Love you Love you Love you uncorks a heady brew of mothering, dementia, and legacy. Creator-performer Sarah Sanford conjures real memories and mythic demonesses to witness a beloved mothers passage into uncharted cognitive territory. Sanford slips between characters and consciousnesses, willing an altered neurological state to take center stage. Part clown show, part tragedy, Love you Love you Love you exposes the stigma surrounding persons living with dementia, and the sorrow and rage of watching a loved one slowly disappear.

Sarah Sanford (she/her) is a theater artist and educator. An early member of Pig Iron, Sarah co-created and performed in 8 company productions including Shut Eye, Hell Meets Henry Halfway, and Twelfth Night. Regional credits include the Arden, Lantern, Wilma, Theater Exile. International credits include Jo Stromgren Kompani, Volcano, The Riot Group. Sarah directed InFlux Theater's "The Choice" as well as the Philly premiere of Lightning Rod Special's "Underground Railroad Game." Sarah was an Assistant Professor at UArts for 10 years until its recent closure, and has been core faculty at the Pig Iron Devised Performance program since its inception. A graduate of École Jacques Lecoq, a trained yogi and dancer, winner of the 2010 F. Otto Haas award for Best Emerging Theater Artist, and mom to a natural clown named Jesse. This show is dedicated to my family, and to all my students past and present.

Imagine a world trapped in eternal winter. A journey across the harsh tundra awaits you. It takes strength to move forward when you can't feel your toes. A combination of characters, movement, and worldbuilding tell the story of a society frozen in this solo theatre show by local artist, Patrick Burke. That which is buried under snow needs warmth to recover. Will you see the magic on the other side of the blizzard?

https://phillyfringe.org/events/thawing

Patrick Burke is, first and foremost, a storyteller capable of crafting modern myths and placing them before your very eyes on the stage. Using a foundation of acting methods, clown, and physical theatre, he swims in the epic and grandiose territories and finds the human soul that resides deep within. They graduated from Le Moyne College with a BA in both Theatre Arts and Criminology as well as from the Pig Iron School / UArts and received an MFA in Devised Performance. When he is not creating new stories for the world, he is teaching clown, producing shows, and enjoying the Muppets.

Sharing one role on a popular 90s sitcom, lovable twins MK + A rose to stardom before they could even talk. Now, 30 years on, 'You're Invited' to their first public appearance in a decade. In front of a live studio audience, MK + A navigate a crash course down memory lane of their famous fictional childhoods. Part illustrated audio concert, part psychological thriller, MK + A Rewatch Podcast asks: What dark realities lurk beneath our tendencies towards fandom and our hunger for nostalgia? The creators of Dora's Gently Used Dreams Store and Auntieland combine the digital tools of modern content creators with physical theater virtuosity to generate an absurd and stinging dive into the lucrative business of remakes, reboots and rewatches.

Morgan McKenzie Kauffman is a theater maker and performer. Her original works explore experience design, audience collaboration, and immersive performance. A graduate of Penn State, she has directed and acted in many professional productions with Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble, and most recently Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Her original solo show, Doras Gently Used Dreams Store premiered at the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe to a sold out run.

Marisol Soledad is a cultural worker, theater artist, educator, and facilitator. Her acting, directing, writing, and devising work have appeared in NYC, Philadelphia, Seattle, Boston, Miami, Maine, Colorado, Alaska, Texas, Italy, and Mexico. She is a graduate of Princeton University and of Helikos International School of Theater Creation in Florence, Italy. Recent original works include Read Me A World, Auntieland, The Most Important Place in The World, and The Seven Ravens Project. Her new play, Junk/Baby was recently a semi-finalist for the Terrence McNally Award.

Is he man? Or is he banana? The Cavendish banana is stuck in a shipping box, with only his sexy, more flavorful cousin Gros Michel to help him escape. But does the Cavendish even want to leave? Stand-up, physical comedy, magic, striptease and more in this OffFest-nominated “comedic tour de force” (The Interrobang), a solo absurdist clown show exploring themes of isolation, denial, and human connection, using comedy as a tool to process painful realizations and truths. BANANA arrives at Philly Fringe fresh off an award-winning run at PortFringe (Achievement in Performance, Patron’s Pick) and a successful run at Edinburgh, listed on the Interrobang’s “Top Comedy Picks of 2023” and The List’s “Clowns to Watch Out For.”

