IndyFringe 2023: What's coming to the Mass Ave theater festival and how to buy tickets

Domenica Bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star
·3 min read

Jennifer Cooper grew up in the United Kingdom, where she attended Edinburgh's famous fringe festival. She watched The Fringe saturate the streets with magicians and buskers and the stages with up-and-coming performers whose cutting-edge creations found a home among experimental work of many genres.

So Cooper immediately saw Indianapolis' good fortune in having a long-running festival of its own. Now in her first year as executive director of IndyFringe, Cooper is picking up the torch of the three-week summer festival and broadening its footprint by expanding the festival beyond Mass Ave and across more artistic genres.

"My vision, in line with the Edinburgh Fringe festival, is to truly encompass all the arts," she said.

IndyFringe, which runs from Thursday through Sept. 3, will take place in Mass Ave venues, with surrounding free entertainment, buskers and lawn games. It also will have more special events that spread beyond the Cultural District, including a new scavenger hunt that focuses what's "edgy, curious, equitable and eclectic."

Beyond the summer festival, IndyFringe is expanding its year-round performances — now called the Spotlight Season — and will showcase several Central Indiana organizations in more than 80 performances.

"There's so much potential for the Fringe movement in Indianapolis," Cooper said.

The IndyFringe theaters are located near East St. Clair Street and North College Avenue.
The IndyFringe theaters are located near East St. Clair Street and North College Avenue.

IndyFringe festival highlights

The summer festival's 300 performances of 70 unique shows are listed at indyfringe.org/festival/shows. Here are a few highlights:

  • "Big Dad Energy": Jamie Campbell's standup show about finding love in your 40s and realizing parenthood isn't in the cards.

  • "White Rabbit Red Rabbit": No actor can rehearse or read the script before the performance — making the show about a generation warring with free speech, censorship and unrest a thrillingly different performance each time. (American Lives Theatre Co.)

  • "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind": Actors will perform 24 plays in 48 minutes — and the audience is invited to select the order. (UIndy Theatre Co.)

  • "Interface": In a collaborative digital and live concert, dancers will perform alongside animated images designed by choreographer Katie Phelan. (The Digital Dance Collective)

  • "Oh Look, It’s Magic! An ADHD Advocacy Magic Show": Magician Jordan Allen, a veteran Fringe performer with ADHD, performs this sensory-friendly show that's created for those who are neurodivergent.

See all of the shows at the IndyFringe Basile and IndyFringe Indy Eleven theaters (719 E. St. Claire St.), The District's Cabaret and Mainstage theaters (627 Massachusetts Ave.), and The Athenaeum's auditorium and Basile Theatre (401 E. Michigan St.). See the printed program and listings at indyfringe.org for specific showtimes and venues.

New leadership: IndyFringe hires Jennifer Cooper as its new executive director

New IndyFringe Passport

Embark on your own journey of theater and art by collecting stamps on your passport. Do that by showing it at the box office at each of the six IndyFringe venues when you check in to see shows, making a purchase at the Beer Tent and finding the Fringe on Wheels Mobile Stage.

You'll also have to finish the Harrison Center Art Adventure Scavenger Hunt by locating specific works, which are noted in the program. The center, at 1505 N. Delaware St., will be open for self-guided tours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Once you have everything stamped, you're eligible to enter a raffle with prizes that include IndyFringe season passes, Kan-Kan Cinema membership, and gift cards to the Cunningham Restaurant Group and Harrison Center.

How to buy tickets

IndyFringe encourages patrons to buy tickets — $20 for adults and $14 for students — in advance at indyfringe.org/festival/shows.

Discounted $12 rush tickets will be available — online or at the Audience Services Desk — for some shows. Those will be announced at 11 a.m. the day of the performances. Additionally, a six-ticket flex pass is $99.

Contact the box office at 317-210-4639 for more information.

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Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or d.bongiovanni@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyFringe 2023: What to know about the Mass Ave theater festival