Tips for CFF 2012 Applications!

Applications for the 2012 Chicago Fringe Festival go live on December 12! To successfully complete it:

You WILL NOT need a No. 2 pencil, because the application is not a standardized test! While you DO have to meet the basic requirements for participation to take part in the Festival, you will NOT be scored or otherwise judged on the contents of the application, because the Fringe is an unjuried festival. This ensures the Festival is truly diverse, not just a reflection of a selection committee’s tastes!

You WILL NOT need a copy of your tax returns, because the Fringe does not care how much money you have to sink into your show! All you have to pony up is the application fee and, if chosen, the participation fee. This ensures the Festival is accessible to all sorts of artists!

You WILL NOT need to furnish your references or resume, because the Fringe does not care what you’ve done in the past! Our productions are a mix of established and award-winning troupes, up-and-coming artists and performers just starting out. This makes the Festival a great opportunity for artists to reach new audiences and for audiences (including critics! producers!) to discover new talent.

You WILL need to provide some basic information about who you are. This might not be as easy as it seems. For example, last year’s production The Night of the Living Dead: The Puppet Show might have questioned whether a brown skinned zombie puppet counts as a minority cast member. (Hint: it doesn't.)

Answer honestly and do your best, and if you find yourself pondering something like the zombie puppet question, congratulate yourself on finding the perfect festival to demonstrate your madcap, anything but standardized theatrical sensibility. So get ready to break your pencils, tear up your resumes and fill out the application!

Tidings of Tap!

The Fringe offered up some Christmas in September, thanks to the Miscreants' "The Roast of Santa Claus, or: The Miscreants Kill an Hour and Go to Cuernavaca." But now that the holiday season is actually here, perhaps you're looking for a more, er, family friendly holiday show?

Look no further: Chicago Tap Theatre's "Tidings of Tap" promises to be just the ticket! And by entering promo code FringeTap11 and wearing your Fringe button to the show, you can save $5 on an adult ticket! Click here for tix.

Laura Molzahn of SeeChicagoDance.com wrote, "Never preachy and rarely predictable, 'Tidings of Tap!' doesn't provide the sentimental glow of self-approval that so many other holiday shows do. Nor does it trash the season or the human race for enjoying it. Instead it takes us on a mashed-up tour of holiday cliches, borne on the easy, breezy wings of tap-dancing."

"Tidings" is being performed on the UIC campus, so while you're in the area to see the show, you could easily revisit some of your favorite Pilsen hotspots like Decolores, Honky Tonk, Simone's and the Miscreants' watering hole of choice, Cuernavaca.

Artist Spotlight and 9/11 Event

Tomorrow morning, Fringe will commemorate 9/11 with a special event at Meridian Stage at 11 am. This event will feature speakers, artists, performers and will be recorded for WBEZ's Chicago Amplified. Please join us, and to participate, please make a ribbon at Fringe Central.

On the eve of this anniversary, Les Kurkendaal (Nightmare in Bakersfield) reminds us that Fringe artists are part of a worldwide community:

CHICAGO FRINGE 2011: ON THE MAP, UNDER THE RADAR

DAY NINE

9/11 Primer: Epoch of the Peacemakers. ...inside my Kaleidoscope. Neither Transparent nor Opaque. Let Me Count. Clean Start. Little Ivory Fingers. Spandex. Mother Tongues. Camelot is Crumbling. The Man in the Arena. From the Nightshade Family. My Salvation has a First Name: A Wienermobile Journey. Acrobat Daredevils. Bedbugs. Nightmare in Bakersfield. No Gender Left Behind. Jesus, Shakespeare and Lincoln Walk in a Bar. Alone Apart. Miss Fortune. Evolution. Nearly Naked. Othello's Furies. Strangerland. The Roast of Santa. Motherbanking Bankhole.

. . . and the Closing Ceremony at Fringe Central!

CHICAGO FRINGE 2011: ON THE MAP, UNDER THE RADAR

DAY SEVEN

Nearly Naked. Mother Tongues. Bedbugs. Nightmare in Bakersfield. Mama Juggs. At 5'2" and 125 lbs. Miss Fortune. Moving Day. Acrobatic Daredevils. Strangerland. From the Nightshade Family.

New at Central!

Have you created a "thread" at Fringe Central?

Check it out, near the archway to the ticketing area/bike parking room. Write a message of hope, peace and Fringe and contribute to the 9/11 commemoration organized by HumanThread and presented by the Fringe Festival.

More info here.

Have you noticed the Time Out banner hung in Fringe Central?

There are also complimentary issues of the magazine available! Time Out Chicago is all over the Pilsen map and very much on the Fringe radar this year.

Check out reviews and contribute your own comments and ratings here.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

What is Fringey? Nicolette Lalor offers one answer: lingerie party meets murder mystery!

