Gannon University’s Schuster Theatre is hosting its sixth annual Fringe Fest now through Tuesday.
All proceeds of the festival will benefit the Schuster Theatre’s participation in the International Collegiate Theatre Festival, which will be hosted in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August of 2017.
The Fringe Fest will feature productions from both Gannon production teams, as well as local producing theatres including All An Act, Dramashop, Performing Artists Collective Alliance Erie (PACA) and The Erie Playhouse.
The festival is modeled after the Edinburgh productions and will contain shorter cast shows, many of which are said to contain “edgy” material and non- traditional staging.
The first show, “The Dog Logs” by CJ Johnson, was performed earlier this week in the Palumbo Academic Center.
The production was directed by Gannon sophomores Cassie Bielecki and Megan Hamm and featured cast members Will Afonfack, Zach Hyman and Mark Mullins.
On Monday and Tuesday, stop by Zurn 101 at 8 p.m. for the production team’s second performance of Fringe Fest.
“An Apartment with Grayson” is both written and directed by junior Michael Fujito.
The performance will be the first time one of Fujito’s works hits the stage.
According to the Schuster Theatre Facebook page, the play will explore the question “What is friendship?”
Its themes will force the audience to consider their experiences dealing with the process of growing apart from close friends.
The third student-directed play for Fringe Fest will be performed at 8 p.m. Feb. 22-23 in the Palumbo Academic Center third floor lounge.
“Six Sigma,” an original play written and directed by junior Michael Haas, will feature cast members Eli Kerr, Zach Hyman, Chase Miles and Aaron Mook.
The play has been performed twice so far this year, first as part of Schuster Theatre’s Stage Fright, and later at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Region ll Festival at West Chester University, which was held in January.
In order to write “Six Sigma,” Haas stated on the Schuster Theatre Facebook page that he collaborated with faculty adviser the Rev. Shawn Clerkin and attempts to “bridge the gap between neo-absurdist thought and improvisational devised theatre.”
Admissions to each event on campus will be $5, with all proceeds benefiting the trip to Edinburgh.
For more information on upcoming events hosted by the Schuster Theatre, visit its Facebook page, or use the website www.gannon.edu/schustertheatre.

KATE ROBB
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