The 26th Annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival is proud to present a city-wide celebration of progressive, world class art that expands the imagination and boldly disputes expectations. The festivities will feature nearly 200 diverse productions throughout Philadephia from September 8 through October 2nd. Tickets for members will go on sale August 5; general public will go on sale August 8th.
Of note, this year’s festival includes world premieres by Geoff Sobelle, Pig Iron Theatre Company, and collaborative team David T. LIttle, Anne Waldman, and Michael Joseph McQuilken; the U.S. premiere of acclaimed French choreographer Jérôme Bel’s self-titled “auto-bio-choreo-graphy”; the highly-anticipated Philadelphia premiere of An Untitled Love by A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham; plus, the return of Lightning Rod Special and The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, both longtime FringeArts collaborators and festival favorites. Additionally, MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow Annie Dorsen brings her Spokaoke to Philadelphia for one night only.
“For over 25 years, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival has elevated our city as a primary nexus for cultural conversation, progressive ideas, and innovative art-making,” notes President and Producing Director Nick Stuccio. “We are excited to welcome audience members to enjoy this year’s dynamic programming and hope that the festival can act as a social space in which conversation can blossom between artists and audiences, artists and artists, and Philadelphia and the world.”
The 26th Annual Fringe Festival call for artists produced over 200 submissions, a record for the organization. Fringe audiences can expect an assortment of live theatrical and dance performances, art installations, circus arts, and genre-bending experiences that highlight the wide variety of local and national talent that the festival attracts. The artistically daring performances include live and in-person national and international artists curated by FringeArts, and both live and digital works that are produced by independent artists from across Philadelphia and beyond and promoted by FringeArts.
The Philadelphia Fringe Festival has featured a Digital Fringe component since 2015. This year, audience members can still enjoy an assortment of digital shows throughout the Independently Produced lineup. Some will be available to watch throughout the festival, while others will have specific viewing times and involve a degree of interactivity between performers and audiences.
Curated Productions
FringeArts will present productions as part of this year’s curated slate, including works by Geoff Sobelle; Josephine Decker and Pig Iron Theatre Company; Annie Dorsen; A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham; Lightning Rod Special; Jérôme Bel with Megan Bridge; David T. LIttle, Anne Waldman, and Michael Joseph McQuilken; and The Bearded Ladies Cabaret.
FOOD
World Premiere
Geoff Sobelle
September 8-18, 2022
FringeArts
An intimate dinner party performance of smell, taste, and touch, FOOD offers a meditation on the ways and whys of eating. The audience gathers around a white linen-covered dining table, engaging with each other and their empty plates in an immersive, constantly transforming performance. Sounds, scents, and tactile elements shape a conversation about personal memories, consumption, and the evolution of food production over generations.
FOOD is the third work in a trilogy by renowned clown and devotee of the “sublime ridiculous” Geoff Sobelle. Continuing the investigations of The Object Lesson and HOME, FOOD provokes questions about everyday experiences that many of us take for granted, served with Sobelle’s signature flavor of rigorous design, stage illusion, and an absurdist sense of humor.
The Path of Pins or The Path of Needles
World Premiere
Josephine Decker + Pig Iron Theatre Company
September 16-Ocotber 2, 2022
Rigby Mansion
Visionary writer and filmmaker Josephine Decker (Shirley, Madeline’s Madeline) joins forces with Pig Iron Theater Company (Superterranean, Love Unpunished) for a dark fairy tale about the terrors, joys, and deep uncertainties of pregnancy. Inspired by Maria Tatar’s research on the history of fairy tales, this immersive performance dreamscape explores the complex decisions that mothers, fictional and real, must make about their children’s lives. This new work brings Decker's singular vision into conversation with Pig Iron's 20-year investigation with site-specific and immersive theater.
Each audience member becomes “The Pregnant Dreamer,” seeking to evade a curse on their unborn child by choosing their own path through Rigby Mansion and its grounds. Interactive scenes — weaving contemporary dance, physical theater, and performance art — unlock secret knowledge and whispers of horror. All bodies are welcome; come prepared to wander.
Spokaoke
Annie Dorsen
September 16, 2022
La Peg at FringeArts
Spokaoke invites the audience to perform speeches as they would ordinarily perform songs in a karaoke bar. Created by writer and director Annie Dorsen (2019 MacArthur Fellow, 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, Infinite Sun, The Great Outdoors, Yesterday Tomorrow), this participatory event plays with the legacy of spoken artifacts, treating snippets and snatches of public address like a Top 40 radio of collective discourse.
