If you’re reading this, you either love theater or you are theater-curious.
We know the annual IndyFringe Festival is about choices, whether it’s getting tickets to see a one-woman show or a dozen comedians laughing and yelling about politics.
Committed and talented people work for months to prepare for this festival. There are 63 acts and over 300 performances across six venues this year alone.
Here are a few places to get started. Our list touches on drama, comedy and, of course, Shakespeare.
‘A New World Coming: Conversations With Cass Elliot’
🗓️ 8 p.m. Aug. 13, 15 and 17; 6:30 p.m. Aug. 20; 9:30 p.m. Aug. 22; 12:30 p.m. Aug. 23
📍 The Basile Theatre at IF, 719 E. St. Clair St.
This show asks one question: What if Cass Elliot — lead vocalist of 1960s folk quartet The Mamas & the Papas — returned for a final concert with full knowledge of everything that happened after her death?
Elliot died of a heart attack in 1974, but for years the true cause of her death has been overshadowed by a rumor that she choked on a sandwich.
“A New World” blends politics, social change, fat-shaming and humor. The show is produced by the Indianapolis-based StageQuest Theatrical Services LLC and framed as a talk-show-meets-rock-revival experience. You’ll also hear classics reimagined, such as “Dream a Little Dream of Me” and “Make Your Own Kind of Music. “
‘Teeny Tiny Tempest’
🗓️ 6:30 p.m. Aug. 13; 9:30 p.m. Aug. 14; 11 a.m. Aug. 15; 8 p.m. Aug. 19; 2 p.m. Aug. 22; 2 p.m. Aug. 23
📍 The Blackbox at IF Theatre, 719 E. St Clair St.
From the team that brought you the comedies “Enjoy this EP” and “Ship of Dreams” comes a series of vignettes loosely based on Shakespeare’s final play. The writer/performer duo, Jason Adams and Paige Scott, will deliver puppetry, prose, Shakespeare and playfulness.
‘Hot, Cheap, and Ready (The Special Sauce Monologs)’
🗓️ 5 p.m. Aug. 15; 3:30 p.m. Aug. 22; 6:30 p.m. Aug. 23
📍The Basile Theatre at IF, 719 E. St. Clair St.
Playwright and poet Gabrielle Patterson turns the plain jane, female faces of fast food icons into sexy and raunchy characters. Meet Whendee, Daree utabe Qween, Chick feel A, Taca Bella and YT Castlaaaaaay, and listen to their special sauce monologues. It’s a wild ride through all the things you like to eat and some you don’t.
‘A Bed of Thorns’
🗓️ 12:30 p.m. Aug. 15; 8 p.m. Aug. 16; 6:30 p.m. Aug. 17 and Aug. 21; 5 p.m. Aug. 22; 2 p.m. Aug. 23
📍 The Basile Theatre at IF, 719 E. St. Clair St.
Theater group The Disgusting Brothers Company is known for combining theatre and history (who could forget 2024’s “Foils and Fornication: A Founding Fathers Fanfic,” depicting the love story of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams?).
But this year, the group dives into a more dramatic show. “A Bed of Thorns” puts a gothic and sapphic spin on “Sleeping Beauty.”
‘Black Obsidian’
🗓️ 8 p.m. Aug. 13; 9:30 p.m. Aug. 15; 6:30 p.m. Aug. 16
📍 District Theatre: Main Stage, 627 Mass Ave.
This one-hour play follows Bryce, a young Black man navigating his sexuality and the death of his parents. The show by Indy-based Bryan G. Ball Productions confronts challenges of self-acceptance, stereotypes, homelessness within the LGBTQ+ community, and specifically the challenges that affect Black queer people.
‘Call of the Void’
🗓️ 5 p.m. Aug. 16; 11 a.m. Aug. 22; 3:30 p.m. Aug. 23
📍 The Blackbox at IF Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair St.
Fresh off the award for 2026 Flanner Fringe Lab Best Poetical Work, Adam Henze, an educator and spoken word artist, brings his heartfelt one-person show to Fringe.
Henze will share his poetry, prose and doctoral dissertation excerpts as he talks about poetry, prison, teaching, alcoholism, mental illness and the stress of teaching in underserved classrooms.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations. Sign up for our free newsletters.
Mirror Indy reporter Mesgana Waiss covers arts and culture. Contact her at 317-667-2643 or mesgana.waiss@mirrorindy.org.
Emily Worrell is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. You can reach her at emilymworrell@gmail.com.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
