Best Bets at Rochester Fringe: Rebecca Rafferty's picks

There are some unknowns in human existence that might never
be answered. But that doesn’t mean we won’t eternally ask questions about our
purpose (or lack thereof), the nature of death, and the slippery slope of human
cognition. Core Project Chicago’s “The Dust” will explore these themes
of death, fate, memory, and man through dance, poetry, experimental music, and
visual art. The performance is recommended for all ages. (Sunday 9/23 5-6 p.m. at RAPA’s East End Theatre. Tickets cost $8-$10. A
free workshop for ages 14+ will take place Friday 9/21 7:45 p.m. For more
information, visit rapatheatre.org.)

Ever wonder what would happen if two unlikely people from
history met up? No time machine is required to rewrite history in the play, “Howard
& Emily,” because the title characters connect post-mortem. The shades
of pseudo-morbid Emily Dickinson and arcane-obsessed Howard Philips (H.P.)
Lovecraft share the stage, unaware of each other at first, their lines
comprised of quotes from their writings and letters, before the two eventually
fall in love to the sweet serenade of period music. Add one DoktorBronislaw Kielbasa-Funk, a Polish acolyte of Freud
who has fallen into ill-repute, and whose life is severely altered by what he
witnesses. Recommended for ages 15 and older.(Friday 9/21 8-9 p.m. and
Saturday 9/22 4-5 p.m. at Writers & Books. Tickets cost $10.)

RIT’s visual arts will be represented throughout Fringe at
various locations, including Gallery r (100 College Ave.), where you can view
Cat Ashworth’s video installation, “Bee Eye.” Visitors may enter the
hexagon-shaped structure and be immersed in the sights and sounds of the
honeybee, and explore the artist’s perspective on the fragile and crucial
honeybee-human relationship. While there, check out the showcase of works by
RIT undergraduates and graduate students from RIT’s College of Imaging Arts and
Sciences, many of which are interactive and encourage audience participation.
And at the Little Theatre Café (240 East Ave.), visitors can view a showcase of
CIAS alum works in the fine arts, illustration, and photography. (All shows are free and take place
throughout the Fringe Festival, and are recommended for all ages.)

Does your shirt just sit there on your back, keeping you warm
and presentable, but otherwise bored? Should we expect a little bit more? I
mean, this is the future, right? On Friday, The Little Theatre will host RIT’s
Wearable Technology Show, which will feature the convergence of aesthetics
and technology in surprising and silly ways. Learn what flying birds,
fireflies, invisibility, and blinking lights have to do with adornments. RIT
student creators will be on hand to explain the technology and answer questions
from the audience. (Friday 9/21 6-6:45
p.m. at Little 1. Admission is free.)

The title of Rochester Museum and Science Center’s artsy
presentation about the passage of time, “Lost in the Funhouse: Revolution,” calls up images of tripping clumsily through cosmos and this confounding
existence. I’m intrigued by the promise of projected planetarium star maps and
videos, live computer music, field recordings, and spoken words, all combined
to discuss how the shifting of seasons, solar and lunar cycles, and celestial
mechanics affects us physically and psychologically. (Thursday 9/20 6-7 p.m., Saturday 9/22 8-9 p.m., Sunday 9/23 6-7 p.m. at
RMSC’s Strasenburgh Planetarium. Admission is $8,
program is recommended for ages 5+.)

RIT is practically dominating the visual-arts aspect of the
Fringe Festival, and on Saturday, members of the institute’s community will
take over the surface of a downtown church. RIT Professor of Digital Design
Marla Schweppe and students will project “crazy,
fairy tale graphics” (according to provided info) on the exterior of Christ
Church (141 East Ave.) in an enigmatic and imaginative, temporary
transformative project titled “Dragon’s Lair.”(Saturday 9/22 9-9:30 p.m. at Christ Church. Free to spectators of all
ages.)