San Francisco Fringe Festival Presents FISH-GIRL, VOLCANO & More!

The San Francisco Fringe Festival has lived on The Edge for 22 years. Along with the jugglers and the clowns, the witty solo shows and sketch comedy, The Fringe is known for delving into the arena of S-E-X. On the latter note, this year is no exception.

Fish-girl, by sex-worker Siouxsie Q and her collaborator Sean Andries, shows that Ms. Q is also a dominatrix of the world's Second Oldest Profession - talking about it.

Fish-girl is "a tail beyond belief" It's the harrowing story of an enchanted mermaid doomed to sing for her supper when a chance encounter with a love-struck tourist offers her salvation but risks total ruin. Actor-creators Sean Andries and Siouxsie Q perform this "high-octane, original one-act drama of rich character and heightened emotion."

San Franciso's own Siouxsie Q works on the cutting edge of fantasy. She is the creator and host of the podcast "The WhoreCast" showcasing the stories, art and voices of American sex workers. She has appeared as a guest expert on the Savage Love column, and PBS's Ira Glass thinks she's "charming". She is an adult performer for various adult and an alumna of SF's unionized peep show The Lusty Lady. Not all tats and piercings, she also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts from a university that would probably prefer to remain nameless. Siouxsie Q recently took her podcast to a live audience with "The WhoreCast LIVE!" which launched the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival

On the lighter side of s-e-x, the SF Fringe brings you The Women of Tu-Na House. What matters more... the size of the boat or the motion of the ocean? Find out as you're introduced to eight disparate & distinct characters during a wild visit to an Asian massage parlor that offers more bang for your buck and a rare glimpse into a surprising, comical & sometimes sad world generally seen through almond-shaped eyes in NYC-based veteran actress Nancy Eng's funny, witty and entertaining one-woman show.

And for a classical, more literary approach to the subject, there's Luna Noctiluca, an adapted remix of the story of Salome based on the works of Oscar Wilde and Charles Mee. Presented by Pleasanton (CA)-based Concupiscence Productions, Luna Noctiluca raises provocative questions about women and sex in society, and by extension, the nature of humanity. Luna asks, "Like the moon that shines by night, can we see the light in our darkness?" Or under that seventh veil?

Here's a sampling of what's offered for the 2013 SF Fringe.

Service workers take the stage, as a waitress and two bartenders weave their varied tales in Parly Girl (Sparks, NV) Serving Bait to Rich People (Aspen, CO) The Tipped & the Tipsy (S.F.)

The scary effects of high-tech are aired in After the Tone (S.F.), a story of achieving digital immorality, and Singulariteen (Menlo Park) where a family confronts an astrophysical nightmare. For dessert, there's Volcano (S.F.) a high-tech light show billed as an "electronic song adventure."

Bay Area playwrights Lee Brady and Martin Schwartz bring, respectively, Random Acts of Love and StormStressLenz. Brady's is three dark comedies about the endangered male. Schwartz selects 30 insanely dramatic bits from the work of a very strange German playwright, freshly translates them, shuffles them grossly out of context, and Dark Porch Theatre "acts the heck out of them."

Popcorn Anti-Theatre (SF) takes you on a bus tour, stopping along the way for various street-corner performances. In Eating Pasta Off the Floor, (San Rafael, CA) Maria Grazia Affinito hopes a trip to her mom's home town in Italy will shed some light on their volatile relationship. It sheds more than light.

The Rats in the Alley Go Bananas! (Vallejo, CA) offers sketch comedy and long-form improv. The Stockholders Meeting (Atlanta) allows the audience to vent over institutions like Enron and Wall Street. And in The Storyzilla Full Frontal Human Movie (Madison, WI), Nell Weatherwax tells stories that are just flat-out fall-on-the-floor funny.

As for Two-fers, Madame Beauchamp's Mystery Theatre (S.F.) offers two one-acts, James Thurber's dark comedic tale, The Whip-Poor-Will and ERic Hodgins' Mr Blandings Builds His Castle, the woeful tale of a man bilked by general contractors. (Hello, Angie's List!) And Two Women, Two Stories offers two hilarious, moving solo pieces about women aging with power, grace (and a bit of "what the f**k?") What's Wrong with a Mouse?is Vicki Dello Joio's journey of healing a 20-year rift with her father, who disowned her for being queer. In What's My Age Again? Merry Ross travels through the unknown terrain of peri-menopause introducing her grandmother, mother, and daughters through hilarious and poignant stories.

Sneak Peek at the Fringe - August 24

Can't wait until September 6? SF Fringe presents the annual "Sneak Peek at the Fringe" with a selection of preview performances of 6...7...maybe 8 shows from the 2013 Fringe. 8:00 pm at EXIT Theatre Mainstage, 156 Eddy Street. FREE, but get there early for a seat. EXIT Café opens at 7:30 pm for adult libations.

Tickets and Times

Tickets for the 14-day San Francisco Fringe Festival, Sept. 6-21, are $10 (or less) at the door (cash only) and $12.99 (or less) online. The ten-show Frequent Fringer pass is $75, and a five-show pass is $45. The EXIT Theatreplex is within walking distance of Union Square and the Powell Street BART station. For complete listings of shows and times, go to www.sffringe.org. Or call the fringe hotline at (415) 673-3847.

This year, EXIT Theatre celebrates its 30th anniversary of bringing exciting, innovative theatre to downtown San Francisco.

Photo Credit: Micah Goldstein