Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Lauren Rile Smith ’08 will be presenting her show “Ampersand” at this year’s Philly Fringe Festival. The show will run on September 8th and 9th at Philadelphia Soundstages/Invincible Pictures.
Chestnut Hill native Lauren Rile Smith will be producing her new show, imaginatively titled “Ampersand,” as part of the Philly Fringe. The 24-year-old Smith is the founder of the performance group Tangle. Her innovative piece involves an amalgam of traditional circus arts, such as trapeze, acrobatics and aerial rope, with narrative concerning the themes of memory and belonging in an urban milieu.
Smith graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in English literature and philosophy. After graduating, she made a somewhat unlikely transition and enrolled at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts.
In an email, Smith told The Gazette:
I’m really excited about Ampersand, and I’d love to share it with Swatties! We’re offering a student discount of $10—tickets and more info are at http://ticketing.
theatrealliance.org/sites/ livearts/details.aspx?id=18912 . The show is a unique blend of trapeze, aerial silks and rope, live music, unusual love stories, partner balancing, and really depressing poetry. Check out pictures of the show at http://www.tangle-arts.com.
Read the entire story at Montgomery Media.