The interactive Philly Fringe. Bring that theater over here: I want a piece.

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3 minute read
Will the Tongue & Groove ensemble keep your secrets? Maybe. Photo by Aaron Oster.
Will the Tongue & Groove ensemble keep your secrets? Maybe. Photo by Aaron Oster.

I’m going to sit here; you’re going to stand over there. On the stage. I’ll be in the dark in my seat. I can see you just fine, but you can’t really see me with the lights in your eyes. You’ll talk to me, but not to me, if you know what I mean. I definitely won’t talk to you. I’ll laugh or murmur sympathetically or even gasp a little, and I’ll applaud at the end.

If this is how you want your Fringe, this preview isn’t for you.

In honor of the Philly Fringe Festival’s interactive spirit, here’s a glimpse (or fair warning, depending how you see it) of the shows that ask a little more of the audience.

“You’re a liar. So are we.” begins the description for RealLivePeople’s Would I Lie to You? ($15). It’s running September 5 through 10 at the Latvian Society, 531 North 7th Street, Philadelphia. The show promises to explore the lies that everyone tells and threatens to “turn your most intimate lies into movement.”

For more secrets (yours and other people's), try Tongue & Groove ($15) from Tongue & Groove Spontaneous Theater for what promises to be an unpredictable show, different every night, down to the live improvised music. It’s all “inspired by true secrets anonymously submitted by the audience.” It’s running September 12 through 20 at the PlayGround at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia.

And then, in the choose-your-own adventure vein, there’s Intimate Exchanges ($34-$40) from 1812 Productions. Jennifer Childs and Tony Lawton appear in Alan Ayckbourn’s “comedy of chance.” There are eight possible endings to the show, and the audience gets to decide. It’s running September 4 through September 21 on the Arcadia Stage at the Arden Theatre, 40-50 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia.

And if you like your participatory theater with a dose of “talking orangutan” (yes, that’s right), Skowmon Hastanan has your ticket. Check out Borneo Odyssey (free), happening on September 13 at the Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia. It’s “an experimental performance with audience interactions,” and it reinterprets the Museum’s archives on Furness, Harrison, and Hiller’s 1890s expedition to northern Borneo.

Want to get out of the theater altogether? Try InVersion Theatre’s Mirroring Sky – A Soundscape (free). This “self-guided soundscape,” inspired by Wallace Stevens's poetry, offers a unique solo walking experience at midnight on September 3, departing from 18th and Walnut Streets in Rittenhouse Square with the help of a smartphone app. If you want some company for a “curated listening party,” meet in the same location on September 7, 10, or 13 at 6:30pm.

If you don’t even want to stay on dry land, try WetLand (free), a Presented Fringe project from Brooklyn-based artist Mary Mattingly. It’s a converted houseboat moored at the pier behind the Independence Seaport Museum (South Columbus Boulevard at Dock Street). Solar-powered, compost-toileted, and surrounded by floating vegetable gardens and even a chicken coop, this experiment in art and eco-friendly collaborative living actually serves as a residence for Mattingly and her collaborator throughout the festival, with a series of special performances and events for an audience of about twenty people who don’t mind getting cozy in the confines of the boat.

Your Fringe experience is up to you. You can choose performances with a traditional format, but you probably won’t get a better chance to try something a little different. For the full lineup of Fringe Festival shows, running September 5 through 21, click here.

For more BSR Fringe roundups, check out our previews on this year's dangerously sexy shows and a list of occasionally bizarre Shakespeare adaptations.

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