Pittsburgh Fringe Festival Kicks Off (Wed., 3/19/26)

Every city with a good theater scene needs a fringe festival. These events highlight what’s new and/or unusual in the performing arts, often providing an early look at emerging stars and hit shows. And here in our city, the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival returns for its 13th year. The 10-day schedule (March 19 – 28) features dozens of performances at various venues in Bloomfield/Garfield, Lawrenceville, the North Side, and Downtown. The artists come from Pittsburgh and points beyond, with shows that span genres from comedy to theater, dance, music, and can’t-be-pigeonholed. The latter include Noam Osband’s “Circumscribed: A True Tall Tale of One Father, Two Sons, and Thousands of Foreskins.” You don’t have to be Jewish to guess how this is possible, though it helps. Nor must you be Catholic to enjoy “Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue presents The Saints”—a show that combines “rock and roll, puppetry, magic and satire” to convey “the fantastical, whimsical, gruesome, salacious, inspiring stories of Catholic saints.” 

Elsewhere, the commedia dell’arte troupe I Pierogi performs “One Night in Verona,” set in the Italian city, not the town near Oakmont. In a more serious vein, theater professors Veronica Santoyo and David Taylor Little present “Frida Permutations,” an exploration of the life of Frida Kahlo, while actor Joshua Reed does Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. Audience participation is welcome if you reserve a spot in the Yinzer Variety Show, the Choreographers’ Showcase, or the Story Club PGH story slam. For information on all shows, along with ticketing options, visit the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival on the web. (M.V.)

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