Over a hundred texts are available on the karaoke system and arranged in a catalog that audience members can peruse. Some texts are familiar to the point of iconic status (“I have a dream,” “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”), while others are lesser-known. Texts come from a wide variety of sources and eras — Socrates’ trial speech, Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman,” Colonel Qaddafi at the United Nations. All texts are in English. Hearing the speeches in relation to each other reveals new connections between them, as distinct moments of socio-historical urgency collide in unpredictable and unexpected ways.
An Untitled Love
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
September 22-24, 2022
Philadelphia Film Center
An Untitled Love is a new evening-length work from acclaimed choreographer Kyle Abraham (2013 MacArthur Fellow, Ash, The Runaway). Drawing from the catalogue of Grammy Award-winning R&B legend D’Angelo, this creative exaltation pays homage to the complexities of self love and Black love, while serving as a thumping mixtape celebrating our culture, family, and community.
A.I.M is one of the most active touring dance companies in the United States, with an audience base as diverse as A.I.M’s movement vocabulary, drawing inspiration from a multitude of sources and dance styles. Since A.I.M’s founding in 2006, Abraham has created more than 15 original works for and with the company — including this feel-good work of visceral hope, solace, and joy.
SPEECH
A Lightning Rod Special Production
Created by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Scott R. Sheppard, and Alice Yorke
Written by Scott R. Sheppard in collaboration with the ensemble
Directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury
September 28-October 1, 2022
Proscenium Theatre at The Drake
Lightning Rod Special (The Appointment, Underground Railroad Game) offers a satirical scrutiny of the free speech debate and the rapidly shifting terrain of civil discourse within our hyper-visible social-media-centered world. Characters careen through different microcosms of American culture in a searing look at how trepidation and performativity infect all aspects of our lives.
Philadelphia-based performance company Lightning Rod Special specializes in raucous and contemplative works that scramble theatrical conventions and intellectual assumptions. SPEECH continues their investigations into lightning rod topics, exploding complex questions with precision and play.
Jérôme Bel
US Premiere
Jérôme Bel with Megan Bridge
September 30-October 2, 2022
FringeArts
French choreographer Jérôme Bel (Gala, The show must go on, Cédric Andrieux) continues his renowned portrait series, this time examining himself. Through a combination of lecture, archival video excerpts, and live dance, Bel constructs a genealogy of the driving forces behind his work — what he calls an “auto-bio-choreo-graphy.” He reflects on the doubts, commitments, failures, and questions present throughout his career and creative process. In this impassioned illumination of the motivations of contemporary performance and postmodern dance, the personal becomes entangled with the artistic and the political.
For ecological reasons, Bel and his company stopped traveling by plane in 2019. This performance, therefore, relies on a unique collaboration with Philadelphia dancer Megan Bridge (Fidget). Bridge serves as director and translator, in addition to portraying Bel on stage. She embodies Bel’s honesty and vulnerability, holding tension between humanism and formalism.
Black Lodge
World Premiere
Music by David T. Little
Libretto by Anne Waldman
Story & Screenplay by Michael Joseph McQuilken
October 1-October 2, 2022
Philadelphia Film Center
Co-presented with Opera Philadelphia as part of Festival O22
Drawing on the complicated mythologies of the surrealist writer William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch), Black Lodge uses dance, industrial rock, classical string quartet, and opera to take viewers through a Lynchian psychological escape room.
Set in a nightmarish Bardo, a place between death and rebirth, a tormented writer faces down demons of his own making. Forced to confront the darkest moment in his life, he mines fractured and repressed memories for a way out. A woman is at the center of all the writer’s afterlife encounters. She is the subject of his life’s greatest regret, and she materializes everywhere in this Otherworld. The writer cannot detach any thoughts of his life from her.
Part film screening and part industrial rock opera concert, this world premiere event features glam opera band Timur & the Dime Museum alongside musicians from the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra.
Late Night Snacks
The Bearded Ladies Cabaret
September 9-October 2, 2022
The Switch
The Bearded Ladies Cabaret shares a new selection of guilty pleasures, soul nourishment, and tasty cabaret treats in this year’s Late Night Snacks. The after-hours performances feature different artists every night — from opera singers to drag queens, cabaret stars to art clowns, and everything in between — all baked together and seasoned to perfection, taking inspiration from the stories and history of our community.
