The Cincinnati Fringe Festival returns for its 22nd year May 30 to June 14 with new venues and a new performance category. Fringe HQ at the Know Theatre will host performances, as will Coffee Emporium, First Lutheran Church, Gabriel’s Corner and the Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine.
New to the festival this year is the Conceptual Fringe category with four productions, including an audience-of-one virtual reality contemporary dance film. “We have had applicants saying they want to play with immersive or experiential theater,” said Katie Hartman, Cincinnati Fringe Festival producer, in an interview with CityBeat. “This is an opportunity for us to branch out. We’re excited to serve as a platform for art that creates a one-of-a-kind, unique experience for audiences.” Returning artist Amica Hunter’s Conceptual Fringe production is “a captive artist with a captive audience,” said Hartman. “Their durational performance in the staircase window [at the Know] offers people on the sidewalk the choice of will you ignore, observe or participate with this performer?” The production includes a performance before the on-site work begins and a final show sharing the piece as it has evolved.
“We pride ourselves in curating an incredible variety; you laugh ‘til you cry, then see something where you’re so moved you have an extremely cathartic experience,” said Hartman. “To see a puppet show in a sanctuary with an organ and vaulted ceilings, or a place that is normally a coffee shop, they’re out of the ordinary experiences.”
Cincy Fringe jurors reviewed 120 submissions this year, choosing half of the 26-production primary lineup from local producers and half by creators from elsewhere, including three international artists: two from Toronto, Canada, and one from Adelaide, Australia. Returning artists include local creators Ben & Justin Present, who previously produced The Gay Spelling Bee and Waiting for Laura. “This year they’re presenting 1 Gay Wedding and Absolutely No Funerals,” said Hartman. “Two grooms who wake up the morning of their wedding and discover their best friend is dead. With the help of the wedding party, they endeavor to make sure the day is all about them, the perfect groomzillas.”
There are dozens of fringe festivals each year in North America (the oldest and largest on the continent is Edmonton, Canada, and the oldest and biggest in the United States is in Orlando, Florida) and some producers travel their performances to multiple festivals. “I’m excited that we have circuit heavy-hitters,” said Hartman. “One is coming from Orlando, A Cabaret of Legends of Black female vocal legends from Ella [Fitzgerald] to Beyonce. Tymisha Harris is a triple threat who’s been working the circuit for many years. Artists from Orlando have extremely high showmanship and production values. I’m really excited for our audiences to experience her work.”
Ingrid Garner from Los Angeles returns to Cincinnati, offering a sequel to her 2024 performance. “Her grandmother survived World War II in Berlin as an American teenager and wrote a memoir,” said Hartman. “Ingrid created a solo show adapting her grandmother’s story. Last year, she presented Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany. This year, in Life After War, Eleanor goes from a war-torn country with so little, returning to the abundance of the U.S.”
Kids Fringe includes two performances at 2 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday during the festival. FORGING LEGENDS: The Tall Tale Chronicles from sKribble sKratch Productions tells the story of two Black children who, after getting in trouble in class and missing recess, invent new Black mythologies. The Green Moon/La Luna Verde by Gabriel Martinez Rubio/Dos-Corazones Productions features shadow puppetry, modern dance and poetry inspired by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.
Fringe Development features three productions by “local artists trying to level up,” said Hartman. “We provide rehearsal space through the duration of the festival and feedback. They can pull artists and audiences into rehearsal to hone playwrighting or technical skills before a one-night-only performance. We have a reputation of being very artist-supportive. This is an incredible launch pad, as well as a producing boot camp for independent artists. Our audiences love weird art and reward people who make bold choices and take big risks.” Cincy Fringe provides visiting performers with housing, and all performers with insurance, venue tech, lighting and ticketing; expenses that are otherwise challenging for independent artists. Producers also receive half of box office revenue.
Cincy Fringe staff are supplemented by Know employees and volunteers. “We could not do what we do without volunteers,” said Hartman. “They serve as ushers. Some point people in the right direction for our venues. We even have a housekeeping shift. We’re really trying to bolster our volunteer corps for the festival and throughout the year to make the Know even more accessible and friendly.” Volunteers receive free tickets to shows.
“What’s great about Cincinnati, because we’re a small festival and a long durational festival – two weeks, three weekends – we’re extremely accessible,” said Hartman. “There are dozens of productions, plus free late nights. If you’re a theater maximalist, or minimalist, we’re a great opportunity to see something you’ve never seen before and won’t see anywhere else.” Tickets for Cincy Fringe can be purchased for individual performances, a five-ticket Flex Pass or, for the ambitious, an All-Access pass that includes one ticket for each show (42 productions).
“Cincinnati Fringe Festival is very special,” said Hartman. “It’s a place for adventurous artists and audiences with an incredible feeling of community and connectedness. It’s not just a distraction from what’s happening in our country right now, it’s also creativity and joy as a form of resistance and survival, being in a room together and having common experiences.”
For additional information about the 2025 Cincinnati Fringe Festival schedule, passes, tickets and volunteer opportunities, visit cincyfringe.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s May 14 print edition.
This article appears in May 14-27, 2025.