The New York International Fringe Festival folded up its tent five years ago, but its successor keeps growing in size and reach every year. Organized though Frigid New York York, this version is programmed by lottery and gives 100% of proceeds to the productions involved, making it unsually appealing for new artists. The 2025 edition features more than 60 productions, each less than an hour long and each performed four or five times at the East Village's Under St. Marks and wild project and midtown's two Chain Theatre venues (plus four at the Rat NYC in Brooklyn)—which means you can choose among at least ten shows every weekday and about twice that many on weekends.
Options include an abundance of solo shows, new adaptations of Machinal and Uncle Vanya, and several projects by established names: The End of All Flesh, a postapocalyptic bluegrass musical by Urinetown co-writer Greg Kotis; Gabe Mollica: Horse Lawyer, by the comedian behind 2023's Solo: A Show About Friendship; 90 Years of Song and Scandal, a showcase for the world's oldest female stand-up, D'yan Forest; and The Retreating World, a monologue by Naomi Wallace (One Flea Spare). As at the Fringe of old, there are also many productions with grabbily funny titles, such as Jaws: The Musical, F***ed Up Fairytales, Love in the Time of Piñatas, Texas Annie: The Legend of the Moan Ranger, Swipe This! My Life in Transit, Adam Driver and The Phantom of the Opera’s Friend.
You can peruse the full list of offerings here, or view them in calendar form here.
Adam Driver | Photograph: Courtesy of the artist
