By Ande Jacobson
The San Francisco Fringe Festival 2025 is sponsored by the EXIT Theatre and runs at the Taylor Street Theatre on weekends from Friday, 8 August – Sunday, 24 August 2025 offering performances that break new ground across multiple disciplines. Some are fairly standard theatrical faire, while others are more performance art stretching the imagination and perception. One latter-type offering mixes the fiber arts with movement and other theatrical devices to reach audiences on an emotional and sensory level challenging basic assumptions about fiction/non-fiction, narrative/non-narrative, sense/non-sense, and even basic meaning as we understand it. Speak English, conceived and presented by Vanessa Kamp, encourages audiences to come to their own conclusions through a solo performance highlighting nuance, color, pageantry, sound, and emotion with very little verbal exposition. In fact, less than five minutes out of the 60 minute performance are spoken at all, yet the characters Kamp brings to life speak volumes through other means. As such, the title comes from a place of awareness attempting to break barriers and preconceived notions, in this case stemming from one of the characters and scenes in the performance.
Kamp’s presentation is unusual even for a Fringe Festival which is more wide-open than most theatrical events. The show is billed as an interdisciplinary performance that uses her extensive background in the fiber arts, dance, and even clowning to reach audiences and take them on a unique journey. The term “speak English” can be used as a xenophobic pejorative to exclude those who aren’t proficient in the language, yet so much communication occurs on a non-verbal level. Kamp’s presentation doesn’t tell audiences what to think, but instead entices them, teases them, and makes them feel as she brings her colorful characters to life.
The transitions and costume changes are not hidden. In fact, all of the technical aspects of the show are intentionally “low-tech” instead focusing the presentation on the inherent storytelling in a creative way and crisply separating the performance from the setup. Kamp’s multidisciplinary background gives her unique insights into performance and artistic endeavors that most performers never approach.
The performance contains five characters with Kamp transitioning from one to the other as the show progresses. They each have their own stories to tell, but these stories are open to audience interpretation. As for meaning, again, Kamp doesn’t tell audiences what any of this means, and through her presentation, challenges them to decide for themselves where the meaning lies and what it is if indeed it even exists. While each character inhabits their own scene, so too do the transitions which include video clips and sounds leaving no void.
Kamp debuted Speak English in Barcelona, Spain where she is currently resident, and it was well received and lauded.
Here’s a small taste of the show:
Speak English runs closing weekend of the festival with three one-hour performances at the Taylor Street Theatre located at 277 Taylor Street San Francisco, CA 94102. Performances take place:
- Friday 22 August at 7:00pm
- Saturday 23 August at 5:30pm
- Sunday 24 August at 12:30pm
Tickets are $15 for general admission and are available through Event Brite.
Media courtesy of Crabwise Productions.
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