Philly Fringe 2025: Paper Doll Ensemble presents Pinky Promise

Perspectives on puberty

Take a trip back to summer 2005 in Paper Doll Ensemble’s world-premiere Fringe show, Pinky Promise, about a trio of tween girls learning how to take up space in the world. Emily Esten reviews.

Emily Esten

Sep 19, 2025 · Reviews · 3 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: Cannonball presents a reading of AZ Espinoza’s Caribbean King

A “de-colonial, trans-gressive” new take on King Lear

Philly actor, director, and playwright AZ Espinoza’s lush and ambitious Caribbean King gets a pair of developmental readings as part of this year’s Fringe. Krista Mar reviews.

Krista Mar

Sep 16, 2025 · Reviews · 2 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: Lightning Rod Special presents Alice Yorke and Scott R. Sheppard’s Lions

The gift of watching others fail

Lions, the latest Fringe entry from Lightning Rod Special, written and performed by Alice Yorke and Scott R. Sheppard, finds heartfelt laughs and reflection in “the business of letting our dads die.” Alaina Johns reviews.

Alaina Johns

Sep 16, 2025 · Reviews · 4 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: Wolfsmouth Players Company presents Laura Anthony’s Queerano, or a Very Great Mischief

Queer history meets farce

New York-based Wolfsmouth Players Company brings Queerano, a mashup of Cyrano de Bergerac, Twelfth Night, Wildean farce, and queer history, to the Philly Fringe. Melissa Strong reviews.

Melissa Strong

Sep 15, 2025 · Reviews · 3 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: Greg Kennedy presents Architectonica

We are all jugglers

A new Fringe experience from juggler Greg Kennedy is more collaborative workshop than performance, mixing art with engineering to take the audience inside a craft that dates back to Leonardo da Vinci. Walt Maguire reviews.

Walt Maguire

Sep 15, 2025 · Reviews · 3 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: August Hakvaag presents The Superconductor

Organizing the lab

Science and solidarity are at stake in a staged reading of August Hakvaag’s The Superconductor. Emily Esten reviews.

Emily Esten

Sep 15, 2025 · Reviews · 3 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: Nick Gillette presents Pennsylvania Semiconscious Liberation Army

Are we as polarized as we think?

An immersive theater experience from veteran Philly performer Nick Gillette and a large ensemble asks the audience pressing ethical questions about our American moment. Alaina Johns reviews.

Alaina Johns

Sep 14, 2025 · Reviews · 4 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: Clayton Lee presents The Goldberg Variations

Bach meets the WWE in the spirit of the Fringe

Performance artist Clayton Lee defies “model minority” stereotypes with The Goldberg Variations, a funny, vulnerable, interdisciplinary original show that explores the greater meaning within his romantic exploits. Krista Mar reviews.

Krista Mar

Sep 13, 2025 · Reviews · 2 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: Carne Viva Dance Theatre presents Dame La Receta

Different “American Dreams”

Philadelphia/Miami art collective Carne Viva Dance Theatre brings Dame La Receta to the Philly Fringe, an interdisciplinary performance exploring immigrants’ experience of the American Dream. An Nichols reviews.

An Nichols

Sep 11, 2025 · Reviews · 3 minute read

Philly Fringe 2025: Without a Cue Productions presents And Then They Were Dead

Choose-your-own-murder

Without a Cue’s interactive And Then They Were Dead is more fun than it is good—which is, itself, a good thing. Jill Ivey reviews.

Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey

Sep 09, 2025 · Reviews · 3 minute read