I’ve had some health issues, including a rather nasty bout of COVID-19, which has delayed this post. Speaking of COVID, it is going around, so it’s smart to wear a mask—but please, for the love of the comfort of my poor face, I just had it, don’t make me wear one to your show! And, for the love of whatever god you worship, think of the poor clowns—they have crowdwork to do!
The 2025-26 theater season in Philadelphia kicks off next week(!!) with the Fringe festival. I’m not going to be exhaustive here, but I want to share some things that I think will be highlights or have caught my interest, which I’ve broken down by week in what I hope will be a useful guide. I’ll also offer some more general comments, such as…
The Dumb Hub is a cluster of, well, dumb work (“a chef's kiss selection of CLOWN, IDIOT, ALT COMEDY, Performance art, and Freak SH*T ONLY”), that will be taking place at the Pig Iron School during the festival’s second and third weeks. Ofcourse, those of us who love (or are in love, lust, obsession, or in otherwise dysfunctional relationships with) clowns and other freaks know that sometimes this work is, brother, let me tell you, sharp as hell, in actuality. It’s a very smart addition to the festival, this kind of tightness, both thematically and geographically (while Cannonball has become more dispersed), makes it much easier to navigate the festival’s offerings.
This isn’t a fully comprehensive guide, especially as compiling this is rather laborious, but I’ve trawled the listings and these have caught my eye. The curated programming, both from FringeArts and Dumb Hub, is all worth checking out (I’ll be trying to get to as much of each as possible), and I’ve only called out a handful of those shows here.
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An off-night new play reading featuring Kishia Nixon and Ross Beschler as Cleopatra and Marc Antony, new heaven new earth is an in-development “Afrocentric” adaptation of Antony and Cleopatra by Rayne. I’m of two minds about this kind of thing, on the one hand being here for mythmaking, but also skeptical because, well, Cleopatra was Greek, part of a stretch of two millennia of foreign rule over Egypt (either as part of an empire outright or dynastic) that began with the conquest of Alexander the Great and didn’t end until the 20th century. With Nixon and Beschler and a live-score, this is perfect festival fare for a Monday or Tuesday. Sept 1 and 16 at the Proscenium at the Drake.
Thematically linked with the Dumb Hub but not part of it is Grace Lazarz’s 5 Stagehands Fall out of a Closet (the goose crisis) at The Trestle Inn. Sept 3, 10, 17, and 24, which is immediately followed by John Giltner and Gene Farbe’s Family Vacation (Giltner and Farbe’s My Orc Cicero, with Jonathan Schlieman, is in the D’Hu’mb)
Shay Overstone has been creating light, humorous slice-of-life plays that have been set in places like record stores and on the subway. Her latest, Plum, is set in a restaurant. At Asian Arts Initiative, Sept 4—7.
Vanessa Kamp, a Barcelona-based artist from DC with a practice at the very-Fringey and very-Philly intersection of dance, theater, and clown, will be previewing the third installment in her Cheetah Banks cycle. The previous two parts, Cheetah Banks and Speak English had their US premieres at Cannonball the last two years. Devour Me previews Sept 4, 13, and 26 at Icebox Project Space.
Playwright, screenwriter and performer Dan Kitrosser of HOMOS! A Solo Disaster Musical and SMOOTH, a solo queer noir musical, bitch, returns this year with Dan Kitrosser is KAREN TENDERNESS in QUEER WINDOW!, this time taking on Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Sept 5 - 13 at the Magic Gardens Studio
Chris Davis will be reviving a one man show The Presented, a show about being an artist and making art. “The Golden Age of Theater has ended: grants canceled, theaters shuttered, universities gone bankrupt.” So true, brother. At Studio 34, Sept 6—28.
Color me intrigued by Kaidan: Night of 100 Spirits, which first caught my attention as nothing but a flyer in Plays and Players. Schreiben the Conjurer, a magician if you couldn't tell by his name, promises a two hour, fifteen minute multimedia parlour and stage magic show drawing on both Victorian spiritualism and Japanese ghost stories and story-forms. Ambitious! I don't know anything about Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, but Japanese theatrical forms scratch one my special interest itches. Sept 5-7 on the Plays and Players mainstage.
Faye Driscoll is one of the most consistently exciting choreographers working today. Weathering, which has been touring since 2023, is sure to be a festival highlight. Sept 4—6 at FringeArts
Ollie Goss interprets "The Goose and the Commons," an English folk poem on the injustice of the enclosure of the commons, through puppets, inflatables and an ambient score. Leda, Sept 6 and 20 at Icebox project Space.
We Pull The Trigger by Adam Kerbel + Performa. “A roving portrait of togetherness in motion.” The audience is free to move around, and some participation is invited and optional. I don’t know, I’m tired of writing blurbs—I think Adam is nice and a very likable performer, and as choreographer he’s assembled a team here which is sure to share that spirit. Sept 6, 13 and 18 at Asian Arts Initiative.
mimebaby theatre brings special guests to their particular brand of confusing (complimentary) zaniness and wordplay with a two-night variety show, Donner and Blitzen After School Special with Donner and Blitzen. Sept 6 and 10 at the Asian Arts Initiative Black Box.
asses.masses a seven hour video-game where the audience collectively controls a mass of donkeys. Sept 7 at FringeArts.
