Tribe of Fools Debuts FISHTOWN at Philadelphia Fringe

One of Philadelphia's most athletic theatre companies is set to debut a new work that deals with technology and loneliness at the 2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Tribe of Fools is set to present its latest work Fishtown September 8-25 at The Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 South Hicks Street. Tickets to Fishtown cost $15-$25 and are available at the Fringe Box Office and online at www.fringearts.com. More information about the company can be found online at www.tribeoffools.com.

In Fishtown, Sarah Lowell (Low), a private eye and intentional luddite stumbles on to a virtual reality conspiracy when a new app allows you to live out your wildest fantasies... at a cost. Fishtown is a comic-noir that explores the following things our addiction to technology, our loneliness in an over-connected world, and what's real and what isn't.

Fishtown combines the grit of Chinatown with the wit and comedy of Roger Rabbit couched in the near-future dystopia of Black Mirror. In this comedic noir, audiences will meet Sarah Lowell (Low), a Private Investigator and intentional luddite. She's smart, intuitive, and good with people, but skeptical of technology to a fault. She's haunted by something in her past that she can't let go of. Audiences will also meet Low's assistant Bradley. He's young, gay, and incredibly tech-savvy - to a fault. He's well versed in startups and technology. He's THE early adopter for every social media platform. He can use his phone to find anyone, anything anywhere but can't find the bathroom without it. Then they will meet Aimsley, A tech-developer and marketing genius... at least that's what everyone thinks. He's created a Virtual Reality app that links with your social media accounts. This allows users to carry out their wildest fantasies with composite avatars of real-life friends and family. He's the original start-up bro who looks up to Steve Jobs and Jeff Spicoli in equal measure. The next character to come into the picture is Claire, Aimsely's assistant. Claire is everything Aimsley isn't and is constantly cleaning up his messes. She's constantly being talked-over and talked over. She's smart in an underrated way and contstantly has her own ideas explained to her. She knows more than she's letting on. Finally, in the picture is The Shadow. Only Low can see or talk to The Shadow. He's her conscience, he's a memory, he's a reminder of whatever secret Low is running away from.

Fishtown is written by Caitlin Weigel and directed by Peter Smith. The creators/performers in the show include Joseph Ahmed, Zachary Chiero. Tara Demmy, Jenna Kuerzi, and Kyle Yackowski. Peter Smith also designed the set. Robin Stamey is the Production Manager and Lighting Designer. Damien Figueras is the Sound Designer. Jamel Baker is the Stage Manager.

"We wanted to tell a story about social media and how statuses, tweets and photos make the internet a stage for the world to see us; but you can't tell the story of tech and social media without grappling with Sexism," said Peter Smith, the show's director. "To tell that story we wanted a woman protagonist and then the more we thought about it, we realized that we needed a woman to write the script as well - Caitlin is a natural fit for the Tribe of Fools style. Her writing is fast, funny and thoughtful."

Fishtown Performance Dates
Friday, September 8 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, September 9 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, September 10 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Monday, September 11 at 8 p.m.
Thursday, September 14 at 8 p.m.
Friday, September 15, at 8 p.m.
Saturday, September 16, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, September 17 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Monday, September 18 at 8 p.m.
Thursday, September 21 at 8 p.m.
Friday, September 22 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, September 23 at 8 p.m.

About Tribe of Fools

Tribe of Fools is dedicated to creating new plays that blur the lines between theatre, dance, acrobatics and other highly visual and kinetic storytelling techniques. Each year we present a new show that is as physically daring as it is poignantly relevant. Our ensemble push themselves to their physical limits while creating dynamic characters that make you laugh until they make you cry.

Tribe of Fools has tackled issues like gender roles, violence, sexual identity, family, power dynamics and even time travel. With our "signature sweet bad-ass approach to theatre" we bring a sense of levity and fun to our productions in order to make complicated and difficult themes accessible and identifiable to the audience.

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