September 3 – 18: Philly Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe

188 shows.  100 venues.  16 days.

This annual festival explodes with out-of-the-box, diverse performances and installations that engage and excite audiences, while pushing the proverbial arts envelope.

The Philly Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe brings together artists from around the region and the world to showcase imaginative plays, dance, concerts, exhibitions, multimedia installations and interdisciplinary performances and more.

With almost two hundred amazing shows to choose from, it’s hard to narrow down what performances will rock your world but here are some of our top picks:

 

Statements After an Arrest Under the Immortality Act

September 3 @ 6:00 pm

September 4 @ 3:00 pm

September 5 @ 8:30 pm

September 6 @ 8:30 pm

Playground at the Adrienne

2030 Sansom Street

 

In post-apartheid South Africa, a Black man and white woman’s love is at risk as their personal journey becomes a political statement. 

 

A Separate Sun

September 4 @ 7:00 pm

September 5 (sold out)

September 7-10 @ 7:00 pm

September 11 @ 4:00 pm & 7:00 pm

The Arts Garage

1533-35 Ridge Avenue

Barrymore award-winning actress Joliet Harris stars in this play about a woman’s struggle to overcome abuse, drugs and depression.  Written by playwright and journalist Joseph P. Blake, this moving show also features original music and songs.

 

Cosmic Terrarium/Motion Painting Project

Sean Stoops and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program

September 4 – 17

Dawn to dusk, daily

FREE

631 N. 5th Street (at Fairmount, across from the Festival Box Office)

Throughout the festival, visitors will bear witness to a live outdoor mural painting, which will take place in a vacant lot.  This transformation will be documented over the course of two weeks and be digitally photographed and edited into a time-lapse video short.  Stop by the site every day to see how ordinary places are transformed by artists into extraordinary spaces.

 

A New Shade of Blue

September 5 @ 4:00 pm

September 12 @ 4:00 pm

Dave & Buster’s Showroom

325 N. Columbus Boulevard

 

Destiny Productions Theater Ensemble presents a tribute to the legendary singer Billie Holiday and other supernovae of jazz through song and dialogue designed to entertain, educate and inspire.

 

Eight Choreographers/Eight New Works

September 7 – 12

Check website for specific dates and times

Live Arts Studio

919 N. 5th Street

 

This multi-night show features eight world premieres at two works per night with dancers whose themes stretch from perverse humor and African-American testifying culture, to Japanese horror films and folklore and more.

 

…i learned not to kneel…and other advice from brilliant women

September 7, 8, 9 @ 7:30 pm

CHI Movement Arts Center

1316 S. 9th Street

 

Inspired by the writings of powerful women like Ntozake Shange, Mary Oliver and Anne Sexton, dancers will use bold, dramatic moves to tell intimate stories on the stage.

  

American N---- Zoo

Misty Sol and Charly Brownskin

September 8, 9, 10 @ 8:00 pm

Gallerie Isada

3320 Collins Street

 

This study in racism in America is sure to shock the audience but also prompt everyday folks to question and discuss the origins of stereotypes and the perpetuation of myths of people of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

 

Celebrating the Beginning…Finding the Purpose!

Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble

Saturday, September 11 @ 8:00 pm

Sunday, September 12 @ 4:00 pm

John E. Allen Jr. Theatre at the New Freedom Theatre

1346 N. Broad Street

 

Join the Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble as they celebrate their fifth anniversary with works from Zane Booker, Bill Thomas, artist director A.C. Gilmore and resident choreographer Shawn Lamere Williams.  A special work premiere piece by guest choreographer Meredith Rainey will cap off a night of exciting dance performances!

 

Stew and The Negro Problem with Heidi Rodewald

September 13 @ 8:00 pm

World Café Live

3025 Walnut Street

 

Passing Strange screening

September 9 @ 8:00 pm

FREE

Festival Bar

SW corner of Spring Garden Street and Columbus Boulevard

 

Led by Stew and Obie award-winning Heidi Rodewald, this Afro Baroque cabaret ensemble is coveted for their literate precision, sly humor, and deep emotional resonance, hovering between the divergent worlds of rock and theater. Stew's performances have been compared in the same breath with Kurt Weill, Burt Bacharach, and Jackie Gleason.

 

The ensemble will perform pieces from their Tony® award-winning rock musical, Passing Strange, as well as new songs from their upcoming musical.

 

Join the ensemble for a FREE screening of the Spike Lee movie, Passing Strange, based on their rock musical of the same name.  Strange tells the story of a young Black man who leaves his middle-class, church-ruled Los Angeles home in the 1970s to travel to Europe in a quest to discover his artistic self.