PROVIDENCE — “While Lil’ Rhody doesn’t have a major opera or ballet company to call its own,” noted a recent article in CNN Travel, by way of a backhanded compliment, “Providence [is] one of the USA’s most impressive cities for people who love the arts.”
One of the reasons is FringePVD, a gathering of diverse and largely local performing artists that has — over the past 11 years — become New England’s largest Fringe Festival.
This year, more than 150 unjuried, uncensored performances will be squeezed into two weeks of outside-the-box entertainment. The festivities begin with a free opening night party on July 14 featuring artists pitching their shows and a performance by the Rhode Island Ukulele Armada. Indoor and outdoor venues for the festival are scattered across the Valley Arts District and include the WaterFire Arts Center, the Steel Yard, Teatro ECAS, and 50 Sims.
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FringePVD is the result of an early conversation between Josh Short, the artistic director of The Wilbury Theatre Group, and Michael Gennaro, former executive director of Trinity Rep. The two were talking about how some of the most exciting performing artwork wasn’t being seen by the general public because some of independent performing artists were operating out of small studio spaces.
Short wanted to create a way for artists on the fringe of mainstream storytelling to showcase their original work in a more public and populated forum. He and his FringePVD team have created a vehicle for audience members to attend performances that they wouldn’t normally attend and see things they wouldn’t otherwise see.
The first year featured 20 shows with 50 artists — many of whom had to be convinced and cajoled to participate — and sold 500 tickets. FringePVD 2023 featured 50 shows with about 300 artists, and sold over 10,000 tickets. And while the event was originally geared toward local emerging and established performing artists, an affiliation with the US Association of Fringe Festivals has led to the attraction of artists from around the country. This year, artists come from 15 different states.
According to Short, “a signature annual festival like this affirms Providence’s place on the cultural map as a destination for the arts. And, by creating ties between artists, audiences, businesses and local organizations, it promotes the city as one vested in creative enterprise, artistic innovation, and open conversation.”
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A complete listing and description of performances and special events, along with the dates, times, locations, and cost (100 percent of all ticket sale proceeds go directly to the performing artists), can be found on the Providence Fringe Festival website. Tickets and passes are also available online.
Here’s a sampling of this year’s offerings:
“Good Grief!“ by Rough & Tumble Productions, performed by Lillian Ransijn and Dylan Smythe. (When: July 25 and 26 at 10 p.m.; Where: Wilbury Theatre Group, 475 Valley St., Providence; Cost: $20).
Through burlesque, video art, contemporary dance, clown and theater, this deeply heartfelt duet lays bare how pain is so close to pleasure, loss so close to love, and grief an absurd mixed up process of clinging tight and letting go. “Good Grief!” invites the jostling loose and letting out of hoots and hollers, laughter and tears, and anything else that might be shed, lost, or set free.
“The Infinite Possibility of Jane” and “The Grail of Salt” by Livia Chesley (When: July 19 & 20 at 7 p.m.; Where: PUBLIC, 27 Sims Ave. 2nd floor, Providence; Cost: $10).
Livia Chesley improvises, composes, writes, creates and performs original theater works in a distinctive voice, influenced by the performance lineages of clown, Butoh dance, and physical theater. “The Infinite Possibility of Jane,” about the climate castastrophe, received the Award for Fringiest Performance at the 2024 Asheville Fringe Festival. “The Grain of Salt, which tells the legend of Hetta Silvah, was selected for the upcoming Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
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“Three Rivulets,” created and performed by Kristina Warren. (When: July 25 and 26 at 8:30 p.m.; Where: 50 Sims Ave.; Cost: $10).
“Three Rivulets,” a live solo audiovisual performance by its creator, is immersive, textural, and mysterious. Constructed using a variety of slow-moving oscillators, with three primary ones at its core, the work — a combination of abstract forms and recognizable patterns — morphs through a wide range of interlocking visual/sonic resonances. The evolving geometric textures of the piece suggest cyclical ways of listening, while its dynamic audio modulations reflect mobile visual attention.
“moments,” created and choreographed by Ali Kenner Brodsky with music composed and performed by MorganEve Swain. (When: July 18 at 8:30 p.m. and July 19 at 7 p.m.; Where: WaterFire Arts Center Main Hall, 475 Valley St., Providence; Cost: $15).
“moments,” a dance-theater work exploring memory, loss and love, unfolds through subtle gestural movement and emotionally evocative music. This performance piece evokes memories of past relationships, the longing for a closeness once felt, and the challenge of how to move forward through grief. Performed by dance artists Kenner Brodsky, Scott McPheeters, Jenna Pollack, Jessi Stegall, and Ilya Vidrin.
“Presley Tweed: Not That Serious” by Next Stage and performed by Rodney Brazil. (When: July 18, 19, and 20 at 8:30 p.m.; Where: 50 Sims Ave.; Cost: $15).
Get ready for a night of laughs with “Presley Tweed: Not That Serious,” a darkly comic cabaret that blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Meet Presley Tweed, the deluded, never-quite-made-it star, as he spins his wild tales from the margins of fame. Whether it’s botched auditions or accidental infamy, Presley’s antics are as funny as they are tragic.