whatever it takes. Fringe is a gift to theatre artists–and to audiences. Fringe is electric. Fringe is on-the-fly, on-the-go, by-the-skin-of-your-teeth. Fringe gives power back to artists. Fringe rocks!
SETTING ITS SIGHTS ON DIVERSIONARY
SAN DIEGO FRINGE:
THEATRE by joel martens
The Diversionary Theatre has joined the Fringe! Many an offering is available there over the course of the Fringe’s run from Thursday, June 23 through Sunday, July 3, such as Baby’s Mama, Dear Harvey, You’re In My Blind Spot andBedrooms &
Boyfriends.The Rage Monthly was able to pull off an exclusive chat with two of the participating productions being presented on Diversionary’s stage.
FIRST UP: Mariah MacCarthy and her autobiographical play, Baby Mama. Please give me a brief synopsis ofBaby Mama. Baby Mama is the true story of how I got pregnant, decided to place the baby for adoption and found a gay couple to raise him. It’s also about being a broke, poor artist (thus the reason for considering adoption in the first place) and being a pregnant woman who dates and has desires in a world that’s not really set up with her in mind. It’s about the loneliness of going through something that no one around you has context for and also about the village of incredible people who loved me, helped me, stood by me and made my journey possible. It makes people laugh their asses off! How difficult is it, to do something so autobiographical? It’s extremely intense, but it also does some of
the work for you, in a way. You’ve lived this story, it’s in your body, and you just have to create a safe space where you can go back to it in front of an audience. You just have to get out of your own way. You were involved in San Diego theatre before moving to New York. What’s it been like to return? Having grown up in San Diego, having studied
at the Old Globe and Playwrights Project, interned at La Jolla Playhouse and grown up having every birthday at the beach, it means the world to me to come back and perform on my home turf. My very first professional production was with Playwrights Project, at the Globe. My family will see this show; they haven’t seen me perform since I was sixteen. It’s a beautiful thing to share your heart with the community that made you who you are. Tell me a little about what Fringe means to you. This will be my fourth Fringe–I’ve done New York Fringe twice and I’m doing
Cincy Fringe before this. To me, Fringe is scrappy, Fringe is raw creativity, Fringe is down-and-dirty. Fringe is bad ass, Fringe is community. Fringe means doing
NEXT UP: Ira Bauer-Spector, Break- through Workshop Theatre andDear Harvey. Please give me a brief synopsis ofDear Harvey, the in-your-own-words version! Dear Harvey is about who Milk was as a
person and the lasting impact he had, not just the LGBT community, but on everyone. The play—written beautifully by Patricia Loughrey, with incredible music by Thomas Hodges—is comprised of interviews conducted with those
who worked with or were affected by Harvey. Monologues feature activists such as Stuart Milk, Cleve Jones, Anne Kronenberg and San Diego’s own Nicole Murray-Ramirez. Other stories reflect the ways Harvey’s message of hope continues to inspire... Even decades after his assassination. This play is a cathartic, powerful, sometimes life-changing, experi- ence that moves artists and audiences every year. How much more difficult is it doing something on someone so iconic to the LGBT community? One of Harvey’s most famous quotes is, “I am all
of us.” That is the underlying theme of the work; it’s a play about all of us. We are particularly excited for this year because the 2016 version is inspired by another Harvey quote: “All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.” We assembled fourteen of the brightest young actors and actresses in town between the ages of 13 and 19, to bring this story to life. Presented not only as a “Special Event” of the Fringe (our 2013 production won a Fringe Award during the festival’s inaugural year), it’s also being offered on the Diversionary stage (who commissioned it in 2009) and on the one-year anniversary of the historic Supreme Court marriage equality decision. Tell me a little about what Fringe means to you. Breakthrough Workshop Theatre has been my
dream for a very long time, but it has been daunting, because I am not only trying to give the organization an artistic identity, but also trying to accomplish goals within a budget. There is no way we would have been able to produce the scope of work we have in such a short period of time without the San Diego Fringe. We have such pride in being a part of the San Diego arts community and I know I speak for everyone at BWT when I say that we are forever grateful to the San Diego Fringe. For times and more information for all of the plays showing at the Diversionary, go to
sdfringe.org.
JUNE 2016 | RAGE monthly 53
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