CHICAGO FRINGE 2011: ON THE MAP, UNDER THE RADAR

DAY SIX

Theater Thursday Event: No Gender Left Behind. Gloss Over. Neither Transparent nor Opaque. Soul Mates Don't Die. Anonymously Yours. Hooray for Speech Therapy. Jesus, Shakespeare, and Lincoln Walk in a Bar. Acrobatic Daredevils. Alone Apart. The Man in the Arena. Evolution. ...inside my Kaleidoscope. Hub and Spoke. Let Me Count. Aberrant Reflections on the Meaning of You and I. Motherbanking Bankhole.

Industry Voices: Alexis Williams

Alexis Williams, a literary associate at Bret Adams Ltd. Artist Agency and judge in the 2011 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival (full bio below), shares her perspective on Fringe with us:

Oh, the joys of Fringe.

Fringe gives the participants a chance to get their work out there, to have it produced and publicized on a larger scale (which, let me tell you, is easier said than done). Fringe enables audiences to get a lot of culture, from a variety of sources, in a quick, intense burst, without straining the bank account.

And for those of us who work on the business side of the theatre industry, it gives us the opportunity to hear new voices, voices that may not have been on our radars before.

We all know the success story of Urinetown – which humbly began in the NY Fringe Festival and eventually ended up with 9 Tony nominations and 3 wins on Broadway – there’s that glint of promise that permeates the very spirit of Fringe – anyone can be Cinderella, and that’s just thrilling.

Plus, from an agent’s perspective, getting to know new, exciting work and writers is always a plus - even if only, initially, just to continue to follow someone’s progress or to track their upcoming work.

Sure, most big theatres produce new plays and have fantastic programs for emerging playwrights, but the writer of the must-see new show at the Goodman probably already has representation – the writer of the must-see show of the Fringe very possibly doesn’t. Makes for some very useful, practical scouting.

And beyond that it makes for some fun. There’s just such a great sense of community and straight up fun around fringe, you can feel it in the air. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a participant, an audience member, a scouting agent or producer – no matter who you are it makes for one heck of a good time.

BIO:

Alexis Williams has been a member of the literary department at Bret Adams Artists’ Agency – a New York based agency representing actors, playwrights, directors, composers and designers – for the past three years. Before joining the team at Bret Adams Alexis worked at McCarter Theatre Center, assisting directors such as Emily Mann, Shirley Jo Finney, Michael Unger, and others; served as Literary Manager for Detroit’s Planet Ant Theatre, where she originated and developed Southeast Michigan’s first late-night theatre series; and completed a fellowship at the Contemporary Stage Company in Wilmington, DE. At Chicago’s Stage Left Theatre Alexis developed an evening of new, thematically linked short plays written by up-and-coming American College Theatre Festival winning playwrights. In her time in the theatre Alexis has worked as a producer (various projects, including co-producing 13^th Street Rep’s first new short play festival), a director (favorite pieces including Arcadia at Princeton Summer Theatre,Equus at Northwestern University, and the first production of Kyle Jarrow’s Emperor’s New Clothes Redux at Contemporary Stage Company), a teaching artist, and has assumed multiple other roles in the theatre industry. Recently she was a judge for the 2011 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival. Alexis is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab and a graduate of Northwestern University – where she served as the Artistic Director of Northwestern’s Multicultural Theatre Ensemble.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Super awesome story time with the Harlotry and Necromancy Appreciation Society:

CHICAGO FRINGE 2011: ON THE MAP, UNDER THE RADAR

DAY FIVE

Nearly Naked. Soul Mates Don't Die. Nightmare in Bakersfield. From the Nightshade Family. Moving Day. At 5'2" and 125 lbs. The Roast of Santa. Let the Lady Sing. The Temp. Mother Tongues. Strangerland. Miss Fortune. Existential Crisis. ...inside my Kaleidoscope. Camelot is Crumbling. Am I Blue. My Salvation Has a First Name: A Wienermobile Journey. Neither Transparent nor Opaque. Bedbugs. The Other Day. Little Ivory Fingers. Mama Juggs. Night of the Living Dead: the Puppet Show. Wild Women XXX. Anonymously Yours. No Gender Left Behind.

Murals

Soak up all the art in Pilsen! Go see a Fringe show, then check out the neighborhood's beautiful murals:

CHICAGO FRINGE 2011: ON THE MAP, UNDER THE RADAR

DAY FOUR

Mama Juggs. Mother Tongues. At 5'2" and 125 lbs. Anonymously Yours. Motherbanking Bankhole. ...inside my Kaleidoscope. Let Me Count. Aberrant Reflections on the Meaning of You and I. En Solo. Gloss Over. Alone Apart. The Other Day. Seeing Red. Spandex. Night of the Living Dead: The Puppet Show. The Four Food Groups. Clean Start. Little Ivory Fingers. The Temp. Hub and Spoke. Wild Women XXX. Where the Heart Lies. Let the Lady Sing. My Salvation has a First Name: A Wienermobile Journey. Othello's Furies. Soul Mates Don't Die. The Man in the Arena. From the Nightshade Family.

