Our picks for Free at the Fringe

By Kiara Alfonseca

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There are more than 170 free performances and events during this year's First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival. So if you're looking for a night on the Fringe without stretching your wallet, there's likely a program out there for you.

To search through all of the free programs, we suggest using the "Find a Show" function at rochesterfringe.com, and refining your search with the "Only Free Shows" option. But if you're crunched for time, here are seven free shows at the Fringe we recommend.

STREB in SEA (Singular Extreme Actions)

Three stages, a live DJ and "Extreme Action Heroes" come together to create stomach-dropping performances with flips and falls that will make audiences gasp. Each half-hour production is packed with intense athleticism, choreographed by world-renowned performer (and former Rochesterian) Elizabeth Streb. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of STREB, the show will test the human body's strength across three stages on Parcel 5.

STREB will perform as part of the Friday and Saturday on the Fringe programs, all free, with music from KOPPS, The Demos, and more.

(Friday, September 16, 8 p.m.; Saturday, September 17, 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 10 p.m.; Parcel 5; Appropriate for all ages)

Fringe Street Beat

In a Fringe first, the Street Beat dance battle is sure to get heated as teams of three compete for the chance to win $1,500. Some of the region's best dance crews have signed up, so expectations are high for stiff competition and crazy moves.

(Saturday, September 17, 3 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.; Parcel 5; Appropriate for all ages)

"Two 4 One"

Sponsored by ImageOut, the Rochester LGBT Film Festival, "Two 4 One" is a light-hearted, sweet comedy that will take viewers through the struggles of gender identity and a progressive take on modern love. The film is directed by Maureen Bradley, and follows what happens when the transgendered Adam tries to help his ex-girlfriend Miriam artificially inseminate. But the pair wind up sleeping together and both end up pregnant.

(Monday, September 19, 7:30 p.m.; Spiegelgarden; Appropriate for ages 18 and older)

"Shaun of the Dead"

"You've got red on you." This hilarious film, paying homage to all of the great zombie flicks, follows Shaun (Simon Pegg) as he and his friend Ed (Nick Frost) find themselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. The characters aren't extraordinary at crisis management or unrealistically great at fighting off zombies, and that's what makes this film gold. Directed by Edgar Wright, this is a chance to start the Halloween and horror movie season early.

(Thursday, September 22, 7:30 p.m.; Spiegelgarden; Appropriate for ages 18 and older)

Grimms' Mad Tales

Two hundred actors will line Gibbs Street to perform some of your favorite Brothers Grimms tales. Walking through Gibbs, while speaking and interacting with characters is the trick for this show. Produced by Method Machine, the show is not only exciting for its unpredictability but for the flash mob-esque vibe. If you love the traditional Grimms' stories, you should see this alternative storytelling bring it a new life.

Also, hang around Gibbs Street for more free music, art, and performances for the second weekend on the Fringe.

(Friday, September 23, and Saturday, September 24, 6 p.m.; Along Gibbs Street and in One Fringe Place; Appropriate for all ages)

The Campbell Brothers

The Campbell Brothers have made their way across the country and back, from California, to Washington, D.C., and back to New York. The Rochester-based band gives listeners high-energy beats intertwined with African-American gospels for a sound that brings plenty of soul. The band has been together for more than 20 years but keeps the variety and flavor in its music alive.

(Friday, September 23, 9:40 p.m.; Gibbs Street Main Stage; Appropriate for all ages)

Sand Mandalas

Sand mandalas are temporary, and that's what makes them so beautiful, according to artist Katie Jo Suddaby. The art form is known as a meditative practice, an escape from reality's stresses and worries. Suddaby's sand painting will take days to produce and seconds to disappear. Take a peek during the weekend to see this year's one-of-a-kind piece and try to absorb some of that contemplative energy.

