For Immediate Release: August 5, 2006
Media Contact: Aileen McCulloch, Vagabond Acting Troupe, 610.823.5126

This season The Vagabond Acting Troupe, experimental wanderers who have worked in numerous area theatres, take a reprieve from their hobo ways to settle down and host a series of guests during the 2006/2007 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. As Fringe Venue Manager for the 2nd Stage of the Adrienne Theatre, the company will assist 9 other companies whose homes are as far away as Boston and as close as our same block, by providing venue management services, publicity and a stage. Several of the region’s premiere theatre companies as well as some young companies making their first forays into Fringe production, alongside NY and Boston performers. Of course they will also be presenting their own works as well making it a 10 on the entertainment scale from September 1 to 16 on the 2nd Stage!

Productions occur on the 2nd Stage of the Adrienne Theatre during the Philadelphia Fringe Festival including:

Vagabond Acting Troupe’s BY GRIMM directed by Christian Lisak –
September 1 to 4 at 6:30 p.m. nightly
Vagabond presents the first performance of the venue’s fringe offerings with the final four performances of their season opener, BY GRIMM. Directed by Christian Lisak and developed by a seven actor core featuring members of the 2006/2007 Core Ensemble, BY GRIMM bumps legendary cautionary tales up against Grotowskian physicality with a raw, flexed and toned 7-actor performance. The show runs from August 23 to August 31 in a pre-fringe run, and concludes with four performances on the Philadelphia Fringe during the festival’s opening weekend. Performances of BY GRIMM run from September 1 to 4 at 6:30 p.m. nightly.

Vagabond Acting Troupe’s NEIGHBORS and Friends! –
September 13 and 14 at 6:30 p.m., September 15 at 9 p.m., September 16 at 1 p.m.
Audience favorites from the company’s April New Works Festival are given encore performances in this 75 minute one act play festival, featuring new works from three area playwrights. NEIGHBORS by Walt Vail provides a shocking evening of revelation with Blossom and Gilbert Grant make a surprise visit to their neighbors, the Millers. COLOUR THEORY by Stephan Tsapatoris, puts Red and Blue in a duel of wit and wisdom, and Eric Singel’s one act hit, THE WEDDING CONSULTANT makes it’s final Philadelphia run as a one act before the full length production makes it’s world premiere in February 2007 with Vagabond Acting Troupe.

Front Porch Productions’ ‘DENTITY CRISIS –
September 1 and 2 at 9:30 p.m., September 15 and 16 at 7 p.m.
Front Porch Productions, a company of West Chester University students under the direction of Carrie Fox, presents the Christopher Durang comedy, ‘DENTITY CRISIS, for four performances in bookend performances at the beginning and end of the festival. The company opens the festival with performances on September 1 and 2 at 9 p.m. and closes the festival with performances on September 15 and 16 at 7 p.m.

The Brick Playhouse’s FLIP THE SCRIPT –
September 4 and 16 at 4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m; and September 9 at 1:30 and 4 p.m.
Philadelphia’s premiere center for development of original new plays, The Brick Playhouse, gives the power to the audience with FLIP THE SCRIPT. Ever play God? The character’s will is nothing compared to the desire of the audience in this salute to the choose your own adventure genre. Six plays. 48 endings, and just one ticket required.

Weak Chin Productions’ Sam (imperceptibly ajar) –
September 11 at 7 p.m.
Vagabond Acting Troupe’s resident directors Charlie DelMarcelle and Leonard Kelly present an evening dedicated to the life and times of Samuel Beckett featuring readings from letters, journals and articles about the master of the absurd. Featuring actors from many area theatre companies, this one night only event is sure to please the Beckett fan and students of absurdist theatre.

Freefall Productions’ DANGEROUS FOOLS: THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS AND THE FUNNY –
September 10 at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Laurel & Hardy. Martin & Lewis. Bush & Cheney. The 2006 Philadelphia Fringe Festival finds a new duo daring to join the ranks of this legendary comic hierarchy: Dangerous Fools. Two improvisers with insurmountable courage but little sense, unite for the first time to prove once and for all, that two fools are truly funnier than one in this buddy road trip improv show, for just one night on the second stage.