First Weekend Underway!

Image from "Moving Day"

CHICAGO FRINGE 2011: ON THE MAP, UNDER THE RADAR

DAY THREE

The Temp. Tordu Vol. Strangerland. Miss Fortune. Am I Blue. Nearly Naked. Frames. Bedbugs. Nightmare in Bakersfield. No Gender Left Behind. Moving Day. Wallstories. Camelot is Crumbling. The Roast of Santa. Evolution. My Salvation has a First Name: A Wienermobile Journey. Wild Women XXX. Where the Heart Lies. Let the Lady Sing. Spandex. Soul Mates Don't Die. Clean Start. Hooray for Speech Therapy. Jesus, Shakespeare and Lincoln Walk In a Bar. Neither Transparent Nor Opaque. The Four Food Groups. Anonymously Yours. Seeing Red.

Make you want to Fringe?

A sample of Fringe magic:

CHICAGO FRINGE 2011: ON THE MAP, UNDER THE RADAR

DAY TWO

THE TEMP.

WALLSTORIES.

AT 5'2" AND 125 LBS.

THE MAN IN THE ARENA.

MOTHERBANKING BANKHOLE.

. . . INSIDE MY KALEIDOSCOPE.

TORDU VOL.

LET ME COUNT.

ABERRANT REFLECTIONS ON

THE BARBARISM OF YOU & I.

EXISTENTIAL CRISIS.

SPANDEX.

FRAMES.

ALONE APART.

SEEING RED.

Moving Day

Venue: Dream Theater

556 W. 18th Street

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 8:30 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 5:30 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 4:00 PM

Friday, September 09, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 7:00 PM

Description:

Feeling swamped? Let down? Stuck in time? ...Moved lately?
We prescribe a healthy dose of inertia, the human experience. MOVING DAY explores the true grit of moving forward or backward; figuratively or literally;
from place-to-place; from highs-to-lows; from love-to-loss and back again. Back to packing, unpacking, and dealing with all those empty boxes. Come check out MOVING DAY, a collaborative ensemble production.

Company:

ToddsBurn Productions (Chicago, IL)

This is our first production working as an ensemble under the Toddsburn Production label. We are a locally based group of actors, writers, improvisors, technicians, and creators who have come together to create a completely organic and collaborative piece of theatre. Each of us involved in the ensemble has recently undergone a significant move in our lives which we were inspired to artistically share. The process and group have been wonderful and we plan on creating much more as an ensemble!

...inside my Kaleidoscope

Venue: Dream Theater

556 W. 18th Street

Performances (click to purchase):

Friday, September 02, 2011 8:30 PM

Sunday, September 04, 2011 4:00 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 7:00 PM

Thursday, September 08, 2011 10:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 2:30 PM

Description:

Christopher's life is unexpectedly dismantled when he has to leave his cushy lifestyle to find a new way in Miami. His two unlikely cohorts: God, a seemingly unfriendly ally, and Mr. Post, a philosopher who disagrees with his own philosophy are his only solace.

Company:

Then & Only Then (DeSoto, TX)

My previous production productions include: If By Chance, which had two production one of which was the DFW Fringe Festival; Love Potion #5:Tribal Musk, won 2nd Place PIA Award; The Mythical Memphis Coy: or Just Another Metrosexual?, which deemed MVP of plays to see in North Texas.

CHICAGO FRINGE 2011: ON THE MAP, UNDER THE RADAR

DAY ONE

Mama Juggs.

Tordu Vol.

Strangerland.

The Roast of Santa.

No Gender Left Behind.

Moving Day.

Frames.

Camelot is Crumbling.

Nightmare in Bakersfield.

En Solo.

Nearly Naked.

Wallstories.

Bedbugs.

Miss Fortune.

Am I Blue.

Sage Advice from Old Fringe Hands, Rebecca Kling Edition

Sage Advice from Old Fringe Hands: a series in which Chi Fringe veterans share their hard-won wisdom about drawing audiences, breaking legs and making the most of the best Festival this side of the Chicago River!

After performing last year's Fringe hit Uncovering the Mirrors, REBECCA KLING returns to Chi Fringe this year with her multimedia one-woman show No Gender Left Behind. Check out her show, and if it relates to your own, take her advice and ask to cross promote!

Sage advice from Rebecca:

Get out there and flyer! I can't stress enough how important it is to have adequate flyers or postcards, and to go out and distribute them. If you have time, stop by coffee shops, restaurants, stores, etc and leave things there. (Just be sure to ask for permission!) If not, make sure to - at the very least - walk around the Fringe Fest and hand out postcards. "Hey! I have this show going on in the Festival, hope you can check it out." Figure out which shows are selling well, and go flyer their audience before or after they see the show.

