Greg Kotis, whose “Urinetown” won a Tony shortly after its debut at the New York International Fringe Festival, now offers a new post-apocalyptic musical at a new New York fringe festival. His “The End of All Flesh,” in which a countrified family sing about environmental collapse atop a distant mountain, is one of 64 shows to be presented at five venues from April 2 – 20 at the New York City Fringe Festival.
Unlike Broadway, which also has a busy schedule in April, all the fringe shows have running times of 60 minutes or less and ticket priced no more than $35. Thirty-seven of them are also available as a live stream online. Of course the festival shows have lower (zero?) advertising budget, and are harder to sort through.
Below is a brief description of each show, with most of the titles linked to a page that lists specific dates of performance (each show has up to five.) Among the intriguing-sounding offerings is a portrait of a vegan serial killer (a hit at another fringe festival, Edinburgh), as well as a revival of a play about the first female murderer to be electrocuted in America; solo shows by a 90-year-old comedienne, a 40-year-old ballerino and a 30-year veteran token booth clerk; and fairytales for adults, nobody under 21 admitted. A Beckett-like play about forgotten Shakespeare characters. A meditation on Emojis.
I suppose theatergoers deserve a warning here: The New York City Fringe Festival is not juried. The shows are chosen by lottery, This is the norm for fringe festivals around the world,
But it wasn’t how the old New York International Fringe Festival operated. And that’s not the only difference.
That festival, which ran from 1997 to 2019, was one of the most highly attended events in New York City. At its peak, in August, 2016, for example, 75,000 theatergoers attended more than 200 shows in 16 venues.
Although the current festival began in 2007, it was called FRIGID New York Festival until two years ago, changing its name to capitalize on the appeal of the fringe label. Last year, the New York City Fringe Festival attracted 8,000 theatergoers to 47 shows in three venues – modest by old FringeNYC standards. But this one is still here…and it’s growing.
UNDER St. Marks
(94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009)
A Crucible: a puritanical celebration of Witches and Turkeys
Written by Michael Toomey and Ensemble
Presented by The Humanist Project
A Thanksgiving day celebration of women, food, villainous men, and why America loves a good argument.
Airbag: a metaphor, or is it?
Written & Performed by Joshua Wagner
Not another podcast on how neurodivergence played a part in his life.
Anti-Gone
Adapted by Sivan Raz from Sophocles with devised content by Katy Shafer, Maggie Dickinson, Devon Khalsa, Hila Shats and Eli Lomax. Translated by Ian Johnston
Presented by Needs More Work Productions
An adaptation of Sophocles Antigone, in which audiences take on an active part in determining the outcome of the drama, utilizing the most popular invention of Ancient Greece – the democratic vote.
BENT THROUGH GLASS
Written & Performed by Alex Koltchak
A father’s chronicle of his daughter’s suicide and its aftermath.,
Closed Doors
Written by Tim Hayes
Claire is a successful activist who finds herself stranded in NY City elevator during a severe winter storm with her estranged father, a judge.
Emoji: The Hieroglyphics of Our Time, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Send the Risky Text
Written & Performed by Aarushi Agni
An exploration through music, comedy and multimedia of whether emoji are the universal language of our time, or a digital crumb of connection in a fractured society.
Faith in The Hope of The Absurd
Written & Performed by Nathanael Philip Mosher and Sean Conrad
Presented by PPDK Productions – Culver City, CA
The two men deliver testimony about the power of faith, through their story of how they failed to live.
Home Rule
Written by Liam Gibbons
Presented by Dragon Events LLC – New York, NY
A dark Catholic comedy set in 1920s Ireland. that explores gender, sex, and faith, featuring a diverse cast of queer performers.
How to Give Up on Your Dreams
Written & Performed by Meg Chizek
Presented by The Cat’s Meow Productions
Chizek comically chronicles her quest for Broadway, every rejection and pirouette forcing her to answer the question: Who am I?
