Onstage spotlight: Fringe Festival

Opening Thursday: If it's nearly August, it must be nearly Fringe time. The nation's largest unjuried theater festival unfolds this week at 18 venues in Minneapolis and St. Paul. If you're unfamiliar with it, the Fringe offers 168 productions, each of which is performed five times. (Pictured are Joseph Scrimshaw, Randy Reyes and Mo Perry of Joking Envelope's "Brain Fighters.") Shows are limited to 60 minutes, so if it's no good, just breathe deeply and hope for better luck at the next venue. Last year's festival cracked the 50,000-ticket level, a record. You can get five- and 10-ticket cards, in addition to unlimited ultrapasses. Or you can buy a single ticket.