East to Edinburgh Brings Festival Fringe to NYC

The 2013 East to Edinburgh festival is an annual event of a delightful array of American shows on their way to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Without the need to travel to Europe to see these humorous, wacky, and serious shows, you can now spend some extra cash seeing as many as you want! The festival begins today at 59E59 Theaters and lasts throughout the month of July. Ticket prices for the shows range from $10-$20. Check out the stellar line-up below!

July 9 at 6:30 PM; July 10 at 8:30 PM; July 11 at 6:30 PM
SAVVY SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL MISTRESSES, written by Lisa Faith Phillips, directed by Cheryl Stern, original music and musical direction by Ellen Mandel
Featuring Lisa Faith Phillips and Ellen Mandel
Ticket Price: $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members)
Dr. Faith whips up an “outrageously funny, devilishly clever and wildly entertaining” (Newyorkcool.com) self-help seminar.

July 9 & July 11 at 7 PM
BETTE DAVIS AIN’T FOR SISSIES, written by Jessica Sherr, directed by Janice Orlandi
Featuring Jessica Sherr
Ticket Price: $20 ($14 for 59E59 Members)
Journey into the mind of Hollywood’s greatest stars on the night of the 1939 Oscars and see what happens when someone who always wants to win…loses.

July 9, July 10, July 16 & July 24 at 9 PM
WOOLLY MAMMOTH PANIC ATTACK, written by Matt Nagin
Featuring Matt Nagin
Ticket Price: $15 ($10.50 for 59E59 Members)
Join Matt for an irreverent, category-defying standup hour as he discusses drugs, travel, gambling, dating, and the importance of being weird. Then watch him Woolly Mammoth Panic Attack.

July 10 at 7 PM; July 13 & July 14 at 2 PM
THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU, written and directed by John P. McEneny
Featuring Michael Buffer, Christopher C. Cariker, Vasile Flutur, Eiko Kawashima, and Aaron Novak
Ticket Price: $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members)
An original, Butoh-inspired physical adaptation of H.G.Wells’ horror classic: Science runs amok on a mysterious island ruled by a mad doctor and his strange beasts.

July 11 at 8:30 PM; July 12, July 13 & July 14 at 6:30 PM; July 20 at 7 PM;
July 21 at 2 PM
EXPIRATION DATE, written by Rose-Marie Brandwein, directed by J.K. Musser
Ticket Price: $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members)
Imagine it is 2113, you’ve reached your 150th birthday and must transition into another life form or simply disappear into the ether. What would you do? EXPIRATION DATE explores what it means to be human.

July 11, July 12 & July 13 at 9 PM
SEX WITH ANIMALS, written by Ryan Good
Featuring Ryan Good
Ticket Price: $10 ($7 for 59E59 Members)
An expedition through the often hilarious, occasionally profound sexual habits of animals. Starring Ryan Good (NY Neo-Futurist, NYIT award). Think David Attenborough meets Eddie Izzard on Grindr.

July 12 & July 13 at 7 PM; July 19 at 9 PM; July 20 at 4 PM; July 26 & July 27 at 9 PM
IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, written by Bill Bowers, directed by Martha Banta
Featuring Bill Bowers
Ticket Price: $20 ($14 for 59E59 Members)
A fun and unflinching look at the life and mimes of Bill Bowers.  From Barbie dolls in his backyard, to Broadway and beyond, Bowers talks (yes, talks) about a life lived out loud.

July 12 & July 13 at 8:30 PM; July 14 at 4:30 PM
LONGING FOR GRACE, written by Grace Kiley, directed by Austin Pendleton
Featuring Grace Kiley
Ticket Price: $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members)
Hitchcock’s “volcano covered with snow” is channeled by actress and playwright Grace Kiley as a cautionary tale about the danger of abandoning one’s dreams. Austin Pendleton directs this poignant look at fame, folly, and a woman undone by her own strength.

July 17, July 18, and July 19 at 7 PM; July 20 at 2 PM
THE YEAR I WAS GIFTED, written by Monica Bauer, directed by Carolyn Ladd
Featuring Monica Bauer
Ticket Price: $20 ($14 for 59E59 Members)
The true tale of a working class girl’s attempt to survive a prestigious boarding school for the arts. Should she betray her friends to stay there?

July 21 at 7 PM; July 23 at 9 PM; July 28 at 2 PM
HONEST IAGO and 3 Other Choice Villains from SHAKESPEARE, written by William Shakespeare, directed by Richard Smithies
Featuring Richard Smithies and Natalie Burgess
Ticket Price: $15 ($10.50 for 59E59 Members)
Iago gleefully plots against his victims; Richard III plays a sinister seduction scene, Claudius tries vainly to repent King Hamlet’s murder; and Edmund from Lear invites the gods to “stand up for bastards!”

July 23, July 24 & July 25 at 7 PM; July 27 & July 28 at 4 PM
SAFE, written by Penny Jackson, directed by Joan Kane
Featuring Debby Brand, Carolyn Cutillo, David Lamberton, and Nick Palladino
Ticket Price: $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members)
Mom is in rehab, Dad seems like a ghost, you hate high school and your anorexic best friend wants to kidnap her baby niece. What else can you do but go to a coffee shop to meet a dangerous man? SAFE is about finding your way in a scary world.

July 25 at 9 PM; July 26 & July 27 at 7 PM
AMERICAN GUN SHOW, written by Chris Harcum, directed by Aimee Todoroff
Featuring Chris Harcum
Ticket Price: $15 ($10.50 for 59E59 Members)
Statistically, one in five Americans owns a gun. Everyday occurrences can erupt into hilarity or danger. It’s enough to make you question whether it’s safe to go to the theatre. Brecht meets stand-up in this solo show confrontation of violence in the land of Ted Nugent Disease.

July 27 at 2 PM; July 28 at 7 PM
MISERABLE LESBIANS: The Musical Parody, written and directed by Sandro Monetti
Featuring Katie Amess, Anthony Wemyss, Mario Vernazza, Laura-Beth Hill, Natasha Sill, David Esquire, Kerstin Alm, Sandro Monetti, and Lynsey Shaw
Ticket Price: $12 ($8.40 for 59E59 Members)
This multi-award winning comedy musical is a loving parody of Broadway’s favorite show and follows rebels struggling for gay rights in 19th Century France.

Image via Language of the Soul.