The 2024 Cincinnati Fringe Festival
Celebrating 21 Years of Extraordinary Live Performance in Over-the-Rhine
Announcing this year’s incredible Festival Lineup!
Know Theatre proudly presents The 21st Annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival – the region’s largest and longest-running annual performing arts festival – May 31-June 15, 2024! A 14-day celebration featuring hundreds of live performances from independent local, national, and international artists, the Cincy Fringe is Cincinnati’s Summer Theatre Party.
This year we march onward carrying the torch of creative community care and radical self-expression with:
- 26 Primary Lineup Performances!
- 35+ Productions! (Including 4 FringeDevelopment projects, 5 Special Events, and Kids Fringe) to entertain at 5 venues across Over-the-Rhine: Know Theatre, Art Academy of Cincinnati and Gabriel’s Corner.
- Kids Fringe Performances on Weekend Afternoons!
- Free Nightly After Hours Events in the Know Theatre Underground Bar!
TICKETING INFORMATION
- 50% of all Box Office revenue is given to the Producing Fringe Artists.
- Single tickets to the 2024 Cincy Fringe are $18.
- The All-Access Pass ($300) is good for one entry into as many productions as one person can see.
- Our 6-ticket Flex Pass ($90) can be used in any combination of shows and is transferable among individuals.
- All passes are currently on sale at cincyfringe.com
Primary Lineup Details
This year’s Primary Lineup totals 26 productions and features new work from 12 local creators, 12 productions from across the country, and 2 international artists from Toronto, Canada.
With 12 world premieres, 12 regional premieres, 1 national premiere and 21 producing companies that have never-been-seen-before in Cincinnati, audiences are guaranteed to experience something extraordinary!
The 2024 Cincy Fringe Festival Primary Lineup
1-MAN NO-SHOW
Isaac Kessler
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The show that gave Oscar Wilde a nosebleed!
A Migration of Crones
Performance Gallery
Cincinnati, OH
A migration of crones toward authenticity through movement and sound.
A Perfect Day Away
Dead Cat Productions
Cleveland, OH, Athens, OH & Chicago, IL
Dylan loses his cat, gains a delivery guy, & uncovers his past.
As If You Will Remember
Gerry Grubbs, Pauletta Hansel, Rachel DesRochers, Katie Chal, Rob Keenan, Adam Petersen, & Michael Burnham
Cincinnati, OH
Words, Music and Dance Exploring Dementia’s Love and Loss
Bloody Mary
Kelly Collette
Cincinnati, OH
A demon is summoned, and is forced to go to high school.
BODIES
Can’t Stand Sitting Productions
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
One man explores body insecurities through live body painting.
CANCEL THIS MUSICAL
Wesley Zurick
New York, NY
Identity politics? Yikes. Social media? Ew. Musical? I’M INTERESTED!
CASTAWAYS
Silver Linings Productions
Cincinnati, OH
Gilligan’s Island meets Waiting for Godot in memory care.
Cyrano on the Moon
Arcane Arts
Hayward, WI
Fifteen years after his death, Roxanne writes about Cyrano’s afterlife.
Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl In Hitler’s Germany
Ingrid Garner
Los Angeles, CA
The Award-Winning WWII memoir performed by the author’s granddaughter.
Esther Made Me Do It
Nell Adkins and Elizabeth Sacktor
Lexington, KY
A heart-felt comedy about best friends auditioning for a Purim shpiel.
Gender? F*ck!
Rachel Baker
Cincinnati, OH
Gender is a performance, and I’m being booed off stage.
I’m Finally Going to Ask Elizabeth Hopkins to the Homecoming Dance and Nothing’s Going to Stop Me, Not Even the Ghost of My Dead Grandmother Who Watches Me Masturbate
Queen City Flash
Cincinnati, OH
A “Choose Your Own Adventure” Romantic Comedy About Second Chances.
Knight, Knight
Madeleine Rowe
Minneapolis, MN
Knight & horse. Sword & stone. Love & loss. A wild medieval romp.
Le Spectacle De Merde (“Welcome to our Sh*t Show”)
Megan Flynn & Teresa VanDenend Sorge
Troy, NY & Cincinnati, OH
Aging. Adulting. Good luck trying not to slip in it!
