Fifth annual Tampa International Fringe Festival returns to form

The Tampa International Fringe Festival (TIFF) is more than Ybor’s home for eclectic, independent theater. It’s also a thriving community.

Founded in 2016, TIFF seeks to promote inclusivity and encourage creative freedom in the arts, all while giving 100% of its base ticket sales back to the artists performing in the 10-day festival. After holding a virtual festival last year due to COVID-19, its fifth annual celebration will return closer to form July 29-Aug. 8.

“Last year we built a 3D model of Ybor that people could explore online and virtually go into venues,” Festival Producer Trish Parry recalls. “It was nice for the more hardcore Fringers to still have some means by which to come together.”

TIFF also utilized funding they’d received prior to postponing and later restructuring the festival to provide artists with stipends. Their efforts which extended to recording sessions at Crowbar, event venue which temporarily closed due to the pandemic. Three shows by local performers were filmed.

“We tried to keep supporting the artists however we could,” Parry says.

This year, the festival is excited to do so in front of live audiences. Described as “smaller but still mighty,” TIFF’s fifth annual outing will consist of 14 companies presenting more than 70 performances in three spaces at the Hillsborough Community College Ybor’s Performing Arts Building. They’ll perform in its Mainstage Theater, Studio Theater and Rehearsal Hall.
In conjunction with HCC, TIFF will adhere to a number of precautions to ensure the safety of guests.

“Having seen Tampa theatre come back to life in the past few months,” the festival shares, “we are determined to create a COVID-safe environment where you can indulge in the arts as you have in the past.”

Non-vaccinated patrons are asked to wear masks and all staff and volunteers will mask when not socially distanced. The festival notes that guidelines are subject to change as the pandemic and local safety precautions evolve.

“It’s smaller this year, there are about half the number of shows, but because they’re in one building instead of multiple this year, we’re able to navigate the traffic in relation to COVID,” Parry adds.

The reduction in scale also inspired this year’s magical makeover. The building will be transformed into a magical grotto, billed “an escape from the usual in Tampa” that’s inspired by classical fantasy art and more.

While the venue is dry, it will include Babayaga’s Refreshment Hut, the Temple to the Chicken and more.

“We’re turning it into this crazy environment,” Parry promises. “We’ll have really cool concessions and props that we’re building. There will also be some free entertainment inside the building. It’s really going to be a magical grotto.”

While this year’s lineup is a more curated list than in years prior, a lingering effect of the pandemic, it will remain LGBTQ-inclusive. In fact, TIFF expanded its diversity lottery to specifically include LGBTQ artists.

“This year the Diversity Category is divided into three categories to ensure inclusivity,” its application for performers reads. “LGBTQ+, Ethnicity & Accessibility. These will be drawn before the general lottery. Those who do not get pulled in this drawing with be put back in the pot for the general lottery.”

Parry notes that while the TIFF has never “suffered from a lack of LGBTQ artists,” they felt it was an important effort. She says “we want to be as inclusive as possible.”

Four of this year’s shows are LGBTQ-focused or produced, three of which stem from Tampa Bay and Central Florida. Offerings begin with the Tampa-based Vulva Va-Voom’s “A Rocky, Whorish, Patter Show.”

Its creator, who is bi-gender and pansexual, draws inspiration from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” for the cabaret act.

“When I went from my conservative mid-90s environment to a midnight showing of ‘Rocky,’ I saw flesh and blood people – not essays in a library book – living out gender non-conformity,” they say. “And the kid who had felt like an unacceptable boy/girl freak their entire life felt, for the first time ever, accepted and seen.”

The performer adds that they are “very enthusiastic about fandoms that encourage nerds to fully participate and make unapologetic dorks of themselves.” The production is rated “enthusiastically R.”

Also from Tampa is “PREACH! 2: The Second Coming.” The comedy is a follow-up of artist Scott Swenson’s celebrated one-man show where he promises “another evening of improvised, inappropriate sermons.”

“Returning to live performance, especially with a show as unpredictable as this one, could leave me artistically rejuvenated or beaten to a pulp by an angry mob … or BOTH,” Swenson muses. “We’ll see.”

“The Little Merman from The Black Lagoon” will swim over from Central Florida. The fan-favorite hit from Orlando Fringe combines “The Creature from The Black Lagoon” with “The Little Mermaid.”

“I liked playing with the idea of not being defined by your gender,” writer and director Christian Kelty told Watermark last month. The show features a character who doesn’t identity as male or female. “With the support around you, it’s cool to figure out who you are and what you are and that being okay.”

“Moving The Mountain,” a production from Cincinnati, Ohio, rounds out this year’s more obvious LGBTQ offerings. The award-winning production featuring a puppet named Edna bills itself as a “comedy piece, shining with authenticity, truth and care.”

Tickets prices vary per production and both three and five packs are available. Guests who wish to see this year’s smaller lineup in its entirety can also purchase The Eliminator Pass.

“We’re really excited about this year,” Parry says. “I think even if people come down and check out the building for free, they’ll be very inspired – and then they’ll end up seeing some shows and getting excited about becoming a part of our community.”

The fifth annual Tampa International Fringe Festival will be held July 29-Aug. 8 at the HCC Performing Arts Building, located at 1411 E. 11th Ave. in Tampa. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit TampaFringe.org.

View the full schedule below:

“Mrs. Bliss’ Titanic Adventure” (Tampa, Fla.)
Comedy | 60 Mins | $12 + festival support fee
Mainstage Theatre

July 29, 7-8 p.m.; July 31, 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Aug. 1, 7-8 p.m.; Aug. 7, 7-8 p.m.; Aug. 8, 1-2 p.m.

A disillusioned actress is working in a Titanic exhibition when an intriguing stranger lures her into an unreal adventure. Can she avert disaster? And what can possibly go wrong?

