Arts Agenda: Atlanta Fringe Fest

Each week, ArtsATL delivers a critic’s short list of the shows, exhibitions, concerts and events we recommend for the coming weeks within one discipline or venue type in the kaleidoscope of Atlanta arts and culture. This edition is a little different. Last week, Benjamin Carr spotlighted a few of the highlights from the festival, which kicks off on May 27, but Atlanta Fringe features 245 performances of 51 productions, so we thought we’d offer a few more intriguing projects hitting local stages over the next two weeks.

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Five/5ths of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

This timeless adventure gets split into five parts, and each part has been given to different performers, including Blackground Improv and puppeteer Beau Brown, to interpret however they see fit. This unusual tribute show will bring together puppets, burlesque, comedy and more. Catch it at 7:30 p.m. on June 1 on the 7 Stages Mainstage.

Atlanta Street Fringe

Dedicated to busking and street performers of all kinds, presented in partnership with Media Res Immersive Theatre, there will be performances in multiple locations all over Little 5 Points Village and East Atlanta Village on the weekends of May 29 through May 31 and June 5 through June 7. Performers will be given multiple chances to engage with foot traffic in two of the quirkiest neighborhoods in Atlanta.

An American Love Letter to Edinburgh: Benjamin Franklin’s Scottish Enlightenment

This historically grounded account recounts how a Founding Father’s visits to Enlightenment-era Edinburgh, Scotland, influenced a nation and how a Georgia native found a home in the same city centuries later. Rick Conte retraces Benjamin Franklin’s steps in 18th-century Edinburgh and reflects on the influence that visit had on America’s fight for independence. Presented by the Scientific Romance Theatre Company of Edinburgh, the show links our city’s Fringe Fest to the world’s largest performing arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. See it at 7 p.m. on May 29 at the Supermarket Event Stage.

50 Shades of Gay Takes On The ’80s

This high-energy variety show blends stand-up comedy, drag performances, live music, parodies and interactive audience participation to celebrate the pop culture, synth-pop and neon fashion of the 1980s. Audiences are encouraged to dress in 1980s attire. Shows are at the Metropolitan Stage on May 29, May 31, June 4, June 5 and June 6.

That Haint Right: Appalachian Ghost Stories

Amanda Lawrence of Blairsville explores the haunted hills of Appalachia, where you can make a deal with the devil, wrestle down death and seek revenge from beyond the grave … if you dare. In this one-woman show, award-winning storyteller Lawrence takes you into Appalachian folklore through spellbinding stories that provide chills and thrills. See it at Dynamic El Dorado on May 30, May 31, June 3, June 4 and June 6.

Still, Life

Still, Life is a commentary on theater communities through the lens of a new member. April Moore, socially anxious and painfully awkward, attempts to interview for a set designer position at a community theater and ends up in the audition room. When she lands the leading role, she must navigate the highs and lows of this new world, including a bratty director, a perfectionist playwright and her overly eager scene partner, Toby. Atlanta’s Maya Torres takes a look behind the curtain at the magic of live theater and the people who create it. Shows take place at the Supermarket’s black box on May 28, May 30, May 31, June 5 and June 6.

CHRONIC PAin au chocolat

Janoah the Jester of Portland, Maine, brings this deeply personal work about chronic pain to Atlanta for what will be the third production. Expect circus tricks, intimate storytelling, a bit of dance, perhaps some puppetry and barely any French. And, as the blurb on the Fringe site notes, “definitely a striptease.” See it at 7 Stages’ back stage on May 29, May 30, May 31, June 4 and June 7.

The Trampoline

Aris Theatre co-founder Rob Shaw-Smith blends comedy and classical music in a “show that has about as much solemnity and composure as a drunk violist chasing their hyperanxious Waymo.” Shows are at 7 Stages’ back stage on May 29, May 30, May 31, June 3 and June 6.

Birdseye McPherson’s Last Ride

The very friendly, very funny Ghost of James Birdseye McPherson (1828-1864) takes the stage and shares his tales of doomed love, public transportation, Coca-Cola, Lenox Square Mall and other tomfoolery. Birdseye was a major general in the United States Army who was shot in the back during the Battle of Atlanta. After gently haunting the ATL for decades, he is ready to ask a few pointed questions, offer a couple of keen observations and propose an innovative plan for Stone Mountain. Former Atlantan Sean O’Brien, now living in Canton, New York, will perform the show at the Supermarket Blue Venue on May 29, May 31, June 3, June 5 and June 6.

Check out the fest’s website for more on the 14th annual Atlanta Fringe Festival.