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Guide To The Fringe Festival

One of the year's biggest performing arts events, the Fringe Festival will be staging more than 100 shows across the Twin Cities. From comedy and dance to spoken word, drama and even puppetry, this year's Fringe is sure to be a 10-day celebration of art and theater that's out of the box. Check out our guide to this much-anticipated multi-arts festival.

August 4–14, 2011
Festival admission button $4
Multi-show passes $50 - $225
Single tickets: $12, Kids $5, Seniors $10, Students $10

For tickets, call 1-866-811-4111 or visit website
Fringe Festival Website
Fringe on Facebook
Fringe on Twitter: @mnfringe

Venues:

University of Minnesota Rarig Center
330 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

Augsburg College
2211 Riverside Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

The Playwrights' Center
2301 E. Franklin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

Theatre in the Round
245 Cedar Ave S.
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

The Lab Theater
700 N. 1st St
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

Gremlin Theatre
2400 University Ave.
St. Paul, MN
Website

Minneapolis Theater Garage
711 W. Franklin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

Bryant-Lake Bowl
810 W. Lake St.
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

HUGE Improv Theater
3037 Lyndale Ave. S
Minneapolis, MN
Website

Mixed Blood Theater
1501 S 4th St.
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

Kieran's Irish Pub
601 1st Ave. N
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

Mill City Museum
710 S 2nd St.
Minneapolis, MN
Directory Listing

What to Watch

Since companies performing at the Fringe Festival are determined by lottery, the lineup is sure to be a varied and diverse. Here are some performances that we want to check out.

Smothers Brothers Grimm -- Fringe Festival
(credit: Comedy Suitcase Website)

Comedy Suitcase presents "The Smothers Brothers Grimm, Death and Fairy Tales, but Mostly Death"
U of M Rarig Center
August 5, 7, 11-12, 14 (schedule subject to change)
Website

From the creators of the 2009 Fringe Festival hit The Harty Boys in The Case of the Limping Platypus comes another comedy extravaganza. Told from the perspective of a 10-year-old comedy geek, The Smothers Brothers Grimm presents Grimm's original folktales in the style of 20th century comedy masters, such as Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy and Lucille Ball.

8/1 Arts & Culture - Fringe Festival - Robot Lincoln
(credit: Robot Lincoln website)

OT Prod-Ductions presents "Robot Lincoln: The Revengeance (The Musical)"
U of M Rarig Center
August 5, 7, 8-9, 13

A quirky, satirical musical comedy that the creators call "part sci-fi, part steam punk, part action adventure, part buddy movie, all spoof," Robot-Lincoln tells the story of Abraham Lincoln, revived as a robot after his death and his efforts to stop John Wilkes Booth, whose insanity has driven him to destroy the world. Various presidents in history makes appearances (as robots, natch). Wild and wacky? We think so.

8/1 Arts & Culture - Fringe Festival - Unraveled
(credit: Hauser Dance website)

Hauser Dance "Unraveled"
Intermedia Arts
August 6-8, 12-13

Get ready for dance in overdrive. Unraveled is a fast-paced show featuring a variety of dance styles to music ranging from Minneapolis composer/percussionist Bruce Wintervold to Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Expect tossing, twirling, upside down dancers with chairs in hand. Performers include John Agurkis, Yumi Inomata, Lori Mercil, Diane Moncrieff, Amy Olson and Sharon Picasso.

8/1 Arts & Culture - Fringe Festival - The Friar and the Nurse
(credit: Fringe Festival website)

Joking Apart Theater presents "The Friar and the Nurse"
U of MN Rarig Center
August 6-7, 11, 13 and 14

Want to know what went on behind the scenes of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet? You don't have to watch "Shakespeare in Love" again, just check out The Friar and the Nurse at the Fringe, and see an unlikely romance unfold between Romeo's friar and Juliet's nurse. Stars Edwin Strout and Jean Wolff.

Pre-Festival Event

Out-of-Towners' Showcase
August 3
HUGE Improv Theater
Festival admission button required for entry
Fringe artists from outside the Twin Cities metro are invited to perform quick excerpts of their shows at this popular Fringe-eve event.

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