(Thursday, September 15, and Friday, September 16, 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, September 17, 12:30 p.m.; Sunday, September 18, 11:30 a.m.; Thursday, September 22, and Friday, September 23, 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, September 24, 12:00 p.m.; TheatreROCS Stage: Lobby; Appropriate for all ages)

In This Guide...

Rochester Fringe Festival

Leah reviews 'A Blue Sky Like No Other' and The 24-Hour Plays

Everyone has a September 11 story -- whether it's an eerie coincidence, a "where I was when I found out," or a "my neighbor was there" -- but perhaps none can tell the story of that fateful day quite like someone who was in Manhattan when the Twin Towers collapsed. Steven Fetter, who grew up and worked in the city, has a story like that.

By Leah Stacy Sep 20, 2016
Rochester Fringe Festival

David reviews 'Dangerous Theatre' and 'Marx in Soho'

Hallie Flanagan is not a well-known name today, but in the 1930's she was vastly influential as the director of the Federal Theatre Project, a WPA initiative that sought to employ actors, writers, designers, and other out-of-work theater professionals by assigning them to "theater enterprises" throughout the United States, many in areas that had never seen a live play before. The project was a great success, but to New Deal-hating politicians, subsidizing "culture" -- including plays that seemed to have a leftist political message -- was an unpatriotic waste of money.

By David Raymond Sep 19, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Dangerous Theatre Marx in Soho Jack Simel
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rebecca reviews 'Next Fall,' 'Commotion Dance Theater,' and 'No More Words'

My Sunday at Fringe began with "Next Fall," a Geoffrey Nauffts play directed by Thomas Markham and staged at TheatreROCS. The show is about a group of family and friends struggling to reconcile differences in faith and sexuality.

By Rebecca Rafferty Sep 19, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Next Fall No More Words Commotion Dance Theatre
Rochester Fringe Festival

Adam reviews 'Muddy Track' and Big Wigs

I started off day three of Fringe by catching a screening of the little-seen documentary, "Muddy Track" at the Dryden Theatre -- the only Fringe event held at that venue this year. Scheduled as part of the Dryden's series on the films of Bernard Shakey (the pseudonym used by musician Neil Young in his little-known career as an independent film director), the screening was retrofitted to fit the Fringe lineup and the film makes a great addition.

By Adam Lubitow Sep 19, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Muddy Track Big Wigs Mrs. Kasha Davis
Rochester Fringe Festival

Adam review the RIT Student Honors Showcase and 'Murder Night'

Every year at the Fringe, I look forward to attending the RIT Student Honors Showcase, the annual event held at The Little Theatre that highlights student work from RIT's School of Film and Animation. It's always fun to see what the talented group of up-and-coming filmmakers are up to, and this year's program didn't disappoint.

By Adam Lubitow Sep 18, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews RIT Student Honors Showcase Murder Night Bryan
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rebecca reviews 'The A-is-for-Abortion Play,' and 'Underground Episodes'

It was sort of a bummer that only about a dozen people attended the first staging of "The A-is-for-Abortion Play" at the TheatreROCS venue, which can hold an audience of 700. The meager attendance might be explained by Fringe-goers wanting to spend their Saturday afternoon on more uplifting productions, but the show's subject is an ever-important one -- and this point was hammered home a few times in the course of the story.

By Rebecca Rafferty Sep 18, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Review A-is-for-Abortion Play Underground Episodes Cassandra Hume
Rochester Fringe Festival

Frank reviews Left for Dead Improv and 'Flatfoots, Floozies & Murder'

Left for Dead Improv split my guts with its astute deadpan and quick wit. In front of a packed house at Writers & Books, the group took shots at individual stories whose characters had maxed out on their quirk quotient.

By Frank De Blase Sep 18, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Review Left for Dead Improv Flatfoots, Floozies & Murder Comedy
Rochester Fringe Festival

Casey reviews PUSH Physical Theatre

PUSH Physical Theatre, the brainchild of artistic directors and founders Darren and Heather Stevenson, has a satisfying repertoire built from the local company's 16 years in existence, but it's always exciting to see a new piece. The Fringe audience Saturday night at the School of the Arts' main stage was shown the world premiere of "0's and 1's," a work still in progress.

