Some think of Chicago’s theater scene as one big, ongoing fringe fest. But in 2010 Sarah Mikayla Brown and Vinnie Lacey went ahead and founded the Chicago Fringe Festival anyway. This year’s 11-day extravaganza presents 48 shows at a variety of Pilsen venues. Here’s a little of what looks intriguing to us.
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First, the locals: A Fringe Fest regular, transgender performer Rebecca Kling returns with Storms Under Her Skin, a one-person show about the “equations of sex” (Thu 8/30, 10 PM, Sat 9/1, 7 PM, Sun 9/2, 1 PM, Mon 9/3, 5:30 PM, Thu 9/6, 8:30 PM, Sat 9/8, 4 PM, Sun 9/9, 7 PM, Both Sides Art Gallery, 1838 S. Halsted). White Elephant’s dance-theater piece Pink Milk looks at the life of odd, gay computer genius Alan Turing (Fri 8/31, 7 PM, Sat 9/1, 2:30 PM, Sun 9/2, 4 PM, Mon 9/3, 8:30 PM, Fri 9/7, 10 PM, Sat 9/8, 1 PM, Sun 9/9, 5:30 PM, Americana Stage, 600 W. Cermak). The Island deploys surrealism, Dada, and poker to dramatize 20th-century mayhem in The War to End War (Thu 8/30, 10 PM, Sun 9/2, 2:30 and 5:30 PM, Mon 9/3, 8:30 PM, Fri 9/7, 7 PM, Sat 9/8, 1 PM, Sun 9/9, 4 PM, Chicago Art Department, 1932 S. Halsted). And Small Fish Radio Theatre and Thespinarium wants you there when they record a podcast, The Adventures of a Skater Girl, bringing together contributions from playwrights, storytellers, and a poet (Mon 9/3, 8:30 PM, Thu 9/6, 10 PM, Sat 9/8, 5:30 PM, Black Cloud Gallery, 1909 S. Halsted).
Opens Thu 8/30. Through 9/9: various dates, times, and locations, 773-428-9977, chicagofringe.org, $5 festival button required for admittance to shows. Single ticket $10, five-show package $45, ten-show package $80, unlimited admittance $175.
