FringeArts Reveals 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival
Audience members will be able to enjoy all that the Philadelphia Fringe Festival will offer from September 7 through September 24, 2023.
By: Stephi Wild Aug. 01, 2023
FringeArts has announced the full roster of programming for the 27th Annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival, a city-wide celebration of progressive, world-class art that expands the imagination and boldly defies expectations. The festivities will feature nearly 300 diverse productions and experiences throughout the city of Philadelphia, with a focus on embracing the FringeArts site as a cultural, culinary, and nightlife hub. Audience members will be able to enjoy all that the Philadelphia Fringe Festival will offer from September 7 through September 24, 2023. Tickets for members will go on sale August 1, 2023; general public will go on sale August 4, 2023.
"This year's festivities highlight our Festival Campus, which welcomes artists, audiences, and industry professionals to connect-whether that be purchasing tickets and getting help navigating the Festival, or participating in an art-making activity and watching an artist perform at the new Fringe Bar," notes President and Producing Director Nick Stuccio. "No day will be exactly the same. We are excited to welcome audience members to enjoy this year's dynamic programming and hope that the festival, with its incredible programming, can act as a social space in which conversation can blossom between artists and audiences, artists and artists, and Philadelphia and the world."
Of note, this year's festival includes world premieres by Mimi Lien, Susan Marshall, John Jarboe, Emily Bate, Meg Saligman, and more. There will also be a special David Bowie-themed event by the Paul Green Rock Academy, plus the return of both The Bearded Ladies' Late Night Snacks pop-up cabaret bar and the celebrated Independent Festival Hubs, including Cannonball, Crossroads Comedy, Circus Campus Presents, and two new additions-Laurel Hill and Daydream: An Art for Young Audiences Hub.
As always, the Fringe Festival will take place all over Philadelphia, making the city its festival campus, with the main hub located at FringeArts' home on Columbus Boulevard. Throughout the festival, guests can enjoy a variety of pop-up experiences at Philadelphia's newest experiential, active "fun space": Fringe Bar, a newly renovated restaurant and pub experience. Festival attendees can dine indoors and enjoy soulful pub cuisine featuring snacks and bites alongside an array of eclectic and funky beverage options enhanced by custom entertainment ranging from jazz ensembles, to funk bands, to cabaret, and more. The industrial-chic space is directly adjacent to FringeArts' renowned state-of-the-art 220 seat theater. Outdoors is Haas Biergarten, which serves as a vibrant, plant-filled space where anything can happen.
The 27th Annual Fringe Festival call for artists produced hundreds of submissions. 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 artists curated by FringeArts, and both live and digital works that are produced by independent artists from across Philadelphia and beyond, promoted by FringeArts.
Curated Productions Presented by FringeArts
Bowie in Berlin: Sound and Vision
World Premiere
Paul Green Rock Academy guest starring Red40, Johnny Showcase, & Jess Conda
September 7-8, 2023
FringeArts
140 N Columbus Blvd
The Paul Green Rock Academy is the definitive school to train talented young musicians, aged 11-17, to become the next generation of premiere rock stars. A part of Green's pedagogy is a great music education, which definitely means studying David Bowie. Bowie was a guiding light of the cabaret movement, and his Berlin Albums arguably contained his DNA at its best. This special event will feature 28 songs from all three of Bowie's Berlin Albums performed with gusto by emerging top talent from Paul Green Rock Academy. The young rockstars will be joined by some of Philly's most virtuosic cabaret performers, including Jess Conda, Sam Rise, Johnny Showcase, and the return of Red 40.
Make Bank
World Premiere
Meg Saligman + Rough and Tumble Productions
September 15-29
The Manufacturers' National Bank
27 N 3rd St
For a brief time during the 2023 Fringe Festival, guests are invited to join a band of currency-crazed visual and performing artists as they hijack The Manufacturers' National Bank in Old City. Closed to the public since 1985, this space serves as the den, cave and sewer of Meg Saligman and her newest 4 story mural. By day, art-making and currency meet. Experience Brother Can You Spare a Dollar?, where guests can steal, barter or bring a dollar bill and turn it into an art piece, which will then be deposited into the heavens via a home-spun machine; or, This Ain't Your Grandma's Jewelry, an opportunity to make trinkets fit for a giant; when the bank reopens in 2024, the pieces will be on permanent display in a life-sized music box. At night, Meg, Lillian Ransijn and Dylan Smythe of R&T will host makers' stations and shuttle guests through the zany space, where they'll spill their guts to "The Teller", see The Butoh Financier, a dancer who will emerge to welcome guests into a land of fetish, finance, and bijouterie-burlesque.
