The 2024 Philly Fringe Festival editor’s picks

On Buried Ground, September 4-14 at Christ Church Neighborhood House

With the promise of dance, theater, music, and an interdisciplinary exhibition revealing “the histories of enslaved and freed people of African descent in Philadelphia during the American colonial era,” this show from the Christ Church Preservation Trust is the first one on my schedule. Performances that explore important but lesser-known aspects of history have always been favorites of mine. Plus, playwright Ang(ela) Bey and director Nia Benjamin are artists I have my eye on. Look out for Kimberly Haas’s review.

BLACK WOOD: WINTERBORN, September 5-29 at the Latvian Society

This is billed as a standalone sequel to last year’s BLACK WOOD (here’s a review by Camille Bacon-Smith). I saw the original and had mixed feelings. As usual, I was in awe of Gunnar Montana’s choreography, execution, and design, but I thought the show sidestepped its promised exploration of women’s empowerment. I’m curious to see what Montana and his peerless ensemble are up to this year, and whether WINTERBORN rings true.

MY BIG FANG VAMPIRE WEDDING, September 5-15 at Ulana’s Nightclub

REV Theatre Company’s latest Fringe offering sounds like a great way to kick off spooky season. This interactive “immersive cabaret” invites us to Dracula’s wedding reception, where his singing brides offer their own “bloody brilliant arrangements” of music including Donna Summer, Blondie, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, and lots more. I know REV artistic director Rosey Hay, so I’m attending as a friend. But you can look out for a review by Melissa Strong.

Whore’s Eye View, September 21-23 at Christ Church Neighborhood House.

Speaking of writer Melissa Strong, her 2023 review of Kaytlin Bailey’s Whore’s Eye View intrigued me. The show is back in this year’s Fringe, so I got tickets. It’s “a mad dash through 10,000 years of history from a sex worker’s perspective,” mixing stand-up, history, and storytelling. Even progressive folks have a lot of work to do in unpacking certain stigmas, and disdain for sex workers is high on that list.

I Will Eat You Alive, September 21-29 at Icebox Project Space Gallery

Managing BSR coverage for dozens of shows doesn’t leave me much time for writing these days. But I’m making room to review Katie Hileman’s I Will Eat You Alive, from Interrobang Productions. It’s “a play in the form of a dinner party about the beauty, pain, and absurdity of living in a fat body,” tackling “diet culture, fatphobia, and what it’s really like to be a fat woman in the age of Ozempic.” Speaking of stigmas that persist among progressives (how long before you realize that calling Trump fat is only going to hurt your fat friends?), we badly need more body liberation in the theater space.

GHOST RIDE or the play that blows away, September 6-20, leaving from Inn Yard Park

I wouldn’t be able to ride a bike without wobbling into the nearest parked car, but as a car-free pedestrian and ally of bikers, I’m fascinated by this show. It will take place on a three-mile bike ride departing from East Falls and following a protected bike lane on MLK Drive. According to Agile Rascal Theatre, “audiences will pedal alongside the protagonist as the narrative unfolds on bike and at stops along the path.” The story, which follows a food delivery worker into the afterlife, “is a love song to the bicycle that addresses issues of bicycle safety and transportation justice, as well as being a meditation on life and loss.”

I have personally noticed Philly drivers becoming even more impatient and aggressive over the last few years, and cars have come close to hitting me in crosswalks too many times to count. I hope this show is another piece of an urgent conversation about road safety in Philly, after several recent high-profile tragedies. (BYO bike or rent an INDEGO; limited pedicab rides available for those who can’t bike.)

Hacia la Luz (Towards the Light), September 27-29 at Rittenhouse Filmworks

I’m not a dance writer, but whenever I get a chance, I attend a performance by Pasion y Arte, an all-woman flamenco company. Artistic director Elba Hevia y Vaca’s solo performances have been some of my most memorable dance experiences, bringing an empowering, independent flair to a genre that I had previously seen only in choreography for couples.

In Hacia la Luz, Hevia y Vaca explores her Andean Indigenous ancestry. On her path of discovery into her heritage, she began to question her own notions of reality, activism, spirituality, gender, race, sexuality, and more. She invites the audience on “a journey of connection and healing” and a look into the darkness we all inherit, and asks, “how can we repair the damage?”

Find your favorite artists or choose something new!

This is just a small sampling of the hundreds of performances coming up in this year’s Fringe. Search the full lineup, and look out for BSR coverage of dozens of shows. And if you want a guide to shows happening in South Philly, check out this neighborhood-specific roundup.

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