Meet other artists and see their shows. You have an awesome (and free) opportunity to see a ton of really amazing performances with your artist pass. Use it! This can also help build your own audience: Find a show with similar content to your own, and ask to cross-promote. Take time after your curtain call to say "If you liked our performance, go see this other show."

Along those lines, Fringe is not a zero-sum game. It's possible for everyone to win, because audience members will come back to see multiple shows. So don't view audience building as a competition so much as a collaboration.

Have fun! Post-Fringe activities inevitably include bars, hanging out, and (new this year) FOURSQUARE! Use Fringe as an opportunity to network, meet people, and make friends.

Wild Women XXX

Venue: Doppler Stage

1915 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Saturday, September 03, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 04, 2011 8:30 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 10:00 PM

Description:

“Never trust anyone over 30” so said the great rockers of yore.

In Wild Women XXX, four diverse women sharing one common number explore the terrors of turning the big 3-0. Questions of identity, belonging, and partnership are explored through story, humor, and red-hot dance breaks.

Company:

The Vox Theatre (Chicago, IL)

T and T productions was created in a collaboration between Tosha Fowler and Toy DeIorio for Tosha’s one-woman show "Mami, Where’d My O Go?" Running for 6 weeks at Lifeline Theatre, this fantastically feminine, seductively southern solo autobiography was hailed by The Chicago Theatre Blog as, “charmingly funny, fantastically trippy… Fowler’s emotional depth in performance simply goes balls to the wall… Her invocation is nothing less than inspiring.”

T and T Productions’ is dedicated to creating original, ensemble devised work that explores the human herstory.

The Man in the Arena

Venue: Temple Theater

1749 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Friday, September 02, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 04, 2011 10:00 PM

Thursday, September 08, 2011 8:30 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 5:30 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 4:00 PM

Description:

I think there can hardly be a greater inspiration in American history than Theodore Roosevelt. At his best, he showed us what we can be at our best, and taught us what it means to be Americans.

Company:

The TR! Show (Wilmette, IL)

Derek Evans is a veteran in the field of educational entertainment, with 30 years of credits including more than 7,000 performances in schools for more than 2 million students, 2 Jefferson Citations, more than 20 roles in Chicago area theatres and performances for colleges, libraries, museum and legit theatre venues nationwide.

Backstage with . . .

The League of Chicago Theatres snatched back the curtain to reveal the Wizard of Fringe, our indomitable Vincent Lacey, who they plied with questions.

What are the values our company holds dear?

Why did we choose our neighborhood?

What's the quirkiest thing about our space?

Come "Backstage with . . .Chicago Fringe Festival" to learn the answers!

The League of Miscreants Presents "The Roast of Santa Claus" or "The Miscreants Kill An Hour And Go To Cuernavaca"

Venue: Temple Theater

1749 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 5:30 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 4:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 10:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 8:30 PM

Description:

You paid $10, plus that stupid button, to see *US*? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. See you at Cuernavaca.

Company:

In 2010, the Miscreants were an unnamed group of acquaintances slapped together to fill a slot in the Fringe Festival after a bunch of foreigners backed out of the slot. We made up "The Roast of Piglet" in five weeks. And we had such a great time that we're doing the doing the same start-to-finish Iron Chef Theater again.

Hub and Spoke

Venue: Meridian Stage

1932 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Sunday, September 04, 2011 8:30 PM

Thursday, September 08, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 2:30 PM

Description:

With sinuous and careful dancing, the Dance Team fords the unrelenting stream of cause-and-effect that rules both the prairie and city. With gritty costuming and music by raag-influenced bluegrass guitarist Jack Rose, 'Hub and Spoke' describes a harsh frontier life subject to the machinations of a vast and desolate landscape.

Company:

The Dance Team (Chicago, IL)

The Dance Team is a Chicago-based collective of friends composed mostly of dancers trained at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Dance Team has seen various incarnations in the last three years in Chicago.

Nightmare in Bakersfield

Venue: Temple Theater

1749 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 8:30 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 4:00 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 2:30 PM

Friday, September 09, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 5:30 PM

Description:

Get ready for a crazy class reunion. Mike takes his boyfriend Les home to Bakersfield to his 20 year highschool reunion. The only problem is that none of Mike's former classmates know he's gay. The class of 1988 is in for a shock!

Company:

The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal (West Hollywood, CA)

Les Kurkendaal is an openly gay actor, storyteller and stand up comic who is based in Los Angeles, California. Les has been touring Fringe Festivals around the world since 2000.

Bedbugs

Venue: Doppler Stage

1915 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 4:00 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 8:30 PM

Friday, September 09, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 5:30 PM

Description:

Bedbugs is a bedtime story about: Heroes! Villains! Cake! Pirates! The CTA! An Old Sensei! The Best Song! Seamonsters! A Pretty Girl! A Sherpa! The Internet! A Trusty Steed! ...And much more, brought to you by the Mechanics of The Harlotry & Necromancy Appreciation Society. Get tucked in, and buckle up.

