Mad Horse Theatre And PortFringe Team Up With A Break From The Holiday Hubbub

Need escape from The Season? Ugh, for real. Take a break from the holiday hubbub with Mad Horse Theatre and PortFringe Maine's Fringe Festival, bringing back to stage highlights from the last two years of PortFringe insanity. Come check out local fringe theatre and performance this December with a re-mount of PortFringe favorites for eight crazy days!

Eight Days of Fringe is the antidote to that traditional holiday schlock. Get into our celebration of the variety of performing artists that make Southern Maine's theater scene tick, and why it's so sick. From solos to ensembles, improv to musical, comedy to drama, Eight Days of Fringe runs two consecutive weekends (December 5-8 and 12-15). Each show features two (and sometimes three!) local acts that made their debuts during PortFringe 2018 and 2019. Better than fruitcake, waaay better than the mall.

Performances are 7:30 pm on Thursdays and Fridays, Saturdays shows at 2:00 and 7:30,and Sundays at 2:00and 7:00. You can catch one show for $18.00 or get "passes": 2 tickets for $30, 3 tickets for $40 or 4 tickets for $50. Tickets available at the door. Mad Horse Theatre, 24 Mosher Street, South Portland 04106. For more information please call 207-747-4148 or email madhorseboxoffice@gmail.com. Visit our website www.madhorse.com or check us out at Facebook (Mad Horse Theatre Company).

The complete schedule:

Thursday, December 5 @ 7:30 pm Act 1: Mythcommunication (Chimera Theater Collective) Follow playwright/performer Chris DeFilipp as he leads the audience on an interactive Dungeons & Dragons campaign inspired by his tragic backstory. Act 2: YES&Co. Improv fun with inspired on-the-spot true stories.

Friday, December 6 @ 7:30 pm Act 1: When Speaking to an Extraterrestrial, a showcase of spoken word poetry by queer mixed race black suicide survivor, Maya Williams and The Unkindest Cut; Jocelyn Leighton & J Dionne explore depression, OCD, self criticism and how we live with it - Act 2: Keepin' It Real with Wilson. Meet the rising star of the Cleveland talk show circuit: Wilson has a heart like Oprah, humor like Ellen and dance moves like Channing Tatum, mature audiences only!

Saturday, December 7 @ 7:30 pm Act 1: War: A Love Story (Polyphonic Theatre Ensemble); Sick of the Greek Patriarchy, three modern Furies revamp of the tale of Aphrodite. Act2: A Gluten Farewell Tour. Do you fear you love bread more than people? Comedian Kate Ghiloni shines a light into the dark corners of how we eat, love and live.

Sunday, December 8 @ 2 pm Act 1: Mythcommunication (Chimera Theater Collective): Follow playwright/performer Chris DeFilipp as he leads the audience on an interactive Dungeons & Dragons campaign inspired by his tragic backstory. Act 2: YES&Co. Improv fun with inspired on-the-spot true stories.

Sunday, December 8 @ 7:00 pm Act 1: War: A Love Story (Polyphonic Theatre Ensemble); Sick of the Greek Patriarchy, three modern Furies revamp of the tale of Aphrodite. Act2: A Gluten Farewell Tour. Do you fear you love bread more than people? Comedian Kate Ghiloni shines a light into the dark corners of how we eat, love and live.

Thursday, December 12 @ 7:30 pm Act 1: Act 2 of Jesus Christ Superstar on A Miniature Stage (Tophat Productions). A tiny stage, everything performed live in real time, a visual and auditory marvel! Act 2: Aardvark Boat Tours - Combo Pack - Now with Included FREE MAP!! A historical adventure through Portland, Maine with Captain Aardvarky. Good wholesome fun - what could go wrong?

Friday, December 13 @ 7:30 pm Act 1: Act 2 of Jesus Christ Superstar on A Miniature Stage (Tophat Productions). A tiny stage, everything performed live in real time, a visual and auditory marvel! Act 2: Mythcommunication (Chimera Theater Collective). Follow playwright/performer Chris DeFilipp as he leads the audience on an interactive Dungeons & Dragons campaign inspired by his tragic backstory.

Saturday, December 14 @ 2 pm Act 1:When Speaking to an Extraterrestrial, a showcase of spoken word poetry by queer mixed race black suicide survivor, Maya Williams and The Unkindest Cut; Jocelyn Leighton & J Dionne explore depression, OCD, self criticism and how we live with it - Act 2: Keepin' It Real with Wilson. Meet the rising star of the Cleveland talk show circuit; Wilson has a heart like Oprah, humor like Ellen and dance moves like Channing Tatum, mature audiences only!

Saturday, December 14 @ 7:30 pm Act 1: Aardvark Boat Tours - Combo Pack - Now with Included FREE MAP!! A historical adventure through Portland, Maine with Captain Aardvarky. Good wholesome fun - what could go wrong? Act 2: YES&Co. Improv fun with inspired on-the-spot true stories.

Sunday, December 15 @ 2 pm Act 1: War: A Love Story (Polyphonic Theatre Ensemble); Sick of the Greek Patriarchy, three modern Furies revamp of the tale of Aphrodite. Act2: A Gluten Farewell Tour. Do you fear you love bread more than people? Comedian Kate Ghiloni shines a light into the dark corners of how we eat, love and live.

Sunday, December 15 @ 7:00 pm Act 1: When Speaking to an Extraterrestrial, a showcase of spoken word poetry by queer mixed race black suicide survivor, Maya Williams and The Unkindest Cut; Jocelyn Leighton & J Dionne explore depression, OCD, self criticism and how we live with it - Act 2: Keepin' It Real with Wilson. Meet the rising star of the Cleveland talk show circuit; Wilson has a heart like Oprah, humor like Ellen and dance moves like Channing Tatum, mature audiences only!

Founded in 1986, Mad Horse Theatre is a professional resident theater company whose mission is produce plays that compassionately examine and illuminate the enduring aspects of the human experience. Find them online at madhorse.com or on social media @ madhorsetheatre.

PortFringe is a by-lottery, non-juried fringe festival. We support new, edgy, and experimental performance in our city of Portland. We celebrate the imaginative and the weird. We are inclusive, intersectional, and unafraid. We seek to eliminate financial and logistical barriers so that artists can focus on their work (and even make money doing so). We celebrate and contribute to Maine's vibrant performance art community. We do this out of love and passion - for theater, for creativity, for cardboard props, and packed houses. Plus, it's super fun.

Perhaps best of all, PortFringe generates thousands of dollars of ticket sales ALL OF WHICH is funneled directly back to the artists. PortFringe demonstrates that there is a hunger in Portland, Maine for eclectic, homegrown, and fun arts programming - and that such creative pursuits can also be economically viable.

Save the date for the 9th PortFringe Festival: June 10-20, 2020. Applications open December 1, 2019, and more information can be found on portfringe.com.