Donner and Blitzen After School Special with Donner and Blitzen continues Sept 10 at the Asian Arts Initiative Black Box.
Lightning Rod Special's Lions has an unusual full run as part of Cannonball, complete with previews. A two-hander written and performed by Scott R. Sheppard and Alice Yorke, it's yet another entry in that classic fringe genre of shows about dying parents, lionizing the patriarchs in ways that patriarchs tend not to. "Part clown show and part deconstructed eulogy." Previews Sept 10-12, Opens Sept 13 through 21 at The Proscenium at The Drake.
Die-Cast’s Catastrophe: A Beckettian Cabaret has a band of some of Philly’s finest actors performing four Beckett shorts on concertina, toy piano, bass ukulele and music boxes. Revives the old city basement bar, Sugar Mom’s, for three nights only. Sept 12-14.
Columbian actor Lucia Bedoya and Turkish actor-director Faysal Can Dakni are rekindling a connection they made nearly a decade ago at the Shanghai Theatre Academy Summer School through an "experimental devised piece” called El idioma de lo silenciado: The letters that were never sent. Poetry, objects, bodies, and cultural exchange. Sept 12, 14, 18, 21 at the Proscenium at The Drake.
Sarah Knittel, the freak responsible for Dumb Hub and former Philadelphian, returns not only to curate the hub but to curse us with a work titled BEN FRANKLIN SEX PARTY. Knittel performs as Franklin with “pepperoni nipples, a panty hose penis, and an engorged brain,” promising to juxtapose the clear rules for attending an orgy with the mess of the founding. Sept 12—20th at the Pig Iron School.
Francesca Montanile Lyons brings her clown/buffoon show about depression and modern life, VILE, back to Philly after touring it. Made from “greasy toes, green cellophane, a balloon penis, and a side of BDSM.” Sounds gross! Sept 13, 15, 19, and 25 at the Asian Arts Initiative Black Box Theater.
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The Presented continues at Studio 34, Sept 14, 20, 26, 27 and 28.
5 Stagehands Fall out of a Closet (the goose crisis) and Family Vacation continue at The Trestle Inn, Sept 10, 17, and 24.
Devour Me continues Sept 13 at Icebox Project Space.
We Pull The Trigger continues Sept 13 and 18 at Asian Arts Initiative.
Chilean theater artist Malicho Vaca Valenzuela's REMINISCENCIA is a "intimate biographical documentary essay" on collective memory. In my view, this kind of show is what Cannonball can bring us at its best. Sept 15 and 16 at Icebox Project Space.
new heaven new earth continues Sept 16 at the Proscenium at the Drake.
FISH by Funmi Adejobi and Chris Manley has caught me for directness of its title. FISH! A solo clown show about a fish that wants to be a human. Sold! Louis Bluver at the Drake, Sept 18, 20, 21
Lightning Rod Special's Lions continues Sept 18—21 at The Proscenium at The Drake
El idioma de lo silenciado: The letters that were never sent continues Sept 18 and 21 at the Proscenium at The Drake.
BEN FRANKLIN SEX PARTY continues Sept 17 and 20 at the Pig Iron School.
Sarah Knittel and Betty Smithsonian host Mischief Night Masters bringing together a motley crew of, presumably, arch-idiots, master clowns, and supremo freaks. Sept 19 at Pig Iron School.
Leda continues Sept 20 at Icebox project Space.
A Young Man Dressed As A Gorilla Dressed As An Old Man Sits Rocking In A Rocking Chair For Fifty-Six Minutes And Then Leaves is exactly what the title describes. It’s also a Fringe legend. Sept 20th at Pig Iron.
5 Stagehands Fall out of a Closet (the goose crisis) and Family Vacation continue at The Trestle Inn, Sept 17, and 24.
The Presented continues at Studio 34, Sept 20, 26, 27 and 28.
We Pull The Trigger continues Sept 18 at Asian Arts Initiative.
VILE continues 19, and 25 at the Asian Arts Initiative Black Box.
Veteran English actor Daniel Gerroll performs as the title character in Dr Glas, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from a 1905 Swedish novel that caused scandal on its publication. The doctor believes in abortion and euthanasia, and tries to help a young woman married to a lecherous old priest—and, naturally, falls in love with her. Good odds that this will be a compelling time, if nothing else than for Gerroll, who won a “Sustained Excellence” Obie in 1999. Sept 24 to 28 at Yellow Bicycle Theater.
Around the World in 80 Toys is a new work of micro-cinema, object-puppetry and stage magic inspired by Georges Méliès, the father of film special effects. Created and performed by Thaddeus McWhinnie Phillips, who has created theatrical work for Disney. Sept 26 to 28, multiple performances each day, at FringeArts.