Meet Me at the Bathtub: The Short Life & Tumultuous Times of Charlotte Corday
Samantha Joy Luhn
Covington, KY
A bathtub assassination immersed in the tempestuous French Revolution.
Mounting Washington: The Story of a Mountain & a Miracle
Penny: For Your Thoughts
Rochester, NY
The true story of a miracle…that almost killed me.
No f*cks given. None taken. All done.
Pamela L Paek
Los Angeles, CA
A darkly comedic TEDesque talk on our complicity in humanity’s demise.
NO PASSENGERS
Gideon Productions
Queens, NY
Alan and Diane hold a seance to resurrect Alan’s ex-wife.
SeaMAN
2 Sleepy RatGuys (Amica Hunter & Bruce Ryan Costella)
Portland, OR, & Orlando, FL
A one-man-show, by two. Like The Lighthouse meets Gilligan’s Island.
Singing Into The Dark, 1933
Big Empty Barn Productions
New Orleans, LA
In a ruined theatre one man recreates a forbidden show.
Songs Without Words (or, The Mendelssohn Play)
Jennifer Vosters
Chicago, IL
Two geniuses + one actor = sibling dramedy with a classical twist.
Strong Bear
Jack Fogle
Cincinnati, OH
A Palestinian-American family, their grief, and a teddy bear.
The F-Files
Solasta Theatre Lab
Cincinnati, OH
A choose-your-own-adventure exploring the assumed paranormal.
The Last Witch in Ireland: The Story of Bridget Cleary
InBocca Performance
Cincinnati, OH
Was it folklore hysteria or gender-based violence?
Waiting for Laura
Ben & Justin Present
Cincinnati & Columbus, OH
Two friends anxiously wait to interview Oscar Winner, Laura Dern.
The 2024 Cincy Fringe Festival Special Events
Absurd It Through the Grapevine: Paul Strickland
Paul Strickland Presents
Covington, KY
Paul Strickland’s new weird-lightful acoustic-blues-infused story/song concoction.
Alphas: Origin Story – A Comedy Variety Show
Alphas Comedy
Cincinnati, OH
A joyful women’s variety show with improv, sketch, music, & dancing!
Methtacular!
Steven Strafford
Athens, OH
A funny and harrowing musical romp through meth addiction.
The Stork Files: True Stories of Adoption, Abortion, and Having No Choice
Julie Coppens
Cincinnati, OH
Unswaddling secrets. Terminating shame. Bearing witness. Fostering community.
trueFRINGE 2024
True Theatre
Cincinnati, OH
True stories told by the Fringe Artists who lived them.
The 2024 Cincy Fringe Development Productions
One-night only productions of works in development.
Cracks
Claire Lochmueller
Chicago, IL
Trans comedian explores her Catholic military upbringing- a heartfelt journey.
Ford’s Escape (or a Honda’s Civic Lesson)
Zamudio Theatre & The Milford High School Drama Dept.
Milford, OH
A high school roadtrip turns into high school road R.I.P.
Tea Sips and Tells
Leila Kubesch
Cincinnati, OH
Powerful solo performance: Triumph over adversity, hope for all.
Webcam
Kirk Sheppard
Cincinnati, OH
A play about intimacy, loneliness, and sex work.
The 2024 Cincy Fringe Kids Fringe
The Emu that Ate Cincinnati (and Other Curious Tales)
Autumn Kaleidoscope
Cincinnati, OH
A puppetry show where curious and even curiouser tales abound!
Know Theatre is Cincinnati’s Theatrical Playground. The Know showcases unexpected voices, new works, and plays that embrace the inherent theatricality of the live experience. Know Theatre seeks to be a place where artists and audiences feel welcome to take artistic risks, creating work that is cutting edge and accessible.
The 21st Annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival is made possible by a generous partnership with our neighbors and the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
Know Theatre’s work is made possible, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.
The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
Know Theatre is also supported by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.
Know Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network.
###
Oscar Winner Laura Dern is invited to the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, but will she
Announcing locations and times for the Cincy Fringe Unified Auditions!
On the final night of Fringe, the Cincinnati Fringe Festival honored five special shows with “Pick of the Fringe” awards, voted on by artists, patrons, critics, and the producers of the festival itself. We’re very pleased to present to you the winners of the 2023 Picks of the Fringe:
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 