BETSY ROSS GROUNDHOG DAY to Premiere at Philly Fringe Festival

Performer/creators Grace Lazarz, Patrick Burke, and Claire Bronchick announce that the new comedy Betsy Ross Groundhog Day will premiere at the Asian Arts Initiative September 10th as part of the 2026 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

This historical fiction dramedy follows Betsy Ross stuck in a time loop. Betsy is trapped in the prison of colonial America, repeating her life up to the moment she finishes the American Flag. This piece grapples with the divide between the real person and the national memory of Betsy. How does she face her cult of personality in the mirror day over day, year over year?

'I hope audiences are tickled pink by all our dumb Betsy jokes! This is a work of love by three idiots who find Ross mildly amusing. Fans of 'Oh Mary!' will appreciate our flexibility with the details of history and our comedic styling that, if anything, is light years ahead of its time. Never forget, George Washington invented the knock-knock joke', says Patrick Burke.

The trio of creator-performers bring a strong devising and clowning background, and the three frequent alt-comedy, clowning, and puppetry spaces across the city. Burke and Lazarz appeared together in last Fringe's sold-out run of '5 Stagehands Fall Out of a Closet'; it is their first full show working together with Bronchick, who appeared in 2024 Fringe's sold-out 'Blue Silk'. In addition, Bronchick knows the material intimately from their work as a first-person interpreter at several historical sites in and around Philadelphia.

'It has been a real treat to work with these very talented goofballs. Working at historical sites, I spend my days trying to get the average person to earnestly engage with the past. So I appreciate the opportunity to look at history with humor, irreverence, and very little consideration for accuracy.

I am here of my free will and this isn't some elaborate hazing ritual that Grace and Patrick said everyone has to do,' says Claire Bronchick.

Historical fiction dramedy may give the impression of something stodgy or even serious, but the trio promises lots of laughter and lightheartedness in this new work.

'Expect irreverence, mockery, cringey chaos, and tongue-in-cheek wisecracks. But we're also hoping that beneath our insistence that we're saying nothing, we make our audience think a bit about legacy, personal identity, and life-defining moments,' says Grace Lazarz.

Punxsutawney Phil goes head to head with the Mother of our Country in a brawl for the ages. Punxsutawney Phil goes head to head with Buff Betsy in a bareknuckle duel where scars are formed and stars and stripes are born. That's the truth. That's history.

Event Details

Betsy Ross Groundhog Day runs September 10th, 12th, and 20th at the Asian Arts Initiative (1219 Vine St.).

Pay-what-you-can tickets are on sale now on the Philadelphia Fringe Festival website.

This show is suitable for ages 16+ and contains some audience interaction and adult language.