“A Rocky, Whorish Patter Show” (Tampa, Fla.)
Studio Theatre
Burlesque | 45 Mins. | $10 + festival support fee

July 29, 7:15-8 p.m.; July 31, 10-10:45 p.m.; Aug. 1, 8:45-9:30 p.m.; Au g. 4, 8:45-+:30 p.m.; Aug. 7, 5:15-6 p.m.; Aug. 8, 7:45-8:30 p.m.

Cabaret headliner Vulva Va-Voom takes you on a strange, oversexed journey. Nerdy! Imaginative! Multi-media & interactive! This “intellectual burlesque” song ‘n dance, neo-Vaudevillian show examines fandom, fantasy, obsessions and titties.

“Be A Pirate!” (Lakeland, Fla.)
Studio Theatre
Musical | 60 Mins. | $10 + festival support fee

July 29, 8:45-9:45 p.m.; July 31, 2:45-3:45 p.m.; Aug. 5, 7-8 p.m; Aug. 6, 10:30-11:30 p.m.; Aug. 7, 7-8 p.m.; Aug. 8, 1-2 p.m.

Join Shaktooth Sam on a rollicking adventure of pirate stories and songs and learn how he became a different kind of pirate rogue. Fun for the family, ages 8 and up.

“Trailer Park Jesus” (Ozark, Ala.)
Mainstage Theatre
All Ages (Best Suited 8+) | 40 Mins. | $10 + festival support fee

July 29, 8:45-9:30 p.m.; July 31, 5-5:45 p.m.; Aug. 4, 7:30-8:15 p.m.; Aug. 6, 8:45-9:30 p.m.; Aug. 7, 5:30-6:15 p.m.

The Q&A to change your life – with The Savior in his trailer park. Get prepped for double-wide quality prophecy in trade for your single-wide queries! He’s awesome. He’s Jesus, bro.

“Wilson Goes to Grad School” (Tampa, Fla.)
Theatre | 60 Mins. | $10 + festival support fee
Rehearsal Hall

July 29, 10-11 p.m.; July 31, 8-9 pm.; Aug. 5, 8-9 p.m.; Aug. 6, 10-11 p.m.; Aug. 7, 3:45-4:45 p.m.; Aug. 8, 6-7 p.m.

Wilson is shook. What’s a heady cactus to do? Come help him work through the trauma of grad school chaos, COVID seclusion a spiny personality.

“Cemetery Golf” (Venice, Ca.)
Studio Theatre
Storytelling | 60 Mins. | $13 + festival support fee; $7 + festival support fee for students, military

July 30, 7-8 p.m.; July 31, 8:15-9:15 p.m.; Aug. 1, 7-8 p.m.; Aug. 6, 7-8 p.m.; Aug. 7, 2-2 p.m.; Aug. 8, 6-7 p.m.

Live-wire solo performance brings you the Deep South, with preachers shoutin’ from the mountaintops, mamas pickin’ switches and Hellfire just a heartbeat away. Witty insightful storytelling, characters and Gospel music.

“Moving the Mountain” (Cincinnati, Oh.)
Studio Theatre
Comedy | 60 Mins. | $10 + festival support fee

July 30, 8:45-9:45 p.m.; July 31, 4:30-5:30 p.m.; Aug. 1, 3:45-4:45 p.m.; Aug. 5, 8:45-9:45 p.m.; Aug. 6, 8:45-9:45 p.m.; Aug. 8, 2:45-3:45 p.m.

A one-puppet show about what it means to crush your demons and kiss them goodbye. A mountainous puppet (EDNA) is slowly destroyed by puppeteer Abby. Expect nothing but broken expectations.

“The Little Merman from the Black Lagoon” (Orlando, Fla.)
Mainstage Theatre
Parody | 70 Mins. | $13 + festival support fee

July 30, 7-8:10 p.m.; July 31, 3-4:10 p.m.; Aug. 1, 8:45-9:55 p.m.; Aug. 7, 3:30-4:40 p.m.; Aug. 8, 7:45-8:55 p.m.

A group of scientists traveling the Amazon in search of the legendary “Gill-Man” come face to face with Ethyl the Merman and his friends from “under the lagoon.”

“PREACH! The Second Coming” (Tampa, Fla.)
Mainstage Theatre
Improv | 45 Mins. | $10 + festival support fee

July 30, 8:45-9:30 p.m.; 8:15-9 p.m.; Aug. 1, 5:30-6:15 p.m.; Aug. 5, 8:45-9:30 p.m.; Aug. 8, 4:30-5:15 p.m.

2021 marks the return of Scott Swenson’s one man show, “PREACH! The Second Coming, Another Evening of Improvised Inappropriate Sermons.” Go back “to church” for even more offensive oration!

“Fringin’ and Flagons” (Groveland, Fla.)
Rehearsal Hall
Comedy | 60 Mins. | $10 + festival support fee

July 30, 10-11 p.m.; July 31, 6:15-7:15 p.m.; Aug. 1, 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Aug. 6, 8:15-9:15 p.m.; Aug. 7, 7-8 p.m.; Aug. 8, 4:15-5:15 p.m.

Assemble your party, grab your dice and roll initiative as you become the hands of fate that can aid or doom our heroes in this hilarious D&D impov Comedy Show!

“The Sack: A Superhero Play” (Palm Harbor, Fla.)
Studio Theatre
Satire | 60 Mins. | $10 + festival support fee

Aug. 1, 5:30-6:30 p.m.; Aug. 4, 7-8 p.m.; Aug. 7, 8:45-9:45 p.m.; Aug. 8, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Spyn Isaac was a nobody until he discovered he had the ability to redirect projectiles aimed at him. Watch him reenact his rise to a superhero while playing every character!