(KC Fringe Festival)
Several dozen works will be performed this weekend and next as part of 2025’s KC Fringe Festival. Held across 12 venues all around the city, the range of offerings is as wide as ever. There are circus and clowning shows, improv, experimental musicals, and no shortage of one-actor shows. This year also features a noticeable upswing in plays taking aim at extremist politics.
Here are a few of the shows we have our collective eye on at this year’s Fringe Fest.
Sickly Victorian Rat Circus
Show description:
What do you do when your friends and home are threatened? Two clowns tell the story of two rats asking this very question through shadow puppets and circus. Chased from their home by shadowy monstrous humans, they must find a way to survive and a new place to live. They travel through a dangerous city together. There, they find an old ship that might be their ticket out. They sail off to a land unknown where they can build a new home, seemingly out of pure imagination. This is a 45 minute show exploring connection, belonging, and the meaning of home. Made for audiences of all ages. The rats featured speak rodent meaning there is no language barrier to enjoy this show! Written by and starring Jonas Whalen and Staza Stone aka Small Buns Duo. Small Buns Duo is a contemporary clown duo based out of Denver, CO focused on combining comedy, puppetry, and circus to delight audiences across all walks of life!
Why we’re interested: Based on the clips posted to their YouTube channel, the duo’s work looks extremely charming. The is a joyful and sweet simplicity that comes across in the dialogueless act, bolstered by impressive skill.
Cirque du Fils
Show description:
A Gorilla displaced from the circus, here to perform for us, and a trainer who did their best to prepare the gorilla for a world that no longer exists.
We see these two trying to find their place in an unfamiliar world.
Having failed to prepare the gorilla for a world he could not have imagined, the trainer considers how he has loved, and finds regret. He thus confronts the fears and shame that have hijacked his love.
The gorilla, under-prepared, struggles to control an excited and traumatized nervous system.
We see failure after failure on our way to a healing ritual. A confrontation of sorrow that leads to release. The trainer tells us, “we cannot choose what we are numb to; we must open ourselves to suffering in order to have access to joy”.
Why we’re interested: In a Fringe filled with circus and clown acts, high praise via word of mouth placed this one on my radar. One past review called it “like Ace Ventura and Deepak Chopra had a baby” and I’m interested to find out exactly what that means.
Breakneck Midsummer Night’s Dream
Show description:
The Tim Mooney Rep presents its very first multiple-actor show! Tim Mooney has teamed up with five KC Fringe superstars for the KC premiere of “Breakneck Midsummer Night’s Dream!”
Tim notes, “’Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is such a frenzy of chase scenes, confused and love-potioned lovers that, to really do justice to it, I couldn’t do my usual One-Man Treatment. Written in honor of an aristocratic or royal wedding, the very impulse behind “Midsummer Night’s Dream” has always been to get the audience hot and bothered for Romance, Fairy Ribaldry, sexy innuendo and, to top it all off: an ass!
Why we’re interested: Mooney’s Breakneck Shakespeare shows are always a delight. The chaos of his one-man approach is the basis of the fun, but I think it’s exciting that he recognized its limitations and expanded the concept in order to tackle this monster of a show.
INSIDE/OUTSIDE
Show Description:
INSIDE/OUTSIDE takes a poignant look at the beauty and brutality of humanity through the playful eyes of a ten year old whose world is stripped from her after a military grade high security surveillance border wall is built in her town. Things change when another girl is found on the beach on the other side of the wall, separated from safety and family.
Why we’re interested: Fringe productions are, by their nature, typically produced with shoestring resources and often prioritize passion over refinement. Shows that take on such weighty issues can be very hit or miss, as it can be difficult to live up to the impact of their own subject matter while handling it with the care and sensitivity it requires. That is all to say that while I can’t vouch for the quality of INSIDE/OUTSIDE, I will always appreciate a big, ambitious swing and a passionate message. Additionally, the show will be sponsoring a fundraiser for the Palestinian Children’s Relief
Fund.
Terrace Wyatt Jr.’s: Mel’N E [Melanin & Educated]
Show Description:
Power is a logical, unorthodox senior who attends a predominantly white university. They have to present a senior capstone in order to graduate on time in the idea explaining the word “Melanin” – will this suffice for an A+? Who knows? The play explains how the word “melanin” can be impactful not only in the black community but as a whole, demographically. This is a comedic, educational, looney tune rollercoaster that talks about racial identity and its connections in a general perspective.
Why we’re interested: Terrace Wyatt, Jr.’s show, Black Man, Missouri, won Best of City Stage at last year’s Fringe Festival. Actually, Circus Scorpius won the title but gave the spot to Wyatt’s show in order to give more people a chance to see the impactful performance. I’m excited to see how his work continues to evolve.
Side note: Circus Scorpius’ 2025 show, Legends of the Night Sky, is an aerial production inspired by the zodiac constellations, and it looks electrifying.
Psalm 27 Club
Show Description:
Psalm 27 Club chronicles Logan Stacer’s journey from starving artist obsessed with joining the ranks of famous creatives before 27, to finding purpose as a starving youth pastor at 28. Spanning from his fateful first encounter with basketball in third grade through poetry slams in NYC to finding faith in Kansas City, we watch Logan grapple with fame addiction, mental health, and the collision of art and religion. Through an electrifying blend of comedy, poetry, preaching, and drama, Logan transforms the very talents he once used to chase fame into tools for serving others— delivering his testimony with raw authenticity and unexpected humor.
Why we’re interested: I’m a sucker for art that showcases the process of making art. The show’s Instagram account is full of posts documenting the production process, including videos deconstructing and rewriting scenes they feel aren’t working. I can’t speak to the finished project, but I’m a big fan of the work behind the scenes.
The Kansas City Fringe Festival runs through July 27 at various venues city-wide. For more information on these and other shows, visit kcfringe.org.
