Want to see some theatre, music, dance, stand up, improv, puppetry, storytelling, or magic tonight? No need to pick one. Montreal’s Fringe Festival has it all. Proudly bilingual and determinedly inclusive, the festival offers 10 days of works by independent artists and production companies, mostly along the theatre spaces and venues of Boulevard St Laurent. Shows generally clock in at under an hour, cost $19 or less and can be stacked one after another in a single venue for a full night of variety and creativity. Chosen by lottery, there’s no telling who or what will turn up, and that’s half the fun. Perhaps a unknown show will contain the next rising star or something that makes you question your sanity.
This year has a few notable changes. The closure of the Mainline Theatre and the loss of its two venues leaves a bit of a space scarcity. Fortunately, new venues are opening, along with some golden oldies. The beloved 13th Hour continues at Petit Campus as well, allowing those who want to Fringe past midnight the opportunity to do so. Happening bi-nightly, the 13th Hour is a bit like having a party combined with a late-night talk show about the festival’s events and includes contests, games, karaoke, performances, and dancing. It’s awesome. The Fringe Park (Parc d’Amerique) is also in full swing this year with performances by bands such as The Tina Trons, The Blood Farts, Matt Ends and the Rivermen, Roger Sinha, Spank Williams, Horsebath, Kurt Chaboyer, and Alicia Strings, among others. And while the opening Fringe-For-All has already happened, the Frankies is the closing party that celebrates the winners of various prizes representing the best of the fest.
Fringe passes are available and recommended if you’d like to see at least three shows. The Ménage-à-Trois Pass is just $45, offering 3 tickets. The Gold pass costs $85 for 6 tickets and a free beer at the Fringe Park. The Platinum pass at $135 gives 10 tickets and a free beer. Finally, the Diamond pass for 30 tickets, and two free beers is $395. Can one see all the shows? Some people seem to pull it off with some creative scheduling and a lot of hustle between venues.
As for the shows themselves, the real question is what to see. This is very much up to personal taste, but here are some we recommend.
Middle Child
SNAFU won my heart years ago with Ingrid Hansen’s Little Orange Man and its blend of puppetry, childlike belief, audience interaction, and Danish storytelling. Expanding and growing into an impressive ensemble of shows and an ensemble group of actors, SNAFU has regularly offered shows at the Fringe and each one has been imaginative and engaging. Middle Child is SNAFU’s current offering, co-created and performed by Kathleen Greenfield (director of Little Orange Man), Jack Widow, and Tony Adams. The production features three Bouffon clowns who challenge reality after surviving childhood and the monsters that turn up in every family.
Petit Campus: June 12 @ 8:15 pm, June 13 @ 3:15 pm, June 16 @ 7:15 pm, June 17 @ 10:15 pm, June 19 @ 8:45 pm, and June 21 @ 2:15 pm. Tickets $19 HERE.
Jimmy Hogg: Mashed
At last year’s festival, British comedian and storyteller Jimmy Hogg had a lot to say about potatoes in The Potato King. What does one do with a sack of potatoes? Mash ’em. Hogg’s new show Mashed provides very few clues about the show’s contents (will it be potatoes? unknown), but if past precedent is any predictor of the future, expect a mix of physical comedy and fast-paced, high-energy delivery from a commanding raconteur.
Theatre VME / Mile End Improv June 11 @ 6:15, June 13 @ 6:15, June 14 @ 2:00, June 19 @ 18:15, June 20 @ 12:15, and June 21 @ 2:00. Tickets $19 HERE.
In Absentia
Montreal excels at performances that live in the space where the political intersects with the personal. Lumi Mitton’s In Absentia, directed and choreographed by Corbeau Sandoval is about a former opiate addict who suffers from AIDS and on her final day, must choose between sobriety and medically necessary analgesics. This is sure to be moving and reflective. Lumi Mitton won the Frankie Award Most Promising English Text for To Pieces, last year, so eyes are on this one for sure.
Mission Santa Cruz June 11 @ 7:15, June 12 @ 11:00 pm, June 16 @ 9:00, June 19 @ 11:00 pm, June 20 @ 1:00, and June 21 @ 6:30. Tickets General admission $16, Healthcare workers and homosexuals $10 HERE.
Theatrical Treasure Hunt
I’m not sure if this is a show. I don’t think it is. Well maybe it is. It’s immersive, which is generally a good sign. Put together a group of 2-5 people and walk the 3 km route to find the lost Theatre Queen. The show is a creation of Ben Rawlinson, who was responsible for last year’s Super Alex, a show that was sort of like a non-electronic video game. He won the Frankie’s MainLine Creativity award last year.
