The cast of The Compleat History of Women | Photo Courtesy of Wendy Thompson

Dorri Partain 
Managing Editor

From comedy to drama, magic, burlesque and more, this year’s KC Fringe festival offers a wide array of live performances in venues across Kansas City—  including two locations within Historic Northeast.

Celebrating its 20th year, this festival’s goal is to “offer opportunities to getup close and personal with artists in theater, dance, film music and visual arts,” according to its website. Its vision is to “create community, encourage self-expression and connect local, professional emerging artists with audiences”.

Photo by Dorri Partain

Whim Space  (415 Prospect Ave.), will host seven productions, beginning Friday, July 19, through July 27.

This arts-focused community center is the home base of Whim Productions — Kansas City’s LGBTQ+ theater company, and Improv SpringBoard — whose mission is to promote the talents and voices of female and nonbinary folks, stated Whim Space founder Kevin King. This is the second year Whim Space has hosted KC Fringe.

A new venue for this year’s festival  is Independence Boulevard Christian Church (606 Gladstone Blvd). Six productions will take stage beginning Friday, July 19, and run through July 27. Pastor Mindy Fugarino said she reached out to festival organizers, since the church’s Fellowship Hall has a stage and members wanted their space to be of more use to the community. Various food and drink options will be available for purchase — depending on performance  date.

Each show on the KC Fringe line up is scheduled for five performances at various times in the evening, or as a matinee. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door 30 minutes prior to showtime. Tickets for each performance are $15.00 — plus a one-time charge of $5.00 for a KC Fringe button, which is good for all shows.

Pendleton Heights resident Rachel Fair headlines in “That’s So Magically Meta” at Whim Space, which features a scene where one of her personas drives a “Galacticamino”. 

Additional venues for this year’s festival include the Stray Cat Film Center, The Arts Asylum, The Black Box, Center for Spiritual Living, City Stage at Union Station, KC Oasis and The Bird Comedy Theater — which doubles as the box office for KC Fringe.

Tickets, and a complete listing of all productions, are available at the festival’s webpage: kcfringe.org. Fringe 411, actually 816-819-0639, also handles ticket sales as well as offers show information from 12 to 6:00 p.m,, Tuesday through Saturday, now through July 27.