Chicago Fringe 2015 Kicks Off Today

The Chicago Fringe Festival is proud to announce its line up for the 2015 Festival. Performances in the sixth annual Chicago Fringe Festival take place in venues in Jefferson Park (including Congregational Church of Jefferson Park, Windy City Music Theatre, the Jefferson Playhouse and Gift Theatre), today, September 3, through September 13.

Entrance to the Fringe Festival, called Chicago's "Best Performing Arts Festival," by the Chicago Reader, is a one-time button purchase of $5, with your Fringe button all individual performances are an additional $10 each. Passes with a discounted ticket price are available when attending multiple performances: four-show pass is $36, ten-show pass is $80 and an unlimited pass is $175. New for 2015, four and ten-show passes may be used by multiple people. Each venue will have a box office for day-of purchase and the box office for the entire Festival is located at Fringe Central (Fischman Liquors and Tavern, 4780 N. Milwaukee Ave.).

The complete list of performers and performance titles* may be found at chicagofringe.org.

The 2015 Chicago Fringe Festival includes 50 performance groups from around Chicago and the world, including return performers The League of Miscreants (performed in the 2010 - 2014 Fringe Festivals), Duplicity Ensemble (2014), HartLife (2013 and 2014), Jaded Optimist Productions (2012), Kayla Lane Freeman and Sara Faye Richmond (2014), Rally Theatre (2014), Sarah M. Chichester (2014) and The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal (2010, 2011). Other performers hail from: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Washington, Canada, England and Israel. And for the first time in its six-year history, Kids Fringe, featuring Ashley Roberson, Barrel of Monkeys and FoolSize Theatre, will present theatre aimed at young audiences ages 12 and younger along with free workshops.* Some of the performance groups in Chicago Fringe Festival 2015 have participated in other prominent Fringe Festivals, including the Edinburgh Festival, Indy Fringe and the FringeNYC.

The main box office, information and activity center for the Chicago Fringe Festival is Fringe Central (Fischman Liquors and Tavern, 4780 N Milwaukee Ave.). Fringe Central has a party atmosphere and houses activities throughout the Festival, including after-parties, music and more. A Preview Party Wednesday, Sept. 2 offers a sneak peek of the lineup with three-minute previews by the participating artists. The party is free and open to the public.

The Chicago Fringe Festival, now in its sixth year, annually presents performances over the course of two weeks. The Chicago Fringe Festival is a member of the Fringe Festival movement and is one of many festivals held throughout the world. The Chicago Fringe Festival unites daring theatergoers with emerging and boundary-pushing local, national and international performing artists while seeking to engage nontraditional audiences through a commitment to low ticket prices and outreach into artistically underserved communities. Fringe artists and performers receive 100% of the net ticket sales generated by their appearance.

Tickets to the sixth Chicago Fringe Festival, September 3 - 13, go on sale Saturday, Aug. 1 at 12 p.m. Entrance to the Fringe Festival, called Chicago's "Best Performing Arts Festival," by the Chicago Reader, is a one-time button purchase of $5, with your Fringe button all individual performances are an additional $10 each. Passes with a discounted ticket price are available when attending multiple performances: four-show pass is $36, ten-show pass is $80 and an unlimited pass is $175. Each venue will have a box office for day-of purchase and the box office for the entire Festival is located at Fringe Central (Fischman Liquors and Tavern, 4780 N. Milwaukee Ave.). The complete list of performers and performance titles* may be found at chicagofringe.org.

*Please note: organizations, performances, times and venues may change without notice.

Pictured: Twisted Beats and Circus Feats in ChiFringe 2013. Photo by Leslie Adkins.