“Comic timing is superb… innovative, inappropriate, absurd.” - EdFringe Review

“Must-see spectacle… a comedic tour de force” - The Interrobang

“Galligan proves that he is truly unafraid to go anywhere in his comedy." ThreeWeeks

Sep 14-18, Maas Building, 1320 N 5th Street

Dick Ripper left a sleepy trailer park in Lubbock, TX for a new life in Las Vegas. The rearview mirror was aglow with the bridges he burned as his foot stomped on the accelerator of his unregistered Ford LTD. Dick drove across the desert, keeping hydrated with an ever-warming case of Miller High Life, and a single bottle of water.

He ripped a tiny piece of the stuff from the tinfoil envelope and placed it under his tongue. The acid, he figured, was stronger and cheaper than coffee.

Dick only had two cassette tapes to make the 13 hour trek. The fourth time through "Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits" is what caused his mind to finally crack. All the radio would give him on a consistent basis was religious talk and angry conservatives. The air conditioning stopped working somewhere around Albuquerque.

Everyone Loves Dick is a new performance piece by Ernest Hemmings about identity crisis, hubris, and the new American West. A "modern Western" in one act.

Sep 7-10, Fidget Space, 1714 N Mascher St

Content considerations: this episode makes illustrative reference to a huge zit being popped

Pieces is a collection of audio performances gathered from over 17 years of memoir writing workshops facilitated by Susan DiPronio, who strives to create Art For Social Change. It is an archive of the shared stories serving as a healing place for the storytellers and the communities from which they come. Pieces seeks to both educate and to inform. Some of the earlier workshops were funded by The Leeway Foundation.

The "Audience/Listeners" will be able to hear/experience the tracks of the stories wearing earbuds. It is free to experience. Donations will be accepted on behalf of "Project Safe": affinity-based harm reduction for women, queer and trans people involved in the street economies of Philly.

Sep 5-16, Icebox Project Space, 1400 N American St

Content considerations: This episode contains mentions of physical abuse.

A Musical Anatomy is a one man musical, or as close as I can get by myself. A few years ago I wrote this play for a festival that I then adapted into a musical. I was never happy with it, though, so I'm going to put it on again and dissect it a bit. I'm going to talk about musicals. I'm going to talk about storytelling. And all the while I'll be playing every part of a show that definitely should have more than one actor.

Sep 6, 21, and 24 at the Fidget Space, 1714 Mascher St

Presented in a split bill with Messy Perfectionism

As a guest of this intimate tea party, you will be served tea of exceptional quality, play entirely civilized parlor games, and when the end comes, no need to panic, you won't be alone.

You and your fellow guests are attendees at a tea party at the end of the world, partaking in the rituals and obligations of being a guest in someone else's, for lack of a better word, home. Your host for this tea party is new to the gig, but what she lacks in grace, she makes up for in burning human intensity and unexpected abilities.

TEA PARTY AT THE END OF THE WORLD is inspired by the creator's time in the Arctic Circle as an artist-in-residence and her low-key obsession with the ritual comforts and complexity of loose-leaf tea. TEA PARTY... explores how we connect to one another in times of uncertainty and fear; celebrating the splendor of being alive in a beautiful and disappearing world, while honoring the unfathomable cost it exacts on our ability to connect and find purpose.

This darkly humorous, cutting and cozy exploration of the apocalypse wonders alongside the audience if remaining playful in dire circumstances is the key not only to surviving, but thriving.

* Tea service is included in the ticket price.

** Audience members will be served a selection of top-shelf, loose-leaf teas throughout the piece. If you are sensitive to caffeine and want to partake of the tea, please consider attending an afternoon show.

Sep 3-25, Maas Cottage, 1320 N 5th St