BORDERLIGHT 2022
FESTIVAL RECAP
BORDERLIGHT 2022
Having last produced a full festival in downtown Cleveland in 2019, our debut year, BorderLight made the decision to postpone its scheduled biennial festival in 2021 in favor of a summer-long Virtual Festival that featured livestreamed and on demand Fringe acts from around the world. In July of 2022, we returned to our original festival model of presenting in-person theatre in downtown Cleveland, which included a small number of international works plus a substantial domestic Fringe Festival. It was thrilling to be able to return to booking in-person performances and bringing performers here from abroad, despite the challenges of disrupted travel and visa delays.
2022 AT-A-GLANCE
of patrons rated their BorderLight experience Excellent or Good.
of artists rated their BorderLight experience Excellent or Good.
of volunteers were satisfied and are likely to volunteer again.
of seasonal staff rated their experience with BorderLight highly.
4,200+ festival-wide attendance
45 unique performances
205 participating artists representing 7 countries and 10 states.
2022 SHOWS
A Reading of The Plague by Albert Camus
A reading of selections from The Plague divided into 30 minute selections followed by reflections from the audience on their experiences and feelings of the COVID pandemic.
Above de “C” as in Camping
We invite you to meet the GoldenCrusts. Grace and Kevin are freshly returned from a trip to Florida, and they're setting up camp in Public Square! The GoldenCrust Family is a theatrical production focusing on circus arts and physical comedy with a heavy dose of cheesiness. These two snowbirds have some highly unusual talents and they can't wait to share them with you! Gather around their RV to witness their exceptional circus comedy show. They have been preparing and refining the finest parts of their amazing production “Above the Sea and Beyond." However, due to logistical constraints they may not have all of the technicians, dancers, or pyrotechnics of the original....due to there only being two of them....but that won't stop Grace and Kevin!
Bring a chair or blanket to sit on!
American Refugee
A cerebral monster has devoured the minds of all of America’s white supremacists. One hundred years later, the monster re-emerges, wreaking havoc on a now-diversified country. American Refugee is a fantastical solo play that contemplates whether the end of Whiteness in America constitutes the end of White Supremacy.
BEES
Bees is designed for children aged 4 - 11 and their families.
Explore a buzzing, humming hive of activity, as three human-sized Bees busy themselves in the creation of a community alongside children who transform into bees as they play. The bees are fascinating, strange and beautiful, traversing invisible pathways and mapping delicate patterns across the performance space.
Inspired by the mysterious life and work of bees, this re-imagining of public space involves the slow uncovering of an intricate unseen world. Children are immersed in the sounds, shapes and scents of the bee world, from their familiar buzz to honeycomb houses. Bees uses ritual, non-verbal communication and the secret world of bee movement to provide a range of access points for children to participate.
Polyglot is working in partnership with Inlet Dance Theatre to deliver this season.
BELL, BOOK, AND LATE-NITE DRIVE THRU
A gathering of the Fates has been called! It is time for the great ritual to begin, join the two remaining members of the legendary Three Witches around the caldron to begin the process of letting go. Things go awry when modern distractions and ancient grudges threaten to destroy the balance, leaving their ritual in shambles. In this comedic interactive scene, audiences are invited to join in the ritual and confront what must be released from the past in order to live in the present.
Birdbrain
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Weaving personal experiences with the epic history of the chicken, birdbrain uncovers old questions and forgotten chapters of the long relationship between bird and human. Through vignettes, image and dance, this solo performance draws on the creative team’s combined experience in South Carolina and Lima, Peru to bring a global perspective to the world’ most populous bird.
CANCELED – Perhaps, Perhaps… Quizás
An uproariously funny clown show that plays with the idea of loneliness. Greta is a lonely woman who once a week rehearses the arrival of the so-called “one." Someday he'll come along! If at first you don’t succeed, try again... and again... and again. Be warned, Greta the clown will find her husband in one of the men seated in the theatre. Will she get lucky tonight? Perhaps, perhaps, quizás...
