NEED some Celtic wailing, ukulele love tunes, “Scooby Doo” tributes or foam body sculpture in your life?
Can’t live without hearing a sex lecture from “the world’s most experienced lesbian” or seeing clowns rework the Bible?
Perhaps the tale of a serial killer rehabilitated by cabaret, anecdotes from an alien abductee support group, or the life story of a trans-ender country rock star interests you? Or does a musical called “Urinetown!” sound more your thing?
The Lower East Side has always had something of an outlaw reputation, but today, with the opening of the third annual New York International Fringe Festival, it’s about to get a whole lot weirder.
Until Aug. 29, this off-off-Broadway festival will up the ante on the neighborhood’s eccentricity, with 154 performance groups from around the world all gleefully thumbing their noses at traditional theater.
“When we’re deciding what acts to book, we look for some things that we don’t quite understand,” admits the festival’s co-founder John Clancy.
That would explain the inclusion of “Geek on Smack,” in which Kurt Cobain meets Buster Keaton, “Killer Kondom,” a comic strip-style “trashical” using life-size puppets, and “Six Characters in Search of a Working Title,” an interactive, improvisational romp through the imagination of an 8-year-old.
“Guaranteed, the hit of the festival will come out of nowhere,” Clancy says. “Some very unassuming show, an actor you’ve never seen, a theater company you’ve never heard of, will just blow people away.”
Maybe it will be the teenage members of the Woodstock Youth Theatre, whose original musical “Journey to Friday” pledges to provide an insight into the minds of today’s troubled teens.
Perhaps it’ll be Ken Post, fresh off the plane from Belgium, with his troupe of 10 European street performers in a theater piece,”Tightrope.”
“This festival is the chance to put new, good energy into an American scene that desperately needs new mediums, new directions,” Post says. “It’s been too stale for too long.”
Or maybe the star of the festival will be Johnny Stallings, whose straight rendering of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” promises to be an oasis of normality amid the off-the-wall shenanigans of his contemporaries.
“That’s the thing I love about Fringe,” he says. “There’s something for everybody, no matter how bizarre your tastes.”
Clancy predicts the total attendance will top 45,000 over the 11 days. Last year about 35,000 bought tickets, he says.
There’s been a particular interest in “Messages for Gary,” a one-act play by Patrick E. Horrigan based on answering machine messages saved by gay activist Gary Lucek, and “All-Male Lives of Y2-Gay: A Millennium Musical Revue.” “The Black Rider,” a dark opera penned by Tom Waits, William S. Burroughs and Robert Wilson, has also generated pre-show buzz.
Patrons who expect to be shocked by experimental theater won’t go home disappointed. Clancy says that this year’s Fringe has upped “the raunch factor.” He reports that the “sex sells” maxim applies equally to the avant-garde: Potential customers have been ringing the box office to find out which shows will feature nudity.
For Maev Brennan, a 47-year-old playwright, is the festival’s top supporter. “I love theater of all types and to be plunged into a world of non-stop theater for two weeks is like heaven on earth,” says the writer, who has been awarded VIP status and a free “Lunatic Pass” allowing unlimited access.
“It doesn’t have to be oddball or experimental, as long as it’s new and fresh. There’s always the chance you’re going to see the best show you ever saw in your life.”
So arm yourself with a program and take a trawl through the 1,000 performances – there’ll be something opening in one of the 19 venues every 15 minutes – and perhaps you’ll unearth something sublime amid the ridiculous.
Tickets to all shows cost $11 and are available from Fringe Central, 196 Stanton St., or by phoning (212) 420-8877 (outside NY, 1-888-FringeNYC). Tickets are also available at the venue 15 minutes before showtime.