Whether you come for one night, come every night, or just stop by on your way to the corner store, this potluck of a performance series is here to welcome you with music, drinks, and more enticing entertainment than you can fit on a single paper plate. Full lineup and performance details to be announced in August.
Fringe Festival Hubs
FringeArts is thrilled to partner with three independent satellite festivals: Cannonball at the Mass Building, Crossroads Comedy Theatre at Theatre Exile, and Circus Campus Presents at Circadium, the School of Contemporary Circus.
Independently Produced Productions
This year’s independently-produced slate includes a robust lineup of 180 shows across genres and platforms. The full list of independent artists, and subsequent press information, can be found at this website: FringeArts.com/press-room
“Bon Appétit!” By Julia Child and Lee Hoiby (During a Pandemic!) by Aurora Classical of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia
“Sex-Files” StorySlam by First Person Arts
(R)evolution by Muyu Yuan Ruba, Christina Eltvedt, Elizabeth June Bergman
1,000 miles: celebrating the 10th Walk Around Philadelphia! by JJ Tiziou / Walk Around Philadelphia
10th Walk Around Philadelphia: virtual launch / info session by JJ Tiziou / Walk Around Philadelphia
9/11 Remembrance at the SRT Memorial by Aurora Classical
A Jennifer Story by Jennifer Blaine
A Patchwork of Stories for GrownUps by Patchwork Storytelling Guild
A Philly Mikado! by Aurora Classical
A Philly Mikado! LIVE STREAM VERSION by Aurora Classical
ADAM&EVE by Mad Paradox
Afternoon of an Alter by Emmett Wilson
Alternative Theatre Festival 2022 by iNtuitons Experimental Theatre
and you will know it’s done when the oil stops bubbling by Mike Durkin with the residents of the Kensington area, presented by Mural Arts Philadelphia
Andrew has Projects, Cubby Has Comments by Andrew and Cubby
Animation Nation IV by The Women's Film Festival
Awoke: The Musical by Run Boy Run Productions of Culture Works of Greater Philadelphia
Baal & Dix by Die-Cast
Baring More than My Soul by Tommy D Naked Man
BATH HOUSE by Gunnar Montana Productions
Bird in the Window by Sewer Rats Productions
BLAZE by Lillian McGonigle
Bodies by Watermelon Bathtub
Borrowed Time Comedy Showcase by Crossroads Comedy Theater
Bower Bird by Emily Mayer
bpm by bpm & Cotallo Solares/Yager
Brain Bros Presents: Uber Chronicles by Narada Owens c/o Brain Bros Productions
Carnivore by Kate Seethaler/Meghan Frederick
Centrifugal Hope by Marybeth Tereszkiewicz
Character Juggler Chris Ivey by Character Juggler Chris Ivey
Chill Room Records Presents: NIA & The Chill Room Band by NIA
Cognatus by Britt Fishel and Artists
Constellations by Nick Payne by Id Circo Theatre Group
cooning into the metaverse one day at a time: hopefully !!! by Crackheadbarney
Corpus by The Kammerspiel
Coven by Courtney Colón
creativeWorks by creativeWorks
Creature: A Movement Meditation by Kalila Kingsford Smith
Dance/sing by Darling Performance Group
Daughter of the Sea by Laura Lizcano
DEATH IS A CABARET OL' CHUM: A GRAVEYARD CABARET by REV Theatre Company
Dirt Trip by Alex tatarsky
Dirty Words by Nighthawks / Primitive Glitter
Disassembled: Lives taken Apart and examined through new music for Piano, Cello, Flute and Voices by Cathy Mazza
Eat Me Baladi by Mette Loulou von Kohl & Leila Delicious
Effigy by Wolfsmouth Players Company
Envisions by Dancefusion & Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
Everything After by ELLA-GABRIEL MASON
ExMen: Not About Superheroes, pt. 2 by Abby Hazlett
Extree! Extree! Comedy Inspired By the News by Crossroads Comedy Theater
Facepaint by Eat Purple Theater Co.
