9 unique, weird shows to see at 10-day Theatre Crude Fringe Festival
From a creepy puppet variety show to immersive live seances, the Theatre Crude Fringe Festival is again giving Oklahoma audiences the opportunity to explore the cutting edge of live performance.
Set for Sept. 15-24 at Jewel Box Theatre, the 10-day festival will feature 40 in-person performances from 12 multidisciplinary groups, with several local performers featured on the eclectic lineup.
“Theatre Crude has carved out a special niche in Oklahoma City,” said Derek Kenney, Jewel Box Theatre managing director, in a statement. “I am consistently impressed by the new, creative productions that Theatre Crude brings to the festival. They provide a unique forum for artists in Oklahoma, and Jewel Box is thrilled to be hosting their sandbox this year.”
The fourth annual event, which will incorporate a virtual element to complement its in-person slate, will start with a kick-off party from 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 14 at The Venue at Plenty Mercantile.
Produced in most major cities around the globe, fringe festivals showcase an array of new, experimental and original theater and performances.
"The key to fringe is variety, so when we are choosing our lineup from our applicants, we are not looking for the best of the best. We look for the most passionate of the most passionate in putting together a festival that showcases all that live performance can be," festival co-founder and Executive Director Jenny Brand told The Oklahoman.
"While it does include pieces that could be just described as traditional theater, it also includes pieces that could not. ... We have comedy and drama and dance and spoken word and sketch comedy and improvisation. We're going to have a live seance on stage ... and to be perfectly fair, I don't know what's going to happen — and that's so exciting."
Here are nine weird and promising titles on the lineup of this year's Theatre Crude Fringe Festival:
1. 'Play On Seance'
Showtimes: 8:30 p.m. Sept. 16, 10 p.m. Sept. 17, 10 p.m. Sept. 21 and 5:30 p.m. Sept. 24.
Creator and performer Rebecca McCauley's "Play On Seance" promises "outrageous fortune-telling," "spooky spirit seers" and "immersive improv." It will be up to festivalgoers to divine whether the four-person cast is actually piercing the veil between worlds or just pulling the audience's collective leg.
2. 'Be Kind, Rewind'
Showtimes: 4 p.m. Sept. 17, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 18, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22 and 4 p.m. Sept. 24.
As the title implies, the all-ages fringe fest entry "Be Kind, Rewind" is billed as "a mind-boggling magic show with the heart of 1992." The title from Oklahoma City magician Joe Coover will include the debut of a new character with blue felt skin and a sardonic sense of humor.
3. 'The CatMaster Cycle'
Showtimes: 7 p.m. Sept. 15, 7 p.m. Sept. 18, 10 p.m. Sept. 23 and 2:30 p.m. Sept. 24.
With "The CatMaster Cycle," Oklahoma artist Cat Pitt is herding a trio of feline-focused absurdist vignettes winding around the theme of "the statistical improbability of sentient existence." Audience participation and improvisational elements are apparently involved.
4. 'Meaningless'
Showtimes: 7 p.m. Sept. 16, 1 p.m. Sept. 18, 7 p.m. Sept. 21 and 10 p.m. Sept. 22.
OKC actor and writer Rodney Brazil returns to the Theatre Crude Fringe Festival with his new show "Meaningless," in which he presents the unedited and uncensored New Living Translation of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes in a one-act, mostly one-person performance.
5. 'God's Work'
Showtimes: 5:30 p.m. Sept. 22-23.
A new hip-hop dance drama created and performed by Sanwone and Santae Benjamin — identical twin brothers born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina — "God's Work" tells the tale of two friends struggling to restore their trust in each other after envy and dishonesty create conflict between them.
6. 'The Big Voices Project'
Showtimes: 7 p.m. Sept. 17, 4 p.m. Sept. 18, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 23 and 1 p.m. Sept. 24.
An OKC modern and aerial dance company marking its 20th anniversary this year, Perpetual Motion Dance is seeking out meaningful intersections between military communities, artists and the public with "The Big Voices Project."
7. 'Millennial Life Crisis or Historical Event Horizon'
Showtimes: 8:30 p.m. Sept. 15, 5:30 p.m. Sept. 17, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 20 and 8:30 p.m. Sept. 24.
Tired of living through these unprecedented times? Oklahoma artist collective KHALC with Friends might just have the sketch comedy revue for you with "Millennial Life Crisis or Historical Event Horizon."
8. 'Panacea'
Showtimes: 10 p.m. Sept. 15, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 17, 10 p.m. Sept. 20 and 7 p.m. Sept. 22.
Recent Oklahoma City University graduate Lauren Leppke's "Panacea" is a horror play about the reality of grief.
9. Virtual showcase
Free in-person screening: 7 p.m. Sept. 19.
The virtual component of this year's festival includes five titles that audiences can view online at https://www.theatrecrude.org or during the free in-person screening at Jewel Box.
The virtual selections include the creepy puppet variety show "Bugbear," Mina Liccione's one-woman comedy showcase "Growing Up Ringside" and Anishinaabe playwright Jo MacDonald's dramedy “Neechie-Itas," which the Oklahoma Indigenous Theatre Company staged as the centerpiece of its 2019 Native American New Play Festival.
THEATRE CRUDE FRINGE FESTIVAL
When: Sept. 15-24.
Where: Jewel Box Theatre, 321 NW 36.
Kick-off Party: 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 14 at The Venue at Plenty Mercantile, 807 N Broadway.
Tickets and information: https://www.theatrecrude.org.
Features Writer Brandy "BAM" McDonnell has covered Oklahoma's arts, entertainment and cultural sectors for The Oklahoman for 20 years. Reach her at bmcdonnell@oklahoman.com, www.facebook.com/brandybammcdonnell and twitter.com/BAMOK. Support her work by signing up for her See & Do Oklahoma newsletter and subscribing to The Oklahoman.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC's Theatre Crude Fringe Fest offers a variety of the weird, unique
