Philadelphia's theatre scene has been been the home of talents that have grown into staples of the immersive scene up and down the East Coast and across the United States. From companies like Alterra Productions to solo artists such as Jessica Creane and Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, all of whom have earned rave reviews in our pages over the years.

This year the Philadelphia Fringe will play host to these artists and a lot more, with over a half-dozen immersive productions and experiments ranging from one-on-ones to affairs that take over whole buildings.

If you're within range of Philadelphia, then you should consider making plans to take in some of this year's work when the festival kicks off in September. Which is why we're dedicating this massive section to the selections on offer. (Listings are chronological by start date.)

Baal & Dix

Booking Through: Monday, September 12 2022

Meet Bertolt Brecht and Degenerate painter Otto Dix. Kinda. Fact or fantasy? Either way, they’re yours to devour. Sing rousing songs, witness delicate movement sequences, touch your muse, and queer the facts. Lift a stein at Philly’s only Authentic German Beer Hall and meet us in the bathroom.

Baal & Dix is a new immersive work that looks at prominent masculine artists of the Weimar Republic to explore how Jewish, Queer, and Femme identities manifested in the work. Live performers and pre-recorded video combine in this mixed media immersive performance piece.

FOOD

Booking Through: Sunday, September 18 2022

Why do we eat what we eat? Where does it come from? Do we need what we eat? Do we eat what we need? What does it really cost?

An intimate dinner party performance of smell, taste, and touch, FOOD offers a meditation on the ways and whys of eating. The audience gathers around a white linen-covered dining table, engaging with each other and their empty plates in an immersive, constantly transforming performance. Sounds, scents, and tactile elements shape a conversation about personal memories, consumption, and the evolution of food production over generations.

Fair Trade

Booking Through: Sunday, September 25 2022

Is Trust given freely, or earned over time? Is Fairness judged on a geological timescale or in the span of a second? How much can you get in exchange that birthday present you got from your least favorite aunt?

Fair Trade is the first in a series of experiments from critically acclaimed Interactive Experience Makers Jessica Creane (Know Thyself, Chaos Theory, Schrödinger’s Cat) and Yannick Trapman-O’Brien (The Telelibrary, Undersigned), designed to invite participants to lean into these questions and discover what exactly we give and take when things change hands.

Yes, We’re Ready, We’ll Split an Order of Fries for The Table

Booking Through: Saturday, September 17 2022

Yes, we’re ready, we’ll split an order of fries for the table. Does that work for you? Sure, one check is fine. The clanking of the spoon against the ceramic mug, embossed with the diner’s logo. The flickering of the fluorescents in the kitchen. Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” cuts through the shuffling of feet. Meetings, comings, goings, and reunions. Blue plate specials, no substitutions, and gratuity added on parties over 8 fill the menu. A tabletop show about diners and the people inhabiting those spaces. Artists, Mike Durkin and Nick Schwasman will lead audiences between 1-3 through a series of conversations, and performances, all while splitting an order of fries either at the Melrose Street Diner or Broad Street Diner in South Philadelphia.

Undersigned

Booking Through: Wednesday, January 15 2025

Undersigned is a psychological thriller for an audience of one.

For those who respond to that statement with curiosity (or at the very least, who are still reading), award-winning Experience Maker Yannick Trapman-O’Brien (The Telelibrary, Fair Trade) is releasing a limited number of public slots for what has previously been an invitation-only, decidedly unconventional production.

Depending on your choices, your experience will last between 30-50 minutes. Your participation will involve an invocation, a blindfold, and a pointed discussion.

Poison Garden

Booking Through: Tuesday, October 26 2021

A mysterious garden with a deadly purpose takes root throughout the grounds and halls of Glen Foerd. Journey back in time to learn how one family vanished nearly a century ago-and uncover the garden’s role in this strange tale. What is the garden’s deadly purpose, and why is it there?What secrets are they keeping? Come explore this immersive experience, featuring theatrical action, beautiful choreography, history, and mystery!

The Path of Pins or the Path of Needles

Booking Through: Sunday, October 2 2022

Visionary writer and filmmaker Josephine Decker (Shirley, Madeline’s Madeline) joins forces with Pig Iron Theatre Company (Superterranean, Love Unpunished) for a dark fairy tale about the terrors, joys, and deep uncertainties of pregnancy. Inspired by Maria Tatar’s research on the history of fairy tales, this immersive performance explores the complex decisions that mothers, fictional and real, must make about their children’s lives. This new work brings Decker’s singular vision into conversation with Pig Iron’s 20-year investigation with site-specific and immersive theater.

Each audience member becomes “The Pregnant Dreamer,” seeking to evade a curse on their unborn child by choosing their own path through Rigby Mansion and its grounds. Interactive scenes — weaving contemporary dance, physical theater, and performance art — unlock secret knowledge and whispers of terror. All bodies are welcome; come prepared to wander.