5 Stagehands Fall out of a Closet (the goose crisis) and Family Vacation continue at The Trestle Inn, Sept 24.
VILE continues Sept 25 at the Asian Arts Initiative Black Box Theater.
Devour Me continues Sept 26 at Icebox Project Space.
The Presented continues at Studio 34, Sept 26, 27 and 28.
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I’m struck by the wealth of offerings this year. My impression is that there are more international offerings (both with and without ties to the Pig Iron school) than last year, which is exciting. It’s the biggest Philly Fringe yet, there’s almost too much. Certainly, there’s something for everyone, but for those of us with broad tastes, how do you sort it all? I do find myself wanting to prioritize seeing the out-of-towners and unusual acts, over the things that I can see all year round. I’m certain to skip things like readings of old plays, such as those that start the EgoPo season, over new work—how could I even consider going to hear a curiosity like the colonial-era neo-classical drama Prince of Parthia when I can see sausage-nipped Ben Franklin? Does the FringeArts marketing package drive bodies to this kind of event, conceived as part of a theater’s season, or does the competition make butts-in-seats scarcer than they might otherwise be? I suspect it’s the latter, but I’m curious to hear your perspectives. I suspect that more holistic thinking about marketing and season programming could build a healthier arts ecosystem.
Set against the hundreds of independently produced shows, I do find it odd that FringeArts programs their curated season into the one month when they’re so busy managing the festival anyway. It seems like a proper headache upon a headache. Considering they have their own venue, it seems like a no brainer to spread out the season when there’s so little competition for more experimental programming throughout the year. There’s no reason that the marketing effort for that season can’t also coincide with the marketing for the festival, while still acting as a halo for fringe acts (and it could make the marketing for the FringeArts programming in other parts of the year significantly more coherent). It would be more fair to the fringe artists, too. Struggling artists shouldn’t have to compete against the likes of Rennie Harris for their audience, or even with the nerds behind assess.masses, being that it’s seven hours long (you could see four Cannonball shows in that time). Maybe I’m wrong here—I haven’t been around long enough, in Philly or otherwise, to know how this structure was developed—and it’s a truly symbiotic relationship between the dual missions of FringeArts. But if it’s not, I hope the leadership turnover at FringeArts offered an opportunity for remaking it going forward.
Perpetually disappointing to browse the Fringe listings only to realize that something that sounds cool is just online. The more annoying issue is that the online listings, being on-going, adds tremendous clutter to the calendar.
It’s a bummer there’s not more kids shows this year, with only three listed in the print festival guide, a key document for planning. This is where, like with the Fringies, the “primary category,” really fails. One of the family-friendly shows not listed primarily as a kids show is Mon Carton (My Cardboard Box), a wordless show from a French clown with a title that really says it all if you ask me. Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, Sept 6—28.
There seems to be more revivals and re-presentations in the festival this year (Chris Davis, Sarah Knittel, John Heimbuch is doing Beowulf again—and adds Gilgamesh, Francesca Montanile Lyons). Distinct from the merely iterative, in-progress presentations that often occur throughout the year, these are shows that have been shown during the fringe in past years. Maybe there’s not more than normal, and I’m just paying closer attention (I am). Alongside a few variety nights with special guests (from mimebaby, Rose Luardo, Mischief Night, Lyons), which is another thing I won’t actually be checking to see if there’s more of, just going from my feeling, I’ll just note that these are less resource intensive than creating new shows. There’s always improv in the festival, and things that are happening anyway and getting cross-promoted, and such an unscientific survey of a handful of shows isn’t enough to draw any conclusions, but… Recession indicator?
Dachau for Queers is a workshop presentation from The LAB of a new play by Daniel Neer, about the Atascadero Psychiatric Hospital, which is a forensic psychiatry facility, i.e., for the criminally insane, where, among other things, where homosexual men were given torturous treatments from the 1950s into at least the 70s. No doubt that many horrors occurred at that place, as were common in many psychiatric hospitals of the period, from electroshock to lobotomy, as well as other extreme forms of torture The play’s title is borrowed from a 1972 article by the gay radical Don Jackson, who provocatively labeled the prison as such. Perhaps this was an appropriate move, it does exist in the specific context of drawing attention to the issue. Because the thing is, Dachau was Dachau for queers. The holocaust, like slavery, is often poorly understood in the popular imagination because many of its horrors are unrepresentable, and, like chattel slavery, it is often actively minimized and denied.
No matter how self-aware a project this is, the title itself is offensive and works to minimize the very real horrors of Dachau. The subject of mistreatment and oppression of queer people is one that deserves to be explored and represented. It is, so unfortunately, as relevant as ever. By adopting the title, the artists signal that they are not truly thoughtfully exploring this material.
I may share some more things that are generating some positive word-of-mouth, or that I see and love, as the festival begins, though my approach to writing about the things I’ve seen is to be determined. My hope is this guide will be more useful overall than a barrage of roundups and reviews—and I’d love to hear from you on this. Say hello if you see me at the fringe!
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