By Casey Carlsen Sep 18, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Review PUSH Physical Theatre Darren Stevenson Heather Stevenson
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rebecca reviews 'Confessions of a Prairie B;+@h,' and Patton Oswalt

Admittedly, I was never a huge fan of "Little House on the Prairie." But I knew enough about the show that I got the joke each time Alison Arngrim (who played Nellie Oleson) referenced it during her debut Rochester Fringe Festival performance of "Confessions of a Prairie B;+@h" at School of the Arts.

By Rebecca Rafferty Sep 17, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Confessions of a Prairie B;+@h Patton Oswalt Alison Arngrim
Rochester Fringe Festival

Frank reviews 'Dance Macabre' and checks out Friday on the Fringe

I started the second day of Fringe with a chamber quartet, The Chanson String Quartet to be exact, who played pieces focusing on death so gingerly and gently that the audience in the near-empty Xerox Auditorium (the TheatreROCS Main Stage) didn't quite know where or when to applaud. The group played Camille Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre," naturally, and one of my favorites -- didn't think I had one, did you?

By Frank De Blase Sep 17, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews STREB KOPPS The Chanson String Quartet Slideshow
Rochester Fringe Festival

Leah Stacy reviews 'The Kiss'

There were almost too many performance choices on opening night of the Fringe (a good sign, of course, for the festival's fifth year). After attending the opening night party where we toasted to the success of 500 shows taking place over the next 10 days, I headed to School of the Arts on Prince Street.

By Leah Stacy Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews The Kiss WallByrd Theatre Virginia Monte
Rochester Fringe Festival

Jake reviews 'Anomaly'

Well, that was a beautiful way to start my 2016 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival. A buzzing crowd filled the Strasenburgh Planetarium for a resurrection of "Anomaly," which premiered to acclaim at the 2013 Fringe, and has already sold out its 2016 run.

By Jake Clapp Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Anomaly Biodance Sound ExChange W. Michelle Harris
Rochester Fringe Festival

Meet the writers covering Fringe 2016

Get to know Rebecca, Leah, Adam, David, Frank, and Jake

Rebecca Rafferty

Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 City Newspaper Writers Rebecca Rafferty Leah Stacy Adam Lubitow David Raymond Frank De Blase Jake Clapp
Rochester Fringe Festival

Frank reviews Cirque Du Fringe: 'Miracle Cure'

The Spiegeltent strikes me as a steampunk spaceship sent down to teach us the art of the spectacle. In an unrelenting fast-paced show, a sold-out crowd was treated to Cirque Du Fringe -- jugglers, contortionists, dancers, acrobats, slapstick comics, one guy who balanced 10 spinning plates on sticks the way I saw it done on the Ed Sullivan Show, and two maniacs with crossbows.

By Frank De Blase Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Cirque Du Fringe Contortionists Spiegeltent Slideshow
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rebecca reviews 'Somnium,' 'Here I Lie,' and 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon'

My first evening of Fringe began at School of the Arts, where RAPA presented Dramatic Space's debut production, "Somnium." The zany adventure story started with the premise that a small group of scientists had observed that there was more to CERN's discovery of the Higgs Boson "God Particle" than previously thought.

By Rebecca Rafferty Sep 16, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Somnium Here I Lie East of the Sun, West of the Moon
Rochester Fringe Festival

Rochester Fringe 2016: City's Daily Fringe Blogs

The 2016 First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival runs Thursday, September 15, through Saturday, September 24, and City Newspaper will be out EVERY NIGHT of the festival covering multiple shows. Check in first thing each morning for photos and reviews of the previous night's entertainment, listed below by date.

Sep 15, 2016

Fringe 2016 Fringe Reviews Downtown Rochester Rochester Festivals Performing Arts