Splash Zone
Season 1
Fringe Festivals
Short Forms
Moi Meme (Guest: Mojo Lorwin)
Lore Drop
Festival Season 2026 (Part 2)
by Theresa Buchheister & Blake Bolan
Fresh off a recent trip to the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, we dive into Blake's abiding appreciation for Fringe. Revisiting four Festivals, we discuss what works (community building! walkable venues!) and what doesn't (too much tech! misaligned expectations!). Shows Blake saw at Cincy Fringe: Locusta's School for Assassins - Samantha Joy Weil A Hollywood Horror Story - Ingrid Garner Champagne Dreams - 3 Sticks Frontier So Far - Justin Dodd & george mcconnell Colonial Circus-History, Clown Style - Two2Mango Mentioned in the episode: William Sydney Brick Aux Jeb Bolan Minnesota Fringe Cincinnati Fringe Calgary Fringe Kansas City Fringe New York Fringe Frigid Festival Edinburgh Fringe Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop (MXTW) Bedlam Theatre University of Minnesota george mcconnell Richard Foreman PS122 PSNY University of Kansas Harold Pinter Betrayal Bryant Lake Bowl David Commander Edmonton Fringe Banff Savage Umbrella Jessica Coyle The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Katie Hartman Chris Gregory Nick Ryan WKRP Know Theatre Travis McElroy Alyse Lamb Drama Book Shop Paula Vogel How I Learned to Drive Transatlantic Love Affair Martin Denton Rochelle Denton nytheatre.com The Pearl The Brick The Exponential Festival David Greenspan The Ontological Incubator Arts St Mark's Church Sleth horsefacts.gov/ House of Yes Forest Entsminger Babies on the Street The Million Underscores The Minnesota State Fair Great Plains Theatre Commons International Thespian Conference Camron Cooke Malcolm-X Betts Kat Sotelo Sugar Sugar! Nile Harris Lena Engelstein Lisa Fagan Nico Krell Kestrels Ethan Eva Karas Michael Kinnan Goodbye Horses Never Let Go Bearcat Vital Joint The Family Dog Bailey Williams The Wild Project SalOn! Adam Kruckenberg Matthew Antoci Ryan William Downey Chrissy Reilly Juliana Francis Kelly
Recorded in the Lawrence Public Library basement, we discuss the joys of short form performance events, including !?: New Works, SalOn!, CATCH, and more. Bonus: Blake's lecture on Experimental Theater History - now available on LPL's YouTube! Mentioned in the episode: Lawrence Public Library Experimental Performance Tuesday Experimental Theater 101 Manhattan (Kansas) Public Library JoCo cruise Brick Aux The Raven Bookstore Shauna Kelly I’ve Got the Shakes: Performing Richard Foreman Liberty Hall Memento ?!:New Works SalOn! CATCH The Brick Theater Life World The Exponential Festival TimeOut NY The Silent Barn Title:Point CSAA Gallery Ryan William Downey Deep Cuts Records Reese Wentz The Netherlands Lorissa Reinhart Q&Y: A Brief Comedy About Death Destruction Snack, USA BITER (Every Time I Turn Around) Gravesend Recording Studio Sarah Graalman Jeff Tobias Hannah Weisz Ellen O KRAGTAR River Ramirez Harold Lehmann Joe Hendel Pair of Dice Alyse Lamb Eliza Bent Brian Lady Megan Manowitz Joey LePage Adam Endres Pokemon Vital Joint Helen Shaw The New York Times T Braun Jose Rivera Jr. Garlan Jude Paula Matthusen Brendan Regimbal Forest Entsminger The Million Underscores _ _ Matthew Antoci Derek Smith William Sydney Kevin Laibson Richard Foreman Jacqueline Scaletta Crackhead Barney Peter Mills Weiss Symphony of Rats Jim Fletcher Greg Kowaleski Sarah Kane All the Fringe Festivals Anne Washburn Ohio Theater T Ryder Smith Jay Smith Julia Mounsey Kate McGee Jess Barbagallo Brothers Dawn Herrera Michael Gardner Robert Honeywell Jane Beachy Salonathon The Onanists Hannah Kallenbach Jeb Bolan Catrin Lloyd Bollard Dale Buchheister Steak and Scotch Society Kunal Gupta
In this episode, we welcome our first ever special guest, Mojo Lorwin - filmmaker, teacher, dad. As evidenced by the list below, we talk about a lot of things. Extra thanks to our editor Adam Kruckenberg for dealing with the aftermath of this (technically) haunted episode. Mentioned in the episode: Mabou Mines Lee Breuer MXTW Iris Fischer Anthology Film Archives Liza Lorwin Kilkenny Festival Pauline Kael David Lynch Lars Von Trier Alfred Hitchcock Bruce Andrews Sally Silvers Ruth Maleczech David Warrilow Fred Neumann JoAnne Akalaitis Maude Mitchell Barbès Olivier Conan Julie Archer Jay Peck Silent Barn Scott Ries Guy DeBord Richard Foreman Object Collection Kirk Lynn Rude Mechs 53rd St Press French New Wave Post Structuralism Shirley Clarke Viva Agnes Varda Jill Godmilow Wooster Group Title:Point Peter Handke Film Forum Lincoln Center Low Cinema John Wilson Phil Hartman (Two Boots) Gary Balaban Tove Jansson Halle Butler Coney Island Rough Draft Festival Baby Butcher Choke For Free without mirrors The Brick Jerry Lieblich David Greenspan Kate McGee Laia Comas Leah Plante-Wiener Meaghan Robichaud Ende Tymes Festival Brick Aux JoCo Cruise Jon Schatzberg Daphne Always James Sheppard Corook Jonathan Colton Oscar Montoya Jiavani Janet Varney Kate Rubins Ron Funches Traitors Sandeep Parikh Rekha Shankar Marc Evan Jackson Tenacious D Tony Torn Spider Rabbit Dan Safer Travis Amiel Antonin Artaud The Tank Genica - The Jet of My Blood GLADIE LAAND Lizard Brain Trust The Replay Lounge JP Redmon Podstar Jojo Longbottom Aaron Swenson Cameron Hawk Seth Chandler
Theresa and Blake go deep on the foundational experiences that led them to lives in experimental theater. Mentioned in this episode: James R. Hamilton Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop for High School Students Patricia Ybarra Frank Wedekind's Lulu Jeffrey M. Jones' 70 Scenes of Halloween Rubber Repertory Antonin Artaud's There Is No More Firmament
Theresa and Blake return to their mics to catch up on shows they've seen in the second half of festival season, preview future events, and opine on their desires for upcoming episodes. For more information on some of the festivals/events mentioned in the episode: Ecstatic Peephole The Exponential Festival Under the Radar We the People mind dream theater Rough Draft Festival Object Collection The Brick Recorded 2/8/2026
In Splash Zone's inaugural episode, Theresa and Blake discuss the history of the January festival season in New York, dive into some of their favorite festival (and non-festival) shows so far this year, and spotlight more shows to come. For more information on the festivals mentioned in the episode: The Exponential Festival Under the Radar Prototype Festival Live Artery Phys Fest Recorded 1/19/2026