BorderLight sets the stage for five days of theatre and fringe performances in downtown Cleveland

“We’re dipping into genres and geographies that are less visible here,” said Dale Heinen, a co-founder and co-director of BorderLight. “There are lots of fringe festivals around the country, but none are doing quite what we are doing here, which is bringing international and national work to our really robust local festival.”

For example, a lonely clown named Greta seeks a husband in the audience in Gabriela Muñoz’ performance “Perhaps, Perhaps… Quizas.” An interactive dance work called “Bees” was created by Australia’s Polyglot Theatre, and will be performed by Inlet Dance Theatre at the Cleveland Public Library’s Eastman Reading Garden. “The Walks” is an audio-guided walk developed in Germany, which directs listeners to experience its soundscapes in various locations like cemeteries and waterfront areas. A culinary performance called “Khuraki” will showcase Afghan female refugees in Northeast Ohio, cooking a meal for ticketholders.

Tickets are now available for BorderLight performances, ranging from $0-$45, and are available at BorderLight’s website, borderlightcle.org. International shows cost a little more, while local shows typically range from $5-$15. All of BorderLight’s 16 outdoor performances are free and open to the public, Heinen said.

An all-access pass is available to all BorderLight shows, for $230, and packs of four to eight tickets for fringe-only shows are available for $55 to $100.

The last time BorderLight took place was its debut in 2019, with plans to continue on a biennial basis. However, the coronavirus pandemic interrupted plans in the summer of 2021, when a spike of cases rose in Northeast Ohio, and the organization decided to move the festival to a virtual basis.

Some of those performers were included in last year’s virtual fest – like Judah Leblang, who performs the one-person show “It’s Now or Never: My Life in the Late Middle Ages.”

Leblang, a Cleveland native who has lived in Boston for the past 30 years, wrote the play when he turned 60 years old. The show – which Leblang said is about facing his “inner critic” and exploring aspects of his life like his family, hearing loss and his sexuality – has been presented at other fringe festivals, and even won the “best of festival” award at Calgary Fringe 2019.

“Only a small number of people I think saw the video. This is an opportunity to do it live and I think it’s going to be an exciting time,” Leblang said. “It’s been so much more difficult in the last two and a half years, to share live theater with people. Zoom is great for certain things, I’ve done a fair amount of teaching. It’s not the same, I think, in terms of performance. I’ve really missed that. To be doing that in Cleveland is really exciting to me.”

Along with its focus on national and international acts, BorderLight also puts the showcase on Northeast Ohio artists. Acclaimed Cleveland playwright and poet Mary E. Weems will present her play, “Hey Siri,” July 21-23 at the Old Stone Church.

“Since I have a love-hate relationship with technology, I thought the play was going to wind up being against technology and showing what technology can do to harm our interconnection, but instead this play came out,” Weems said. “It’s about how three people living in isolation in a city kind of like Cleveland are saved through their iPhones.”

The play, produced by Playwrights Local, was accepted into BorderLight last year, but a virtual version was not featured in the event’s pivot.

Now, Weems is excited to finally bring the play to life, after years of work.

Downtown Cleveland has been a big part of the recipe to BorderLight’s success so far. The area’s emphasis on theater lends itself to an arts-filled week that Heinen said she hopes will continue to expand.

“We wanted to take advantage of this great infrastructure we have in Cleveland. We have an outsized theatrical footprint, especially in Playhouse Square, and it’s very walkable, which is just ideal for a festival like this,” Heinen said. “Cleveland is not a huge city. It’s not a megalopolis like New York, Chicago, London… but Cleveland has an advantage, I think. You can get more attention here and build something that can grow.”

Find more information about BorderLight, including a full schedule of performances, at borderlightcle.org.