Central Concern
Adventurers, charmers, gamblers, scammers, Cleveland’s real estate dealers have done it all to get rich. Blending music, bouffon mayhem, and mockery Central Concern hones in on the history of Cleveland’s real estate industry and how it championed property values at the expense of well – a whole lot of stuff. Ohio City Theatre Project’s Cleveland Public Theatre 2019 coproduction was described as, “jaw-dropping: the original music, the artistry, the research and care that went into delivering the message and creating the show.”
Charming Disaster’s Musical Tarot Show
Goth-folk musical duo Charming Disaster perform an interactive musical Tarot reading, with audience members selecting cards that not only determine the set list but also predict the future! Featuring playfully macabre original songs inspired by death, crime, fairy tales, ancient mythology, science, and the occult, performed with ukulele, guitar, virtuosic foot percussion, and theatrical flair.
Charming Disaster is a goth-folk musical duo based in Brooklyn, NY, formed in 2012 by Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris. Inspired by the macabre humor of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, the murder ballads of the Americana tradition, and the dramatic flair of the cabaret, they write songs that tell stories about death, crime, myth, magic, folklore, science, and the occult.
Their new album, the Marie Curie-inspired Our Lady of Radium, is out now on vinyl, CD, and all digital platforms.
Coco and Gigi
Audiences will be drawn into a miniature world in which tiny dolls portraying characters inhabiting a 1950s Parisian bakery go on to take them on an adventure involving artistic ambition, tragedy, romance, and divided loyalties.
Dancing Wheels Quest for Equality
If dance is an expression of the human spirit, then it is best expressed by people of all abilities. The Dancing Wheels Company brings a unique concert that speaks to the importance of equality and features two works by choreographers David Rousseve and Dianne McIntyre.
Dear Cleveland: The Symphonic Soliloquies
Cleveland’s history, quarks, and hometown pride collide with classical music to create a one-of-a-kind, poetic experience. Accompanied by classical music and plenty of theatrical antics, this show will redefine conventions and challenge the imagination.
Di Yiddishe Vayb
Can we face down fascism with the wisdom of fools? DI YIDDISHE VAYB is a funny and thought-provoking performance that looks at the choices people make when confronted with the rise of authoritarianism. Join us at the Borderlight Fringe Festival for a joyful and poignant exploration of the stories Ashkenazi Jews tell in diaspora. Audiences of all ages will connect to the live music and captivating, comedic storytelling. Adapted by Rachel Lee from Bertolt Brecht’s “The Jewish Wife,” and the tales of Chelm as related by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Blanche L Serwer Bernstein, DI YIDDISHE VAYB asks questions of recent history that have stirring implications for our current moment. All are welcome!
Fragile Eggsistence
Welcome to a strange scene: a humanoid bird, a basket of eggshells, a word spelled out on the floor… sounds and words float in the air. The creature lies down to dream…but, oh oh – what does it do in its unconscious sleep? The pop up performance art piece Fragile Eggsistence beacons you into an absurd metaphoric world as it riffs on the tenuous grip we hold on life and our capacity to blindly crush and destroy our constructed reality, our planet and ecosystems that support it.
Artist and arts educator Catherine Butler has been creating curiosities for the world to view, explore and wear for decades. She aims to bring thought provoking delight to her audiences. In addition to installation and performance art, Butler is also known for her jewelry, costumes, drawings and prints. A native Clevelander, she holds a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and has been active in Cleveland’s creative community since the early 1980’s. Her work can be found in the collections of the in the Danner Foundation's Die Neue Sammlung, which is permanently housed in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Germany, the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin, and the Ohio Craft Museum.
Fragments of Samantha
Sometimes Samantha's life is tough. Her father dies of cancer. Her boyfriend cheats on her so she has to move back from NY to CLE. She has no money. Other times, she's living the life of Riley. She creates a dynamic new painting. She meets a new lover. She wins a fellowship to study in New Orleans. She meets a new lover. Oh yeah. We said that already. Life-changers all. Now, what can she do to sustain that good life? Come take a sometimes-fragmented but very intimate, personal journey with Samantha as she creates art from her life.
