Tucson Fringe Fest goes international

This year, a record-breaking 27 scripts were submitted for the three-day playpalooza.

Seventeen were selected — well, selected isn’t really the right word, as all the plays are unjuried. Those who get to participate in the festival are chosen at random from all entrants.

In any case, playwrights with pieces on the festival’s program this weekend come from San Francisco, San Diego, Tucson and — this is the international part — Italy.

The expanded base of applicants is likely due to the organization joining the U.S. Fringe Festival, says co-director Yassi Jahanmir. The national organization is a resource for playwrights around the world interested in fringe fests, which happen in cities across this country, in Europe and Australia.

Jahanmir and her co-director, Sara Tiffany, founded the fest together. The two were childhood friends in Tucson and, it seems, never stopped playing together — only this time, it’s theater, not toy trucks or dolls.

At the core of all fringe festivals around the world is the picking-the-plays-from-a-hat rule.

It allows for diversification in voices, said Jahanmir, and for some wild, experimental and intimate theatrical experiences.

“You get a chance to see someone baring their soul without it being implemented and packaged by so-called experts,” she said.

While the Fringe Fest organizes the venues (there are four this year), schedules the plays so that it’s possible to see all productions over the weekend, and sells the tickets, the playwrights are responsible for their individual productions.

That gives theater lovers another layer they wouldn’t normally get.

“Part of it is seeing the process,” Jahanmir says. “Think of it as ’60s experimental artwork. You see the labor involved, and all the work that goes into it.”

The Fringe Fest is run on a tight, tight budget — about $2,500, says Jahanmir. While each artist pays $125 to cover the marketing and other festival expenses, 80 percent of the ticket sales go back to the artist; 20 percent of sales go to the venue.

Jahanmir said the Tucson Fringe now has a board of directors that is helping spearhead the fundraising, and its new 501(c)(3) status should help encourage donations.

But don’t ever expect the event to lose its raw, brave and experimental qualities — they are part of why Fringe Festivals are popular around the world.

Plays:

“Taking the High Road (Comic Confessions from Behind the Cannabis Curtain)” by Sherry Glaser from Mendocino, Calif. As the legalization of pot takes hold, Glaser and her characters share their experiences with the weed. Appropriate for 18+. 1 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, Club Congress.

“Crazy Stand-up by a Grown Up” by Hilary Pursehouse, Tucson. A 10-minute free show packed with satire, cynicism and silliness. 8 p.m. Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Club Congress.

“Slideshow Fairytales: T.B.D.” by Catfish Baruni, Tucson. Another short piece. We are never really sure what Baruni’s plays are about, but we always laugh. 7 p.m. Friday, 4:30 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday at Zuzi.

“American Haiko: Pain” by Lola Rainey, Tucson. A woman faces disturbing childhood memories in order to heal her spirit. 5:30 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Sunday, Fluxx.

“A Professor, A Comedian, and a Bluesman Walk Into a Bar” by Tom Potter, Tucson. The popular funnyman in the Old Pueblo has fashioned a play where an old man reflects on his life as he delivers his own eulogy. 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, noon Sunday, Club Congress.

“My Muse is a Woman Who Hates Me” by Michael Fenlason and Unlikely Theater, Tucson. A writer argues with his muse about the death of a character. 5 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Club Congress.

“Supershock vs. Faust” by Supershock, Turin, Italy. Images from the 1926 movie “Faust” will be accompanied by a rock music soundtrack performed by Paolo Cipriano, aka Supershock. Appropriate for all ages. 8 p.m. Friday, 4 pm. Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Club Congress.

“Geometries” by Rick Wamer, Tucson. The acclaimed mime artist covers the gamut of emotions with mime and monologue. 7 p.m. Friday, 3:15 p.m. Saturday, and 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Fluxx.

“A Theory of People” by Klara Wojtkowska, Tucson. One woman’s search for redemption and understanding. 8:30 p.m. Friday, 1:45 p.m. Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Fluxx.

“The Vaudeville Show” by Zack Armstrong, Tucson. A classic vaudeville treat with laughs, music and magic. All ages. 5:30 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday, Zuzi.

“Rise” by Scott Barry, San Francisco. Fantasy and reality try to come to a compromise in this one-man comedy about a man who can’t do what needs to be done to impregnate his partner. Appropriate for 18+. 8:30 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Zuzi.

“Monica’s Shorts” by Monica Bauer, Tucson. Two short dramedies about the country’s Sept. 11 “hangover.” 5 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, The Flycatcher.

“Yellow Heaven” by Debi Ham, San Francisco. Debi was 13 and having a bad day, which prompted her mother to give her Valium. She takes audiences on her crazy trip. 6:30 p.m. Friday, 3:30 p.m. Saturday, 12:30 p.m. Sunday, The Flycatcher.

“The Voices Made Me Do It” by Malcolm Grissom, San Francisco. The playwright cruises through life’s ups and downs with the help of some unusual voices. 12:30 p.m. and 8:15 Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday, The Flycatcher.

“It Ain’t Messy ’Til It’s Sally Jesse” by Joe Udall, San Diego. The comedy peeks over the fence at two neighboring, and very different, couples. 12:15 and 4:45 Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Fluxx.

“Movie Mogul” by Ron Pullins and Leslie Powell, Tucson. A man writes about all aspects of manly sports. A Hollywood agent is interested in making his book a movie, but would like a gender change. 2 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Sunday, The Flycatcher.

“Alice OnLine (AOL)” by Cirque Roots, Tucson. A satirical circus inspired by the link between social media and Alice’s Wonderland. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Zuzi.