Say so-long-farewell to the Long Fringe and hello to "Mi Casa Es Su Teatro," the highlight of every fourth FronteraFest Saturday.

Mi Casa Es Su Teatro is a devilishly strange event which takes place in a single day, with site-specific pieces in homes and other non-theatrical venues all over town. All the shows are $3 cash, and none of them take reservations. It's an adventure! At least one of them offers food! One's for children! See the roadmap to this Saturday's Mi Casa trail below.

Meanwhile, of course, the stalwart Short Fringe carries or arguably even rocks on at Hyde Park Theatre. In fact, this Tuesday and Friday are already sold out--but I think Wednesday and Thursday sound just as interesting, what with a graveyard conversation, a rock opera about Ben Franklin (the full description begins, "All school children know that Benjamin Franklin sold his soul to the Devil. But do they know (etc)" -- which made ME laugh, anyway), and a veteran just back from a tour in Iraq.

And coming up next week: The fest's final week! My final fest email! (don't look so pleased). And the delicious Short Fringe "Best of the Festival" and Wildcard shows. Those sell out quickly, so get your tickets soon.

Repeating myself for your enlightenment and enjoyment:

Online reservations: buy tickets for the Short Fringe online at http://www.hydeparktheatre.org, courtesy of our sponsoring demigod 4thwalltickets.com. If you have cell minutes to burn, baby, call 479-PLAY (7529).

Off-street parking for the Short Fringe is available at Kenneth's Hair Salon, just south of HPT, and at the Hyde Park Church of Christ on the northeast corner of 43rd & Avenue B. Take advantage of their generosity and keep our kind Hyde Park neighbors from feeling oppressed by the fest.

I thought my boss's son's piece was this Friday, or was it last? It has a dog in it: FronteraFest is all about the flow, but you can go with it by checking the up-to-the-minute schedules and full descriptions of all shows at

http://www.hydeparktheatre.org

Mi Casa Es Su Teatro Schedule
ALL SHOWS ARE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10 and are performed in site-specific locations around Austin. Times and locations vary; see information below. The 2007 Mi Casa was curated by Shrewd Productions.

Tickets $3 for each show. No reservations necessary. Links to maps to each location are on the HPT website. Contact phone for information on all day's events: 512.507.8870.

11:30am
"Flatline in Midair" (plus brunch!)
Shrewd Productions
A delicious breakfast spread while audience members watch a story of suspended hope in this piece by Monika Bustamante. Like the dilapidated, East Side, Depression-era home in which it is staged, these characters need a little love, patience, and guidance -- but just imagine what they once were, and what they might still become. Capacity limited to 15 people.
1100 Angelina Street 78702 (in East Austin near downtown)
Running time: One hour

1:00pm
"RADIO GHOSTS: an electro-theatre collaboration"
Greg Romero
A father tries to speak to his lost son through radio waves. A woman carrying a wool blanket appears and shatters the world. A physician tests his imagination with a patient who continually falls into fires. Using Electronic Voice Phenomenon as inspiration, "Radio Ghosts" is a multi-layered work that combines live performance and recorded sound.
RedHouse ArtSpace
103 Laurel Lane 78705
(corner of Laurel and Speedway between 31st and 32nd street)
Park on the street
Running time: 40 min.

2:00pm
"The FANTASTIC, TAP-tastic ART-ival"
Theatre Action Project/Changing Lives Youth Theatre Company
Features a performance by Changing Lives Youth Theatre teens, as well as activity booths for the kids, mask and puppet making, interactive poetry, stilt-walking, tinikling, face painting, and a sing and drum-a-long.
Allgo space
701 Tillery Street 78702, right side of building
Running time: One hour

3:15pm
"Big Box God"
Loaded Gun Theory
Consultants Cynthia and Richard invite the neighborhood to tour Hyde Park United Methodist church and provide input on their much improved mixed-use plan to reach out to the "unchurched" and compete against the Big Box churches popping up on the outskirts of Austin. This comedic site-specific piece was written by Timothy Thomas of Loaded Gun Theory.
Hyde Park United Methodist Church
4001 Speedway 78751
There is parking across from the church
Running time: 30 min.