Fran and Gus
The plot follows two career criminals, Gus and Francine, also known as Fran. The year is 1972 and at the top of the show, we find them both bloodied, bruised, handcuffed to each other, and arguing bitterly. They are running from the aftermath of a job gone wrong, one that left their other associates dead and got themselves arrested. If they can cross into Indiana, they’ll be free of their charges and can start again somewhere new.
Both actors will be handcuffed together for the entire performance. Between climbing fences and ducking into alleyways, Fran and Gus bicker their way through memories of their past, the reality of the present and the heartbreaking realization of what could have been. Join us for a comedic tragedy that explores the human condition, full of laughter, love and regret.
Gray Space
This piece is an exploration of the process involved in having authentic, difficult conversations. Two strangers meet in an abstract café where they are able to be transported over space and time through a variety of magical sound effects, beginning with the dinging of a bell. The audience will follow our characters through a wide range of scenarios as they navigate facing hard truths, making mistakes, and working to uncover what we are really communicating to one another with what we do and do not say. While we are hoping this piece can be one episode of a larger work, this particular conversation will take place between a Black male and a White female. Their relationship will begin as a blank canvas, all we know is that we are looking at a Black male and a White woman, and without a word, the conversation with the audience will already be in progress. From lovers, to co-workers, interactions with law enforcement, and communications across the vast space of the internet, the two players will shift in and out of various identifiers and settings to explore how our intersectionality’s and environment shape conversation differently.
Help Me Help You Help Yourself
Help Me Help You Help Yourself is the most nonsensical show you will have the fortune of attending. Run by the clown Your Silent Partner, this absurd experience offers audiences a well-deserved break from reality. Come participate in the most preposterous performance that promises nothing but pure play.
HERE NOW; The Soapbox Testaments
Standing in the shadow of reformist mayor Tom L. Johnson’s statue on the northern portion of Public Square – a place revered throughout the country for its historic commitment to civic discourse - three performers begin a song. People gather. One of the three steps up on a soapbox and begins a testimonial, a personal story told for the audience that ignites a collective journey taken with the audience. Drawing from a soapbox tradition that spans over a century and includes a long line of soapboxers including A. Philip Randolph, George Orwell, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and Emma Goldman, these three performers combine melody and memory, emotion and image to entertain, enlighten, and unite. It’s brief. Only a few minutes that pass like a flash. But in that short time hearts are opened, imaginations take flight, and each person gathered is transformed.
Hey Siri
Hey Siri is like a wireless signal reaching three very different callers in the same city. Mack is an Iraqi War Veteran who suffers from PTSD. Elizabeth is a former doll hoarder without a single relative or friend. Lucky is an agoraphobic whose mother died from a heroin overdose. What happens when all three of these isolated people turn to Siri, the voice of their iPhones, for salvation? Is there insight behind Siri’s responses or is her intelligence truly artificial? Hey Siri tests the value of this pervasive technology when these three users start asking real questions.
It’s Now or Never: My Life in the Late Middle Ages
"It's Now or Never" is a fast-paced, poignant, and funny look at times when one man planned, and God laughed. Getting older, pursuing one's dreams under the pressure of a ticking clock, and dealing with life on the road form the basis for Judah Leblang's rocky journey through adulthood. Check out the show chosen as "Best of Festival" at the Calgary Fringe!
Khuraki
Khūrākī (“eat” or “meal” in the Afghan language Dari) celebrates the beauty of Afghan culture, music, and food through "theatrical portraits" of three strong women who have recently become Americans. What have they been able to preserve in the flight from home--in their traditions, in their cooking, in their hearts? What do they hope to cultivate here? And what do they want you to know about the beautiful country where they were born?
Performances feature live Afghan and Western classical music and moments of immersive cultural experience. Each performance will be followed by a talkback and the sharing of delicious Afghan food prepared by the women.
