Sun 1/22 @ noon-6PM
Summit StageFest was only two years old when it was wiped out by the pandemic. The festival, taking place on multiple stages at Highland Square, offered Akron-area performance ensembles of all types the chance to show off a little of what they do and audiences the opportunity to sample a variety of local groups.
Last July, the Akron Civic Theatre brought back a scaled-down version of the festival — as smaller number of ensembles in a single afternoon on its multiple stages. Now it’s doing so again, this time in the dead of winter.
Billing it as “the area’s largest theater-focused festival,” it presents performances by nearly a dozen small theater, improv, dance and music groups on its main stage, its intimate Knight Stage and its cabaret stage, Wild Oscar’s.
Doors open at noon. Performances kick off at 1 with the Tower Eighty Players, a group of senior citizens who present readings of classics, on the Knight Stage and Steven Scionti’s one-man humorous narration in Wild Oscar’s. Other performance groups include Western Reserve Playhouse (pictured above), Millennial Theatre Project, whose Avenue Q is currently running at the Akron Civic’s Knight Stage, Point of No Return Improv, Just Go With It Improv, Improv Game Night, Largely Literary Theater, It’s a Match, Shuvani Dance Company (which presents bellydancing) and Hearts of Music.
It’s free and no reservations are required. Come for the whole afternoon or drop in to sample a few groups.