Titillating titles, madcap musicals and Shakespeare, either straight up (another “Twelfth Night”) or twisted (“Pulp Shakespeare,” a mash-up of the Bard and Quentin Tarantino): Yes, the New York International Fringe Festival’s back in town.
From Friday through Aug. 26, the 16th edition promises 180-odd productions, some of which are already generating buzz: “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche,” set during the red scare of the 1950s; “Tail! Spin!,” a verbatim re-creation of political indiscretions; and that toast of Toronto’s Fringe, “Mahmoud,” about an Iranian woman’s identity crisis.
But what about the rest?
Some recurring themes are emerging, which we’ve sorted out below. For dates, theaters and other pithy details, visit fringenyc.org.
ARMAGEDDON!
* “The Apocalypse of John”: One man’s stand against aliens, super-viruses and the undead.
* “The End of Days”: Those damn Mayans and their overly pessimistic calendar!
* Chicken or beef? Poisoned apple or human flesh? Welcome to “Snow White Zombie: Apocalypse.”
JEWS ’N’ MORMONS
* “Shiksappeal: Getting the Chosen To Choose Me”: Catholic gal from Virginia seeks love in the land of lox.
* For a schmaltz-free smorgasbord of jokes your grandmother doesn’t want to hear, head to “The Essence: A Yiddish Theatre Dim Sum.”
* A Brigham Young follower’s indiscreet tweet goes viral in “#MormonInChief.”
RANDOM MUSICALS
* Teh Fringe, it rockz in “LOLpera,” whose lyrics are made up of Lolcat captions.
* “Paper Plane”: Barnstorming, freight-train-hopping exhibitions liven up the Great Depression.
* “The Hills Are Alive!”: An Austrian family with seven children crosses the Alps. There are no supplies, but lots of yodeling.
STAR STALKERS
* “Lennon in Denmark”: A young Dane’s meeting with the Beatle changes her life.
* “Scarlett Fever”: Apparently, there’s no vaccine against Scarlett Johansson.
* Madam Secretary is an object of lust in “Danny Visconti Is HILL-BENT: My Night With Hillary Clinton.”
FAIRY TALES
* “Bite the Apple”: Imagine “Sex and the City” peopled with fantasy characters. Oh, it already is?
* “Grimm: A New Musical”: Rapunzel, Hansel, Gretel and their pals wreak havoc in two sisters’ lives.
* “Story Time With Mr. Buttermen: Fables for Adults Living in a Modern World”: Definitely not for the small-fry, not even the street-smart ones.