Ursinus Magazine

Ursinus Fringe

24th Fringe Festival to Kickoff 2023-24 Theater and Dance Season

The festival, which is free and open to the public, features professional, student, faculty, and staff artists. It will take place September 13-16 on the Ursinus College campus.

Fringe Festivals are globally recognized as some of the most vibrant, diverse celebrations of art and culture. The Ursinus Fringe has been a mainstay on the Montgomery County performance scene, anchoring the college’s productions every fall.

The showcase four-day event brings cutting-edge, experimental performances and visual arts to Ursinus College and its surrounding community, is celebrating its 24th year and is raising the curtain on the Ursinus Theater and Dance 2023-24 season. The festival, which is free and open to the public, features professional, student, faculty, and staff artists sharing their latest theater, dance, music, film, and visual art works. It will take place September 13-16 on the Ursinus campus.

“Professor Domenick Scudera founded the Ursinus Fringe in 1999 as a way of bringing exciting, professional arts programming from Philadelphia and beyond to our campus,” Ursinus Associate Professor and Chair of Theater Meghan Brodie said. “The Ursinus Fringe makes this programming accessible to new audiences while also celebrating the creativity and talent of our own community. By connecting students and community members with distinguished guest artists, the Fringe offers us the opportunity to explore many art forms over only four days. This is a much loved part of our arts culture at Ursinus.” 

This year, Ursinus is welcoming guest artists Wil Kilroy and Grant Bowen, as well as a one-act festival of student-written work; Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema screenings; Bowen’s solo performance piece, A Public Private Prayer; acting and storytelling workshops; and an ever-popular drag show. For a complete schedule, visit ursinus.edu/UrsinusFringe.

Additionally, this fall, Scudera offers his creative interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic, Two Gentlemen of Verona; guest director Tina Brock tackles Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist play, Victims of Duty; and new Assistant Professor of Dance Michael J. Love produces his first Ursinus dance concert, Motion, Timbre, & Rhythm.

Scudera ushers in the spring with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ adaptation of a medieval morality play, Everybody, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Brodie is directing the world premiere of Ursinus alumna Kate Isabel Foley’s new play, Captain Darling, a dark, feminist reimagining of Peter Pan; and Professor of Dance Karen Clemente is producing Dancing Stories, Weaving Time, featuring an African Dance Ensemble piece led by Jeannine Osayande and Dunya Performing Arts Company.

“Our season is Ursinus Quest in action,” said Brodie, referring to Ursinus’s nationally recognized, inquiry-based core curriculum. “We offer all students rigorous, hands-on, experiential learning that not only explores the four questions at the heart of our curriculum (What should matter to me? How can we live together? How can we understand the world? What will I do?), but also prepares them for countless careers in theater and dance and beyond.”

“We are thrilled to welcome the local patrons into our spaces to begin conversations, share our art, and celebrate the value of community,” Brodie said.

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Season Details:

24th Annual Ursinus College Fringe Festival
September 13-16

Two Gentlemen of Verona
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Domenick Scudera, Professor of Theater
September 28, 29, 30 at 7:30 p.m.
October 1 at 2 p.m. (ASL-interpreted performance)
Lenfest Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center

Victims of Duty
by Eugene Ionesco
Guest Directed by Tina Brock
November 2, 3, 4 at 7:30 p.m.
November 5 at 2 p.m. (ASL-interpreted performance)
Blackbox Studio Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center

Fall UCDC Concert: Motion, Timbre, & Rhythm
Produced by Michael J. Love, Assistant Professor of Dance
November 16-18 at 7:30 p.m.
Lenfest Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center

Everybody
by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Domenick Scudera, Professor of Theater
February 22, 23, 24 at 7:30 p.m.
February 25 at 2 p.m. (ASL-interpreted performance)
Blackbox Studio Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center

Captain Darling, a World Premiere
by Kate Isabel Foley
Directed by Meghan Brodie, Associate Professor of Theater
April 4, 5, 6 at 7:30 p.m.
April 7 at 2 p.m. (ASL-interpreted performance)
Lenfest Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center

Spring UCDC Concert: Dancing Stories, Weaving Time
Produced by Karen Clemente, Professor of Dance
April 25-27 at 7:30 p.m
Lenfest Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center