The Cincinnati Fringe Festival enters its 16th iteration on Friday, May 31 and runs through June 15. Cincy Fringe hosts a wide range of new and established local, national and international productions in a dozen venues across Over-the-Rhine, including onstage at Fringe producer Know Theatre, as well as The Mini Microcinema, Art Academy of Cincinnati, OTR Community Church and Gabriel’s Corner.
As any regular Cincinnati theatergoer will tell you, Fringe is a long-established and much beloved extravaganza of new, extraordinary and downright weird theater and arts productions. More than 100 applicants submitted work for consideration; of those, 34 hour-long productions were selected by a jury of local theater professionals, educators and journalists to be performed as part of Cincy Fringe’s Primary Lineup. (Fringe also includes additional visual and film events, bar afterparties, family-friendly shows and Fringe Next productions written and performed by high school students.)
But for those of you who may not have seen a proper theatrical performance since your eighth-grade class trip to Romeo and Juliet, Cincy Fringe offers an accessible and esculent way to consume theater in a manner you’ve likely never experienced before.
That sentiment fits with Fringe’s long-standing tagline: “Kinda WEIRD. Like YOU!” And though many of the fest’s shows live up to the weirdness in a deeply committed fashion, others tend to be more straightforward stories told in a simple format.
But what makes Fringe shows so palatable for both the lifelong and new-to-the-scene theatergoer? Perhaps it’s the 60-minute format? Or maybe it’s the multiple performance times and venues — there are 220 showtimes in total — which fit around busy schedules and encourage new experiences? Regardless of the reason, Fringe shows are all about exploration — be it exploration of new and unusual production types or of disciplines, themes, influences and cultural representations. One could argue that, because of this, Fringe offers the perfect opportunity to see theater at its best.
But art is subjective, and for that reason, festival producer Chris Wesselman says Cincy Fringe tries to take a more nuanced and balanced look at the shows that are submitted. “Our goal is never to judge on the base of quality,” he says. The biggest question they ask when accepting a work is: “Is this thing representing itself well?” This question is at the core of how the Cincy Fringe jury creates a well-balanced line up.
Mental health and LGBTQ+ representation are just two common themes that emerge throughout several Fringe shows. However, any themes that form throughout the fest happen via what Wesselman calls “pure dark magic.”
Though many submissions and selected works are shows that have already appeared in other Fringe festivals throughout the country, Cincy Fringe takes careful steps to ensure that both new and established works are considered equal contenders.
“We’d be violating our existence if new works aren’t given equal footing,” Wesselman says.
But what is it that makes Fringe live up to its own tagline? Wesselman describes the festival as “artists unleashed” — a major contributing factor to its tendency to lean toward the weird or the macabre.
The weirdness can also simply be due to the nature of the performance space and timeline. With over 30 performances in a dozen spaces, Fringe shows tend to be more sparsely staged. That, coupled with the celebration of new ideas and experimental concepts, can easily transform Fringe into a collection of works that deviate sharply from the norm.
Despite this, Wesselman presses that there are universal elements to stories. “Just because it might be presented in an unusual way, doesn’t mean (a show is) not relatable,” he says.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. “Fringe shows are often an opportunity for people to burst out of their shells,” he says.
As this year’s Cincy Fringe bursts out of its shell and onto the stage, we offer a few of the following tips to help optimize your festival experience, whether you’re new to the art form or not. For more help on personalizing your festival experience, check out the official Cincy Fringe Festival Guide, which ran in last week’s issue of CityBeat and is available online (CityBeat is a Fringe media partner) and includes additional insights and movie-style ratings — PG, PG-13, R, etc. — for language and themes.
For more information on dates, times, tickets and venue locations, visit cincyfringe.com.
Fringe by the Numbers
When it comes to the Primary Lineup performances, the shows can be difficult to categorize. Broadly, Fringe shows can be sorted into the following categories:
- 17 solo performances
- 10 plays
- 3 interdisciplinary performances
- 2 dance/physical theater performances
- 2 musicals
But that’s not to say that various shows won’t play with categorization, or even blend various elements like music, puppetry or improv all at once. And although Fringe shows may be challenging to categorize, the following sections sort this year’s Primary Lineup by overarching theme, to help festgoers get an idea of what to expect.