4:00pm
"Spurt: a coming of age valentine"
St Idiot Collective
Presented as a site-specific performance and set in a house, "SPURT" explores the flaps and folds of transitioning from childhood to adulthood, specifically focusing on the awkward years that encompass puberty. SPURT runs Feb 8th -17th, with this special MI CASA MATINEE. Capacity limited to 12 people.
Mature audiences only.
1118 Gillespie 78704 (South Austin, Travis Heights)
Running time: 90 minutes

5:30-7pm
Mi Casa Wrap Party!
1118 Gillespie 78704 (South Austin, Travis Heights)

SHORT FRINGE THIS WEEK at Hyde Park Theatre, 511 West 43rd Street. Shows are listed in the order in which they will be performed:

8:00pm Tuesday, February 6 ($12) (Sold out - Waiting List starts 1 hour before showtime at the theater)
“La Mexicana Love Life,” by Jennifer Salazar. It makes us crazy, happy or miserable. Tales of past and present Mexicanas in love.

“This Whirlpool,” by Alex Barron. It seems that God might have it in for Aaron. And Aaron is pretty sure he knows why.

“The Tale of the Song Bird,” by Rocky Hopson (RoHo Productions). Cowgirl Mary and her old west puppet show.

“Loaded Gun Theory presents: A Special Live Taping of The Freddy Argyle Show!” Argyle brings his unique brand of “investigative interviewing” and “charm.”

“Sisters of the Sea: A Pirate Musical,” by Rain Nox. Love, loot, laughs, and a life of adventure with a man-hating captain and her fearless crew.

8:00pm Wednesday, February 7 ($12.00)
“Ohio Trip,” by Elizabeth Cobbe. Commissioned by Austin Script Works. A slide show of her summer vacation. Seriously, you would not BELIEVE some of the things she saw.

“Sitting On a Park Bench,” by Trey Deason. A brief meditation on loneliness in the form of a dramatic poem.

“Voices,” by Allan Baker. Across four generations, the conversation of five members of a Texas family, residents of a cemetery in Palo Pinto County.

“Disconnection, In Seven Movements,” by Kathy Rose Center. Four actors - fourteen characters - seven forms of ... disconnection.

“Making Fun of the Dance” (Kazillionaire). A satirical take on modern dance.

8:00pm Thursday, February 8 ($12.00)
“Ben Franklin: A Rock Opera,” by Spencer Driggers, Michael Federico, and Cameron Cobb (The Getalong Gang Performance Group). An exploration of history, performance, and pure metal.

“Hardcore,” by Alex Garza (Starlex Theater Company). Nothing is off limits in this uncensored examination of Garza’s Alex-Centric Universe.

“And Who Disguised,” by Robert Faires. Faced with the prospect of having a long-hidden secret exposed, a man ponders the double life he’s led.

“Radio Ghosts,” by Greg Romero, Commissioned by Austin Script Works. A real-time, performative conversation between what is live, what is electronically composed, and what is beyond our imagination.

“Say-anything-do-anything-start-anything-go-bankrupt-and-start-anything-society,” by Eugene Oh. A soldier’s “15 minutes” presented by the Austin theater company Humdrum Collective.

“Distance,” by Nigel O’Hearn. (Company II). The closer a family allows a stranger into itself, the further it is ripped apart.

8:00pm Friday, February 9 ($12.00) (Sold out - Waiting List starts 1 hour before show time at the theater)
“Fortune Cookie Smash,” by Isabella Russell-Ides. A romantic comedy, written & produced by Isabella Russell-Ides, directed by Bill Johnson, featuring Kelly Greenwalt, Tim Mateer and Alan Lester.