Jawnts: Women star in stage noir

Film noir is one of those all-American genres that never get old. But from the early days of the Continental Op and Philip Marlowe to the stoner detective of

The Big Lebowski

, most of the protagonists are men.

That's why local director and producer Samantha Tower helped develop 901 Nowhere Street, a riff on the old genre starring only women.

"I've been watching a lot of contemporary noir TV shows, like True Detective and Breaking Bad, all these beautiful shows that everyone gets obsessed with," says Tower. "But I was feeling very underrepresented. I wanted to create a piece where women were front and center, where they had an opportunity to be the hero who becomes a villain, but the audience still loves them in the end."

Tower has worked in the Philadelphia theater scene for years, often creating plays off-stage: in vacant lots, basements, an elevator. She is an associate producer with New Paradise Laboratories, the innovative theater company that brought the eerie escapade The Adults to last year's Fringe Festival.

901 Nowhere Street is an independently created production made in collaboration with the cast - Emilie Krause, Anna Szapiro, Merri Rashoyan, Lauren Tuvell - and playwright Jeremy Gable. It's been in the works since November. Everyone involved soaked up as many noir films as possible, ranging from classics (The Maltese Falcon), to newer works (Inherent Vice), and on to bizarre features sought only by aficionados (Robert Montgomery's first-person take on Lady in the Lake).

They began with no script, but Tower gave prompts to the actors, who experimented and crafted their own characters and themes for the play. Then Gable was brought in, working with the material the others provided.

Tower doesn't want to give away too much about the plot but, in addition to the usual hard-boiled dialogue, there will be singing, dancing, and a live guitar accompaniment. The music is strongly influenced by the "diner twang" (Tower's words) of Patsy Cline, whom the cast was asked to listen to - a lot.

"I'm enamored of the '40s and '50s style on film, and I really wanted to explore how that would merge with a more minimal stage creation," says Tower. "A contemporary experience but lodged in a time capsule of '40s pulpy smoky crime drama that's almost comical in its seriousness." She pauses. "A [David] Lynchian lounge act musical."

901 Nowhere Street opens Sept. 8 at Power Plant Productions, 233 N. Bread St., and continues every evening through Sept. 17, except Sept. 12. All shows begin at 9 p.m. Admission is $20.