This project has been assisted by Global Cleveland and USCRI (the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants), who have facilitated introductions to the local Afghan refugee community, and by Cuyahoga Community College's Hospitality Management Center, who are donating expertise, faculty time, and kitchen space.
Maya: the Illusionist
Maya: the Illusionist is a narrative dance drama about the various illusions we encounter in literature and in life, choreographed in the Indian classical style of Odissi with a twist of contemporary movement. The character of Maya takes us through four types of illusions she casts – duality (believing a rope to be a snake in a moment of fear), beauty (Odysseus being drawn to the sirens), self (failing to recognize one’s own feelings or value), and false friendship (following a will-o-the-wisp into darkness). Each of these is depicted through lively and rhythmic dance – sometimes abstract, sometimes theatrical – and threaded together to the others by Maya’s own musings in lyrical dance and narration. In the course of these musings, Maya guides the audience through thought experiments about their senses and challenges them to identify truths they may have taken for granted. While the dance remains faithful to our training and the parameters of our style, the theme, choreography, narrative structure, and costumes are innovations on canonical Odissi performance, and all audiences will leave having seen something they have not seen before.
Nature Song
The world we are living in is so focused on fast living and speeding things up, especially during pandemic times where there is a push to “return to normal.” And yet, that rush and fast acceleration is also the pace that is leading our world toward global ecological collapse. It is the speed at which we miss some of the most beautiful moments Life has to offer us. It is the pace that creates disconnection from ourselves and the places we inhabit. Everyday a new species goes extinct, or the last person of an ancient culture dies. We are regularly told we “do not have enough”, that there is “not enough,” whether that is in reference to time, money, justice, beauty, happiness, or love. “Nature Song” is a work created to facilitate pause and presence, a moment to ground our feet and bodies in a world inundated with segmented minds.
An otherworldly, yet familiar, mystical and musical cast of characters, some larger than life, will roam Cleveland’s downtown, singing to the sidewalks and weeds, and whoever else will listen. Intermittent with devotional pauses to praise the people, plants and trees who live there, “Nature Song” will be street theater pageantry that invites us to rethink our engagement with the living world. Interactive in nature, the experience will engage viewers whether be in reverent solidarity, playful musical frolics, or meditative slow dance that draws upon the extra-ordinary quality that makes passing puffy clouds on a cerulean sky a marvel to behold.
Each day's showing will be unique, so come join us for the experience, and listen in for "Nature Song."
Not A Uterus In Sight
A female professor gives an incendiary speech at a protest rally after the fall of Roe V Wade. That protest devoles into a riot and a police officer is killed. She is then interrogated by an African America FBI agent.
Oasis
Inspired by a true story, OASIS tells the story of Noel, a young Frenchman in the 1950’s sent for reserve military duty in the dunes of Algeria, very far from home. There he is faced with moral and ethical dilemmas that cause him to embark on a surreal and dangerous journey through the Sahara Desert.
The year is 1956. Paris, the city of lights, is still recovering from the second World War. The drums of war seemed far away while Noel, a young painter, lives in Montmartre, paints on the Seine, and falls in love.
Noel reserves as a paratrooper, and like many his age he is sent to fight against the rebels of Algeria, far away in the Sahara Desert.
He isn't a pacifist or a communist - but at war, away from his homeland, he will face moral dilemmas that will force him to ask the question, 'to be or not to be?"
This is the story of someone willing to lose everything in order to save his conscience.
Pajama Stories for Adults
“Listen, Frank!” is about getting hit at work, when I was in my twenties and the one hundred percent instinctual response I had. “Caught, Caught in the Web of His Own Making” is about confronting an arrogant, obnoxious, and condescending professor about his mistreatment of a tenth century, female playwright, Hrotsvitha. “Excruciating Pain” is about the worse pain I’ve ever experienced, above and beyond a Traumatic Brain Injury, which I don’t remember. “Adventures in Sailing” is about a trip onto Lake Superior, when all did not go well. “Intimate Conversations” are unexpected and very intimate conversations that I as a lesbian woman have had with straight male friends. I will either shorten the stories or the audience might help me select the stories they most want to hear! As with my two other story events, I will be wearing pajamas and I encourage audience members to do the same! What to wear? What to wear? That is the question! So many options! So little time!
