Our St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival is the early kick-off for the city’s summer spectacles, and it’s up there with the jazzfest and Just for Laughs as a top draw. It runs May 27 to June 16.

It has become a beloved institution that includes theatre, dance, poetry, performance art, puppetry, improv, mime, magic, comedy, cabaret – and a fun location, on and around St. Laurent Blvd.

Participating artists are chosen by lottery or on a first-come, first-served basis: Their shows are uncensored and the artists keep every penny of the ticket price, an affordable $12 while seniors and students pay $10 plus taxes.

Fringe Highlights

Silence: Two short plays exploring the resonance of silence, June 6-16, various times, 4750 Henri Julien.

A Brief History of Time: modern science told through object theatre – classic toys portraying everyone from Aristotle to Einstein, 3680 Jeanne Mance, June 6-16.

Blindside: Award-winning comedian Stephanie Morin-Robert recalls life as a one-eyed seven-year-old, La Chapelle, 3700 St.-Dominique, June 8-16.

INK: Comedian Alastair Knowles bids adieu to the era of putting pen to paper, La Chapelle, 3700 St.-Dominique, June 8-16.

Intrinsic: Dance performance, by Boston’s Jo-Mé Dance Theatre, explores human emotions through dance, La Chapelle, 3700 St.-Dominique, June 6-16.

Lear in Limbo: A young puppeteer, her sisters and dad relive King Lear in today’s Montreal with music, comedy, and drama, 3713 St. Laurent #202, June 7-16.

Magnificence: Master storyteller Keir Cutler adapts the memoir by his late mother, May Cutler, about Mont Tremblant in the 1930s, 4324 St. Laurent # 300, May 29-June 15.

Piaf and Brel: The Impossible Concert, Melanie Gail presents her acclaimed homage to the passion/heartbreak legacy of Brel and Piaf, 4521 St. Laurent, June 9-15.

RSVP: Bibi & The Beast, Vana’s getting married and best-friend Bibi sets up the party where anything can and does happen, Petit Campus, 578 Prince Arthur E., June 7-16.

The End of Politics, Bob Bell offers a personal take on how the current political malaise has
affected his life, Théâtre Improv, 3697 St. Laurent, June 6-16.

Tickets & info: montrealfringe.ca or 514-849-3378