Our favorite Fringe Festival shows, plus a couple you can still see

The Philadelphia Fringe Festival brought more than 300 thrilling and innovative productions across the region, from solo shows to epic opera to daring circus performances. Fringe Arts kicked off the festival introducing incoming executive director Nell Bang-Jensen, who was previously the artistic director at Theatre Horizon. The ensuing monthlong festival celebrated all kinds of eccentric and boundary-pushing performing arts. We rounded up the best shows we saw during the festival that we’re still talking about today.

I was not very familiar with the work of indie rock star Aimee Mann, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying Pig Iron Theatre Company’s Poor Judge. Told through a series of abstract vignettes, Poor Judge used the music of Aimee Mann to explore and contextualize ideas about illusion and disillusionment. The live projection of the actors’ video was particularly wonderful, as it punctuated ideas and jokes. Where this show really shone though, was in the music and the performances. Vocally, this was one of the best sounding shows I’ve ever seen in Philadelphia. The wall of sound that was created the first time the ensemble sang as one, was breathtaking. Alex Bechtel’s arrangements and music direction left me hoping for an album of these songs sung by this cast. At the heart of this ensemble piece was a truly magnetic performance by Dito van Reigersberg. From the moment they walked onto the stage, and wore a blonde ombre wig, they were instantly captivating. In a show that posited ideas about artifice and illusion in Hollywood, van Reigersberg’s performance was so brazenly open and honest, that it stripped away all artifice and stood in direct opposition to the harsh ideas the show was exploring, to masterful effect. — FS

The ever-expanding boundlessness of a Fringe lineup allows for surprising intersections and a delightful example this year came from vocalist, clarinetist, and composer Holland Andrews. In the close and cozy walls of Solar Myth — where jazz improvisers typically take the stage — they stood alone commanding two mics and a table spread’s worth of synthesizer knobs and buttons. It was akin to watching a scientist fiddle about in their lab, only here the artist embraced a jazzy spontaneity and experimented live, layering intertwining melodies and riffs with careful precision. Sparse lyrics repeated lessons, like “Your doubts are getting in the way.” Andrews conjured a transportive, otherworldly sound that was, at turns, operatic beauty and trippy distortion for a unique, entrancing journey that stayed with me long after I left. — RC

On Buried Ground unearthed the history of Black congregants of the historic Christ Church. Developed by Nia Benjamin, Rayne (Angela Bey), and Shayla-Vie Jenkins, and presented in collaboration with Christ Church Preservation Trust, it was split into two distinct sections. The first invited the audience to explore Christ Church Burial Ground as it told the stories of four enslaved Black children, who were buried in unmarked graves. For the spectacular second half, the show moved inside Christ Church to tell the story of Alice of Dunk’s Ferry, an enslaved woman who lived to be 116 years old. It examined her last days through dance and poetry. Rhonda Moore’s performance as Alice was truly magnificent. There were moments where everything was working so harmoniously throughout the second half that it became more of a spiritual experience than a theatrical one. — FS

While the festival might be more known for its small scale and eccentric acts, Opera Philadelphia has been a regular partner for epic productions. The U.S. premiere of The Listeners — composed by Lansdale native Missy Mazzoli — landed at the Academy of Music for three nights with a contemporary story that incorporated elements rare on opera stages; from an Instagram Live segment to melodic cursing to vaping. The outstanding soprano Nicole Heaston played Claire, a teacher plagued by a nagging hum that no one else can hear. She finds a community of fellow listeners with a magnetic leader, but she soon realizes that he’s more sinister than comforting. Incredible vocals from the cast were especially incisive amid the enthralling set design, which projected the singers’ filmed confessionals onto a massive screen as they sang their deepest secrets. While some parts of the plot lost me (see: the gratuitous police shooting), it was exciting to see cutting-edge opera talent taking risks. — RC

Classical works frequently serve as prompts for contemporary insights at Fringe; in this ambitious effort, local Palestinian writer Zaina Yasmin Dana channeled her family’s personal experiences, real-life interviews with Israeli soldiers, poetry, and electronic dance music into a modern take on Othello, as a response to the ongoing war in Gaza. The titular character is a Palestinian soldier — played by her brother Qais Dana — serving in the Israeli army during the 2014 Gaza War. His wife and fellow soldier Desdemona (Maddie Gillespie) wears a peace sign necklace and says she loves him while waxing poetically about a time before social media when she says the conflict could have been resolved “quietly.” That sentiment is repeated with the backdrop projection of a clip from Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” and later in a video with real Israeli soldiers repeating the same line.

The dialogue shifts from Shakespeare’s flowery prose to sardonic commentary from a captivating Iago (Jackson Purdy). He breaks the fourth wall to confront the audience with real testimony from the Danas’ father, who at 16, was tortured by Israeli soldiers to confess a crime he did not commit. “Is this enough? To make a connection with him?” Iago asks as Othello appears bound and blindfolded. “He’s not even an actor but his sister wrote this play about their father — every night he has to listen in detail to the torture his father experienced.”

The intimate setting at Icebox Project Space was standing room only, with an audience that seemed eager to see these challenging conversations on Philadelphia stages. The production was a bit rough and uneven, but I’m looking forward to seeing how Dana might continue developing the work for the future. — RC

A small theater company presenting a one-night-only concert of a new musical in development? Sign me up! Apartment 20 Theatre presented a concert version of the musical Lilith and Her Demons (which they presented digitally during the COVID-19 Pandemic), exploring the mythological figure of Lilith and how she inhabits the lives of women today.

The concert was presented simply and, with the minimal amount of rehearsal time, well. The score is tonally cohesive, and very refined. The melodic lines don’t always go where you expect them to, which works most times, but occasionally sounds off in an unintentional way. Musical arrangements by Damien Figueras truly shine; their choice of instrumentation was well thought out, and created a unique sound for the material. The cast of three handled the material well, with Courtney Bird being a standout with powerhouse vocals. Hopefully this show continues to be workshopped and developed, as a full production of this would be fascinating to see. — FS

Pirate Queens (Brooke Shilling)

Bodies (Matti McLean)

Whore’s Eye View (Kaytlin Bailey/Old Pros)

Ulysses (Elevator Repair Service)

I Will Eat You Alive (Interrobang Productions)

One show that continues past the festival’s end date comes from Philadelphia dancer and choreographer Gunnar Montana, whose latest production, Black Wood: Winterborn, is a gothic, witchy, and sensual drama worthy of the forthcoming spooky season. It is running at the Latvian Society of Philadelphia through Oct. 29.

The last Fringe festival premiere arrives in November with We Have Gone As Far As We Can Together, an interactive opera where audiences can join to sing mantras inspired by spiritual musicians like Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane. It will run Nov. 1-9 at FringeArts in Old City.