From the Nightshade Family

Venue: HumanThread

645 W. 18th St.

Showtimes (click to purchase):

Sunday September 04, 2011 10:00 PM

Monday September 05, 2011 2:30 PM

Friday September 09, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday September 10, 2011 8:30 PM

Sunday September 11, 2011 4:00 PM

Description:

Marion hasn't slept in years. Teddie recently auditioned to be play an holocaust victim in a Hollywood blockbuster. Claudio doesn't leave the house. These three have a conversation until they realize their world is slipping further and further from reality.

Company:

Area IV Productions (Chicago, IL)

Founded in 2009, Area IV Theatre is a detail-oriented Theatre company focusing on new work. In 2010, the company's premiere work MARCH, by Hayes Borkowski participated in the Calgary and Edmonton International Fringe Theater Festivals in Alberta, Canada with preview performances in Boston and New Hampshire. Area IV Theatre is currently based out of Chicago, IL.

Night of the Living Dead - the Puppet Show

Venue: Meridian Stage

1932 S. Halsted

Showtimes (click to purchase):

Sunday September 04, 2011 7:00 PM

Monday September 05, 2011 10:00 PM

Saturday September 10, 2011 8:30 PM

Description:

Live! In 3-D!

Another damn remake of George Romero's '68 Zombie masterpiece.

With puppets.

Company:

Angry Young Men Ltd. (Milwaukee, WI)

We're a collection of Artisans, Theatre Geeks, Mad Scientists, and Drinking Buddies who turned a shared love of Puppetry and Monster Movies into a local phenomenon.

In 2007, the "It Came From Lake Michigan" film festival offered us free reign to create a horror-related puppet show, as a bit of "alternate programming". We chose "Night of the Living Dead" because it was familiar, visceral, and in the public domain. It was a hit. Since then, we've been consistantly upgrading the show, performing it at regional Horror conventions, and every Halloween in Milwaukee.

We've also started producing video skits. You can see those on our website - www.angryyoungmenltd.com

Video Preview:

Glad he's got a map!

CFF2011 performer Tim MacMillan sets out today, August 4, for the Festival! He is biking from Brooklyn to Pilsen:

801 miles: A Pedaling Playwrights' Plea from Mike Bradley on Vimeo.

(And as long as you've got your wallet out to help Tim's cause, why not donate your toll money to Fringe and bike everywhere this month like him?)

Mama Juggs

Venue: Dream Theatre

556 W. 18th St., Chicago IL 60616

Showtimes (click to purchase):

Thursday September 01, 2011 7:00 PM

Sunday September 04, 2011 2:30 PM

Monday September 05, 2011 10:00 PM

Friday September 09, 2011 8:30 PM

Saturday September 10, 2011 5:30 PM

Description:

Let’s talk titty milk. Come conversate with grandma Suga Babe’s family as they chat unapologetically about bra stuffing, breast cancer, and breast feeding in their East Oakland housing projects living room. It’s a trip to grandma's house you will never forget! Bring your friends to this comedic one-woman show.

Company:

Princess Dragon Productions (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

‘RIE SHONTEL is the writer, director, and solo performer in the Mama Juggs show in addition to a mixed-media artist, and a multi-award winning national journalist. An East Oakland native, Anita earned her B.A. in Radio and Television from San Francisco State University. A producer for North Carolina Public Radio’s nationally-syndicated show, The Story, Anita has received as number of awards: Harry Chapin Radio Media Award, several National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Awards, and an Emmy with CNN.Princess Dragon Productions is an independent company that produces transformative shows and workshops to support self-empowerment.

Video Preview:

How to Donate to Chicago Fringe

Replace your debt ceiling with a skylight, then recline under it and feel the warm sun on your face until it is night and you open your eyes and now you’re looking at the moon and you’re not even in your apartment anymore, you’re in a car traveling on a smooth and winding road, past signs pointing you to Kansas City and Indianapolis, Edinburgh and Adelaide and Wilmington and Minneapolis, and you find the turnoff for Chicago and hoist up your sail, because this car doesn’t need expensive gas, the Windy City breeze will carry you all the way to Pilsen, and you put away your change because this isn’t a tollway, it’s the open road, and it’s taking you to a theatrical free-for-all, it’s up there ahead where the sun is rising, getting brighter and brighter and brighter, until it blots out your windshield that isn’t your windshield any more, it’s your computer screen. And there’s a link on it:

Click here to donate.

The Utopia of Fringe is real and it’s close but we need help so we can all get there together! Please donate. Even a little bit can make a big difference.

September 11 Thread Project

This year, the Chicago Fringe Festival will conclude on the 10^th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

To mark this milestone, we are organizing a commemorative event in partnership with HumanThread, a Pilsen-based nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of peace and justice through education, art and culture.

We invite all friends of Fringe to add to this event in a special way by contributing to the creation of One Common Thread for Peace. Cut a 12-inch strip of ribbon, fabric or some other knot-able material, write a message of hope on it or simply sign your name, and drop off or send the "thread" to the HumanThread Center:

Human Thread Center

645 W. 18^th Street

Chicago, IL 60616

These individual “threads” will be tied together and transformed into a work of art symbolizing our collective hopes for a more unified and peaceful world. The artwork will be unveiled as part of the 9/11 commemorative event scheduled to take place at the Fountainhead Lofts Art Building in East Pilsen on the last day of the Festival.

**Please share this message and spread the word about the special thread collection project. We hope to see you all at the Fountainhead.**

2011 Chicago Fringe Poster Design Unveiled!

When the Lake Michigan tide was highest, we set off in a rickety boat, our design contest submissions in hand. After hours of rowing, we threw overboard an offering of Chicago dogs, deep dish pizza, Tamale Guy tamales, Italian beef and Goose Island beer, drawing the oracle of ChiFringe to the surface, where in its infinite wisdom it chose our winner.

Okay, not really, but that would have been easier than making the decision ourselves. We received an abundance of amazing designs from around the world that had us reeling with awe and delight. The diversity of designs was a real manifestation of Fringe spirit.

Thank you to everyone who submitted. And congratulations to our winner, Alex Cruz, and runners-up Jonathan Blackburn, Simon Hatter, Clare Rosean and Ching Yu Wong. Check out the runner-up designs and a short bio of our winner on the website!