2026 Philly Fringe lineup just announced! FringeArts Members Presale on now. Tickets go on sale to the general public 7/17 at 10am.
Julia Pickard and Grace Stewart Gardner
Interdisciplinary, Theater
Connect
MEAT CUTE is a bloody double-feature of two short plays that explore themes of the body, mind, and heart as meat.
One play, MEAT PLAY, by Grace Stewart Gardner, is an exploration of the corruption in the modern American meat industry through the story of one worker, Bailey, who has just been assigned to begin their six months of employment on the Killing Floor. Studies show that the longer an one spends working on the Killing Floor, where employees are expected to slaughter over 2,000 animals per day, the impact upon one's mental health can be life-altering. Throughout this intimate, two-hander one-act, we watch the impact that 40 hours of butchery per week takes on Bailey and their fiancé Beau.
CONSUMMATION, by Julia Pickard, begins when Rachel responds to an online advertisement seeking a consensual and willing participant in a cannibalistic fantasy. She journeys to the apartment of the ad-writer, a woman who goes by the name Eden. The two become entangled in a psychosexual game of cat-and-mouse, constantly subverting the roles of who is the victim and who is the predator. The play follows their process of preparing for, and potentially engaging in, Eden’s ultimate fantasy: fully consuming a willing victim. Throughout the process, the two women begin to fall in love, complicating their willingness to go all the way.
Cannonball is the largest hub of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, championing a revolutionary artist-led model that prioritizes equity, experimentation, and community connection. Now in its sixth year, Cannonball presents more than 100 artists across five stages, representing nearly 30 percent of the overall Philadelphia Fringe Festival. From rebellious circus and delicious dance to fearless theater and activist art, Cannonball pushes the boundaries of live performance while creating a vibrant, artist-centered ecosystem for independent performance makers and adventurous audiences alike.
PWYC Options $5+
Venue: Asian Arts Initiative Black Box Theater 
September 19, 2026 12.00pm
1219 Vine Street
General Admission: $25
PWYC Options
September 20, 2026 4.45pm
1219 Vine Street
General Admission: $25
PWYC Options
September 22, 2026 5.30pm
1219 Vine Street
General Admission: $25
PWYC Options
About the Artist
Playwright and production manager Grace Stewart Gardner has recently moved to New York and is excited to be diving into the surrounding area of fringe arts! Her most recent project was stage managing/production managing "The Circus Came to Town" with Moojestic Lion Productions in NYC. The team included folks from her college, Coastal Carolina University, where she graduated last year with a BFA in Theatre Design and Production, and new friends from the 88th season of The Lost Colony in Manteo, NC, where she was the Assistant Company Manager. The process combined her love of new play production, physical theatre and clown, and her Southern roots. Though she rarely appears onstage, she devised and performed as an ensemble member in "Galatea" by Lizzy Arnold, in association with the Cannonball hub of the the 2025 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Choreographer and interdisciplinary performance artist Julia Pickard has staged her works in various educational settings, with a desire to push into the contemporary art scene. She is a contemporary writer and choreographer who seeks to physicalize what language cannot properly express. In her work, she explores the pathological nature of obsession, possession, and the taboo nature of primal human desire through the limits of language and the limitless capability of the body. She will begin her Master’s in Film Studies at the University of Cambridge in October 2026, where she is investigating the nature of “Edgelord Cinema”, digital transgression, and the eroticization of the pixelated body. Her artistic works have a similar fascination with internet culture: her most recent project, DOOMSCROLL, which was presented at the Mudhouse Artist Residency in 2025, was a short film tracing the “meme magic” phenomenon and its violent effects on modern-day society.
- Julia PickardPlaywright/Director (Consummation)juliamoorpickard@gmail.com
- AbrilActor (Consummation)abrilca.a@gmail.com
- Grace Stewart GardnerProduction Manager & Playwright (Meat Play)grace.backstage@gmail.com
- Avery AvellinoAssistant Production Manager & Director/Dramaturg (Meat Play)avavellino12@gmail.com
Accessibility & Content Considerations
Contact the Fringe Festival Box Office for up to date accessibility information.
This event is appropriate for ages 18+
Nudity
Violent ContentAdult Language
Strobe/Flashing Lights
Gore, discussion of body/body image, misuse of alcohol and drugs
Covid-19 Safety policy
This event does not require masks to be worn
Copyright © 2026 Philadelphia Fringe Festival
140 N. Columbus Blvd.
(at Race St.)
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Directions
Tickets: 215.413.1318
Admin Office: 215.413.9006