Jackie & Allison Into the Multiverse
Written by Jackie Skinner, Allison Villaseñor, Hayley Karl, and Will Auther
The comedy duo take a chaotic and absurd trip to different universes, through clowning, sketch, improv.
TEXAS ANNIE: The Legend of the Moan Ranger
Written by Jenn Howd and Roz Mihalko
Inspired by a real-life law, the bawdy musical follows the adventures of a renegade sex toy dealer in Texas when sex toys are declared illegal.
The Cruelty-Free Confessions of Hannah Blake
Written by Oliver Britten
Starring Maggie McMuffin and Giselle Chatelain
Presented by AFAFO Media LLC
A portrait of a vegan serial killer in this hit from last year’s Edinburgh Fringe that’s part cooking demonstration, part fever dream.
The Phantom of the Opera’s Friend
Written & Performed by Michael Landes
After many evenings with the Phantom at the café, his best friend and drinking buddy Michel is finally ready to tell you all about him.
Sat April 12 at 8:40pm, Wed April 16 at 6:30pm, Fri April 18 at 9:50pm & Sat April 19 at 10:20pm
Two Nights In Altoona
Written by Lily Boulard
Cecilia, finally having scored a lead role in a Netflix show, takes a trip home to confront the traumas she has been ignoring for years..
The Wild Project
(195 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10009)
90 Years of Song and Scandal
Written & Performed by D’yan Forest
Forest, the Oldest Female Comedian in the World according to the Guinness Book of World Records, tells tales of her storied life, ukulele in hand.
Bright White Light
Written by Simon Rodriguez
A series of vignettes involving the Grim Reaper.
Desperate: A Beverly Hills Manny
Written & Performed by Esmond Fountain
An hour-long comedy about searching for love and money in a city that seems to deny both to him.
Francis Grey and Case of His Dead Boyfriend
Written & Performed by Nathan Tylutki
Presented by nayXnay productions
A one-man whodunnit that explores family, love, and revenge.
He Said, She Says
Written by Caragh Donley
Presented by Broken Clock Productions/Rugolo Entertainment
Coming out as trans at age 63..
Love in the Time of Piñatas
Written by Baruch Porras Hernandez
Presented by Epic Party Theatre
A queer immigrant Latino and his family struggle to thrive in America.
Liana
Written by Maksim Tsvetovat, Sandra Flores Strand
Presented by 2042 Productions
A journey through Latin music history — flamenco, latin jazz and hip-hop — through the eyes of two women: a flamenco artist in Franco’s Spain, and a young rapper in modern NYC.
MACHINAL the play
Written by Sophie Treadwell, Directed by Katherine Winter
Presented by New York Theatre Company
A new adaptation with an all-female cast of Sophie Treadwell’s 1928 play Inspired by the real-life case of convicted and executed murderer Ruth Snyder, the first woman sent to the electric chair. Tap Choreography by Bianca Bulgarelli.
Multifaceted: Scientist = Artist
Written & Performed by Torrey Shine
A one-woman show exploring what it means to be both a scientist and an artist
Sad Girl Songs: A Comedy Show
Written & Performed by Gwendolyn Coburn
A dark feminist musical comedy about when #YesAnd becomes #MeToo.
Stay
Presented by Ara Dance Project
An evening of contemporary dance, interweaving music and spoken word with ballet, contemporary, modern, and jazz.
The 40-Year-Old Ballerino
Written & Performed by Chris Davis
At 40 years old, seizes on ballet class as a way to replace all other addictions — drugs, alcohol, Modern Family, and the toxic tropes of 90s John Cusack movies.
The End of All Flesh
Written by Greg Kotis
Presented by Theater of the Apes
A rollicking, post-apocalyptic, cautionary bluegrass tale by Greg Kotis (Tony Award-winning co-author of Urinetown). Join Ma, Pa, Boy, and Girl atop a distant mountain, as they sing about environmental collapse, changing gender norms, the generation gap, questionable survivalist practices, and the road that lays ahead!
