38 shows will be hitting city stages from September 5th through 16th as part of the uncensored and non-curated San Francisco Fringe Festival. Now in its 16th year, the non-traditional theatre festival hosts a variety of experimental and unpredictable stage performances.

If you’re looking for Shakespeare, better look somewhere else. Play titles in the San Francisco Fringe program are along the lines of "Barroom Philosophers", "Fuck You Cancer", "Shopping as a Spiritual Path" and "Korean Badass." For those that demand a familiar plot, there’s Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of "Turn of the Screw", but don’t count on a traditional theatrical style from the performers. In short, the San Francisco Fringe draws lively, experimental performances and audiences that come ready to be shocked and entertained.

The selection process of the festival is also open-minded. Performances aren’t hand-picked or approved by a jury or curator. Instead, a lottery system helps select the local, national and international performers. As part of an international Fringe circuit, the 2007 San Francisco Fringe features several performers from Fringes like Montreal, Edinburgh, Dublin, New York and Prague. At a free sneak preview on September 8th, you can catch excerpts from 8 out-of-towner performances.

The Fringe’s rare, unfiltered slice of underground performance art can serve up a rather mixed bag of acts – a real cross-section of type, quality and appropriate audience. But the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and with all performances limited to an hour in length, it’ll be easy to taste more than one Fringe flavor.

For more info visit San Francisco Fringe
415-673-3847
Tickets $9, 5-show pass $35, 10-show pass $65