Pajama Stories for All
After sustaining a second Traumatic Brain Injury, my life change forever. I was fortunate to meet “Thomas James”, when I first returned from Regions Trauma Center. While TJ helped me with physical therapy in the pool and spending time with my dog, Tucker, I helped him learn to read and swim. TJ, his friend Katie, her mother, and I shared a great love for “Four-Footed Furry Friends”. Learning about bullying and discrimination was impossible to explain and experience for each of us. Eventually our lives drifted apart, as friendships sometimes do. After years of rehabilitation, I was finally “Learning to Love My Life, Again”. I found myself in a new relationship, one I never dreamed possible with a disability. And I was reunited with a dear friend! One Christmas, my partner, Nanette, got a call that her mother had another fall. I was able to help Nanette’s nieces with final good-byes at hospice as retold in “Nikki, Tori, & Grandma”. No matter how hard, life gets better.
Pajama Stories for Children
I'm wearing pajamas and you can too at “Pajama Stories for Children”. I might wear green silky pajamas, while telling a story about my Mom during “Queen Helene”. My lobster pajamas would be a great choice to tell stories about vacations with my family: Auntie Chell blows the whistle about “The Music Truck”. My nieces, Kelly and Julie are the “Picky & Adventurous Eaters”. Kelly provides a lesson in all the wonderful things she learned in Kindergarten during “Did You Know?”, but then her questions go to a very dark and troubling place. The boys downstairs catcht me wearing my “Camo Pajamas”, but later on I see some of their favorite pajamas when I babysit one night. And I have lots of “Doggie Pajamas” and “Kitty Pajamas” if I tell stories about my pets. I can wear cool summer pajamas while telling a story about Thomas James, my guardian angel who watched over me and my dog Tucker, after I sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury. The choices are endless! The time is not.
Pedro Gonzalez and Tania Timmons
Pedro Gonzalez is a New York based Colombian American comedian who lives in NYC, and he was the first Latin American immigrant comedian to appear on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Besides touring the country as a stand up, Pedro is a staff writer of an upcoming Amazon TV show based on the life of NY Times best seller Shea Serrano. Pedro loves writing jokes, and thanks to his passion he's been a finalist of several national competitions like Stand Up NBC and also a finalist in the New York's Funniest Contest.
Pedro will be joined by local comedian Tania Timmons
Pinch and Squeal’s Wizbang!
2019 Audience Choice Award winners; Pinch and Squeal's WIZBANG! Theatre is back with a new hilarious and amazing show filled with professional Circus feats, musical acts, puppets and so much more! Purveyors Pinch and Squeal, send Vaudeville kicking and screaming to the 21st century, and together they've created Wizbang! A home for the weird, wonderful and fantastic. Bring your kids, grandmother, an ex or just yourself and let us bring you into a hilarious 60 minute, outside forgetting, journey into the ridiculous. Its a BIG TIME in the TINY TOP!
Polynesian Dance Performance
Pacific Paradise Entertainment is a Polynesian dance group mentored from Kumu Kaui Dalire of Hawaii and Malia Tafua of Tahitian descent. Our group will provide multiple dance numbers including audience participation where in we ask audience members to get up and learn some dance movements. This gets the crowd involved and is usually a hit of the show. We have musicians to play LIVE music as well as recorded music played from our own sound system. Our group has provided instruction on dance, we provide arts and crafts for all ages who want to learn how to make lei's and flower hair clips, and we provide any and all cultural teaching as well .
Poncili Creación
These Puerto Rican twin brothers are known worldwide for their creative street performances featuring eye-grabbing polyurethane foam puppets. For BorderLight, they have created a new street performance in partnership with Near West Theatre. Poncili Creación creates multisensory interactions with colorful puppets, some as big as a car and others as small as a penny. Using dance, music and raw creativity, they interact with audiences, events and architecture in ways that delight, surprise, and amaze.
