Over the years I've heard more than one local theater artist wish aloud that Portland had a fringe festival—not a curated arts fest a la TBA, but a festival showcasing smaller touring acts. And now we have one. A little one. Fuse Theater Ensemble just announced the first annual Portland Mini Fringe Festival, February 17-March 26. "Mini-fringe" translates here to "two shows a weekend for six weeks"; performances will be held at Theater! Theatre! and feature a mix of touring and local acts.

The image above is from local theater artist Eleanor O'Brien's show Girls' Guide: Dominatrix for Dummies; and yes, I chose it because O'Brien is sexier than these guys. O'Brien described her show in a press release as "an autobiographical account of [her] attempt to become a professional dominatrix in NYC (to hilariously disastrous results)."

More info, including a complete lineup, is here, but good luck with the site's lime-green-front-on-white-background. [Side note: I want somebody to design a pair of glasses that autocorrect for websites with shitty font/background contrast. Or I guess people could just start designing websites more sensibly. Which is more likely?]

The press release from Fuse calls this mini-fringe the "step one" toward an eventual "late summer, city-wide, international theatre festival." For those of you keeping track of Portland's performance festivals at home, that's:

January: Fertile Ground Citywide new works fest
Feb-March: Mini-Fringe
April: Bridgetown Comedy Festival
July: JAW at Portland Center Stage
September: PICA's Time-Based Art festival

What am I forgetting? I'm forgetting something. But still, that's a pretty full calendar. (Though I do miss Sketch Fest.)