For ten days, San Francisco's downtown Union Square will be abuzz with theatre, dance, solo performers, poetry and mime. The Seventh Annual San Francisco Fringe Festival, will take place in five theatres, each in walking distance from one another, in San Francisco's Union Square theatre district, Sept. 10-20. This year, the non-curated, non-censored festival will include 260 performances, all under 60 minutes, by 50 theatre companies from around the world. Theatrical styles range from straight drama, comedy and dance, to experimental, satirical and works that, in their words "defy categorization."

With cabarets, contests and improvs, no performance in the entire festival costs more than $8, and all revenue goes to the performers.

This year's line-up includes The Lecture by Canada's Mugwump Productions, Get Outta Here from Germany's Guten Jung International Theatre Company, and Los Angeles favorite Butt Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Seventh Annual San Francisco Fringe Festival, Sept. 10-20 takes place at five theatres: The EXIT Theatre, The EXIT Stage Left, Cable Car Theatre, Actors' Theatre, and Il Teatro. Tickets are $8 max and available at the door only. For information and further listings, call (415) 673-3847 or visit their website at Seventh Annual San Francisco Fringe Festival.

-- By Sean McGrath