Immersive Fringe
Sometimes, there is no better way to experience what Fringe is all about than by attending a show that requires your full attention and participation. In Meatball Séance (John Michael, Chicago) six audience members are selected to be a boyfriend, best friend or “a vessel to be possessed by my mother’s spirit.” The goal? To help John Michael summon his dead mother so she can meet his boyfriend — all while whipping up a batch of her meatballs. And Between 3 and 5 (Pones, Cincinnati) is an immersive, multisensory dance performance that experiments with a series of interdisciplinary vignettes.
Existential Fringe
Any time a group of actors and writers get together, there’s bound to be existential dread at some point, as in the Vegetables! (Old, Old, Very Old, Man Productions, Cincinnati), a musical about people in a vegetative state. Or discover what it means to face your adopted persona in front of a Grand Jury with Knifeslingin'! (Paper Soul, Minneapolis).
The Vicious Hillbilly or Dating in the Deep South (Dawn Larsen, Florence, South Carolina) takes some time to laugh at love with a musical about the woes of online dating. And in Marriage: a Work in Progress (ED, New York/Los Angeles/Granville, Ohio) two people improvise onstage to create new and different characters with each performance, while only the relationship between the two stays the same.
Funny Fringe
In a unique solo performance for Dave Maher Coma Show (Dave Maher, Chicago), comedian Dave Maher recounts what happened when he unexpectedly woke up from a coma after being declared dead and read all of his Facebook eulogies.
There’s also Stow Your Baggage (Alexx Rouse, Cincinnati), which describes itself as a “Flight Attendant School Dropout Comedy,” and seXmas Cards (Kate Mock Elliott, Cincinnati), in which a Fringe artist and mother of two speaks frankly about desire and masturbation.
Or settle into SUFFER Fools (Homegrown Theater, Cincinnati), a dark comedy that flips the script on the typical profile of the happy, unassuming fool.
Spooky Fringe
If you have a propensity for the eerie or the macabre, this year’s Fringe definitely has you covered. This House Will Never Let Us Go (Gideon Productions, Astoria, New York) is a horror play that follows a housesitter who discovers she is sharing her summer digs with an eerie roommate. Packing on the scares is The Consciousness (Stage & Key Productions, Columbus, Ohio), a sci-fi drama that follows a musician who steals from the digitally stored consciousness of a little-known, dead composer.
Some Fringe shows blend the spooky and the funny together. The Devil On the Wall or, That Time I Got Kidnapped (Jamie Campbell, Kansas City, Missouri), weaves the real-life story of a childhood kidnapping into a stand-up comedy set. Or take ZOINKS! (Queen City Flash, Cincinnati), a blend of camp and horror in the form of a teen sleuth caper comedy. Child of Friday (All That Ish Productions, Cincinnati) is a dramedy about an unfortunate child born on Friday the 13th.
If horror with a musical twist is more your speed, check out Kill You with My Love (Muwhahaha Productions, Cincinnati), which features skipping records and eerie love stories, or Descent: a Murder Ballad (Hannah Gregory, Cincinnati), a Folk musical about marriage, miscarriage and murder.
'Fight The Power' Fringe
As Wesselman previously discussed, Fringe Festival shows have a propensity to explore new ideas and shed a light on social issues like mental health, LGBTQ+ representation and more.
Walking While Black in Moscow (The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal, Los Angeles) explores race and sexuality through writer and performer Les Kurkendaal-Barrett, who recounts his experience traveling as a black gay man in Russia. And Martha (Autumn Kaleidoscope, Cincinnati) tackles environmental issues in the form of the very last passenger pigeon, who died at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden in 1914.
Or take Borderline A**hole (Julie Gieseke, San Francisco), which combines social themes around mental health and dating as an LGBTQ+-identifying person to dig deep into past relationships to find new wisdom and even laughter.
Women's Rights Fringe
Several Fringe shows this year shed a light on the #MeToo movement, and explore challenges and issues close to many women’s hearts. For example, take Body Language 2019: #metoo (True Body Project, Cincinnati), which features a collection of stories that seek to deepen the collective understanding of sexual assault. The MILF Also Rises (Jen Joplin, Cincinnati) also tackles the difficulties of navigating a post-#MeToo atmosphere through the lens of a middle-aged mother. Or Kumferted (Performance Gallery, Cincinnati), an uncomfortable comedy that examines why women have often been considered creatures meant to offer comfort, but not receive it in return.
But social commentary doesn’t always stem from present events. Some Fringe shows draw upon historical influences in order to present new ideas. Nellie Bly: A Menace to Propriety (InBocca Performance, Cincinnati), for example, is based on the true story of American journalist Nellie Bly — who was committed to an asylum to write an exposé for the New York World but became trapped — and gives new voice to women throughout the ages.
