BY SUSAN HUBBARD
It’s that time again when companies, performers, and writers need to make a final decision–and quick–about whether to fringe or not this summer.
Fringe Festivals by purist definition are unjuried, uncensored and anything goes theatre and performance festivals. They can be terrific platforms for experimentation and audience building. In North America, a Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals extending from Nova Scotia to Vancouver creates a circuit of 20 Canadian festival sites, providing virtually unlimited opportunities to showcase performance wares. The Association has extended membership to like-minded American cousins in Orlando, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Seattle (see www.mtc.mb.ca/fringe). That means that most of these festivals will find you a venue, include your company in their publicity campaigns, and give you a healthy percentage, if not all, of your box office take. Many in the Canadian Association, including Minneapolis, will even put you up with friends of the fest free through billeting programs.
"Association fests accept whatever is submitted until their lineup is full," says Kathy Navackas, coordinator of the London, Ontario, Fringe Theatre Festival. "We believe in supporting the performers and artists. We don’t judge. You keep all the money. That is the beauty of fringe." Applications are still being accepted for London’s August festival.
"Bring us something we haven’t thought of yet," says Christina Augello, artistic director of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. "We want to see things we wouldn’t have thought possible." Deadline is February 21 for the September 2001 fest.
"The benefits of participating in a fringe fest are twofold," says Curious Theatre’s Jenny Magnus, a veteran of the Edinburgh, New York, and other U.S. and international festivals. "At any festival your work gets to people who probably don’t know you and wouldn’t come to see you solo. Secondly you get to see a lot of artists working within some of the same parameters as yourself and producing some amazing stuff."
"Festivals are a feast of theatre," agrees Plasticene’s Dexter Bullard, also a veteran of Edinburgh and Montreal fringe fests.
The Neo-Futurist’s Greg Allen says Fringes "get your work out there and show people that you’re willing to tour." After mounting The Complete Lost Works of Samuel Beckett at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2000, the company received seven invitations to remount in New York and five to remount elsewhere in the state. The show is currently being staged through February 3 at The Present Company.
But before you log on and start downloading applications, there are a few things to consider. While venues and some publicity are provided, most festivals charge an application or participation fee, or both. Although most are in the $300 range, fees can be as high as $500. The New York fest, which is juried and therefore not considered a true fringe by the Canadian Association, asks for a percentage of all future box office on a show if it goes on to make over $20,000. Edinburgh venues charge space rental, practically unheard of in North America. And while performers are given a share of the door, fests typically set a low ticket price in order to attract as wide an audience as possible. At fringes, complete freedom to present whatever you wish is offset by the risk that if you don’t get an audience, you won’t cover your costs, let alone make any money.
"At the fringes, you live off box office," says Bullard. "They do not fly you in, so you’ve got travel and living expenses as well as production expenses to consider. You get listed on a main guide–sometimes with hundreds of other shows. You need to do massive saturation of posters and flyers. Nothing can replace buzz, and it’s not easy to create when you’re concentrating on mounting a show in a new place."
"You get one hour to perform, 10 minutes to get on, and 10 to get off," says Minnesota Fringe’s Dean J. Seal, referring to the difficulty of sharing venues with multiple acts. But last year Minnesota Fringe returned box office of over $100,000 to its roughly 100 festival participants. "We considered it kind of a landmark," says Seal. Minnesota’s application deadline is February 15.
"Don’t take a one person show," advises the Neo-Futurist’s Allen. "There are just too many of them, and after awhile they all fall together."
"Keep the technical requirements of your show very simple," warns John Clancy, artistic director of the Present Company which producers the New York fringe fest. As at most fests there is minimal, if any, storage space in performance venues which are shared with all shows in that venue. Performers must take props, set pieces and costumes away with them after each performance. There is only enough time for each company to have a single technical rehearsal in each space.
Given these considerations, here are a few tips on how to make your fringe fest experience a rewarding one.
Choose distinctive material. Neo-Futurist’s K and The Lost Works of Samuel Beckett... all drew audiences in part because they have the hook of being easily recognizable, says Allen.
"K was successful as an adaptation of Kafka’s "The Trial," an alternate title of something that is known," says Allen. "The Complete Lost Works of Samuel Beckett… stood out for being the longest title and got written up twice in the New York Times because of that." Allen also emphasizes luring audiences with the prospect of mentally engaging fare. "It helps to be smart in the midst of boffo low humor," he adds.
