The cast of “Best of Fringe” Award-winning Lost and Found in the Mission includes (from left) Rowena Richie, Susie Hara, Carol Landes, Joan D. Saunders, Peter Griggs and Jocelyn Truitt. The play won the “best ensemble” award and will receive an encore performance on Friday, Sept. 26. Photo by Borys Prozak

They came, they fringed, they conquered.

The 17thannual San Francisco Fringe Festival closed its 12-day marathon run Sept. 14, and the 20 “Best of the Fringe” award-winners are basking in their glory after having been chosen from 46 participating shows. Here are the winners, and you’ll find at the bottom of the list, an opportunity for you to partake in some of the cream of the fringe crop.

Best of the 2008 San Francisco Fringe Festival

• Best Musical: “EXIT Sign: A Rock Opera,” Supersonic Theatre, San Francisco
• Best Female Solo, “The Punchline,” Alicia Dattner, San Francisco
• Best Solo Male Comedy and Techie’s Choice Award: “On Second Thought,” Paul Hutcheson, Toronto, Ont.
• Best Performance: “True Theatre Critic,” Omar Sangare, Warsaw, Poland
• Best Poet: “Monkey Poet: Big Brown Number Two,” Matt Panesh, Manchester, UK
• Best Site Specific Show: “Theatre That Moves,” Hugi the Great, San Francisco
• Best Cameo Performance: Jane Entwhistle in “The Nanny,” The Ukulady’s Ponyshow, Los Angeles
• Best Sketch Comedy & Best Box Office: “Exotic Messages,” OPM, Los Angeles
• Best Dance Performance: “Identity Crisis,” inFluxdance, Charlottesville, VA
• Best Comedy: “Peg-Ass-Us,” Pack of Others, Brooklyn, NY
• Best Performance Art: “The Iron Muffin/Glass Jungle II,” Sha Sha Higby, Bolinas, CA
• Best Showcase: “Open Season: A Queer Performance Showcase,” The Garage & The Queer Cultural Center, San Francisco
• Best Clown Ensemble: “After-Party,” Pi: The Physical Comedy Troupe, Santa Cruz, CA
• Best Ensemble Performance: “Lost and Found in the Mission,” Boathouse & Co. Performance, San Francisco
• Best Play & Overall Production: “Knuckleball,” End Times Productions, New York, NY
• Best Local Production: “Loving Fathers,” J.B. Enterprises, San Francisco
• Best Literary Staging: “Late Night with the Boys: Confessions of a Leather Bar Chanteuse,” Alex Bond, Ridgefield Park, NJ
• Best Postcard: “Along the Path of Larks and Swallows,” Chaotic Heart/Mia Paschal, San Francisco

Encore performances of four of the “best” shows will be staged Sept. 26 and 27 at EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy St., San Francisco. Tickets for each show are $20, and all proceeds go to support the 2009 San Francisco Fringe Festival scheduled for next September.

On Friday Sept. 26^th: 7:00 p.m. – “EXIT Sign: A Rock Opera”; 8:30 p.m. – “Lost and Found in the Mission”

On Saturday Sept. 27^th: 6:30 p.m. – “Loving Fathers”; 8:30 p.m. – “The Punchline”

Call the fringe hotline at 415-673-3847. Visit www.sffringe.org.