Last night, Decatur Square served as host to the inaugural Atlanta Fringe Festival opening preview party. Barbara Tushbant fittingly guest hosted, ushering forth a parade of local and imported storytelling talent.

Twenty-seven original productions each had three minutes to preview their show for the audience. Scenes about love, death, breasts, robots, the end of the world, and one man eating too many fucking oysters unfolded before our eyes.

Devoted to uncovering and promoting nontraditional, original work, the Fringe Festival offers an outlet for diverse, “fringe” voices to share their stories through comedy, spoken word, dance, opera and cabaret.

In the case of Thimblerig Circus, their peculiar brand of narration involves fire in their faceholes.

The Atlanta Fringe Festival runs from May 9th through the 13th and partnered with six area venues to bring this kind of exciting underground theater to Atlanta. You need to get a $3 festival button (one-time purchase) in addition to ticketsfor the shows ($10 per performance; multi-show passes also available for pre-sale).