Consider your audience. If it’s an international one, will there be language barriers? Curious took two plays to Halle, East Germany, both in English. Beau O’Reilly’s Seven Pounds of Mud played well partially because it was in whiteface and featured lots of interesting blocking. "It’s very physical and had more of a visual impact," says Magnus. Bryn Magnus’ Small Together didn't play well because it’s a quieter piece focusing on language. "Don’t hesitate to provide as many aids as possible to help with foreign language venues," says Magnus.
"Focus on the work–the writing, acting and directing," advises San Francisco’s Aguello. "Fringe is about connecting to audiences and community and inspiring them with skill and freshness."
Scout and select the right performance venue. Bullard emphasizes the importance not only of venue but of time slots in those venues. "Killer Joe was wonderfully positioned in the Traverse Theatre, which is the contemporary drama theatre of Scotland at Edinburgh '95," he says. "All the critics came to see it and it was a big hit."
Killer Joe went on to play London, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Australia, Germany and New York.
Make the local connections and get somebody on the scene to care about you. The Neo-Futurists spent years performing in New York before first applying to New York Fringe in '97. "We already had a presence and an identity," says Allen. "It helped."
Plasticene had a connection to a Scottish company that helped them find that all-important performance space as well as with advance publicity.
Cover your costs beforehand. Individual fundraising and a benefit funded most of Plasticene’s travel, living expenses and venue rental for six of their members at Edinburgh. The $20,000 price tag of their three-week, 22-performance run ended up costing each individual member only about $300. "When the box office returns came in, Plasticene actually made a little money," says Bullard.
Expect to do a lot of publicity yourself. Minnesota’s Dean J. Seal says the fest will handle advance publicity but they expect performers to saturate locally. "You really have to aggressively educate the local press," concurs London’s Navackas. "An enthusiastic spokesperson can inspire a noteworthy review that will make all the difference."
The payoff for hitting it big at a festival can be enormous. Although an easy fest to get lost in, the New York International Fringe Festival (www.fringenyc.org) provides clear benefits to companies that can make a mark. According to John Clancy, for some companies, getting seen in NY is what it’s all about. "It’s the cheapest way to produce your show in New York, bar none," he says. "For $390 we give you the space and publicity. If you look in Village Voice or Time Out New York, 70-80 percent of the shows you see for off off-Broadway are from the previous summer’s festival."
Such a supportive environment is rare in New York, says Clancy. "The press, the audience, the industry understand that people are stretching and they support that. The social network is incalculable."
New York selects on three main criteria–innovation, diversity (in genre) and vibrancy. An all-important cover letter of your application should express why this show needs to be seen at the fest and why you need to be the people bringing it there. "We want to see stretching of established forms," says Clancy. "Asylum 57, a clown group out of Chicago, was a big hit last year. It was clear this was like no clown group seen before."
Other festivals also provide opportunities. San Francisco often re-mounts festival favorites multiple times after the fest. Brook Hanemann, artistic director of the Orlando International Fringe Festival, notes that producers from MTV and other television and film companies regularly visit Orlando Fringe.
Right here in Chicago there are opportunities for artists to get their feet wet in fringe. Around the Coyote’s (www.around thecoyote.org) theatre and performance curator Jonathan Pitts says "The Festival is an excellent way for emerging theatre and performance artists to learn to work with audiences, with other artists and with festival organizers." He also recommends the Fest for more established artists wishing to try out new material in front of an audience at minimal cost to themselves. Performers are provided with a venue and there are no participation fees.
Pitts is also the executive producer of the Chicago Improv Festival, a juried festival where most participants are invited and receive stipends for performing. "In Chicago it tends to be performers whose work we are aware of," says Pitts. Companies from outside Chicago are encouraged to send a videotape and supporting materials if they want to be considered.
The Curious Theatre’s Rhinoceros Fest, though juried by members of the company, also doesn’t cost artists. "We write grants to cover our administrative costs and take something off the door," says Magnus. "Rhino’s aesthetic choice shapes the shows."
Magnus considers Rhino a tremendous opportunity for artists. "If you have an hour-long play, are you going to pay to rent a theatre? And who’s going to come to see it? But if you’re part of a festival, more people will come out." The deadline for submission to the summer Rhinoceros Fest is May 1. Artists need submit only a one-page prospectus of what they’d like to accomplish and some idea of length and technical requirements.