There’s just five more days of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, which wraps up with several “Encore” performances on Saturday, June 13. If you have yet to see any of these well received and highly recommended productions, don’t delay. All three of them will be presented at Know Theatre (1120 Jackson Street in Over-the-Rhine) Champagne Dreams
Cincy Fringe in its Final Week Read More »
The 23rd annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival is underway, having had a full weekend May 29-30-31. Productions continue through June 13. I took in three productions, starting with Ingrid Garner’s A HOLLYWOOD HORROR STORY. After two previous Cincy Fringe appearances doing ELEANOR’S STORY and its sequel — both about her grandmother’s experience as an American teenager
Cincy Fringe Is Off and Running! Read More »
Throughout April 2026 I’m sharing the 2026-2027 seasons announced by each of Cincinnati’s professional theater companies. This week’s update is about offerings from Know Theatre, found on Jackson Street in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Know, the city’s black box professional theatre, is thriving as it looks to its third season under the leadership of Producing Artistic
Coming to Know Theatre for 2026-2027 Read More »
Every one of Cincinnati’s professional theaters produced memorable shows in 2025. My fellow critic Julie Carpenter and I picked a half-dozen for CityBeat‘s “year-in-review” issue — Primary Trust and English at the Cincinnati Playhouse, A Room in the Castle (photo below by Mikki Schaffner) and Mrs. Dalloway at Cincy Shakes, King James at Know Theatre
Great Cincinnati Theater Productions in 2025 Read More »
The two annual weeks of lively “fringe” theater in Cincinnati concluded over the weekend with performances and awards on Saturday evening, June 14. My postings on my Facebook page, Rick Pender’s Theater Stages & Scenes offered further comments about these shows. Here’s a rundown of the productions that earned special recognition: • Audience Pick: 1
Final Words about the 2025 Cincy Fringe Read More »
Jon Bennett has been an award winning solo Fringe artist for two decades. The Australian monologist is back for his third Cincy Fringe (in the past he presented memorable performances of “Dad (hates) Jokes” and “Fire in the Meth Lab), this time presenting AMERICAN’T, which I saw on Tuesday evening, June 10. It’s a tale
Cincy Fringe, Week 2 – AMERICAN’T Read More »
I spent Friday evening in Over-the-Rhine takingin two shows by solo Fringe performers. I stopped at First Lutheran Church at 6:45 and then headed to Coffee Emporium at 8:30 for Toronto-based Gordon Neill’s WINNING: Winning is both unusual — even by Fringe standards — entertaining and heartfelt. It’s a “silent-ish clown journey of self-discovery” and
Two more Fringe shows: Friday, June 6 Read More »
I’ve now attended nine productions, and you can read my thoughts about each of them via my Facebook page, RICK PENDER’S THEATER STAGES & SCENES (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063260798816) For humor, I recommend THE FAMILY CROW with a loquacious puppet and EVERY GOOD STORY ENDS WITH ONE (you’ll have to see it to learn “one what?” Want something
More Cincy Fringe Shows I’ve Seen … Read More »
On Sunday, June 1, I saw four shows produced by the Cincinati Fringe Festival: “Somewhere Over the Holler,” “Arsenic and Old Spice,” “Me, Myself and Other,” and “Stuck.” You can read my comments via my website, www.RickPenderWrites.com. And if you’re interested these and other shows — the 22nd annual festival has more than 40! —
More Cincy Fringe Coverage Read More »
The 22nd iteration of the Cincy Fringe kicked off on Friday, May 30; it will run until Saturday, June 14. Over the course of the next two weeks there will be 194 performances of 42 different productions in 34 time slots. This is an annual production of Know Theatre (1120 Jackson Street in Over-the-Rhine), the
22nd Cincinnati Fringe Festival (2025) Read More »
