[A]vant garde, cutting edge, oddball, thought provoking – the 2010 Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe create a cityscape of music, drama, dance and art all over Philadelphia. Hundreds of performances and showcases in unusual venues and surroundings. One performance is a strange and funny take on Shakespeare by the Nature Theater of Oklahoma out of Brooklyn. Nick Stuccio is the festival producing director.

This year's Live Arts Festival/Philly Fringe opens Friday with a pioneering idea that could become a model for new work, a project far outlasting the festival's two-plus weeks of cutting-edge, oddball, occasionally thought-provoking, and sometimes brilliant performances.

With major grants, an expanded new space in Northern Liberties, and a determined leader, the festival is tackling research and development - a concept generally associated with new drugs and new cars, but not new works of art.