The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, August 28-September 3

This year’s Fringe has plenty of performances returning for yet another run. Some of them have been running for years, or took significant time off since the last time it made an appearance at the festival. To come back in 2025 is a significant accomplishment in its own right—it’s hard to exist out here as an artist, and it’s rare to have the opportunity for reprise for the sake of growth and deeper creative discovery.

Here is a list of Fringe picks that I think explore that opportunity. What happens when the show actually gets to go on? You’ll have the chance to experience that for yourself throughout September.

1000 Kate Shorts
September 1-30
Streaming online

This collection of ten short music videos is a selection of videos featured over the past five years at Night of 1000 Kates, an annual performance event in Philadelphia that is conjured in tribute to “the singular sorcery of Kate Bush” that’s been running for 12 years. 1000 Kate Shorts was screened at PhilaMOCA this month, and now, you’ll be able to catch it online.

Beautiful Human Lies: Chapter 4
September 6-8
The Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 South Hicks Street

Hip hop artist Rennie Harris’s Fringe Festival debut was way back in 2000: a mashup of street dance, modern dance, and a recorded conversation between Harris and Megan Bridge, whom the original performance was made for as a student thesis concert in 1999. This year, Harris uses that performance as a seed for Beautiful Human Lies: Chapter 4. We covered Harris’s American Street Dancer this spring.

The Presented
September 6-28
Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Avenue

Chris Davis’s The Presented was first performed at Philly Fringe in 2018 and then in Edinburgh 2019. This year’s performance has been updated to “address the challenges of making art in 2025” and explore “what it means to be a ‘chosen’ artist in today’s world—and why that pursuit might drive you to madness."

Haute Glue
September 6-7, 11-13
The Fairmount House, 206 Fairmount Avenue

Rose Luardo has collected 15 years of videos made with collaborators to transform the Fairmount House into a space that is part clubhouse, part stage, and part hot, wet, American fever dream.

Bicycle Shorts Film Festival
September 6-7, 28
Yellow Bicylce Theater, 1435 Arch Street, 2nd floor

The Bicycle Shorts Film Festival took off in 2023, and it continues to expand in its third year. This year is filled with more than 20 films over the course of three 90-minute blocks from both local and international filmmakers.

Regulator XXL presents: ‘When Pigs Fly’ // For My Body
September 11, 14, and 17
Glen Foerd, 5001 Grant Avenue

When Pigs Fly is both a look into the past and a glance into the future. A full production of this work is aimed for in 2026, but it’s a revamp of a staging of R.W. Fassbinder’s absurdist play Blood on the Cats Neck from 2016. This performance will have 10 years under its belt before we see the new version next year, and that’s something to consider: how long does it take to get the story right?

WORKINONIT
September 21, 6pm
First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, 2125 Chestnut Street

Urban Movement Arts’ WORKINONIT enters its sixth year, and its street dance is more than just a performance. We covered them early this year, and founder and director Vince Johnson said that “WORKINONIT is always a party, where the dancers are encouraged to dance together, to form cyphers … to have a club-like experience [where] what you find is, the performances and the party feed one another … and then when the party opens up, you notice all these people are erupting with inspiration.” The dancing journey continues at this year’s Fringe.

Helpful Hints for Strength and Health for Busy People
September 23-27
The Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 South Hicks Street

What can a book from 1901—titled Illustrated Hints for Strength and Health for Busy People—tell us about health and busyness in 2025? “In 1901, wealth inequality was skyrocketing, and culture and society were being reconfigured by massive technological advancements, bringing major changes to the way life was lived,” says the description of the circus dance theater performance. Funny how you can replace 1901 with 2025 there and it still makes sense. Maybe there’s plenty to glean after all, especially if this means maybe we haven’t learned much at all over the last century and change.

Bodies of Water
September 27, 1pm
Fairmount Water Works, 640 Waterworks Drive

Dive into an exploration of water, time, and space that’s celebrating its 10th annual community gathering. Take a sneak peek into The Naked Stark’s creative process and be part of “a phase in an ever evolving project,” says the description.