The Philadelphia Fringe Festival is over two weeks of different performermances including solo acts, percussionists, fire-breathers, trapeze flyers, fast-talkers, finger-snappers, improvisers, and dryer-lint puppets.
Ranging in price from free to $10, theater, dance, performance art, music, poetry and puppetry at various locations could be viewed at non-traditional venues throughout Old City and surrounding neighborhoods. The Fringe presents diverse groups of Philadelphia artists with international and national counterparts in over 59 venues. Many have said it is a great way to explore new boundaries. The Fringe’s web page says, “Our audiences are people who are looking for new ways to do things, new things to try. They are adventurous and committed to Philadelphia’s performing arts renaissance.”
John Doyle, director and designer of “Dutchman” by Amiri Baraka, said, “The Fringe is an opportunity to do unusual or non-commercial theater pieces . . .It’s about risky, edgy theater being produced to captivated audiences interested in the arts.”
There are two types of shows at the Fringe, adjudicated and unfiltered shows. The adjudicated shows are shows sponsored and paid for by the Fringe, and the unfiltered shows are not paid for, but are advertised and affiliated with the Fringe. This year there were 115 adjudicated shows and 130 unfiltered shows.
With the recent completion of its fifth successful year, the Philadelphia Fringe is growing rapidly, providing new energy for Philadelphia arts audiences and the artist community. Last year the Fringe had over 1,100 artists participate, and had over 35,000 attend. It is only expected to expand each year, and to also cover more of the Philadelphia region.
