MARK YOUR CALENDARS

BORDERLIGHT RETURNS
July 8-11, 2026!

Join us  in the Playhouse Square District for four unforgettable days of innovative performances and vibrant community celebrations. Stay tuned for exciting announcements.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

BORDERLIGHT RETURNS
July 8-11, 2026!

Join us  in the Playhouse Square District for four unforgettable days of innovative performances and vibrant community celebrations. Stay tuned for exciting announcements.

BorderLight Festival 2026

The Unexpected Takes Center Stage

July 8 - 11, 2026 - Tickets on sale NOW

Get ready for four exhilarating days of bold, original, and unforgettable performance. At its core, BorderLight is Fringe—unfiltered, unconventional, and full of discovery—alongside a select international program. With 40+ productions across 15 stages in the Playhouse Square neighborhood, you’ll binge on theatre, explore new ideas, and connect with artists from Cleveland, the U.S., and around the world.

From comedy and drama to storytelling, immersive works, and experimental gems, Fringe is the heart of BorderLight.

Special Events & International Plaza

More than a festival- it's a celebration!

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Fringe Unleashed

Wednesday, July 8

7-9:30 PM

Opening night previews, pop ups, and live performances.

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Linedance is My Therapy

Friday, July 10

7:30-11 PM

Free community celebration with music & movement at Playhouse Square Plaza.

Free

No Registration Required

Polynesian Dance Performance: BorderLight International Theatre + Fringe Festival 2022 - Photo © Bob Perkoski, www.Perkoski.com
The International Plaza

Wednesday July 8-

Saturday July 11th

Free performances and cultural celebrations at Playhouse Square Plaza.

Free

No Registration Required

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Fringe Finale

Saturday, July 11

9-11:30 PM

Close out the festival with artists, awards, and a final celebration.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration required. 

2026 SHOWS

Learn more about all the great shows you can see at BorderLight 2026 and buy your tickets online!

EXPLORE SHOWS WITH THESE FILTERS

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Blessed Unrest: a Fantasia on Martha Graham’s Demons

Breaking her years of silence and isolation, Martha is unexpectedly holding an intimate gathering to witness a prickly pivotal moment. Known for her mercurial nature, any visit with Martha promises to be unpredictable.

BorderLight Brawl: Open Styles Dance Battle

An open styles street dance battle featuring some of Cleveland’s best dancers across multiple styles. Featuring DJ and an MC who will facilitate the floor!

Butterfly Harvest

This solo Butoh tale conveys the the story of a butterfly farmer waking to gather himself before the blue hour of dawn—just before the sounds of nature shift from toads to birds.

Closed Loop of Consanguinity

To whom or what do you bow? Witness and sense your belonging in the complex web of relations, seen and unseen. Through a visceral, physical exploration of bowing, performers express forms of devotion, power, and right relationship.

Enjoy This EP

A cranky music critic gets tasked to review an album written by his ex only to discover that all of the songs are about him.

Gr33n Hamzies & Eggoes

Explore a childhood classic, but scrambled. "Gr33n Hamzies & Eggoes" invites audiences of all ages to enter a sensory world of whim and whimsy. Designed to be a low-fi calming space, families are encouraged to gently explore together.

H.O.P.E.

Physical theater solo show inspired by the ancient Greek legend of Pandora.

I Hate Memory!

I Hate Memory! is an unconventional musical memoir about growing up in the midst of the swirling art scene of downtown New York City.

Improvsburg

Improvised Game show from your suggestions!

In Visible Orbit

An original dance show by choreographer Greenhouse examines “invisible” disabilities and explores chronic illness under capitalism. They ask if any disabilities are truly invisible, or if society just refuses to see the needs of the disabled person.

It’s all a MESS! An Evening of **Smutty** Monologues with Convergence-Continuum

A night of **smutty** monologues with your friends at convergence-continuum.

