BorderLight Is Back as an All-Fringe Festival This Year

Thu 8/3-Sat 8/5

Fri 8/4 @ noon

Cleveland’s BorderLight International Theatre + Fringe Festival has been continually shapeshifting since it debuted in 2019.  Originally intended to be annual, it made the unexpectedly foresighted decision after the inaugural event to be biennial instead, given the complexity of pulling off such a multi-venue event with so many partners.

And then came 2020 and COVID, which made that decision moot. It returned in 2021 as the BorderLight Virtual Fringe Festival with nearly three dozen livestreamed and on-demand virtual productions, interactive online experiences, and several self-guided “audio adventures.” It returned as a full-scale live international theater and fringe fest in 2022.

Now, another shapeshift. It will alternate a fringe-only year with an international and fringe festival. And 2023 will be all fringe — a mélange of more than 130 diverse types of performances by local and national artists and ensembles, taking place at six venues and 15 stages in Playhouse Square over three days.

Rather than straightforward plays, a fringe festival can offer almost any kind of performance — comedy, burlesque, drag, dance, opera, performance art, poetry, storytelling, vaudeville and interactive experiences. To choose a couple at random: there’s I Stumbled Through a Magic Portal and All I Got Was This Dumb T-Shirt, described as “an exercise in collaborative storytelling where wild and mysterious characters will guide you through a unique interactive experience,” warning that the audience is part of the show and every performance is one of a king. If you feel that infringes on your personal space, try Public Fransit, a play about the history of public transportation performed by a public transportation-themed band called the Frans (not the same local band that was popular in the mid 90s).

And many more. You’ll have to check out the online program because we can’t possibly tell you about all of them. Go here.

Also, on Friday August 4 at noon, the City Club, which has just moved to new digs at Playhouse Square, will be hosting a free forum outdoors at Playhouse Square’s US Bank Plaza, talking about “Theatre for the People: BorderLight and the Future of Performance Art.” Featured panelists include performer/playwright Holly Holsinger, chair of the department of theatre & dance at Cleveland State University; playwright Paul O. Mims; aerialist Lucretia Stenson; and puppet builder Robin VanLear who conceived, and for many years ran, the popular Parade the Circle festival.

Cleveland, OH 44115

Post categories:

Leave a Reply

[fbcomments]