The Vancouver Fringe Festival kicks off with the first of its live, small-scale series, from Thursday (September 10) to September 20 at Granville Island venues both indoors and out. Here are some of the highlights:

Art Heist

(September 11 to 13, and 18 to 20 starting at the Yellow Crane Pad)

A group of 10 or fewer will meet the suspects and investigators in an art heist based on a true story—and valued at a whopping half-billion dollars. TJ Dawe and Ming Hudson get audience members to find clues and figure the mystery out. Set your personal BS detector to high and help solve this case.

Judith Fair: An Outdoor Variety Night

(September 12 and 13 at the Picnic Pavilion)

Alley Theatre presents an evening of everything from Egyptian folk music to queer burlesque and African-diaspora storytelling. Expect the unexpected.

Women of Papiyek

(September 16 at Performance Works)

Magnetic performer Quelemia Sparrow tells the story of three Indigenous women at Papiyek, now known as Brockton Point, before they were forcibly removed to make way for Stanley Park.

Hard 2 KIll

(September 15 to 20 at Performance Works)

Comedian and theatre artist Richard Lett has told us about surviving alcohol addiction and testicular cancer on-stage before; now he gives you the inside scoop on what it was like suffering through COVID-19.