Boston University

10/07/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/07/2026 16:02

CFA Fringe Festival Celebrates 30 years of Student Artistry

CFA Fringe Festival Celebrates 30 years of Student Artistry

Jasmine Brooks (CFA'18) directs students during a rehearsal of this year's Fringe Festival play, The Sign in Sydney Brustein's Window by Lorraine Hansberry. Photo by Simon Simard

Theatre

CFA Fringe Festival Celebrates 30 years of Student Artistry

Two operas and a theatrical production are part of this year's event celebrating lesser-known works directed and performed by BU creatives

October 7, 2026
Twitter Facebook

The Boston University Fringe Festival is celebrating its 30th year this fall with a trio of performances that exist on the edges of the canon. After three decades, the annual College of Fine Arts event, named after the famous, long-running Edinburgh Fringe Festival, has become more popular and elaborate, but has kept its focus on getting lesser-known works-and the next generation of performers-in front of audiences in surprising ways.

In the early days of the festival, student singers and actors would build and paint their own sets, constructing dreams, fantasies, and drama from what little they had, recalls William Lumpkin, a CFA associate professor of music and artistic director of BU's Opera Institute. That ingenuity and creativity remains at the heart of the festival today, even as production values have become more sophisticated.

"It forces all of us in a really good way and creative way to think about how we can create a moving hour in the theater for our patrons and for our students with as little resources as possible, so that it comes down to the real art of communicating text and music in a very intimate space," Lumpkin says.

Greysen Kemper (CFA'27), (from left), Gonza Lamego (CFA'27), Youxin Wang (CFA'27), and Jacob Hunter (CFA'31) are four of the six performers in the The Seven Deadly Sins. Fringe Festival productions often feature small casts and orchestras, making performances more intimate. Photo by Cydney Scott

This year's productions, which kick off on October 9 and run through November 7, embody the fringe spirit of the festival, a collaboration between CFA's Opera Institute and School of Theatre. BU faculty and alumni direct the two operas and one theatrical production included in the festival lineup, while students take center stage as performers, designers, and musical conductors in the intimacy of Studio One's black box theater.

The festival kicks off with a production of The Seven Deadly Sins, an opera by composer Kurt Weill and playwright Bertolt Brecht that combines drama, biting satire, and cabaret-style dual-piano compositions. Forced out of her home and sent to earn money for her family, young Anna embarks on a journey across America. Along the way she visits seven cities, each of which forces her to confront one of the titular seven deadly sins.

With musical direction from Matthew Larson and stage direction by Nathan Troup The Seven Deadly Sins features a small cast of characters. However, Anna is played by two actors, a singer and a movement performer.

"One embodies the good and the other embodies the temptation," Lumpkin says. "Each role is performed by a mezzo soprano, and one night one is doing the singing character and the other is doing the movement character, then the next night they swap."

Makenna Palacio (CFA '27) tries on her costume with stage director Nathan Troupe at an early rehearsal for The Seven Deadly Sins, one of two operas featured in this year's CFA Fringe Festival. Photo by Cydney Scott

The Seven Deadly Sins' dark satire is followed by the Opera Institute's second offering, the much more lighthearted Vinkensport. This opera, with music by David T. Little and a libretto by Royce Vavrek, finds comedy in a bird-singing competition and the collection of trainers pursuing avian excellence. The comparisons to dog show mockumentary Best in Show are plentiful, Lumpkin says, with each character bringing their own bird-and quirks-to the proceedings.

"Each of them has a monologue, and then you learn about the backstories of each of these individual characters," Lumpkin says. "There's different musical styles for each. There's almost like hip-hop for one, jazz for one, and the last monologue is a very touching Copelandesque aria."

For Vinkensport, Allison Voth, CFA associate professor of music, serves as music director and Lauren Lenz as stage director, while Ian Henscheid (CFA'29), who is pursuing his doctorate of musical arts at BU, conducts the eight-member orchestra. The opportunity for students to not only experience, but shape,works they haven't previously encountered is a hugely beneficial part of an arts education, Lumpkin explains.

"It is the freedom of exploring operas that aren't done that often in a welcoming and encouraging space, so [students are] free of any predisposed opinions about how this should be done," he says. "They can have ownership and individual connection that's honest to them."

The 2026 Fringe Festival ends with the School of Theatre's production of The Sign in Sydney Brustein's Window, the lesser-known and last work byLorraine Hansberry, the playwright behind A Raisin in the Sun. It embodies the theme of this year's theater programming, American Genius, in recognition of America's 250th birthday.

The Sign in Sydney Brustein's Window, the theatrical production in the 2026 Fringe Festival, aligns with the School of Theatre's theme for this year's programming- American Genius-in recognition of America's 250th birthday. Photo by Simon Simard

Directed by Jasmine Brooks (CFA'18), the play is set in 1960s Greenwich Village and tackles the turbulent politics of the era through the aftermath of the titular character's decision to hang a political sign in his window. Despite a mixed reception following its 1964 Broadway premiere, The Sign in Sydney Brustein's Window remains relevant today, says Kirsten Greenridge, director of the School of Theatre and a CFA associate professor of playwriting

"It has themes and resonance today in terms of using one's voice, in terms of competing identities, in terms of figuring out different ways that we could live in the world together," she says.

By spotlighting lesser-known yet vital works such as the three productions included in this year's Fringe Festival, Greenridge hopes audiences will see the power not only in these productions but in live performance more generally.

"As a writer and an educator, I hope it does still resonate to sit in community with others and experience something together and then turn to one's theater neighbor and talk about it and engage with ideas and exchange ideas," Greenridge says. "Those spaces are increasingly less available to us as human beings."

The Seven Deadly Sins runs Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11 in Studio One, 55 Commonwealth Ave. Showtimes vary. Purchase general admission tickets here for $22.50.

Vinkensport runs Friday, October 23 through Sunday, October 25 in Studio One, 55 Commonwealth Ave. Showtimes vary. Purchase general admission tickets here for $22.50.

The Sign in Sydney Brustein's Window runs Friday, November 5 through Sunday, November 7 in Studio One, 55 Commonwealth Ave. Showtimes vary. Purchase general admission tickets here for $22.50.

Explore Related Topics:

  • Share this story

Share

CFA Fringe Festival Celebrates 30 years of Student Artistry

Copy URL: Copy

Latest from BU Today

Boston University published this content on October 07, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 07, 2026 at 22:03 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]