The BorderLight Theatre Festival brings musicals, cabaret and kid-friendly performances to Playhouse Square with the eighth edition of the fest. It's a mix of local and international theater, both scripted and improvised, July 8-11.
BorderLight Executive Director Dale Heinen said visitors can expect to see everything from acrobats to intimate, one-on-one shows, with 120 performances in venues around the district, from the Hermit Club patio to a loading dock behind the theater district.
“This is where work is incubated and born and developed, and it hasn't passed through 10 iterative processes to make it more palatable or gentler or more anything,” she said. “It is really just the artist's personal expression, and a lot of it very nascent, unfiltered and raw. This is something that people find affecting, to be in the presence of artists as they're going through this creative process.”
The festival also stretches into the plaza adjacent to Playhouse Square, with international-themed outdoor programming.
“We're inviting community groups to perform there,” she said. “You might see Irish dancers or Japanese drummers or a Kung Fu exhibition or street dancing. Between shows, it’s a good place to stop by and see what's going on.”
BorderLight also hosts one of two American stops for Peru’s “Los Regalos,” which translates as “the gifts.” The wordless piece tells the story of a father and two sons navigating daily life at a transitional moment.
“It’s a good example of bringing a type of work to our city that is not seen here, typically,” she said. “This is a mask performance. These are virtuosic physical theater performers who have toured this show for 12 years, internationally. There's not a single word in it. Language is no barrier. They portray the relationship of a father and his two young sons through their struggles at home and growing up without a mother.”
Heinen said they try to host at least two international productions each year, and it has become increasingly challenging to do so.
“We're basically forced to expedite the visas, which costs a lot more and the costs have gone up,” she said. “It's really about the quality of the work and the importance of bringing these new ideas to Cleveland audiences.”
Another international offering is “Peter Is Back,” a multimedia performance featuring Israeli artist and filmmaker Amir Yatziv and an AI-powered monkey.
“This is definitely a controversial topic,” she said. “[Yatziv] is more of a visual artist and a filmmaker. He's had museum exhibits. He's been in a lot of festivals. So, this is a high-quality and interesting piece that looks at how AI technology can … be used in the creative process.”
Each of the three presentations are followed by a talkback session, while Yatziv also hosts a separate behind-the-scenes workshop on July 11.
Several other shows this year offer ASL-interpreted stagings or relaxed performances, in which audience members are free to vocalize or move around during the show. The festival also features a sensory space, which hosts some of the family programming to bring “more people into the tent.”
“Theater is an empathy building machine,” she said. “It unites people in an experience that goes to the core of our humanity.”