Company:

The Harlotry and Necromancy Appreciation Society (Chicago, IL)

The Harlotry & Necromancy Appreciation Society is an all-female performance troupe that creates new work through clown, physical theater, puppetry, and whatever else we can get our hands on. We are dedicated to transforming realities, innovative storytelling, and exploring the relationship between audience and performer. We want to see what the world looks like upside down and inside out.

Alone Apart

Venue: Doppler Stage

1915 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Friday, September 02, 2011 10:00 PM

Sunday, September 04, 2011 5:30 PM

Thursday, September 08, 2011 8:30 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 7:00 PM

Description:

Miranda has made a promise to herself: Tonight will be different. Tonight she will finish painting the portrait of the woman she hates, but does not understand--her mother. The portrait may have other ideas, but it doesn’t matter; Miranda will finish it tonight. Even if it kills her.

Company:

Ted Brengle (Chicago, IL)

Ted Brengle was a semi-finalist for the National Playwrights Conference in 2008. His play "Alone Together" has been produced in Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio, and New York City. In 2010, his play "Absent Friends" was produced in Columbia, Missouri, and his plays "Alone Apart" and "Alone At Last" were workshopped at the Element New Plays Festival in Chicago. His play "Of Apocalypse and Cappuccino" was adapted into an independent short film in 2006, so he also (bafflingly) somehow has an IMDB entry. He lives in Chicago.

CHIRP!

Have you heard?

The bird is the WORD!

As in, the bird that CHIRPs awesome tunes by all your old-favorite and new-favorite artists.

Fruit Bats? Check.

Tom Waits? Check.

Darkstar? Yup.

The New Pornographers? Them too.

That's all in the last hour.

Still wondering why CHIRP is Radio Free Fringe 2011?

Check it out:

The Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) is dedicated to providing Chicago residents with a community radio station focused on the representation of local people, events, and issues alongside a wide array of local and independent music. We seek to promote localism, diversity, and independence in public broadcasting via programming and web content curated, created, and produced by Chicagoans. It is committed to playing music the big stations won’t touch, and to focusing on the vibrant culture of a community that often flies under the radar.

Othello's Furies

Venue: Meridian Stage

1932 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase)

Sunday, September 04, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 8:30 PM

Description:

Company member Leslie Ann Sheppard adapted Othello because of the beauty of the poetry and the injustice of the circumstance. She blended the innate elements of jealousy and revenge with the incorporation of those persistent Greek furies found in the Orestia. We are using distorted furies juxtaposed with the characters, they are used as tool to illuminate a character's perception of a situation. In the spirit of non-traditional casting, we are exploring an all black cast to show how a non-traditional universal race changes the conflict within the story.

Company:

Suitcase Shakespeare Company (Chicago, IL)

Suitcase Shakespeare Company is a non-profit ensemble founded in 2008. We started by rehearsing at night on borrowed stages at the Bristol Renaissance Faire lit by flashlights and halogen lamps getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Based in Chicago, Suitcase now tours their uniquely condensed adaptations to schools, libraries, festivals and events throughout the midwest hoping to reach out to audiences that would normally cringe at the thought of seeing classical theatre.

Anonymously Yours

Venue: Temple Theatre

1749 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Saturday, September 03, 2011 10:00 PM

Sunday, September 04, 2011 2:30 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 10:00 PM

Thursday, September 08, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 8:30 PM

Description:

Anonymously Yours is a barrage of unrestrained, hilarious raw emotion gathered from the depths of the anonymous boards of the web. From Rants and Raves to Random come see the desire and rage of the internet unapologetic and uncensored. We didn't write it. Did you?

Company:

Studio BE (Chicago, IL)

Jennifer Olson and Wyatt Kent have worked together on many projects since originally meeting at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in Lincoln, Nebraska. “Anonymously Yours” was originally conceived by Olson as “You Name It,” her first of several adaptations for the stage. It has evolved through several performances to its current form. Successful young company, Studio BE has collaborated with the team to bring the Chicago premier of “Anonymously Yours” to the Fringe. To hear more about Studio BE go to studio-be.org.

Strangerland

Venue: Doppler Stage

1915 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 2:30 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 5:30 PM

Friday, September 09, 2011 10:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 8:30 PM

Description:

STRANGERLAND is a social parable, it is the story of the discovery of what it means to be human, to discover emotions, to interact, to feel something for the first time, to live and die, and how we must carry on. The Strangers occupy The Machine where they live and work in coexistence, totally disconnected from the other people around them and unaware of themselves. When a mysterious body washes up on the shore they discover themselves and are forced to confront one another for the first time.

