Pup Play: A Queer Pseudo-Lecture (of sorts)  Credit: c/o Tampa Fringe
Noah Alfred Pantano plays Professor Handler David, who teaches audiences how to “put their bitchboys into a submissive puppy headspace.”

The show is not for the faint of heart, but it does have heart. Underneath the gritty puppy play, Pantano is fighting for affirming identity, and against homophobia and self-hatred.

“We’ve gotten as many standing ovations as we have angry walkouts,” he said in a release. “Yet, those who push through will be moved by a surprising and heartfelt show about modern queer identity.”

Pantano wrote the show as part of his Ph.D. in Theatre Studies at the University of Essex. It has since won Spirit of the Fringe at Colchester Fringe and the George Wallace Scholarship at Orlando Fringe.

Tickets are $15 for “Pup Play: A Queer Pseudo-Lecture (of sorts)” happening Thursday-Saturday, June 12-14 at Tampa Fringe Festival.

Readers are invited to submit their own events to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s things to do calendar.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky

This article appears in May 29 – Jun 4, 2025.

Selene San Felice is managing editor of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Prior to joining CL in 2025, she started the Axios Tampa Bay newsletter and worked for her hometown paper, The Capital in Annapolis,...