Rose: You Are Who You Eat
Theatrical co-world premiere with Woolly Mammoth, Cultural DC, & La Mama Etc
Produced by the Bearded Ladies Cabaret with Emily Schreiner
Directed by MK Tuomanen
September 14-23, 2023
FringeArts
140 N Columbus Blvd
A true story of gender cannibalism set to music. Once upon a vine, John Jarboe's aunt revealed that John not only had a twin sister in the womb, but that John consumed her: "You ate her. That's why you are the way you are." This was a lot for John to swallow! In this musical shrine to the consumed twin, named Rose, John welcomes guests into a feast of gender through song, storytelling, and a full plate of wordplay. Featuring all original music written in collaboration with Emily Bate, Daniel de Jesús, Pax Ressler, and Be Steadwell. Rose was commissioned by Works & Process and developed in collaboration with The Bearded Ladies Cabaret. The work was created during the pandemic in Works & Process bubble residencies at Mount Tremper Arts and Bethany Arts Community, with the support of the Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Foundation. Early iterations of Rose were presented by Works & Process in the Guggenheim Rotunda (2021), Guggenheim Theater (2022), and CulturalDC (2022).
In repertory with
Wig Wag
World Premiere
Emily Bate
September 13-24, 2023
FringeArts
140 N Columbus Blvd
Wig Wag is a hybrid music-theater piece, performed by a cast of four in collaboration with the entire audience. In Wig Wag, singing together transforms everyone present into one collective body, as we explore the tensions and pleasures found in the thick tangle of our interdependence. The show is inspired by scientists, philosophers, and artists like Anna Tsing, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Donna Haraway, Gary Snyder, Tyson Yunkaporta, and Andreas Weber, who all insist there is no split between humans and the rest of nature, and no discrete boundary around the self. Each "self" is actually a network of relationships. Creator Emily Bate uses communal singing to bring those ideas to life in Wig Wag. Emily draws on her work as a composer, community songleader, and choir conductor to blend deeply accessible, participatory music with stunning vocal acrobatics performed by the cast. It's a show for people who love to sing, people who "can't sing" and those for whom both apply. Wig Wag is about collectively experiencing the impact we have on each other, and singing our way through it.
Written and composed by Emily Bate. In collaboration with: Samantha Rise, Sally Louise Polk, Jackie Soro and Rebecca Wright. Directed by Rebecca Wright. Performed by Samantha Rise, Sally Louise Polk, Jackie Soro and Emily Bate. Produced by Emily Schreiner. Wig Wag has been supported by funding and development assistance from: FringeArts, Leeway Foundation, the Glen Arbor Art Center, Bethany Arts Center, Subcircle Residency and The Philadelphia Thing.
Rhythm Bath
World Premiere
Susan Marshall, Mimi Lien, and The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University
September 17-24, 2023
Christ Church Neighborhood House
20 N American St
Renowned choreographer Susan Marshall and Tony Award-winning set designer Mimi Lien combine forces to create Rhythm Bath, an immersive and inclusive dance installation. Rhythm Bath blends performance, meditation, and wonder, inviting you to sense the dance happening around you. Come and go as you like-explore the accessible, transporting space of shifting fabric, light, sound, and movement. Dancers perform in the space, intermittently, over the course of an hour. This world-premiere event was developed in conversation and collaboration with neurodiverse individuals and communities. Rhythm Bath will offer ASL interpretation, audio description and unlimited use of Aira visual interpretation technology. A quiet lounge will also be available. Though most appropriate for people ages 13+, Rhythm Bath welcomes all art lovers.
Performed by Rohan Bhargava (pictured), Ching-I Chang (pictured), Sydney Donovan, Nico Gonzales, Courtney Henry, Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Albert Quesada, Gabrielle Revlock, Vanessa Knouse, and Darrin Michael Wright.
