INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Fringe Festival in Cincy

Fringe festivals are wild, woolly celebrations of the performing arts that provide opportunities for all manner of performers. There are full-length plays, short plays, performance artists, dance and musical acts. These festivals have caught on and draw lively crowds in a growing number of cities in this country and in Canada — plans are afoot to produce one here in the not-too-distant future.

Cincinnati will host its first Fringe Festival May 12-23. There will be 26 performing companies and individual artists presenting over 85 performances. These will take place in four downtown venues within walking distance of one another, including the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, the Contemporary Art Center, Sycamore Place at St. Xavier Park and Kaldis Coffee House. “A fringe festival is a showcase of cutting-edge and contemporary work that cannot be seen anywhere else,” says festival organizer Jason Bruffy. “Our artists and their work range in theme from political to social to bawdy and perhaps even grotesque. They make you laugh, they make you think, they make you cry ...”

Individual tickets are $10 per show, or you can get a six-ticket pass for $50, or a 10-ticket pass for $75. The Full Frontal pass lets you feast on festival offerings for $150. For more information visit www.cincyfringe.com or call the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival box office at 513-381-BARD.