It’s Fringe season once again! The Minnesota Fringe Festival opens Thursday, Aug. 1, kicking off a week and a half of hour-long stage shows at 14 venues around Minneapolis. This year’s Fringe consists of 105 shows by more than 600 artists — performed, collectively, about 500 times at 14 venues around Minneapolis, most of which are clustered around the Cedar-Riverside and Uptown neighborhoods.
All told, this equates to somewhere in the ballpark of 25,000 seats, according to Minnesota Fringe executive director Dawn Bentley. Ready to live life on the Fringe? Here’s what you need to know. Good question.
Now in its 31st year, the Minnesota Fringe Festival is part of a worldwide movement of theater festivals that are not juried, i.e. open to anyone.
Here, that means all the participating shows have been selected randomly via a lottery system. Fringe shows run the gamut of genres, from political comedies to improv to dance theater to solo dramas to horror puppet shows to more experimental, homespun productions. It’s a theatrical grab-bag of sorts by a range of performers, from actors who should probably become famous someday to well-meaning thespians who, let’s just say, shouldn’t quit their day jobs.
You never know exactly what you’re going to get — the inevitable hits and misses are part of the fun. We’ve got you covered. Starting the first night of the festival, a crackerjack team of Pioneer Press reporters will post select show reviews at twincities.
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