Scranton Fringe to go back ‘under glass’ this year

SCRANTON — Last year, the Scranton Fringe Festival found an innovative way to make their performances pandemic-safe: by going under glass.

And this year, they’re continuing with this unique approach, according to managing director and co-founder Elizabeth Bohan.

Since 2015, Scranton Fringe Festival has been bringing innovative and experimental performances from up-and-coming performers right into the heart of the Electric City. The festival is part of a global organization of Fringe Festivals, which seeks to bring cutting-edge and experimental performances to eager audiences worldwide.

But, as one might imagine, things had to be a bit different last year.

Bohan said that she and Conor O’Brien, the other co-founder and executive director of the Scranton Fringe Festival, developed the “Fringe Under Glass” model last year in an attempt to best accommodate both the need to be pandemic-safe but also quench the thirst for arts.

“Last year, we really put our thinking caps on,” she said with a laugh. “We wanted to figure out how to get our community together in a COVID-safe way.”

And so, an idea was hatched: put performers in store windows around the Electric City. Those performances were spread around Scranton, and event-goers paid one flat rate to be taken on a tour to see all the performances — almost like Christmas carolers, but in reverse.

It’s almost entirely different from how the Fringe Festival works in a normal year, as festival-goers typically bought tickets to the events that they went to — which means performers were paid by tickets sold. But for Fringe Under Glass, with the difficulty so many artists are facing in earning a living, Bohan said it was critically important to change that structure.

“If we hadn’t made a dime, they still would’ve gotten paid,” Bohan said, saying that the artists, venue managers and tour guides were all paid in advance a contracted sum.

After the success of last year’s Fringe Under Glass, which sold out, it’s going under glass again this year. Bohan acknowledged that this is, in large part, due to the remaining uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.

“We had really been hoping to get back to normal,” she said, adding that organizers waited much longer to announce plans than in a normal year.

Ultimately, the decision was made to repeat the Fringe Under Glass idea.

“Everyone felt like, no matter where we were in terms of case numbers in September, we had to do it this way,” she said, citing last-minute cancellations at other Fringe Festivals around the globe this year. “We didn’t want to get our artists’ hopes up.”

This year, the Fringe Under Glass will occur between Thursday, Sept. 23, and Sunday, Sept. 26, offering one performance each day and an additional one on Saturday.

As of time of writing, a full list of performers had not been announced, but Bohan promised that the list would be coming soon.

Tickets cost $20 per person and are currently on sale. Information on how to purchase them can be found either through the Scranton Fringe Festival’s social media pages or on their webpage, scrantonfringe.org.

Organizers expect tickets to sell quickly, as the number of tickets available for each performance is limited. The ticket sale page says that the event will be following all CDC guidelines with regards to safety — whatever those guidelines might be on the day of the performances. The website says “please, do not purchase a ticket if you cannot follow this policy.”

Bohan also said that the organizers painstakingly prepare the show route to ensure that is accessible to event-goers, regardless of their mobility needs.

She said that she is thrilled that audiences seemed so committed to sticking with the show last year, and she hopes they do it again this year.

“We’ve learned that our audiences will go with us wherever we go,” she said. “Our audience trusts us to show them a good time, and we do, and we also try to take care of our artists. People do love this format.”