Strangerland has been in the works for over two years as Sideshow's first ensemble devised piece. With over 30 satellite artists contributing material from across the globe, Strangerland is a unique piece of storytelling, both in its process and production.

Company:

Sideshow Theatre (Chicago, IL)

“Familiar Stories. Unorthodox Methods. Perpetually Curious”

Sideshow Theatre Company, an Illinois non-profit, was founded in 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. Our first production, Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird) was originally mentioned jokingly as the strangest imaginable subject matter for a one-person show. But when the laughter died down, an intense curiosity remained, as well as one defining question: “What if?” From that question a show, a company, and a mission were born.

It is the mission of Sideshow Theatre Company to mine the collective unconscious of the world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audience together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration.

Evolution

Venue: HumanThread

645 W. 18th Street

Performances (click to purchase):

Saturday, September 03, 2011 5:30 PM

Thursday, September 08, 2011 8:30 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 7:00 PM

Description:

Evolution: a heartfelt, funny and powerful one-person show performed by NYC-based transgender storyteller Roman Rimer.

Company:

Roman Rimer (New York, NY)

Roman is a storyteller, improviser and comedian. Roman grew up in the Bay Area and suburbs of Chicago, and loves art, improv, performing, and awesome vegan food - and giving love to people. Roman sees the good in everyone, and thinks we’re all the same regardless of our beliefs and the bodies we were born into.

Roman has performed original work at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Magnet Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade, Gotham Comedy Club and many other venues across the country.

My Salvation Has a First Name: A Wienermobile Journey

Venue: Dream Theatre

556 W. 18th Street

Performances (click to purchase):

Saturday, September 03, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 04, 2011 10:00 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 8:30 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 4:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 5:30 PM

Description:

A touching, wild ride based on the true story of an insecure goody-goody who finds redemption behind the windshield of the Wienermobile. Can she handle a horndog co-pilot, media circus and her college bully? “4 stars” (Time Out New York) “The highlight of next month’s Fringe Festival” (New York Magazine)

Company:

Robin Gelfenbien is a writer, storyteller and comedian. Her solo show “My Salvation Has a First Name: A Wienermobile Journey” premiered at the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival. She wrote jokes for emcee Rosie O’Donnell at the Matrix Awards where featured presenters included Martha Stewart, Rupert Murdoch and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Robin’s original comedy songs have played on Sirius Satellite Radio, she has been featured in "Marie Claire" magazine and mentioned recently in the "New York Times." She has also performed at the Toronto and Chicago Sketch Comedy Festivals, on VH1 and in a commercial directed by Spike Lee.

No Gender Left Behind

Venue: HumanThread

645 W. 18th Street

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 4:00 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 2:30 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 5:30 PM

Special Performance (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 08, 2011 7:00 PM

This will be a special, unplugged version of the show performed as part of the League of Chicago Theatre's Theatre Thursday event at Fringe Central, 2003 S. Halsted.

Description:

In the Fall of 2010, Rebecca Kling was fired from a teaching position for being a transgender woman. The experience left her wondering what America is teaching its children – and its adults – about gender, conformity, and being just a little bit different.

Company:

Rebecca Kling is a Chicago-based transgender artist interested in exploring the performance of identity. Her multi-media productions – composed of storytelling, video, movement, playful skips and jumps, enlightening self-discovery, accusatory glances, awkward pauses, and more – question gender, self-expression, and what it means to be at home in one’s own body.

Rebecca has performed her material at The Athenaeum Theatre with New Suit Theatre Company, Temple Gallery in the 2010 Chicago Fringe Festival, at Links Hall, Roosevelt and Northwestern Universities, About Face Theatre, Center on Halsted, with Caffeine Theatre at the DCS Storefront Theatre, and elsewhere across the Midwest. She has been praised by TimeOut Chicago, Newcity Stage, and Centerstage Chicago, and more. (Click here for more press information.) Rebecca has been a recipient of the Chances Dances Critical Fierceness grant, and regularly speaks at high schools and universities across Chicago.

A graduate from Northwestern University’s Department of Performance Studies with an Adjunct Major in Animate Arts, Rebecca Kling is also an instructor at the Piven Theatre Workshop, on the Pride Films and Plays board of director, and a syndicated blogger with BlogHer.

Neither Transparent Nor Opaque

Venue: Meridian Stage

1932 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Saturday, September 03, 2011 10:00 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 8:30 PM

Thursday September 08, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 5:30 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 2:30 PM

Description:

RTDG delivers a diverse showcase of contemporary concert dance works choreographed by dance maker, Ray Terrill. This event marks the premiere of, ‘Litany’ a concept-rich, sensual and emotionally charged work which converges dynamic movement with an edgy and classic soundscape, wrapped around inspired, media-rich visual imagery. Crafted to invoke an experience that is neither transparent nor opaque, but instead expansive and quickening.

