Tampa International Fringe Festival starts this week

Tampa’s fifth annual International Fringe Festival, a presentation of “indie” and experimental theater productions from creatives both local and otherwise, opens Thursday and runs through Aug. 8 at the Hillsborough Community College Ybor YPAB building (in Ybor City).

There are 13 individual shows on the roster this year, from comedy to burlesque to straight-ahead storytelling.

There was no Fringe Festival in 2020, due to Covid, and masks are mandatory for audience members this year.

ThinkTank’s “Can(t) Relate.”

Among the most anticipated shows for 2021 are The Little Merman From the Black Lagoon, a sci-fi parody; Mrs. Bliss’ Titanic Adventure, in which an actress working in a Titanic museum piece encounters a stranger with a plan; A Rocky, Whorish Patter Show (a burlesque comedy); Tampa-based ThinkTank’s show for young people, Can(t) Relate, the story of students forced by circumstance to write a play together; and The 500 List: Two best friends listen to each other’s 500 favorite songs of all time and drive across America, learning about friendship, danger, and love.

Find descriptions, and performances schedules for all shows here.

Tickets and more info here.