You think it’s tough here, choosing among the 312 shows staged around town in September as part of the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe show?
Baby, that’s nuthin’.
In Edinburgh, Scotland, where the Fringe tradition began in 1947 as a post-World War II arts revitalization and reawakening, the official Edinburgh 2024 website listed more than 3,500 shows for the monthlong August event.
Still, our Fringe, with its 312 Philly shows and more than 1,000 performances, is daunting enough.
Don’t worry. We can help.
Key to the whole thing is an understanding of what Fringe is.
“We’re encouraging new people to create,” said Mikaela Boone, interim program director at Fringe Arts. Because most of the shows are non-juried, the Fringe creates a chance for Philadelphia’s rich ecosystem of musical, dance, theater, and circus artists to introduce their newest ideas to an audience ready to dip a toe into that talent pool.
“Over the course of 28 years, we’ve trained an audience to be tolerant of artistic risk during the month of September,” Boone said. “They’re more willing to see something outside the box, genre-defining, something that’s not as readily available in the traditional models.”
First, some context: Drawing its inspiration from Edinburgh, Philadelphia’s Fringe began in 1997 with a five-day, 60-show festival in Old City. Since then, it has expanded each year, offering all kinds of shows in many venues around the city, including its own building, a former pumping station turned bar, restaurant, and performance space.
These days, the Fringe, which runs Sept. 5 through 29, embraces festivals within its orbit. Don’t get confused if you hear about the Cannonball Festival, which begins Sept. 1, or Circus Campus Presents or Glen Foerd. These are subgroups that organize artists at specific locations, but all the booking is done through the Fringe Arts website.
Here’s how to make Fringe work for you, however you choose to approach it.
Decide by date
Pick a day, any day, between Sept. 1 and Sept. 29. Then turn to phillyfringe.org/events and use the When button.
On Friday, Sept. 6, for example, there are 45 choices. Among them are “Ghost Ride or the Play That Blows Away,” which involves a three-mile bicycle ride along Martin Luther King Drive.
You can catch Elevator Repair Service’s “Ulysses,” a New York Times Critics pick about a James Joyce reading that runs riotously off-course; “Sound Moves,” combining dance and music by Dancefusion & Casual Fifth; or “Crone Castle,” by Nulliparous Tits: Alicia McDaid and Rose Luardo — not only because the artists included the word “tits” in their duo’s name (but it’s a start, and what the heck does “nulliparous” mean, anyway?).
Pick by place
If you want to make it easy on yourself, pick a spot, get there early, and stay for multiple shows. Simple enough at phillyfringe.org/events. Tap on both the Where and When buttons.
For example, on that same Friday, Sept. 6, there are eight shows offered by Cannonball at the Maas studio and garden. Doors open at 5 p.m. with “Delivery Boy,” Jaden Alvaro Gine’s play about the struggle of a teenager on the cusp of college to make ends meet, in a family that is spending every dime it earns just to break even. Another on-the-job show, “Graveyard Shift!”, a dark comedy about a reality TV contestant who has to find a job and keep it for a year to get health insurance, caps the night at 9:30.
In between are dance performances, live music, and other theater pieces. The Maas, at 1320 N. 5th Street, is a great spot for a full evening, because there’s often food available. Between shows, you can buy beer, sit around a campfire, and strike up conversations with random Fringe folks.
Although there are shows in many places, other major venues include the Ice Box Project Space, 1400 N. American St.; Liberty Lands Park, 913 N. 3d St., for lots of kids’ programming; Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American St; Circus Campus, 6452 Greene St. in Mt. Airy; Glen Foerd, 5001 Grant Ave. in Northeast Philadelphia, and of course, the Fringe Arts building itself, 140 N. Columbus Blvd.
Try a track
Maybe you’ll decide you want to focus on dance, or circus, kids’ shows, or comedy/improv. Maybe you would like to participate in workshops, or just participate. Again, your go-to-spot is fringearts.org/events. Select genre. Under keywords, you can pick what kind of show you would like to see in that genre. In the mood for burlesque, parody, poetry, or something else? If, for example, you select both dance and dark, you’ll get three choices, including Gunnar Montana’s athletic and disturbing “Black Wood: Winterborn” at the Latvian Society.
Get expert advice
The pros at the Fringe festival and the Cannonball have curated some shows. At the Cannonball, there’s a BIPOC New Work Track, a kids’ show track, text and dramaturgy award winners chosen by the Philadelphia Theatre Company, and shows by Al-Bustan award winners — art makers from southwest Asia and northern Africa. The Fringe picks are local, national, and international, across genres. Among them are two operas, a dance group from Zürich, an immersive dance experience by Fringe veteran Nichole Canuso, as well as offerings from two Philly favorites, the Pig Iron Theatre Co. and Lightning Rod Special. These shows are reliably good and can be found via the phillyfringe.org/events website under Hubs. Click FringeArts Presents.
Rely on an algorithm
The Cannonball folks feel your anxiety. To help you choose among the 120-some shows they are offering, they’ve devised a short quiz that puts you in one of four personality types — maestro, rebel, dreamer or banana — and sorts shows, by day, to match your type.
Just try something
The weirder, the better. You can call the Fringe box office (215-413-1318) and get them to mail the 46-page print copy to you. Open it up, close your eyes, and point. Online or on the phone, just jiggle your finger or your mouse. Click. Then go.