Journey West: The Epic Devised

Through a series of monologues, memory pieces, and movement, jump on the train for Journey West: The Epic Devised, where the past catches up and the world changes whether you like it or not.

Le Tournesol

Planet Metalioisis, full of scrap metals and industrial materials. An enormous egg sits perched on the little planet. Crack. A mask appears and takes in the tiny planet, the night sky spreading above, and its new form. And as the mask looks up, it sees a shower of meteor light, streaking across the sky. And one streaks closer and closer and closer and crashes into the little planet. It's a little seed, stretching its fresh leaves in the starlight. The next morning, the seed has shot up, up into the sky with an enormous sunflower stalk. Past the clouds, past the stars, past the moon, disappearing into the distance. With metal scrap, the mask builds a ladder and begins its journey up, up, up.....

Los Regalos (“The Gifts”)

A father and his two sons live alone. Simple tasks like cooking or cleaning become chaotic adventures. As they navigate daily life, the eldest prepares to leave home, facing the emotional challenge of growing up and saying goodbye.

LUMP

The play is a dark comedy about a mysterious growth that develops into a crisis of medical futility, bodily autonomy and a budding cult. LUMP unpacks how we deal with our inconstant anatomy and its inevitable betrayal.

New But Familiar

Through toy theater, crankie, and shadow puppetry, a personal landscape of queer evolution is revealed. Where aging is celebrated and families are chosen. Where the future is built by us and for us. Come for the community, stay for the catharsis.

Nothing in the World Like Love?

This dance theater piece explores the epidemic of men responding to conversations about violence and harassment with the phrase, “not all men.” And while that may be true, it misses the deeper reality: it is all women.

Peter Is Back

Peter is Back is a live show featuring an AI monkey inspired by Kafka. In a real-time dialogue, Peter reflects on becoming human. Each performance changes live, blurring the line between script and improvisation, control and unpredictability. Each performance will be followed by a talkback with Amir Yatziv, the show's creator.

Physically Integrated Dance Workshop

Engage in an inclusive dance workshop based on the Dancing Wheels Company’s foundational principles of translation, equity, accessibility, and meaning.

Portrait of MATTMATT

Portrait of MATTMATT is a one-person variety show by award-winning poet and musician MATTMATT RAYBEAM. He fuses original music, comedy, and live improvisation into a high-energy, genre-blurring performance about identity, persona, and becoming.

Postcards from Another World

Postcards share a glimpse of an experience in a far away place, although what is shared can change when those missives are sent from a war zone. Postcards from Another World offers images, personal stories and folk songs from Ukraine.

Sawdust

A train car crashes and leaves seven strangers stranded under piles of rubble. To pass the time until their rescue, they discuss their pasts and come to blows over their vast differences.

Sheel Sheel | شيل شيل

To witness. To transform grief. Will you accept the humble invitation of a walk in Occupied Palestine? Inspired by Gaza Birds Singing Founder, Ahmed “Muin” Abu Amsha’s folksong adapted from the chorus of Libre Palestina by Zaid Hilal.

The Art of Becoming A Sacred Bitch!

The Art of Becoming a Sacred Bitch is a ritual of survival and resurrection. Through poetic monologue, Roschelle Ogbuji confronts grief, rage, motherhood, faith, and desire.

The Hissy Kits at Ruby Rae’s Hideaway

A fading supper club owner resists the modern world until her cats secretly go viral after a nationally televised talent show appearance. As supper club patrons return, she transforms the room into a living cabaret where past and present collide. Featuring original live music. 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Touring Version)

Talespinner Children’s Theatre presents a two-actor adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, bringing Narnia to life through inventive storytelling and movement while exploring courage, kindness, and the triumph of good over evil.

The Protest Cafe

THE PROTEST CAFÉ draws from 250 years of American protest music to fuse theatre, history, and music into an experience that transforms our understanding of the past and points us toward our future!

The Soleá Project

With flamenco's soleá style as a point of departure, we explore our relationship to grief, solitude, community, and healing through movement, poetry, and voice. The work is the result of therapeutic arts and devised theater processes.

