On The Fringe

Where can you see a dance company that employs ropes and a trapeze, Paradise Lost enacted by puppets, The Tempest set in a child's wading pool, a theatrical adaptation of a Flannery O'Connor story, a Chicano/Latino political comedy group, a troupe of stiltwalkers and a tabla choir - all within a few short blocks?

The Philadelphia Fringe Festival, of course.

Now in its fourth year, the Fringe - opening today in Old City - has blossomed into a 16-day extravaganza encompassing about 225 theater groups, musicians, dancers and various other tough-to-categorize artists who will offer more than 700 performances in 75 venues, seven of them major sites with offerings nearly every night: the Arden Theatre Company, the Cabaret Theater, Christ Church, the Ethereal Theatre, Mum Puppettheater, National Dance Venue and Old First Reform Church.

Besides the acts invited by Fringe curators or chosen by juries, a "Bring Your Own Venue" category enables performers who can commandeer an art gallery, a cafe, a church hall, a sidewalk or a warehouse to get listed in the festival guide. Plenty of free street performances also help turn Old City into one big mobile culture party.

Outdoor events and those known as "site specific" are a big part of the Fringe magic. Past festivals have included plays staged in a luncheonette and in a parked car. Adding to the open-air possibilities this year is the Ethereal Theater, a collapsible stage designed by Temple University architecture students that's been set up in a lot at Second Street and Elfreth's Alley.

An essential part of the Fringe spirit is the Cabaret Theater (211-217 Race St.), where you can chat with strangers over a beer about what you've just seen and enjoy impromptu late-night performances.

"We want to get people to try art that is a little more risk-taking and provocative," says festival founder Nick Stuccio, a Pennsylvania-Ballet-dancer-turned-producer, who was inspired by Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the 50-year-old granddaddy of the burgeoning Fringe movement.

One creative strand of the Fringe is the visual arts. Look for exhibits and installations in Old City galleries and on the street. Dance is another strand; this year's Fringe offers more than 40 performances. (See Page 22.)