Where the Fringes Meet

Exactly one month from today, the New York Fringe Festival opens -- consider yourself warned! But the week before, the granddaddy of indie theater festivals, Edinburgh's Fringe, roars to life; as usual, a number of American shows are making their way over there, and eight of them are warming up in front of the home crowd one more time, in the "East to Edinburgh" festival that starts today. Shows include Godlight's spectacular staging of Fahrenheit 451 (which we reviewed in April), Anna Deavere Smith's equally incendiary Twilight Los Angeles: 1992 (about the Rodney King riots, in case the date doesn’t ring a bell), and Justin Sherin's Mickey Mouse is Dead, a tale of Hollywood in 1952 when paranoia about Communism barged into Hollywood, brutally upending life in “the happiest place on Earth.” That show is presented, appropriately enough, by the Spankin' Yanks', who won a Fringe First prize in Edinburgh in 2004 and should have good odds again with such a feisty, relevant work – but all of the shows have better than fighting chances, so go cheer them on – it’s a perfect way to start the countdown to our own Fringe.

59E59 Theaters [59 E. 59th St] // Through July 30, full schedule here // Tickets via Ticket Central