If you like theater, June will definitely be a great month. Â From June 8-25, 2017, the Hollywood Fringe Festival will present more than 2,000 performances of 375 different shows at more than 30 venues in central Los Angeles.
The plays and venues come in all different sizes, and the creators and performers from many different origins.  But the major defining feature of the festival, in addition to its massive scope, is that it is “open access,” meaning anyone who wants to produce a show can be part of the lineup.
As Stacy Jones Hill, co-founder of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, writes on the event website:
“The Hollywood Fringe Festival is an annual, open-access, community-derived event celebrating freedom of expression and collaboration in the performing arts community. Each June during the Hollywood Fringe, the arts infiltrate the Hollywood neighborhood: fully equipped theaters, parks, clubs, churches, restaurants and other unexpected places host hundreds of productions by local, national, and international arts companies and independent performers.
Participation in the Hollywood Fringe is completely open and uncensored. This free-for-all approach underlines the festival’s mission to be a platform for artists without the barrier of a curative body. By opening the gates to anyone with a vision, the festival is able to exhibit the most diverse and cutting-edge points-of-view the world has to offer. Additionally, by creating an environment where artists must self-produce their work, the Fringe motivates its participants to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurialism in the arts.
The Hollywood Fringe Festival is a non-profit company. The festival gives 100% of box office revenue back to participating artists and venues—that’s over 1.8 million dollars since the inaugural festival in 2010. Donations are essential for both day-to-day festival costs as well as the growth of festival programs and resources. To help sustain Hollywood Fringe, you can donate here.”
For the full festival schedule, see http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/schedule.  Ticket prices vary depending on the show and venue, but the website also offers a handy scheduling tool that helps you choose shows, times and tickets, as well as filter the choices by whether they’re family friendly or world premieres.
Also, the festival needs volunteers, and many shows offer free or discounted tickets to those who help out, which can be a great option for folks whose theatrical appetite exceeds their ticket budget.
And all of this means that if you’ve been meaning to get out to see a play…or three…or sixteen…this would be a great time to make some reservations.