Fair Trade by Jessica Creane & Yannick Trapman-O'Brien
Feeling Red by Savi Stevenoski with Continuum Dance Company
Force the Mirror Open by Tangle Movement Arts
Forever Never Lasts by See/Hear Now Pop-Up Enterprises Worldwide
Forgotten Solo by Kat Brown
Fragments from the Maelstrom by Forgotten Lore Theatre
Free Improv Basics Class by Crossroads Comedy Theater
Free Improv Jam by Crossroads Comedy Theater
Fresh Ink Shorts by TheatreXP
Funicular Circus by Funicular Circus
GO AHEAD by James Haro In Storage
good luck by Devyn Mañibo & Jac I. Pryor
Green Card Project by Sohrab Haghverdi
GROUP PROJECT by Temple Theaters
HAIR by Hillary Pearson
Heart Ripped Out Twice and So Can You! by Linnea Bond
Hello, How Are You? by Jana L. Henry
high noon by Ninth Planet
HOMO FEMINA by MARLEN PUELLO
How to be an Ethical Slut by Brooke McCarthy
How To Meditate: A Burlesque Show by Andrew Steiner
I Hear You and I'd Like to Respond by Almanac Dance Circus Theatre
I.D.: Intimate Deceptions by Ran'D Shine
Imagination Playground by Expansions Contempoary Dance Ensemble
In High Germany and The Parting Glass by Irish Heritage Theatre
it's better when you close your eyes by BigKid Dance Mark Caserta, Choreographer
Jonathan Daylight Live!!! Motivational Speaker and Productivity Coach!!! by Cam Silva
juice by Mackenzie Raine Kirkman
KCBC x KCBCII: Summer Series by Klassic Contemporary Ballet Company
Ladies at a Gay Girls' Bar, 1938-1969 by Maggie Cee
Larry's Late Show by Chelsea Cylinder & Julianne Kastner
Last Call by Natalie Gotter
Latinx 2044: A Hispanic Heritage Month Comedy Special by Crossroads Comedy Theater
Lewis Luvz Clark by Rebecca Posner
LGBTQuiet by Shadow Company
Liebovar, or The Little Blind Girl by The Delaware Valley Opera Company / DVOC
Life After Me by Peter Christian
Lightning Come by NAIL74
Lindsey Noel: I'm a Magician by Lindsey Noel
LUSTER by Brian Sanders' JUNK
Mafia Anonymous; The Women Speak. by PINA
Man of La Manchin by Nick Jonczak
Maybe Tomorrow by The Highland Lakes Players
Me and Jesus and Prince and Captain Jean-Luc Picard in a One Bedroom apartment in the Bronx by Shavon Norris
Medicine Meditation by Severin Blake
Metaphor by Denise McCormack
Mio/Tuyo/Nuestro by Carne Viva Dance Theatre
MOBBLUZ Presents: Shining With Dilla by MOBBLUZ
MOVEMENT/DEVELOPMENT by Angelica Spilis/Equilibrium Dance Company
MURDER MESIBA 2.0 by Tribe 12
Myzrie House by Myzrie House
Neighborhood House Play Festival by Christ Church Neighborhood House
Next Chapter by Three Sheets
Nitty Gritty: A Philly Themed Storytelling Show by Crossroads Comedy Theater
NOT RIGHT NOW by James Christy
Not Yet Rated: An Improvised Rom-Com by Crossroads Comedy Theater
Oedipus in Seattle by skullsdotcom
One Man's Trash: A Repurposed Circus by Cirque Us
Open Page by Leah Stein Dance Company / The Art Room Studio
Outside Your Expectations by The Reclamation Dance Project
OVERBOARD! by Cannonball Festival
PEDESTRIAN CIRCUS by Rose Luardo
Pink Lemonade by Sweet & Sour Circus
Pocketbook Diaries by Magic Fingaz Productions
Poison Garden by Alterra Productions
Real PlaNet Life by Applied Mechanics
Reception by Nick Gillette Improv
Recollection by CAUTION Theatre Company
Rising from a Thousand Thrones by Forgotten Lore Theatre
Roll Play: An Improvised Adventure by Roll Play
Romeo & Juliet in a Bar by Shakespeare On Tap
Romeo and Juliet by OJ Productions
Ronnie, The Musical by 10th Floor Productions
Rough and Tumble: Pickled Peaches and Herring by Lillian Ransijn/Human Resources
Ruciteme Karyenda Culture de Buyenzi by Ruciteme Karyenda Culture de Buyenzi
Runnin' Late Presents: The Marathon by Crossroads Comedy Theater / Runnin Late Rx and Chill by Nicole Ayers
Scarlet Letter by Humble Materials
Science, Engineering & Art: A Juggler's Perspective by Greg Kennedy: Innovative Juggler
Scoring the End by Rodney Murray
SELL ME: I Am from North Korea by Sora Baek/ North Korea Theater
SILVER & BEBBIE by Evelyn Langley and Silvia Birdsall
Social Media Circus by David Darwin: One Man Sideshow
Song Bridge by Matthew Armstead
SpArc Service's Fringe Festival by SpArc Services Cultural Arts Center