Old School Theatre’s QWERTYUIOP –
September 14 at 9 p.m., 15 and 16 at 11:30 p.m., $15
OLD SCHOOL THEATRE COMPANY (OSTC) is an award-winning, critically acclaimed New York City theatre company dedicated to the new presentation of forgotten plays, literature, radio scripts and short stories. QWERTYUIOP, a full length comedy by Seattle playwright John Gonzalez, introduces audiences to adventure novelist Jack Garrett who is at the height of his career writing the "Lance Quick" series of best sellers. It's late-night Fringe at it's best!

Theatre Outlet presents RADICAL LOVE by Sue Sneeringer
– September 10 at 3:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. - $15
THE THEATRE OUTLET, the Lehigh’s Valley alternative theatre, presents a program of one acts including Bits and Blonde Bombshell. Bits focuses on love in World War II, while Blonde Bombshell is the story of three generations of women affected by the 1950’s blacklist. An evening of radical love stories for the adventurer in all of us.

Diesel Theater Productions’ SWAN SONG by Conor McDermottroe –
September 4, 5, and 6, at 9PM - $10
A lost soul embarks on a raw, pugilistic, and profane journey through rural Ireland that is both hilarious and heartbreaking. A bruising picture of life in the west of Ireland, this U.S. premiere directed by David Sullivan features a solo performance by acclaimed Irish actor Tim Ruddy.

Industrial Improv –
September 8 and 9 at 11:15 p.m.
Presenting Theatre for the People, Industrial Improv provides improvisational fun onteh 2nd Stage. You, the audience, provide Industrial with an idea of your life passions, which in turn inspires a spontaneous narrative created from Industrial’s group mind. This short evening of rapid fire wit and entertainment is sure to please, since this company is on the rise! Recent appearances include The Washington Improv Theater, and a New York City premier at the Magnet Theater in January 2006.

Molehill Productions - TRAGICAL, COMICAL, HISTORICAL, PASTORAL –
7:30 p.m.
New England’s premier one man Shakespearian review storms stages across the city in conjunction with the Philadelphia fringe festival this September, with three performances on the 2nd Stage. Seth Leary, the play’s writer and performer, culls some famous and some not so famous Shakespeare speeches into one show by the way of original interlouges that introduce, explain and segue.

Ankit Dogra Productions – WATER ENGINE -
September 7, 8 and 9 at 8 p.m.
An intrepid band of Temple theatre students bring excitement Mamet style to the 2nd Stage of the Adrienne with their production of Water Engine. This multi-level story of the invention of an engine that runs on distilled water and its consequential impact on corporate America, blurs the borders of reality, fiction, discovery, and paranoia, as they swirl around social conscience.

For those who want to keep their fringing on Sansom, the 2nd Stage has two weeks of non-stop entertainment. For information on all 2nd Stage fringe productions, visit the Vagabond Acting Troupe’s website at www.vagabondactingtroupe.org for links to each company’s homepage and for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival’s online ticket ordering pages.

ABOUT THE PHILADELPHIA FRINGE FESTIVAL The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Fringe Festival runs form September 1 to 16 2006. Ticket prices range from free to $25 for the festival productions and may be purchased online beginning August 8 at www.livearts-fringe.org or after August 21 by calling 215-413-1318. Fringe guides, which include dates, times and venues for all performances for both festivals will be available in the Philadelphia City Paper on August 25, 2006 and after this at all festival venues.

The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe were originally founded in 1997 as the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Today, the Live Arts Festival serves as a series of selected cutting-edge, boundary breaking performing arts events, created by some of the most renowned contemporary artists from our region and around the world.

The Fringe serves as a collective home for artists bringing their work to audiences in every conceivable form – in traditional and untraditional venues, using new artistic forms and established ones, breaking rules or refining them.

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