The Stars Made Me Gay

Come experience a powerful collection of monologues and scenes crafted ~90% verbatim from interviews with members of the LGBTQIA+ community. This piece captures heartfelt stories of identity, resilience, and the search for belonging.

Tina’s at the End of the World, LIVE!

A legendary neighborhood watering hole promises cheap drinks and the wildest night of karaoke you have ever seen. Dreams come true in this documentary film premiere and immersive karaoke experience featuring the stars of the documentary and you!

To My White Friends Who Know Me

Turning "us' and "them" into "we" is a goal that is achieved one cross-racial friendship at a time--but fostering those relationships can be painfully complicated.

Well-Balanced Dads

Using physical comedy, partner acrobatics, and dad humor, Dick and Dale take the audience on a camping adventure complete with car games, dance numbers, a cheese stick fight, and plenty of unthreatening audience participation.

Who Am I, Again?

Stories of surviving Traumatic Brain Injury from multiple perspectives – survivors, friends, family. Told by Brain Injury survivor and master storyteller Lethan Candlish, this piece explores a common journey of survival and the struggle to navigate loneliness after trauma to find personal strength in community.

Word Play

Asexuality? Gayness? Mamma Mia? How do they intersect? In a solo show about crossword puzzles, of course. This new comedic play show explores coming out, finding language, and sex's marvelous intersection with America's favorite word game.
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Plan your week with ease. Starting in June, pick up a free 2026 Festival Guide at select locations across Cleveland or during festival days in the Playhouse Square District.

Inside, you’ll find schedules, maps, show details, and everything you need to navigate the festival.

2026 PRICING

Whether you join us for every show or just one, there's something for everyone...
and every budget!

Prices shown include all required fees. No additional charges will be added at checkout.

All performances list age recommendations, and some include content warnings.

Fringe Shows

Fringe tickets are priced to keep the festival accessible while supporting artists. The majority of ticket revenue goes directly to the artists, with the remainder helping cover festival production, venues, and staffing.

Standard

$16.50

Special Pricing

Students, Veterans, Seniors (65+)

$15.00

Youth

Ages 6 - 14

$11.50

*Children ages 5 and under may attend for free if they are able to sit on a parent or guardian’s lap. If a separate seat is needed, a Youth ticket should be purchased.

International Ticket Pricing

These are invited international productions presented as part of BorderLight’s International Program.

Standard

$38.00

Special Pricing

Students, Veterans, Seniors (65+)

$34.00

Binge on Fringe Packages

Binge-on-fringe packs are flexible! Use packs however you like—see multiple shows, share with friends, or spread them across days. Ticket packs offer up to 20% savings per ticket and are valid for Fringe performances only.

4-Pack

$60.00

8-Pack

$112.00

12-Pack

$156.00

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BOX OFFICE

Online

Explore this season’s shows above and purchase tickets or ticket packs online in advance. After ordering, you’ll receive an email confirmation with your electronic tickets, which can be shown at the door on your phone or as a printed copy.

By Phone

Box office support will be available May 6 – July 11 by leaving a message at
216-356-6485.

In-Person

From July 8-11, tickets can be purchased
at our main box office at the City Club of Cleveland (1317 Euclid Ave, 44115)

Hours:
Wed. 7/8 | 2:00 - 9:00 PM
Thu. 7/9 | 3:00 - 9:45 PM
Fri. 7/10 | 3:00 - 9:45 PM
Sat. 7/11 | 12:00 PM - 8:45 PM

Additional Box office notes:

The following venues will also be available for ticket sales one hour before show times:

The Hermit Club at 1629 Dodge Court and the Theatre & Arts Building at CSU at 1901 E. 13th Street.

 

Free Shows: Most free performances that are inside a venue require advance registration due to limited seating. Check the show page to see if registration is required. Walk-up seating may be available, but registered guests are admitted first.