2013 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Kicks Off this Weekend

The 2013 Fringe Festival (Sept. 5-22, 2013), presented by FringeArts (formerly the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe), kicks off this weekend with cutting-edge contemporary theater and dance from as far away as Greece and Norway and as close as our own backyard. Opening-weekend performances include two international works of theater (Jo Strømgren Kompani's The Society and Attis Theatre's AJAX, the madness); two remounts from past Festival seasons (Pig Iron Theatre Company's Pay Up and Swim Pony Performing Arts' The Ballad of Joe Hill); and a world premiere from a much-loved Philadelphia choreographer (BrIan Sanders' JUNK, Hush Now Sweet High Heels and Oak).

A platform for daring and innovative artists, the Fringe Festival brings leaders of the contemporary performing arts world to Philadelphia stages and gives local performers a chance to showcase their best work. Each year, the Festival draws tens of thousands of people who come to experience Philadelphia's thriving cultural scene and interact with hundreds of artists at thousands of performances. Festival tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 215-413-1318 or visiting fringearts.ticketleap.com.

Opening-weekend performances include:

BrIan Sanders' JUNK: Hush Now Sweet High Heels and Oak (Sept. 7-15, 23rd Street Armory, 22 S. 23rd St.), a new site-specific world premiere packed with raw physical prowess, striking imagery, live music and a "sweet" in-your-face attitude. Sanders is known for such Festival favorites as Urban Scuba (2009), Sanctuary (2010) and The Gate Reopened (2012).

Pig Iron Theatre Company: Pay Up (Sept. 6-22, Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine St.), a pay-as-you-go circus/laboratory experiment/shopping experience, first performed as part of the 2005 Festival. Pay Up is back for a labyrinthine choose-your-own-adventure, this time styled as a post-financial-crisis remount.

Swim Pony Performing Arts: The Ballad of Joe Hill (Sept. 5-15, Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Ave.), a reimagining of the 2006 Festival hit with new historical revelations concerning its protagonist. Swim Pony and director Adrienne Mackey gather a ragtag band of vaudeville-inspired clowns to enact a troubled songwriter-turned-union leader's life from within the walls of Eastern State Penitentiary. Audiences can expect a railcar ride, a drugstore murder, a sham trial and a mystery woman whose reputation is in jeopardy, all told with music, humor and great physicality.

Jo Strømgren Kompani: The Society (Sept. 6-8, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St.), from Norway's pre-eminent maker of contemporary physical theater and dance. The Society tells the story of a group of European coffee drinkers whose harmonious coffee-drinking ritual is broken by the discovery of a used tea bag. Investigations into a possible Asian infiltration unfold, and the question becomes: How far are coffee drinkers willing to go in order to bring the tea-loving traitor to justice?

Attis Theatre: AJAX, the madness (Sept. 5-7, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St.), a contemporary study on war's paranoia, violence and conflict based on the tragedy by Sophocles. This U.S. premiere, a co-presentation with The Wilma Theater by Greek performance company Attis Theatre and internationally acclaimed director of Greek drama Theodoros Terzopoulos, is grounded in ritual and extreme physical and emotional expression.

The Festival Bar, home of the Late Nite Cabaret, will be located at Underground Arts (12th and Callowhill streets) and will be open at 10 p.m. every night of the Festival. Admission is free and 21+. Visit www.FringeArts.com for schedule of performers.

The fourth annual FEASTIVAL, a benefit for FringeArts, will be held on Thursday, September 12, 6-9 p.m. (VIP hour, 5 p.m.) at a waterfront warehouse located on Pier 9, 121 N. Columbus Blvd., in Philadelphia. The 2013 event will feature a culinary feast from dozens of the city's top chefs, hosted by Stephen Starr, Michael Solomonov and Audrey Claire Taichman, with live performances by Festival artists and silent and live auctions. For more information, visit www.phillyfeastival.com.

PNC Arts Alive is the 2013 Presenting Sponsor of the 17th annual Fringe Festival.

To post a comment, you must register and login.