Conor Kelly O’Brien grew up in Scranton’s Hill Section. He’d say he was some kind of cross between your typical neighborhood kid and a bookworm. The “U” campus, Nay Aug, Downtown Scranton – these were his playgrounds. He’s also a city kid through and through – train whistles and ambulance sirens made up the playlist of his early days.

He attended Audobon Elementary and graduated from Scranton High. Somewhere in there, he found a spark and ignited a flame of creativity that still burns to this day. It was likely The Vintage, a popular arts-themed coffee bar he opened downtown while still a Junior in High School (You know, just regular kid stuff). The Vintage plugged Conor into the vibrant arts scene here in NEPA and beyond.

Soon, New York came calling. He found himself routinely heading into the city for auditions, gigs, theatre and TV work and literally living on the stage at the Living Theatre. Eventually, in 2018, he made the move. From NYC, his work as an actor, writer, producer and all-around theatre-maker took him to Scotland, Australia and all over the U.S. And only a global pandemic could bring him home…

Conor moved back to Scranton in 2020. He needed to be with family, to reconnect, to continue his work as Co-Founder and Executive Director of Scranton Fringe Festival, to take on a new role as Program Director at The Center for the Living City. Of course, he’s still also community organizing, writing, acting, producing and then some. He’s just doing it all from right here in Scranton.

We recently caught up with Conor for a quick chat about life and NEPA and travel and Fringe (which is happening soon!). And we got him to answer a few tough ones like Why NEPA?

How long have you lived in NEPA?

I was born and raised in Scranton. I moved away for a few years to New York City and then returned. So out of my 33 years, I would say I’ve spent about 80 percent of it here in Scranton.

What do you love about your town?

I love its access and proximity to my work, which has me in Downtown Scranton a lot. I love the arts and culture scene here and I’ve seen it go up and down. And it’s definitely in a growth period. You know, we have a plethora of venues and coffee shops and galleries and organizations. Interestingly, Lackawanna County is the only County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that has an arts and culture tax dedicated to funding. That supports a lot of the work I do with several organizations. I just love the vibrancy and the gift that something like that brings to a community.

I also love our sense of community and the optimism and support that we get from so many different people and organizations. And also, I get to ski in the winter…(laughs) in multiple locations! And, of course, traveling the world from here is not difficult. So, you know, when I need a break and I need to explore elsewhere, it’s not hard to come back.

What’s your favorite NEPA restaurant?

Oh God… Ok. I’m going to say three, but they all have very different reasons, so you have to include all three (laughs). The Bog is without question my favorite bar. Technically, not a restaurant. So, I get to sneak that one in.

You know, I’ll tell you what. I’ll just give you my perfect day. I’d have lunch at The Garden in Downtown Scranton. I would then later on have dinner at Russell’s in Scranton. And I would have my nightcap with my friends at The Bog.

What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?

My favorite thing to do in NEPA is explore and spend time in our many amazing cozy coffee shops. I’m a cozy core lover at heart. I have no shame in admitting my basicness. I love a pumpkin latte — from a local shop, not from you know where (laughs). We have Zummos and Blackwatch and The Retro Cafe. There are so many great coffee shops in the in the area and in Wilkes-Barre, but I stick with my Scranton love (laughs). There’s also Northern Lights and Grateful Roast in Clarks Summit. And I love them all for different reasons. There are certain ones where I love to go and work. There are ones I love going to for meetings. There’s my go to for when I want to be left alone to read my book and unwind. I definitely love our coffeehouse culture that we have here in NEPA.

What’s next for you?

Well, what’s next for me is the 2024 Scranton Fringe Festival. It’s our 10th year! We are extremely excited. Ticket sales and full schedules are available on our website or our printed guides, which you can find all over NEPA. Including at all of the restaurants and coffee shops I’ve mentioned earlier (laughs).

We have an incredible lineup. We have a 3D-projection mapping art installation that we’re kicking off the festival with at the Everhart Museum. That’s going to be a major gem in our crown this year. Groove Brewing, another wonderful destination, is launching a Fringe Ale in honor of our 10th year. I’m just really excited that It’s our 10th year. I mean that’s an incredible milestone for any organization, let alone a small independent arts organization. And with all that we’ve gone through the last few years — the global challenges and rising production costs and all that — I’m just so proud of our community.

We’re also going to have a retrospective exhibit at AFA Gallery in Downtown Scranton that opens September 20th and runs through our festival. The festival is September 26 through October 6 in venues primarily in Downtown Scranton, but a few outside of downtown – all within the Electric City, of course. And all of that’s available on our Fringe site. So, that’s definitely what’s next for me.

Oh… can’t leave this out! When Fringe winds down, I’ll start work on my other role as Program Director at The Center for the Living City. We will be running another festival called Observe Scranton, which takes place every other year. So, we are getting ready for the next one and that’s going to be in May of 2025.

Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?

I’m going to answer this very specifically through the lens of arts and culture, because that’s what I know. I think the innovation and the accessibility that advances in digital technology have brought about are really going to start to shape, in a positive way, the content, the art, the music, the theater, the visual arts that are being born and grown here. We have guest artists that are coming in and using this area as a like a retreat space and creating.

I really think we are going to start seeing that type of creativity elevated more and more as we become more of a digitally-connected society. I’ve seen it really grow and reach new audiences that aren’t even physically here. I’ve seen it first hand through Fringe. And people are seeing this area through these digital platforms, and then they want to come and spend time here and experience it themselves. And it’s not just things like Fringe. We have a Shakespeare Festival. There’s the monthly First Friday. There’s the Winter Market on the square in December. Carbondale is doing some really exciting arts and culture programming.

So, I think that we really have an incredible opportunity to position ourselves in that regard. And that’s already happening with our artists and it goes back to the heart of the Fringe mission, which is to activate this region and not only showcase what it already has going for it, but how it can grow and how we can do that together. And that when you invest time and energy and love into arts and culture, it is one of the top accelerators for every facet of a community.

Why NEPA?

I love our sense of community. I love the natural and scenic beauty that this region provides. I know it’s probably cliche, but my God, how can you not love the nature and the views and the parks and the hiking trails and the skiing that we have here in NEPA? You know?

I love that this region has an excited and engaged audience. Plus, it’s still relatively more affordable to create your work here than in larger markets.

And it’s my home. Even if I moved away again at some later chapter of my life, it’s never going to stop being my home.