Spherus by Innovative Juggler Team
Spruce Street by Allison Kelly
Stamptown Comedy Night by Stamptown
STRESS EXORCIST by Mary McCool
Study Hall: Comedy Inspired By Lectures by Crossroads Comedy Theater
STUNKERED: Stuck in a Bunker by E & J Circus
Surface Tension by Company To X For
Survival In Ruins (work-in-progress showing) by Katie Vickers
Sweet Honey Chiffon Invites you to Fête de la Ville Natale by Sweet Honey Chiffon
The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Allens Lane Art Center Theater
The Bikes Live in the Basement by Ed Roth
The Body Politic by Yao Xu
The Book of Snorin' – Sleep Apnea the Musical by Stew Walker
The Case for Invagination #4 by Nicole Bindler
The Earth by Boram Yi
The Give & Take Jugglers by The Give & Take Jugglers
The Jester of All Maladies by Kurt Fitzpatrick
The Living Gallery at Launch Point by Anastassia Vertjanova and Annemarie Branco
The Most Important Place In The World! by Naked Empire Bouffon Company
The Perspective Collective Presents: Young Goodman Brown, A Mini-Opera by The Perspective Collective
The Sideshow: A Comedy Variety Special by Crossroads Comedy Theater
The Squid and The Octopus by Jim Julien
The Tower by The Hum'n'Bards
The Two-Character Play (Out Cry) by Tennessee Williams by The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium
Threnody by Threnody Collective
Time as a Symptom by The Bean-Jam Project
Topside by Theater in Quarantine
Tragic Nostalgia by Jeanne Lyons
Tree Confessions by This Is Not A Theatre Company
Trick Machine by Zak McAllister
Triggered by Danse4Nia (Conservatory) in collaboration with Grounded Theatre
Trouble the Water by The Philadelphia Jazz Tap Ensemble
Undersigned by Yannick Trapman-O'Brien
Unorthodox Methods of Cosmic Flight by Anastassia Vertjanova and Annemarie Branco
Valley Traction by Valley Traction
vapors by Megan Mazarick
Vehement by a. dance theatre
Vincero – The Italian Opera Experience by Ascend Classical
Walking with Charles: Live Re-Enactment by Charles Blyzniuk
When All Else Fails: or, Why Not Choose Me? by Madeline Shuron
Wine in the Wilderness by Philadelphia Artists Collective / TheBlackBestFriend
Yes, We’re Ready, We’ll Split an Order of Fries for The Table–Does That Work for You?–Sure, One Check Is Fine by Mike Durkin/Nick Schwasman
You shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing on that Ladder by Peter Nicholls/ Tribe of Fools
Your Show by John Miller & Gabriel Walburn
Zach Zucker: Spectacular Industry Showcase by Stamptown
2022 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Preview Nights
Aug 8, 15, 22 at 7pm
FringeArts
140 N Columbus Blvd
Unsure of what to see during the Festival? Want to get a tiny sample of the nearly 200 Fringe Festival shows? Join FringeArts for free Festival Preview Nights, taking place Mondays, Aug 8, 15, and 22 at 7 pm at FringeArts. Dance, Theater, Improv, Comedy: it’s like a Fringe Festival sample platter/ Each night, a new group of mystery performances will be highlighted on the FringeArts stage. Come meet the performers, preview their shows, and learn more about the upcoming festival.
PNC Arts Alive
The 2022 Philadelphia Fringe Festival is funded in part by PNC Arts Alive. “The arts and cultural sector plays a vital role in our community. Now, as we approach a decade-and-a-half of support through PNC Arts Alive, the PNC team is excited to support the arts and cultural organizations, as well as visual and performing arts in the Delaware Valley,” said Joe Meterchick, PNC regional president for Philadelphia, Delaware and Southern New Jersey. “Arts and culture strengthen the local economy and have the power to bring people together. We look forward to gathering with our neighbors as we join together to be a part of art.”
Ticketing Information
Tickets go on sale to FringeArts Members on Wednesday, August 5 at 10am, and to the general public on Monday, August 8 at 10am unless otherwise indicated.
Tickets can be purchased online at FringeArts.com, by phone at 215.413.1318, or by visiting the Fringe Festival Box Office at FringeArts (140 N Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia)
