The Atlanta Fringe Festival returns for five days in June, with dancers, comedians, storytellers, puppeteers, actors and the offbeat putting up live shows across five venues in and around Little Five Points.
If you’re into numbers, this is the sixth annual Fringe. It runs June 6-10 and attracted 70 submissions. Per tradition, the 20 winners were part of an unjuried lottery (i.e., pulled from a hat). Each act performs four times, for a total of 80 performances.
The 2018 fest features live performances that cover the theatrical spectrum — from family-friendly puppet shows to avant-garde dance troupes and campy drag showcases. Look, too, for adventurous solo performers, first-person confessionals, historical re-enactments and stand-up comics.
The acts come from Chicago, Minneapolis and Seattle; Florida (Jacksonville); Georgia (Atlanta, Kennesaw, Savannah, Stone Mountain, Woodstock); Maine; New Jersey; North Carolina; and Virginia. They have titles like Flesh Canoe to Tuna Town, Stories in the Fast Lane, Mythcommunication, Putting the #Me Back in #MeToo, The Gay Uncle Explains It All to You and a few with more explicit titles. For a complete rundown, with synopses, go HERE.
Performances take place at traditional and converted spaces in the Little Five Points neighborhood, including 7 Stages on Euclid Avenue, the Highland Inn Ballroom on North Highland Avenue, the Marianna at the Wrecking Bar Brewpub on Moreland Avenue and the International Montessori Academy on Euclid Avenue.
If you’re a Fringe virgin, you need to know how ticketing works. Each patron needs a festival admission button ($3) AND a ticket/pass to see a show (or shows). Passes come in six-show ($43), 10-show ($63) and 16-show ($93) increments. Single-show tickets are $10 each. Each pass is shareable and comes with one button. Each person sharing a pass needs his/her own button. All passes must be collected from Fringe Headquarters before you can see any show. All ticket details HERE.
Here are a few other odds and ends.
FREE EVENTS. These begin June 6 at 7 Stages with a preview featuring three-minute performances from every festival artist, plus door prizes and other giveaways. Every night of the festival includes hot-spot after-parties and networking at local bars, including the Albert, Cameli’s Pizza and Sweet Auburn BBQ. It all ends June 10 with a closing-night party and awards ceremony at the Highland Ballroom.
CASH PRIZES. Audiences, the Fringe staff and judges from the Atlanta arts community will select the winners of a Critics’ Choice Award ($500), a Producer’s Choice Award ($200) and two Audience Choice awards ($150 each) in two performance categories — solo/small cast and ensemble. Audience members can vote online any time during the festival.
FREE THEATER FOR THE EARS. Fringe is again featuring free online content under the Fringe Audio name. It will feature storytelling and radio theater from local and national artists, many of them world premieres. It streams May 28-June 17 via the Fringe website HERE. The Fringe Audio recording with the most “likes” on the online platform wins $100.