Three Can Keep a Secret
Written by Gregory Crafts
Presented by Theatre Unleashed
It was supposed to be an easy score. Whack the mark. Set the scene. Take the money. That’s how they planned it. But for poor Moose and Sonny, a really bad night is only just beginning. An interactive crime thriller.
When My Cue Comes
Written by Aaron Moore, B Carty, Gabriel Ethridge, Madeline Parks, Natalie DeBoer, Reid Watson, & William Shakespeare
Presented by Hamlet Isn’t Dead
In Waiting Room Z, Shakespeare’s most often forgotten characters find themselves antsy, excited, and lost. It is here that the all-knowing Stage Manager sends them out into the world. However, it’s been years since these characters have been in the spotlight,
Chain Theatre
(312 W 36th St. 4th floor, New York, NY 10018
Chain Theatre – Studio
Appalachian Songcatcher
Written and performed by Hannah Sage From
A memoir that blends traditional and original music with personal storytelling
Bugged Out
Written & Performed by Seema Shukla
A psychiatrist is living and practicing in New York City when her home is invaded by beetles, coinciding with the development of a mysterious set of ailments. She embarks on a journey to diagnose her symptoms, though finds herself in conflict with the medical world, leading her down a path that may or may not be real.
Circumscribed: A Tale of One Father, Two Sons, and Thousand of Foreskins
Written & Performed by Noam Osband
In a show that has play several other fringe festivals that mixes stories, videos, and pictures, Osband talks about his close relationship with a father who was a mohel (did Jewish religious circumcisions), and died too young.
Conceal Me What I Am
Created by Natalie Kane
Presented by Ladies & Fools
An exploration of “breeches roles” (where a female actor plays a male character) in Shakespeare and in the work of such female dramatists as Ana Caro and Hannah Cowley.
Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl
Written by Bear Kosik
Five adults meet to play “Duck, Duck, Goose” as a way to choose sexual partners.
Henry Hicks, Attorney at Cowboy Law
Written by Jack McManus
Presented by Our Horse Jethro
Jo Colston is a very good lawyer, raised on daytime TV. But when all the other lawyers in her firm are busy, she finds herself in Cowboy Court – full of root’n, toot’n and pistol shoot’n. How will she hold up against Henry Hicks, the fastest countersuit in the west?
Is This Normal?
Written & Performed by Ansa Edim
A one-woman show about the complexities of dating and self worth for someone who often finds herself as “the only one” — the only Black person, the only fat person, the only fat Black person
LABOR
Written & Performed by Stacey Linnartz
Presented by Saint Sarah Productions
Based on interviews, this solo show explores themes of love, control, generosity, sacrifice, power and the joy of finding one’s purpose.
MINOTAUROMACHY
Written by Joanna Wiley
Six former wives and mistresses of a certain well-known Spanish artist (okay, it’s Pablo Picasso) form a panel to tell their stories. Only instead of being a look at his artistic legacy, it gets un-academic real fast,
PAULA
Written by Lizzie Short
A story about trying and failing to get over your past, and discovering an unexpected second chance.
Rusk: Full Special
Written & Performed by Nik Narain
Person stories about starting stand-up, getting a physics degree, performing drag, coming out, and Indian tea biscuits.
THE EASTER BUNNY
Written & Performed by Tommy Jeff McAteer
Presented by Marbles Theatre Group
A serial predator waits in the apartment of his next victim.
Uncle Vanya, After Chekhov: A New Adaptation
Adapted by Emily Ann Banks
Presented by Arachne Theater
A play that looks at unfulfilled potential and the haunting what-ifs that plague us.
you can’t spell “assault” without “us”
Written by Naira Sarin Jain
Boy meets girl. Boy and girl become friends, fall in love, and start to outgrow each other. Boy manipulates girl into staying, and girl gives in, because both of them have been taught that this is what love looks like.