Raj Suresh and Amanda Averell
Raj Suresh is an immigrant, comedian and globetrotter. He performs all over the USA (and occasionally outside of it too). His debut album, “Semi Famous,” aired on SiriusXM, and reached No. 2 on the iTunes comedy charts and No. 12 on Billboard. Irreverent, acerbic and witty, Suresh is coming in with his best hour yet with jokes about beavers, jobs and his incredibly precocious 2 year old. Raj was recently named Arkansas's Favorite Comedian at the Black Apple Awards.
Raj will be joined by local comedian Amanda Averell
Shadow Realm: Down the Rabbit Hole
Welcome to the mysterious place that exists between asleep and awake, between darkness and light. Join our Alice as she tumbles through space and time, through lucidity and madness – as she struggles to find her footing. This shadow theatre piece features large-scale shadow puppets, projections, human silhouettes and an immersive soundscape that explores a sometimes silly, frequently bitter, often touching human journey. Adventure awaits!
ShMILF Life
ShMILF Life is me, waiting in a coffeeshop for my date to arrive (remember doing that?) and talking to the audience while I'm waiting. I tell stories about how I got to this point--about discovering who I am, who I was interested in, who was interested in ME, and what they were interested in doing with me--which was not at all what I was interested in. Mostly. ShMILF Life is me trying to find an authentic view of who I am and who I want. ShMILF Life is trying to find a satisfying relationship in a world that assumes much about who I am. ShMILF life is about rejecting fetishization. ShMiILF Life is learning that things that feel ONE way to a man, feel entirely different to a woman.
But above all, ShMILF Life is pretty freaking hilarious.
Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court
When Simon Tam started an Asian American dance rock band called The Slants, he didn't realize that he was starting an entire movement around freedom of expression and discussions on identity. The band flipped stereotypes with their bombastic live shows and community activism. But when Simon applied to register a trademark on the band's name, the government dragged him all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court is the story of an indomitable spirit who so believes in the idea of justice that he's willing to risk everything along the way for the dignity of self-identity. Simon shares a deeply personal account that will take you from anime conventions to the Supreme Court, all in the name of justice. The story provides a raw look at our legal system with unflinching honesty and offers timely insights on freedom of speech, how to connect with others we disagree with, and the power of music.
Gripping, funny, enlightening, and ultimately uplifting, Slanted proves that no obstacle is too difficult to conquer --as long as you have a little heart and a lot of rock n' roll. It's an irrepressible story that is fresh, alive, and defines what it means to be American.
Song Embroidery
In peaceful times in the more remote villages of Ukraine, one could hear the songs of grandmothers or babusi sung. These songs would arise from women shucking corn while sitting on a bench and be answered by songs sung by other women feeding their chickens in their yards. Songs learned from their mothers and grandmothers were shared in the most generous and simple of ways by sitting or standing near each other or by sitting knee to knee or across a table from each other. These songs speak of nature, of love, of loss. Nadia Tarnawsky has traveled to many villages in Ukraine as a Fulbright researcher and will share a set of these songs. The intent is to provide a moment, an image of this generous and simple song sharing. The songs emerge from a solitary woman upon a bench and disappear into the world beyond.
SongCraft
This individualized 30-minute experience is perfect for solo audience members or families/friends of up to 3 people. When we greet you in our space, Rachel will engage you in a conversation about your dreams, hopes, memories, romances - whatever you feel compelled to share. Then Julia will write and Vickey will compose an original song on the spot inspired by the conversation, engaging you in the collaborative, creative process. At the end of the session, Vickey and Rachel will perform this brand-new song just for you, in an intimate, deeply personalized experience.
Note: If you are purchasing tickets for a group of 2 or 3 for the same time slot, please purchase them under a single order.
Also note: If you notice that a performance has fewer than 3 tickets left, please select a different performance slot to avoid double-booking.
