The 2024 Cincinnati Fringe Festival
Free, Late-Night, Extra-Fringey Programming
Announcing this year’s Fringe After Hours events
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! A 14-day celebration featuring dozens of live performances from independent artists: the Cincy Fringe is Cincinnati’s Summer Theatre Party.
Fringe is a celebration of community, and any seasoned Fringe fanatic will tell you that the nightly gatherings at the Fringe HQ after that day’s shows are over are as much a part of the Fringe as the scheduled performances.
Unlike the ticketed and tightly-scheduled nature of Fringe shows, Fringe After Hours has a casual, no-ticket-required, come-and-go vibe. Pick up a drink at the bar and socialize with other Fringe-goers and artists, or attend a night of free programming that embodies the experimental and art-driven spirit of the Fringe.
Unless noted otherwise, all Fringe After Hours events begin at 10PM. Here’s what’s on the schedule for a whole festival’s worth of Fringe After Hours at the Papa Fringe HQ, sponsored by Joe “Papa Fringe” Mock of Cutler Real Estate.
60-Second Previews (May 31 at 9 PM and June 1 at 10 PM): Every Primary Lineup production gets exactly 60 seconds onstage to pitch their show to Fringe audiences. (Sponsored by Buddy Goose & Mary Rita Dominic.)
Fringe-a-oke (June 2): It’s not your ordinary karaoke. It’s Fringe-a-oke!
Everyone’s An Artist (June 4): Customize your own Fringe t-shirt (just like our Fringe Guide cover model, Aiden!) and enjoy artist-price discounts at the bar. (Sponsored by Patrick Cusick.)
Game Night (June 5): Just like a casual game night at your friend’s house. Enjoy Fringe-themed social games like Celebrity and Telestrations!
Gay Spelling Bee (June 6): Ben and Justin Present! A fun and raucous game show where contestants spell GAY words while navigating a secret rule that makes everything even more ridiculous.
Puppet Slam (June 7): A curated night of short-form puppet acts intended for adult audiences.
Fringe Dance Party (June 8): Put on your dance shoes and boogie the night away to certified bangers on the Know’s MainStage.
Fringe-Con (June 9): Celebrate Fringe Fandom with creative cosplay and our annual Fringe D&D LIVE – it’s a roleplaying adventure with an audience!
Fringe Olympics (June 11): Team up with your Fringe pals and test your mettle in Feats of Fringe! Revel in the silliness, the glory, and the camaraderie of fellow Fringe-lympians.
Smoke & Queers Burlesque (June 12): A queer-led, co-ed burlesque, drag, and performance art group that encourages all weird & wild expressions of self, gender, identity, and sexuality.
Improv Night with Kevin Bauer (June 13): Late night improv comedy, with a performance by professional improvisors and an open jam so YOU can join the fun!
Flashlight Cabaret (June 14): An evening of unforgettable entertainment, lit entirely by audience flashlight. (Sponsored by Karen “Auntie Fringe” Brinkman, Esq.)
Pick of the Fringe Awards and Closing Night Party (June 15 at 9:30 PM): Party with us one last time as we celebrate the closing of the festival and honor the Picks of the Fringe!
Visit cincyfringe.com for full details of the ticketed lineup events and to purchase tickets or multi-show passes, learn about volunteer opportunities, and plan your path through the festival.
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 19th Annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival is made possible by a generous partnership with our neighbors, the Art Academy of Cincinnati and 3CDC.
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.
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS! The @knowtheatre will be holding in-person auditions for our 27th MainStage Season:
UP THE AS*PIRIN: PAIN MANAGEMENT
At 5 PM on June 15, we begin with Songs Without Words (or, the Mendelssohn Play) from Jennifer Vosters out of Chicago, IL. Songs Without Words is the humorous, heartbreaking true story of one artistic soul inhabiting two very different artists. Solo performer Vosters brings composers Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn to life with a tour-de-force performance that wrestles gender and genius, family and fame, siblinghood and the power of art.
Next on the schedule at 6:45 is The Last Witch in Ireland: The Story of Bridget Cleary, from InBocca Performance out of Cincinnati, OH. In 1895, Michael Cleary declared his wife had been replaced by a changeling whom he’d burned and buried as he waited for his real wife to be returned. Who was Bridget Cleary, the last witch burned in Ireland? Who are we women – the wife or the changeling?
The final encore performance of the 2024 festival is 1-Man No Show, from Isaac Kessler out of Toronto, ON, at 8:30. This riotously funny solo clown-show-meets-performance-art piece is described by Kessler himself as “the most theatrically anti-theatre show you’ve ever seen.”
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 