town to disrupt this disreputable plot. Fresh from the American Revolution, this 1787 gem is a comedy of manners that helped define what American manners were to become.

Philadelphia attendees will receive $10 off a general admission ticket. When purchasing, select the General Admission ticket and input this code before check-out:

ASECS2026

Click here to go directly to tickets:

https://philartistscollective.app.getcuebox.com/o/8K07DCLV/shows/BTHQN350

For more about the production and PAC, see our website:

https://www.philartistscollective.org/thecontrast.html

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Science Studies Caucus

Science History Institute and American Philosophical Society Visits

Join the Science Studies Caucus on Wednesday afternoon, Wed. April 8, 2026, for the pre-conference visit the rare book rooms of the Science History Institute and the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia! More information to come.

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ASECS Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony

Friday, April l0 2:30-3:15
The Sheraton Philadelphia

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Presidential Address

ASECS President Misty G. Anderson
University of Tennessee Knoxville

Friday, April l0 3:30-4:30 PM
The Sheraton Philadelphia

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ASECS Presidential Session

The Uses and Abuses of Religion in the Long Eighteenth Century

Friday, April 10 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM
The Sheraton Philadelphia

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2026 Clifford Lecture

Paola Bertucci, Professor of History and History of Medicine; Curator-in-charge, History of Science and Technology Division, Peabody Museum

April 10, 2026, 11:00am
The Sheraton Philadelphia

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ASECS Presidential Session

Swift Today: A Reading from Gulliver, the Play

Sat, April 11
4:15 PM – 5:45 PM

Chair: Helen Deutsch, UCLA
Zack Fine, University of Texas, Austin
Bradley Michalakis, Alley Theatre, Houston
Ian Kelly, Actor and Independent Scholar

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