The Body is the Best
It's going to sound weird but the pandemic came along at nearly the perfect time for Mike. His sister had just died and he had a lot to process. In fact, his best friend had just died too, and another friend, and his father, and his nephew. And he was newly divorced. Things were piling up and The Body is the Best is the result of him having the time to work through all of it. And now he's convinced that we all come pre-programmed with a kind of wordless knowledge that lets us get through times likes these. This is stand-up comedy meeting stand-up tragedy.
The Last Hurrah
Based on interviews with three Cleveland local Tuskegee Airmen, the late Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Clarence Jamison, the late Master Sergeant (MSG) Thomas Austin, and the late Corporal (CPL) Roy Richardson, as they point out black achievements in the U.S. Armed Services. Those achievements are labeled as hurrahs. The first hurrah was when racists believed black people were incapable of learning. The Tuskegee Airmen not only learned how to fly, but their superior flying techniques won them eight Distinguished Unit Citations. Racists also believed blacks should be kept separate from white society. Tuskegee Airmen refused to accept discrimination and their actions at Freeman Field resulted in President Truman signing an Executive Order to integrate the U.S. armed services. Hurrah! In 1941, they won the first Top Gun Gunnery Competition and after years of not given credit, they finally provided proof, the last hurrah.
The Pink Hulk: One Woman’s Journey to Find the Superhero Within
Now more than ever, we need hope! You will feel uplifted and empowered by The Pink Hulk…Now battling breast cancer after fighting off lymphoma, With a fear that Valerie might lose “the girls,” she takes them out for one last hurrah. And does Valerie succeed? Is there a “happy ending”? Come see the show to find out! This adventurous, sexy solo show follows Valerie's journey to seek her own “hulk-like” strength to find her superhero within to become a 3-time cancer survivor. The Pink Hulk inspires through Valerie’s personal story of kicking cancer’s ass, living life on her own terms, and crushing the obstacles in her path. Her show is told with heartfelt honesty and lots of humor. Through performances, theater is utilized as a thought-provoking vehicle to motivate audiences—including cancer patients/survivors—and not just those with cancer, but anyone facing adversity in life. The Pink Hulk's mantra is to never ever give up!
There will be audience talkbacks after each show with featured special guests: Hayley Dubin of The Cancer Liberation Project; founder of reVIVE wellness, as well as from The Gathering Place, a non-profit, community-based cancer support center that focuses on the social, emotional, physical and spiritual needs of individuals with cancer and their family and friends.
The Small Garden
“A variety show! stand up, performance, shorts, theatre, and a meeting with a deity. “a hodgepodge of fringe”.
The Victim Goddess
South Asian mythology revolves around a plethora of goddesses and women who are depicted as ideals of womanhood - domesticated, meek, loving and willing sacrifice themselves for their spouse and family, ability to absorb abuse without much protest, but above all are embodiments of chastity. This narration and dance presentation explores the fate of one such woman, Sita, and the duality with which society treats women. In Indian mythology, she was kidnapped, and her victimization continued even after escaping her abuser. The modern Sita shares the same fate and is victimized by society after being raped. This presentation that draws parallels between the fate of the mythological Sita a modern Sita. But this time, she is refuses to be a silent victim. This piece, is in part, inspired by Maya Angelou’s poems, “Phenomenal Woman” and “Still I Rise”.
The Walks
THE WALKS is an app with a series of walks by German theatre company, Rimini Protokoll. Each walk is a short audio experience for a specific place in your city, and an invitation to rediscover and interact with your environment.
It takes approximately 20 minutes to do an audio walk. Get going whenever you want. You decide how many of the walks you’d like to do and in what order. The stories and soundscapes in the short audio experiences are global in scope. "The Walks" connects people around the world in a local experience via the fundamental human action of walking.
Walking in public gained new meaning with the COVID-19 pandemic. An ancient, daily ritual became an integral part of the new normality. People meet, walk, stroll through neighborhoods, play in landscapes, and perceive their environment anew with every stride.