Parc des Amériques June 13 @ 12:00, 2:30, and 5:00. $72 for a team ticket HERE.
Murder on the Mission to Mars
Sometimes the shows at Fringe tumble straight out of the headlines. In David Jacobson’s newest one-man show, he plays six elderly eccentrics crammed aboard a spaceship. I’m not sure if any are billionaires, but I’m hoping it’s that guy who gets it. At any rate, after finding a murder victim, the survivors must solve the problem. In the past, Jacobson put together Theme Park and Dogs’ Misery Swamp, both of which played at the Edmonton Fringe Festival.
Théâtre Sainte-Catherine June 12 @ 10:25, June 13 @ 1:30, June 16 @ 7:00, June 17 @ 8:30, June 19 @ 10:30, and June 20 @ 1:15. Tickets $18 available HERE.
Iggy Beamish Destroys Traditional Marriage
Last year’s hilarious Heterosexuals not only won the English Comedy Award, but from personal experience, it was a romp, a queer guy’s eye on the straights. Johnnie McNamara Walker’s other solo shows include the much-beloved Redheaded Stepchild. Yes, he has gorgeous, flaming red locks. Walker brings both stage presence and wit to his shows, so they’re worth checking out, no matter the subject matter. Iggy Beamish Destroys Traditional Marriage deviates from Walker’s storytelling format and instead features a straight wedding officiant who is going through a gay divorce.
Petit Campus June 13 @ 7:00 pm, June 14 @ 4:15 pm, June 15 @ 10:15 pm, June 18 @ 8:45 pm, June 19 @ 3:30, pm and June 20 @ 6:45 pm. Tickets General admission $19, HERE.
Paranoid King
I’m always willing to take a chance on something new and The Paranoid King seems exactly like the kind of comedy I’d pick. King Ashurhaddon (a real historic Assyrian king from 680 – 669 BCE) sees bad omens everywhere — twitching birds and sheep livers. His astrologers and diviners attempt to help control his royal panic attacks. Commercials interrupt for things like opium and olive oil. Goofy? Probably, but there’s lots of room for jokes about cuneiform and gods with names like Baal.
Théâtre La Comédie de Montréal June 12 @ 8:30 pm, June 14 @ 4:15 pm, June 16 @ 7:00 pm, June 17 @ 10:45 pm, June 20 @ 8:30 pm and June 21 @ 12:15 pm. Tickets General admission $19, Under 16, Seniors $10 HERE.
Cracks: a one-trans-woman dark comedy memoir
I can definitely relate to a dark comedy memoir, but beyond that, Claire Lochmueller gives us an opportunity to view the world through her lens: that of a trans woman who spent time in the Catholic Church and JROTC military school trying to do “all the things boys do.” Laughter is a mighty weapon against trauma and abuse which I suspect figures prominently in this. Cracks won a storytelling award in 2025, so if you missed it last year, this a chance to catch it.
Play Shed in the Halbro Building June 13 @ 8:45 pm, June 14 @ 12:15 pm, June 15 @ 5:30 pm, June 16 @ 7:00 pm, June 20 @ 2:00 pm and June 21 @ 5:15 pm. Tickets General admission $19, Accessible pricing $16 HERE.
At Our Feet
I do love theatre at the Fringe. Elly Pond’s futuristic play is about four roommates who can move to a clean-air community if one of them has a baby. None of them want to. Have a baby, that is. The show addresses a variety of current issues including environmental degradation, white supremacy, police brutality, and misogyny. It’s set in the future, but is it really????
La Chapelle June 14 @ 8:15 pm, June 15 @ 10:00 pm, June 18 @ 8:45 pm, June 19 @ 3:45 pm, June 20 @ 4:00 pm, and June 21 @ 8:45 Tickets General admission $16 available HERE.
Tango Entre Hombres
Dance shows at the Fringe are extraordinary. Montreal is known around the world for having and developing talented choreographers and dancers, not to mention Cirque du Soleil — which is as much a circus as it is a dance performance among other things. So, no surprise that the sub-genre of queer tango is also well established here. Tango Entre Hombres features three male dancers in a play written and directed by movement educator Art Babayants and choreographed by Alexander Latorre, who won the Tango Escenario of Canada in 2024.
Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique de Montréal June 13 @ 9:45 pm, June 14 @ 6:15 pm, June 15 @ 4:00 pm, June 19 @ 4:30 pm, and June 21 @ 7:15. Tickets General admission $19, Accessible admission $14 available HERE.
The Montreal Fringe Festival runs until June 21. All shows can be found HERE.