Chain Theatre – Mainstage
Adam Driver
Written by Frances Smith
Andy watches the thread of their life start to unwind as they grapple with early warning signs of psychosis, leading to participation in a research study, and an obsession with the research assistant
Bad Muslim
Written & Performed by Azhar Bande-Ali
Presented by Needle Tech LLC
A solo show explores the complexities of being Muslim in today’s America. Is it self-defined, shaped by the community, or tailored for acceptance?
Ayahuasca Inside out
Written by Crea Abbate, Kacey Cardin & Anthony Hidalgo
Presented by Wild Indigo Arts
A Brooklyn-born soul’s wild journey to becoming a master Shaman.
EXES: The Musical
Written by Anne DiGiovanni
Presented by Together We Are One Genius
Songs based on newly rediscovered online journals detailing casual and serious relationships
Gabe Mollica: Horse Lawyer
Written & Performed by Gabe Mollica
Presented by 20 Middleton Entertainment
Mollica (This American Life, The Moth) watched his father achieve a 35-year dream to become an attorney, moments before being rushed to the hospital and given Last Rites by his mother’s priest,
In the Unlikely Event of an Actual Emergency
Written by John Mullican
Presented by ArtFamily
Turbulence during a flight throws Arturo into the In-Between Space—a dreamlike realm between life and death—where he encounters his late parents and a childhood friend.
JAWS: the Musical!
Written by Wayne Henry
Presented by Sweet & Sour Comedy
Catchy songs like “Fishing the Great White Way” and “At Night He Swims Home To Me”.
Jack of Hearts, Master of None
Written by Christian De Gré Cárdenas with poetry by Joseph Reese Anderson
Presented by Alkimia – Conkul, Yucatan
“Elio shan’t fail. The autumn annual family gathering is upon all. Will he survive the dildongs? Yes, the dildongs. Such plebeian dildo bongs. From the award winning creators of the Acedia Trilogy and Twisted Operettas comes a new Human quintet with strings that is pleasantly off-putting. Elio shan’t fail. Right? Right, of course.”
No Better News
Written & Performed by Gael Schaefer
Faced with a devastating diagnosis, Gael realizes she is friendship-challenged, and asks; Can theatre have its own healing power?
Quacks and Whacks: A Cancer Comedy
Written by Amanda and Terry Miller
Cancer cells sing, dance and hike through Sharon’s body as she struggles to navigate the three-ring circus that is the American health care system.
Someone Else’s Child
Written & Performed by Kate Crabtree
A young woman chronicles her life as a twenty-four year old surrogate in New York City in the world premiere of this one-woman show.
Stuck
Written by JJ Ivey
Presented by Wicked Cat Productions
In a little country home in a little country town in Tennessee, Drew’s quiet night is upended when Dale, an old friend with a bottle of Jack in hand, shows up at their door.
Swipe This! My Life in Transit
Written & Performed by Joanna M. Briley
Presented by One FunnySistah Entertainment
As a 30+ year veteran working the overnight shift, token booth clerk Joanna Briley is desperately fighting for her freedom. Being locked up for 8 hours a day has created a self-imposed barrier that has spilled over to her personal life.
The Death of the Swan
Written by Maddie Natoli
Presented by Devil’s Dice Productions
Past the edge of this mortal coil, in a space both strange and familiar, there is a stage, and on it famed ballerina Anna Pavlova must bargain for more time in a dance with her final partner: Death itself. I
The Retreating World
Written by Naomi Wallace, Directed & Performed by Jacob Sen
Presented by Deliverance Theatre
Ali, an Iraqi man, reflect on the impact of war.
The Rat NYC
(68-117 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201)
F***ed Up Fairytales
Written by Michael Hagins, Directed by Akia Squitieri & Rachael Langton
Presented by Rising Sun Performance Company
Your favorite childhood tales take a wild, adult twist. The audience chooses which stories unfold each night. (21+ Only)
Nick Hornedo: Watch This When You Get Home
Written by Nick Hornedo
Painfully honest stand-up and storytelling that explore Hornedo’s crushes
Oil & Whiskey
Written by Dax Wiley & Kit Nolan
A country western musical that asks: Should I get back together with my ex?