THE WALKS understands walking as a theatrical scenario – an audio-guided walk in parks, a staged walk in supermarkets or timed interactions on riverbanks. In every city, voices, sounds, and music turn familiar places into sites and landscapes into stages step by step through storytelling, dialogical situations, choreographic discoveries, or musical and rhythmic variations on walking. The title of every walk indicates where or how to do it: “Walk for a cemetery,” “Walk along the water,” or “Walk around a roundabout.”
THE WALKS is a production of Rimini Apparat.
Funded by the Federal Foreign Office, Goethe-Institut and Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e.V.
Un/Packing
Un/Packing is an interactive, high-stakes, live multimedia, choose-your-own-adventure-style solo performance where the audience is enlisted to help trans actor Nicolas Shannon Savard survive a journey across space, time, and gender. They tell stories of surviving toxic masculinity: the hilarious, the heartbreaking, the terrifying. With over 20 characters packed into one suitcase, there are dozens of paths to choose along the way. Quite literally, it's a different show every night.
Under the Sycamores
BorderLight International Theatre + Fringe Festival and Radio on the Lake Theatre present the world premiere of "Under the Sycamores, A Secret Path Audio Experience in Cleveland’s Historic Erie Street Cemetery."
Written by Les Hunter and directed by Jimmy Noriega, "Under the Sycamores" invites you to choose your own path through a hidden gem of downtown Cleveland: Erie St. Cemetery. Grab your phone and your earbuds, pass through the Gothic gateway, and explore the stories that intrigue you! Through this immersive listening experience, you will meet European settlers, Native American chiefs, an early civil rights leader, a famous Beat poet, and more from Erie Street’s 200-year history.
Web of Deceit
Val Fuego is a fire ant, former baseball player, and now private eye. She works in the gritty world of Larva Lane, a slimy back-alley full of shady dealers, organized crime, and the gum-covered shoe that she calls an office. One day a beautiful spider comes to Val with a plea: find her missing lover before her murderous husband does. Val’s investigation uncovers a growing threat that could tear the whole alley apart. Will she find this missing centipede and save the day? Or will she get caught in a Web of Deceit? This 45-minute piece combines elements of classic radio plays and graphic novels into a unique theatrical experience, complete with live foley. The performance is accompanied by over 200 illustrations by Sam Dee that dramatize Val’s journey.
What Do I See Before Me?
The Carnival is in town! Explore the secrets of these traveling characters as they weave their tales in this self-guided virtual and augmented reality production, and all while taking a few selfies along the way. This tech-driven production is unlike anything you’ve seen before. So download the app, grab your headphones, bring a friend, and experience a storytelling adventure that is so unique you have to see it to believe it.
WHERE OUR SHADOWS LIKE TO PLAY
In this free outdoor performance, you will experience a textured play-world shaped by improvisational movement, live soundscape, and physical theater. Two Shadow Scientists journey into the in-between, a liminal space that’s ripe for discovery, human connection, and transformative knowledge sharing. They are on a mission to crowdsource findings on a newly discovered cell in our bodies that holds radical potential for human communication - the implications are vast and we need each other to figure out what to do with it.
The research questions at hand:
→ how do we expand our capacity for the unknown? for complexity and chaos? for disagreement?
→ what does it feel like to ask these questions with our bodies? with play? with each other?
Is this an experiment? a performance? or an invitation to play? Come and find out for yourself!
Wonderlanding
"Wonderlanding" debuted in February 2022 to an exclusive audience at Waterloo Arts for DayGloLAB, a show lit by blacklight and DayGlo paint. Cassandra Harner, known as Dusty Bucket, produces a drag show with other local entertainers who break the boundaries of the genre of drag. These entertainers include Dr Lady J, Rhett Corvette, Macho Grande, and Joliee Blak. The finale of the show stars Dusty Bucket and The Mops (Kris Mills and Emily Liptow) as characters from Alice in Wonderland. With lights, backdrops, props, music and sound, you are transported to a Wonderland that is more magical and twisted than you've ever imagined. Don't lose your head...
ARTIST & AUDIENCE TESTIMONIALS
2022 SUPPORTERS
