theatre
A PERFORMANCE SMÖRGÅSBORD
SAN DIEGO FRINGE FESTIVAL
by joel martens
What do you think of when you hear the
word “fringe?” Those dangly bits at the end of your mother’s old tablecloth, the sparkly Mylar trim at the edge of a Pride float, or maybe the jiggly bits from a 1920s flapper’s beaded dress? The possibilities are endless. That’s exactly what organizers for San Diego’s
2016 Fringe Festival want you to
think...That the possibilities are indeed endless. With over 500 Fringe-managed performances this year in a total of seven performance spaces under their purview, they’re able to accommodate approximately 13 productions per venue, with five shows for each. That may not sound like that much to some, but when you consider on weekends, it’s from 11:30 a.m. until midnight per venue, with constantly run- ning one-hour shows... Well... It’s just huge. That doesn’t even include the BYOV. What’s that, you might ask? Much like the acronym that indicates self-brought beverages, it means, “Bring Your Own Venue.” Kind of makes your head explode with the possibilities that opens up, now doesn’t it? Fringe started as a protest in Edinburgh, Scotland
with a group of performers who weren’t included in a theatre festival there. The artists got together and like they do, they created an alternative, deciding “Forget it, we will do something of our own, ‘on the fringe.’” Every year since that decision, they continued to do fringe performances. Now, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has eclipsed any other festival that takes place during the same time.
52 RAGE monthly | JUNE 2016
Kevin Charles Patterson, one of the organizers, discussed what the festival is and when the tradition was picked up in San Diego. “I think of the Fringe Festival as a goulash of the arts, with many different genres that make up the event...We can say that it’s a theatre festival, but that would be too limiting because there will be circus, burlesque, puppetry and magic. So many times, if you say ‘Theatre,’ people tend to cut out those genres and not consider them. Hence the goulash...or maybe even better yet, a jambalaya.” (Laughs) He went on to talk about when it started locally, “Our first year was 2013. We’ve ended up getting almost every major venue in Downtown San Diego involved and this year, we’re even using Seaport Village... It’s a great complement to the Busker’s Street Festival held there. The big attraction for audiences is that it’s so affordable and so easy to jump from one venue to another and from show to show—because they are short—the maximum running time is 60 minutes. So, you’re not sitting there for 90 minutes with no intermission.” When queried about what’s required of those who
want to perform, or if there is a rulebook, Patterson emphatically answered with a “No.” Explaining further, “All you need is a show... and to register. That’s part of what makes it so cool. We don’t jury anything, we don’t curate, we just open it up and the artists jump right in.” As to who has registered thus far, “We have people coming in from around the world, Wales, England, Italy, New Zealand and
Australia. We even had registrations from South Africa, Morocco and Israel. Unfortunately, those last few couldn’t get their visas in time, but it’s just incredible that we’ve had that much interest.” They’ve even added shows across the border now, which is a huge advantage for performers who can add another country to their résumé. When asked how to choose from the seriously overwhelming, plethora of Fringe offerings to attend, Patterson offered great advice. “Look for our dog tags on people in the streets, have a conversation with them and ask what they’ve seen. Word of mouth is the best way to get a feel for what’s worth seeing. Talk to people in line about the shows they’ve seen, or if they’re coming out of a venue, find out if they liked what they saw. Also, check out our new website, it should be up and running June 1st.” He concluded with the most important advice of
all, “Be adventurous, that’s the key to a successful Fringe experience, seeing something outside of the box can be the biggest treasure.”
Now, get out there and enjoy the “Eleven days of eyeball busting shows!”
The 2016 San Diego Fringe Festival runs from Thursday, June 23 through Sunday, July 3, with shows all over the county and now in Tijuana. For tickets and more information about the entire line up, go to
sdfringe.org
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