Company:

Ray Terrill Dance Group has been performing in and around the Twin Cities since Ray relocated in 1994. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Ray has extensive experience as performer, choreographer, teacher, presenter and arts program administrator. He started his professional modern dance career as a member of Repertory Dancers Northwest until relocating to Portland Oregon. There he eventually became co-artistic director of Oregon Dance Consort where he choreographed over 40 original works including guest artist commissions. In addition, he served as Executive Director of the Dance Coalition of Oregon for a three-year term. Since moving to the Twin Cities Ray spent five seasons as a member of the Christopher Watson Dance Company while establishing the Ray Terrill Dance Group. Proficient in classical modern dance technique he has evolved a style of his own described by critics as uniquely spiritual and lyrical on one hand while irreverent and quirky on the other.

Inspired by wide-ranging music styles he frequently explores provocative subject matter and complex emotion. Even so, he keenly mines his material to expose the universal human experience. Ray enjoys a parallel career as an executive producer developing rich-media interactive communications and distance learning solutions. Consequently his more recent work has incorporated video, animation, and text as a backdrop to extend his choreographic themes. Numerous government, foundation, and corporate arts funding agencies have generously supported his choreography and his dances have been presented in several venues including On the Boards, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, International Firehouse Cultural Center, Echo Theater, Festival of Physical Comedy, Walker Art Center, Weisman Art Museum, Lakeville Performing Arts, Art on the Edge, Dances at the Lakes and several Minnesota Fringe Festivals.

CHICAGO FRINGE FESTIVAL iPHONE APP!!!

Venue: Your iPhone or iPad!

Performances (click to download):

Available right now!

Description:

A radical app. Performance schedules! Show descriptions! Venue maps! Stay connected with all the Festival events and news!

Company:

Feltpad

The Four Food Groups

Venue: Doppler Stage

1915 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Saturday, September 03, 2011 10:00 PM

Sunday, September 04, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 8:30 PM

Description:

The Four Food Groups is based on true stories and told through movement, music and spoken word. The piece investigates interactions between a group of four people over a sexually-charged dinner and is told in four scenes: The Intro, The Prospect, The Climax and The Morning After.

Company:

Pones Inc. (Cincinnati, OH)

Pones Inc. Laboratory of Movement is a non-profit performance art group dedicated to creating original work that blends various disciplines and focuses on community, site-specific performance and educational outreach. The company explores theatre for social change through its combination of dance and theatre in its signature style of pedestrian-influenced movement. Founded in 2008 by Kim Popa and Lindsey Jones, Pones Inc. continually collaborates with a diverse range of artists and groups and performs in multiple locations. For more details visit www.ponesinc.com.

Soul Mates Don't Die

Venue: Doppler Stage

1915 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Saturday, September 03, 2011 8:30 PM

Sunday, September 04, 2011 10:00 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 2:30 PM

Thursday, September 08, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 5:30 PM

Description:

“Soul Mates Don't Die” illustrates how soul mates connect regardless of sex or mortal form. Two star crossed newlyweds are ripped apart when their sexually oppressed guardian angels meet and fall in love. Love can be a funny distraction.

Company:

Never Assume Productions (Astoria, NY)

"Comedy that lures you in, drama that compels you to stay"

Never Assume was born May 2009 with its first play "Photosynthesis" enjoying a successful run at in the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival. The play ran five nights at the cherry pit of The Cherry Lane Theatre. Tim J. MacMillan serves as Never Assume’s Founding Artistic Director. Tim is also one of very few playwrights to have two plays accepted into the NYC Fringe in the same year as his other play "Breathe..." was performed in 2009 as well.

Tim BIKED from New York City to Chicago for the Festival.

I was brutally sore, tired and felt as if I had been in the ring of 12 day no holds barred battle royale of a fight but I could not stop. I pedaled harder than I did through industrial towns in New Jersey, up and down and up again the mountains of PA, along the plateaued roads of Ohio, the dicey gravel roads of Indiana as the dog that was chasing me was my mental goal. This was it. In NYC every twenty blocks is a mile. I’m not sure of the blocks here in Chicago but it felt just the same. 3 ½ miles took me 15 minutes as I sped through stop signs, red lights and used very ache in my overworked body as fuel to propel me to my goal. I am a safety first cyclist and I actually do stop for red lights and stops signs but I couldn’t. I did not care! The funny part about this is just when I got to 23 Street & Halsted the stop lights were out and I raced through and came dangerously close to getting hit by a woman in a van turning onto Halsted Street. She yelled out to me “I’m sorry honey!” my immediate response was screaming “What are you sorry for?” as I am embarrassed to say I flipped her the bird. But again, I don’t care. I was soooooo close! Then…. YOUZA!!!!! I arrived and immediately jettisoned off my two wheels for wings and fell onto the entrance of theatre!

