GOOD THINGS, SMALL PACKAGES: The Theatre Alliance's Karen DiLossi (foreground) and festival participants break out of the box. : Michael T. Regan

Spark began in 2004 with a kickoff party, emphasizing the importance of camaraderie, says Theatre Alliance director of programs and services Karen DiLossi. What defines a small theater in Philadelphia? A budget less than $200,000, and no standard contract with Actors Equity, the actors and stage managers' union. Spark has 34 member companies (about a third of the TA's organizations), and more are eligible.

Spark programming, held on the second Monday of each month between January and June, has featured seminars (on soliciting donations and other topics), networking events (such as a successful night at Fergie's Pub that brought directors together with set, lighting, costume and sound designers) and discussions on current issues (like a recent meeting to discuss the future of The Playground at 2030 Sansom). And, of course, the Spark Showcase Festival.

"It's a great introduction to companies that people might not know," says DiLossi, "a sampler platter for the younger generation of theaters."

Some Spark companies produce full seasons and might sound familiar: Theatre Exile, Flashpoint, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, Green Light, Luna, Simpatico and VAT. Some produce occasionally: Theater Ariel, The Brick Playhouse, BCKSEET, B. Someday, MacGuffin Theater & Film Co., Madhouse and Tapestry. A few are new or seldom produce: The Philadelphia Dramatists Center, EgoPo (which arrived for last year's Live Arts Festival from New Orleans and relocated here after Katrina), Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Tribe of Fools, Random Acts of Theater and the Represented Theatre Company.

Rules for the festival include a 10-minute limit and a piece that reflects the company mission: "not just doing a piece because it's 10 minutes long," DiLossi says. "The idea is to let people get to know you as a company."

With 10 companies sharing Mum Puppettheatre's tiny space each week, technical requirements are a must. Instead of sets and furniture, companies will use Theatre Catalyst's "acting blocks"—black cubes and other generic shapes—and provide their own costumes, hand props and sound. Most, DiLossi explains, use two to four actors, but MacGuffin's The Cruel Sister has 23.

For VAT, Spark is an opportunity to develop new work, says artistic director Aileen McCulloch. Super Duper is the first chapter in their yearlong Fatal Flickers project, an exploration of light, film and physical acting. "We did what we usually do, which is to explore something we wanted to explore—but are using the Spark time constraints as a guideline."

For Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Spark provides a forum for the group's first production. Founded by actor, director and and WHYY-TV spokesperson Tina Brock, IRC will produce Samuel Beckett's Catastrophe in "10 for 10."

Brock compares the Spark Fest to "the energy and spirit" of Brick Playhouse's Night of 1,000 Plays, an annual festival of very short plays. Specifically, "the way people really come together and support each other's work. It always seemed to me like the result was even greater than the sum of its parts, and Spark has a similar feel."

She selected Catastrophe "because I wanted a clear example of the direction we're heading with the company. This Beckett has all of what I enjoy so much about his work, and absurdism in general. It feels eerily topical in many ways, political and otherwise." IRC will remount Catastrophe with two other one-acts for the Fringe Festival, and plans a full-length play for next spring.

"Keeping the momentum going is always hard for small groups," says McCulloch, who founded VAT in 1993. "Rather than look at everyone as competition, we believe it's very important for small companies to band together to create an awareness of all that Philadelphia offers."

Spark Showcase Festival, "10 for 10," Tue.-Sun., July 11-16 (part 1), July 18-23 (part 2), $10-$25, Mum Puppettheatre, 115 Arch St., 215-413-7150, www.theatrealliance.org.