Health Care Fringe
Another major topic of discussion in recent years has centered on health care. Diagnose This! Tales of a Medical Actor (Donna Kay Speaks, Portland, Oregon) blends improv comedy and storytelling to illuminate a new perspective on the American health care system. My Geriatric Uterus (Aggressive Curl Pattern Productions, Cincinnati) is a great distillation of a Fringe show, blending unconventional puppetry — one of the characters is a uterus puppet — and music to speak about the expectations around women and childbearing.
Mental health is also an oft-explored topic in theater, particularly in Fringe shows, and this year is no different. In a series of vignettes, Tales From the Cuckoo Club (Caldera Studios, Cincinnati) describes itself as a “story about autism” and tells a tale of depression and hope. And though not directly related to mental health, The Origins of My Magic (Cody Clark Magic, Louisville) explores the autism spectrum and how it affects solo performer and magician Cody Clark.
The Fringiest of the Fringe
Rounding out the Primary Lineup are some shows that likely defy a simple description or distilled theme. Let's Prank Call Each Other (zach dorn, Los Angeles) christens itself “a darkly funny and fast-paced live-action comic book.” And Puppets Should Speak (Schedule C Productions, Anderson, Indiana) wants you to “get drunk, take a bullet and make sweet puppet love.”
For those looking for a blend of stories and songs, 90 Lies an Hour (Paul Strickland, Cincinnati) is the fourth installment of return local Fringe artist Paul Strickland’s Tall-Tale Trailer Park trilogy. It promises, “new never-before-disbelieved Tall-Tales and songs!”
And if you want to dive even deeper into the weird and indescribable, check out Live Nukes! (The Central Scrutinizers, Chicago), which describes itself as a “transdimensional physical comedy” about two people who accidentally launch a nuke and try to stop it. Oh, and it all unfolds without the use of any words.
If you’re looking to get a little more intense, NIGHTMARE FUEL (Sarah Knittel, Philadelphia) promises to bring the edge in a show about teen slumber parties and demonic exorcisms. Or find satire and horror in Dandy Darkly's All Aboard! (Dandy Darkly, Brooklyn) — a show that assures that “the less you know, the better.”
Fringe Special Events
NOTE: Many of the special events listed below are ticketed separately from the Fringe Primary Lineup; see cincyfringe.com for details.)
Fringe doesn’t stop there. The festival includes a number of different shows and events that complement the Primary Lineup, including a Bar Series that offers Fringegoers a chance to mix and mingle for nightly afterparties in the Know Theatre space.
There are also Fringe Next works, created and performed by high school students, two of which are included in the Primary Lineup: Child of Friday and Tales from the Cuckoo Nest. Fringe Development includes workshops, staged readings and artist-led master classes; while Visual Fringe highlights visual art — from photography to painting — in venues across the city. Presented by Cindependent Film Festival, Film Fringe boasts a series of “RiffTrax-inspired” comedy screenings, all of which will be shown at Cincinnati World Cinema; two other projects from local filmmakers will be screened at The Mini Microcinema. Bring the kids to Family-Friendly Fringe with shows like Storytime with Sparkle and Alice in Wonderland.
At the end of Cincy Fringe, six shows will be awarded Pick of the Fringe honors. The categories are as follows: Audience Pick, Critics’ Pick, the Dr. Robert J. Thierauf Producer’s Pick (picked by Cincy Fringe staff), Fringe Next Audience Pick (awarded to one of the Fringe high school productions), the Linda Bowen Full Frontal Pick (selected by Full Frontal passholders) and the David C. Herriman Artists’ Pick (selected by Fringe artists). These six shows will be given special encore performances and presented with awards on June 15.
It’s important to note that, at its core, the Fringe Festival is a celebration of art that pushes boundaries and tries new things. Not all shows appeal perfectly to all audiencegoers, but that’s part of the magic! As with any Fringe festival, the best way to experience the magic is to see the broadest variety of shows possible. And always expect the unexpected. Sometimes the shows that end up staying with you are the ones you least expect.
Tickets are available for single shows ($15) and passes range from the Full Frontal All-Access Pass ($250) to the Voyeur Pass ($75 for six shows) and Encore Pass ($75); tickets are available online, at the Know Theatre box office or at the individual venues.
The Cincinnati Fringe Festival, produced by Know Theatre, runs May 31-June 15 at various venues across Over-the-Rhine. For more information on specific performances, showtimes and locations, visit cincyfringe.com.