IT HAPPENED. I BIKE 949 MILES IN 12 DAYS FROM NYC, NY TO CHICAGO, IL.

I didn’t know what to feel. I didn’t know what to do. But what I did do is collapse and fight the tears as I wish my parents were alive to hear me say the words “I MADE IT”.

Now for the next adventure, produce my play “Soul mates don’t die” and bring it from the page to stage. LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Wallstories by Nejla Y. Yatkin

Venue: Meridian Stage

1932 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 10:00 PM

Friday, September 02, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 5:30 PM

Description:

Selected as one of Top 10 Dances of 2009 by the Washington Post Wallstories is inspired by stories of people who lived with the Berlin Wall from both the East and the West perspective.

Company:

NY2Dance (New York, NY)


NY2Dance was formed in 2000 by dancer and choreographer Nejla Y. Yatkin. NY2Dance is the vehicle for Nejla’s vision to use dance in exploration of the human experience through movement. The company’s mission is to: 1) create works that reflect the complexity of human existence, that tap the essence of what is common within all humanity and to embrace spirituality as a guiding force, a point of communication as well as reflection; 2) to collaborate with other artists from various disciplines from around the world; and 3) to preserve the works of master choreographers. Toward these ends, Nejla is in the process of synthesizing the diverse techniques that she has been exposed to throughout her life into her own style of dance, entitled MOZAIK.



Nejla Y. Yatkin is a 2008 Princess Grace Choreography Fellow (awarded by the Princess Grace Foundation in New York City) and an Artist in Residence at the University of Notre Dame. In her choreography, she explores the beauty as well as complexity of memory, migration, transformation, identity and multiculturalism through movement.

Nearly Naked

Venue: Dream Theatre

556 W. 18th Street

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 4:00 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 2:30 PM

Friday, September 09, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 8:30 PM

Description:

"Clue" meets "Rocky Horror Picture Show" in this lingerie party murder mystery. For the past two years, Victor and his four friends have been throwing a Bacchanal style party. During the party, Victor drops dead, setting into motion the search for who among his group of friends killed him.

Company:

Melncolly Theatre Company (Chicago, IL)

Mel, Nicolette, and Colleen all met while attending Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin despite all being Chicagoland natives. They have formed the theatre company in hopes of mostly producing original works, offbeat, and/or not often seen shows. Nearly Naked will be Melncolly's premiere performance.

Camelot is Crumbling: An Arthurian Nightmare

Venue: Doppler Stage

1915 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 8:30 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 5:30 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 7:00 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 2:30 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 4:00 PM

Description:

The murderous son of King Arthur recounts his history with the court to his dying father, while Arthur's greatest knight traverses a post-war landscape to find his queen. Both reflect on how their actions brought about the death of the dream in this brooding one-man tale of light and darkness.

Company:

Maximum Verbosity (St. Louis Park, MN)

Maximum Verbosity was founded in the 2003-2004 season, and has mounted a season of 1-5 shows every year since. The company's done everything from musical comedy to verse tragedy to political satire, and has toured the Fringe Festival circuit as far as Melbourne, Australia. In home-state Minnesota, the group's won a coveted Encore slot and twice been nominated for "Best Spoken Word Performance" by local theatre website FringeFamous. Founder phillip low (and writer/performer of "Camelot is Crumbling") is also an award-winning solo artist and co-founder of the Rockstar Storytellers, a supergroup consisting of some of the bestselling spoken-word artists in the Twin Cities.

The Other Day

Venue: Temple

1749 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Sunday, September 04, 2011 5:30 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 8:30 PM

Saturday, September 10, 2011 7:00 PM

Description:

After a chance meeting, sparks fly between Mark and Santo. Follow their loving, yet tumultuous relationship as they confront insecurities, addiction, betrayal and grief in this
authentic, funny and compelling drama that asks the question, “When is it time to stop grieving for what's lost and start living for what's found?”

Company:

Loretta Michaels Productions

Mark Jason Williams is an award-winning playwright. New York theatre credits include: The Other Day (Robert Moss Theatre), Smiles to Saturn (Manhattan Repertory Theatre), Recovery (Gene Frankel Theatre) and Love, Me (78th Street Theatre). His is a survivor of childhood leukemia, and has a BFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Miss Fortune

Venue: Temple

1749 S. Halsted

Performances (click to purchase):

Thursday, September 01, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday, September 03, 2011 2:30 PM

Monday, September 05, 2011 5:30 PM

Friday, September 09, 2011 8:30 PM

Sunday, September 11, 2011 7:00 PM

Description:

When two old-world gal pals use a crystal ball to find a missing child, they make some surprising discoveries about life on the “other side.”

Company:

Lincoln Square Theatre (Chicago, IL)

Lincoln Square Theatre has been producing plays of social, historical and philosophical interest for the past ten years. The company is dedicated to producing work that engages both mind and heart through the unique shared experience of live theater.