Late Night Snacks
The Bearded Ladies Cabaret
In partnership with Opera Philadelphia as part of Festival O23
September 8-October 1
The Closet
201 South Street
The Bearded Ladies Cabaret returns for our third annual LATE NIGHT SNACKS, the unapologetically queer performance art pop up that makes everyone a little bit gay. Featuring a wardrobe's worth of artists from opera singers to drag queens, cabaret stars to art clowns, and everything in between, LATE NIGHT SNACKS is here to convert you. Whether you come once, come every night, or just stop by on your way to the corner store, you'll leave with a mouthful of rainbows and glitter on your lips. Part subversion therapy, part luxury walk-in, LATE NIGHT SNACKS invites you to join us in The Closet, our custom-built cabaret, for seven minutes in queer heaven. Full lineup and performance details to be announced in August.
Hosted by a rotating group of snaxx: Jess Conda, Cookie Diorio, Eric Jaffe, Jarbeaux, Sam Rise, Jackie Soro, & US (aka Anthony Martinez-Briggs). Co-directed by John Jarboe and Jackie Soro. Produced by Cat Ramirez.
On Sundays, 3:30pm Family Snacks performances will be suitable for all ages. Evening shows are 18+.
Fringe Festival Hubs
FringeArts is thrilled to partner with five independent satellite festivals that provide a comprehensive extension of the Fringe Festival into Philadelphia's rich neighborhoods and communities. Each hub features dozens of independently produced experiences in one centralized location. This year's hubs include:
Cannonball
September 1-30, 2023
The Maas Building and other locations
1325 N. Randolph Street
Cannonball, the largest hub of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, presents risk-taking independent artists in back-to-back performances next to delicious lounge spaces, fostering creative collisions and community conversation. Cannonball disrupts traditional arts presenting models by centering artist-to-artist curation, pooling and redistributing resources to provide small-scale, high-impact production opportunities for wild, under-resourced performances, and building a sustainable arts ecosystem from the ground up. In its inaugural year in 2021, Cannonball produced 28 unique works over 21 days for 150 performances in a single venue during the Philadelphia Fringe, welcoming over 2500 audience members and winning three overall Fringie Awards. In 2023, Cannonball will return to the Maas Building and the nearby Icebox Project Space, and add programming at Fidget in Kensington and free, outdoor performances at Liberty Lands Park for families. The festival is offering over 160 shows, with over 600 performances across 4 venues.
Circus Campus Presents
September 8-24, 2023
Circadium
6452 Greene St
Come join the vibrant community at Circus Campus! Since its establishment in 2017, Circus Campus has been fostering a tight-knit group of teachers, students, performers, creators, movers, and shakers who showcase incredible skills and variety. Their restored church facility in leafy-green West Mt. Airy, located directly adjacent to Upsal Station, invites everyone from the Philadelphia metropolitan area to experience the excitement. While you're here, why not try your hand at juggling, roller-performance, or trapeze during a series of workshops? Circus Campus is not only an educational headquarters but also home to some of the most unique talent in the Philadelphia area. Don't miss out on the chance to be a part of this extraordinary community.
Crossroads Comedy
September 11-24, 2023
Theatre Exile
1340 S. 13 Street
Crossroads Comedy Theater is a roaming home for comedy shows, classes, and podcasts. Whether audiences like to sit back and watch improv, sketch comedy, stand-up, storytelling, or any other type of comedy, or are interested in learning how to do those things, they've got your back!
Laurel Hill
Presented by The Friends of Laurel Hill
September 14-30, 2023
Laurel Hill East
3822 Ridge Avenue
Since 1978, the Friends of Laurel Hill has continued to serve as stewards of two historic cemeteries as well as curating year-round programs, tours, and events. Laurel Hill East is a Victorian cemetery founded in 1836, a National Historic Landmark, and an immersive outdoor performance environment for shapeshifters and taphophiles.
Daydream: An Art for Young Audiences Hub
September 23-24, 2023
Caring People Alliance Cobbs Creek Boys and Girls Club
5843-55 Catharine St
Daydream: An Art for Young Audiences Hub is the perfect opportunity to spark creativity and create lasting memories. This new annual hub, curated by Philly Children's Theatre for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, is the perfect opportunity to let imaginations run wild through the power of art. Join us for two full days of art-making, music-creating, dance-grooving workshops provided by organizations across Philadelphia. Guests will also have the chance to watch interactive performances of opera, theatre, storytelling, and dance. All events are pay-what-you-wish.
Independently Produced Productions
This year's independently-produced slate includes a robust lineup of over 300 shows across genres and platforms. The full list of independent artists, and subsequent press information, can be found at https://phillyfringe.org.
Ticketing Information
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) August 28-September 24.
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