5 STAGEHANDS FALL OUT OF A CLOSET (THE GOOSE CRISIS) Joins Philadelphia Fringe Festival

Performer/Creator, Grace Lazarz, and Director/Collaborator, Michael Amendola, have announced that the new absurdist existential comedy 5 Stagehands Fall Out of a Closet (the goose crisis) will premiere at The Trestle Inn September 3rd as part of the 2025 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

Lazarz invites the audience to follow a whirligig of comic delirium while a chorus of stagehands try to piece together a psyche with bubblegum and bum notes before time runs out.

"This show asks what we birth, vomit, fracture into from ourselves in the pressure cooker of Time. For me, there's some sort of answer (or a box of more questions) found in the performance of absurd characters. Who do I see in others reflected back in myself? What makes us laugh even when there's a force pulling us towards the edge?"says Lazarz.

Since arriving two years ago, Lazarz has quickly become a fixture of Philly's thriving alt-comedy scene-regularly bringing their unique shmorgasbord of absurdist clown character comedy to open mics and variety shows around the city. This marks the first time Grace is premiering a full show with these characters.

"The show has been brewing in me my whole life. I spent my childhood as a shy tomboy-ish sort, keenly observing the people around me because I was too frightened to speak to them. I filled notebooks with sketches of exaggerated versions of them and performed bedroom plays with my sister-insisting she be the protagonist and I the slew of other characters."

Lazarz brought in Michael "Dola" Amendola to direct. The two met while training at The Pig Iron School, the nation's leading graduate-level physical theatre school. "I specifically wanted to work with him because of their eye for thematic connections, their play-based approach to creating work, and their full-throttle love of the ridiculous. Dola is the perfect balance of mad scientist and voice of reason His voice is heard through how characters weave together and how the rhythm reaches the audience."

"Grace and I are both shape-shifters, maximalists and deeply value the clown ethos of connecting with an audience. Manic play is what leads us in rehearsals -our imaginations meet like a toddler sugar rush and an existential crisis. Then we step out of the room to carve and decipher, as if searching for the root of a vivid dream. The results should be special. I've admired Grace's work and am so excited to be working with them on this piece. The characters are unhinged and hilarious, but deeply rooted in truth. Something unique arrives when they collide in one piece and, from that friction, we meet the performer themself in a more intimate way," Amendola says.

The chorus of stagehand characters includes other Pig Iron alumni: Brooke Shilling, Patrick Burke and Arantxa Chávez. "Our shared devising training gives us a common language and ensemble instincts that are especially great for the concentrated creation period leading up to Fringe." says Amendola.

The show has partnered with The Trestle Inn, a 60s and 70s inspired go-go bar situated underneath the Reading Viaduct at 11th and Callowhill Streets.

"There are go-go dancer boxes, a disco ball, colored spherical lights, multiple entrances...you feel its funky attitude as soon as you step in. It's buzzing with opportunities for strange characters to tumble out of dark corners." Grace says. "It feels like a portal. We were excited to craft the piece to engage with the specific character of the space." Amendola adds.

5 Stagehands Fall Out of a Closet (the goose crisis) runs every Wednesday in September (Sept 3, 10, 17 and 24th) at 7pm at the Trestle Inn (339 N 11th St).

Run time is 50 minutes. The show is followed by John Miller Giltner's Family Vacation and then a DJ set and dancing.

Pay-what-you-can ($5-$50) tickets are on sale now on the Philadelphia Fringe Festival website. This show is suitable for ages 21+ and contains some audience interaction and adult language. The venue is wheelchair-accessible. Contact the Fringe Festival Box Office for up to date accessibility information or inquiries.

LEAD ARTIST BIOS

Grace Lazarz is a theatre artist and administrator based in Philadelphia, currently pursuing an MFA in Devised Performance at the Pig Iron School. In their previous Hoosier life, Grace founded the South Bend Fringe Festival, worked with thousands of students in the South Bend area through AmeriCorps and as the Education Specialist at South Bend Civic Theater, and directed for two seasons in Shakespeare & Company's (Lenox, MA) Fall Festival. Since moving to Philly in 2023, Grace has performed in Bartok's Monster (Pig Iron), understudied for Franklin's Key (Pig Iron), received the Performance for Young Audiences Development Grant through Cannonball Festival as the director of G(r)een in the 2024 Fringe, and played a guest spot in Madcap & Busty (winner of 2024 Fringie for Best Cabaret/Nightlife). Grace is also a regular at various variety shows throughout the city, such as Philly Clown Slam, Big Ass Bitties, Your Sunday Best, Freak Mic, Full Moon on Fire, and Hat on a Hat.