Outside Interests
Cincy Fringe, officially the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, promises “real theatre handmade by real people.”
Cincy Fringe returns for its 23rd year with an outrageous assortment of one-hour, live performances created and performed by independent theatre artists in pop-up venues all over OTR.
Queer Appalachia: “Early Bird,” “Appalachian Songcatcher,” “Transcendent”),
Reclaiming Catholicism: “Unreconciled,” “Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s" Roadside Revue Presents The Saints”)
Reimagined Masculinity: “FRONTIER So Far, Good... Girl?,” “PAPA”
Celebrations of Life and the Destigmatization of Grief: “Pato Y Muerte,” ‘Memento Holly,” “This Will Only Ever Happen Once,” “Homesick”
Horror and Revenge: “Bloody Fairytales,” “The Mad Women’s Ball,” “Locusta’s Assassins,” “A Hollywood Horror Story”
Musicals: “BOMB! An FBI Musical,” “Private Equity! The Musical,” “The Saints.”
See a full schedule of all shows and get tickets at cincyfringe.com/
From Friday, May 29 to Saturday, June 13, the festival unleashes a whirlwind of wholly original theatre and experimental performance from more than 35 independent local, national, and international theatre artists.
Katie Hartman, now in her fifth year as producer of the Cincy Fringe, is excited to dive into this year’s festival, which though all new and different, do have some recurring subject matter.
“Prevalent themes that are running through the festival include queer Appalachia, reclaiming Catholicism, reimagined masculinity, celebrations of life and the destigmatization of grief, a healthy dose of horror and revenge and more musicals than we’ve had at any one festival in a long time,” says Hartman.
A 14-day celebration of theatre, art, music, dance, puppetry, and everything in between, Cincy Fringe showcases everything that is glorious about being human – to be daring, honest and imperfect – all performed in intimate pop-up venues. Audiences can expect the unexpected as churches, storefronts, street corners, and so much more are transformed and imbued with live performance - all within the heart of OTR.
“The Cincy Fringe is really special,” says Katie Hartman, now in her fifth year as producer of the Cincy Fringe. “It’s famous for being a festival where artists and patrons mix and mingle in the Know Theatre’s Underground Bar. Every night, after seeing a wild variety of shows from a wide array of artists, folks meet there and talk about all the art they just saw and the party just keeps going. It’s a joyful and generous place where people get to show up as their favorite self; we’re so excited to welcome folks into that experience.”
This year the festival carries the torch of creative community care and radical self-expression with a Primary Lineup of 25 production, featuring new work from 13 local creators, 10 productions from across the U.S., and two international artists from Canada and Australia. With 21 world premieres, 13 regional premieres, and 10 producing companies that have never-been-seen in Cincinnati, adventurous audiences are guaranteed an experience of a brave and unabashed creative community that can’t be had anywhere else.
With more than 160 ticketed events, free Kids Fringe programming on weekend afternoons, a full Saturday of back-to-back ASL-interpreted shows, and a different, free, Late Night event every night at 10 p.m., the Cincy Fringe is Cincinnati’s Summer Theatre Party.
“Fringe Late Night is where we get to know each other. It’s where friendships are made.”
Each night of the festival, audiences can enjoy a different, free, themed event in the Know Theatre Underground Cabaret & Bar. These include pitches for new shows, puppetry, gay spelling be, and Fringe Olympics, all culminating in the “Picks of the Fringe” awards.
“Fringe Late Night is something that really sets our festival apart from any other theatre festival on the continent,” says Harteman. “Every night at 10 p.m. in the Know Theatre Underground, the distinction between artist and patron blurs and folks get to come together and connect. We laugh, we dance, we sing karaoke, we ride Segways, we play DnD, and we talk about experiences in the theatre that we’ve witnessed or been a part of that have changed the way we think about life and art and the people that we love.”