George Bernard Shaw's "Candida" performed by Burning Passions Theatre company at the Toronto Fringe Festival. (Burning Passions Theatre Company)
This is the Fringe’s 21st year of featuring inexpensive, independent, and often unconventional productions—all for under $10.
“The Fringe is certainly one place that people of all kinds of backgrounds find each other to share stories and ideas,” said Gideon Arthurs, the festival’s executive director.
With a mission to produce accessible plays that are unrestrained in terms of form, content, and style, Fringe Festivals have become a popular trend among theatre goers looking for more unconventional entertainment.
Arthurs, who first become involved in the festival at the age of 16, highlights its importance for emerging artists.
“My friends and I would try anything we could to be part of what seemed back then as the ONLY place that we could have our work seen and appreciated by a wide and open-minded audience,” he said.
From the United States to India, Fringe theatre festivals have sprung up around the world, more than 50 years after the first Fringe opened in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1947. The Edinburgh Fringe remains the world’s largest.
Since the Edmonton Fringe Festival—Canada’s first—was launched in 1982, Canada has welcomed 19 festivals, making it the country with the largest number of its kind. The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals now has 25 festivals, including six from the United States. However, this does not include unofficial ones, such as those held by universities.
“All Fringe Festivals share the same core values in Canada—they are not chosen by jury, they never interfere with the artistic content of a show, and most importantly they return 100 percent of the box office to their artists,” explained Arthurs, adding that last year the Toronto Fringe was able to return $415,000 to the theatre companies.
“Though [Toronto] isn't the largest in audience size yet—although it's getting there—it has the most participating artists, which really demonstrates what a hotbed of creativity Toronto is,” Arthurs said.
Fringe Festivals also distinguish themselves through their commitment to ensuring artist and audience participation. At the same time, the organizers have little control over what is presented. In Toronto, Fringe productions are chosen by lottery.
“Audiences never know what they are going to get,” said Arthurs. This is part of the Fringe Festival philosophy of having audiences decide whether the plays are good or bad. So on July 12, the last day of the festival, the most well attended performances at each venue are welcomed back for an encore.
Most of the participants at the Toronto Fringe are local theatre companies; however a fair number also come from other Canadian and U.S. cities, as well as from countries as far afield as Australia and Kuwait.
This year for the first time, Le Phénix bleu, a Paris based theatre company will perform a French language play—L’enfant et l’homme’ (The Child and the Man) at the Toronto Fringe.
Like other Fringe Festivals, Toronto features both emerging and established performers, and the productions range from premieres to plays that have won awards at other Fringe Festivals. This year’s line-up includes classical productions such as Molière’s “The Sicilian,” George Bernard Shaw’s “Candida” and Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” as well as well as a variety of unknown plays.
Some plays are also explicitly educational, such as “After the Crash: A Play About Brain Injury.” Developed as a research project between a theatrical company called The Ruckus Ensemble, the University of Toronto, and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, the play uses theatre to educate audiences about the challenges of overcoming traumatic brain injuries.
While many of the plays at the Fringe are not intended for children (parents should be careful to read the play’s descriptions), the festival also features FringeKids!, a series of performances specifically for children. Parents wishing to introduce Shakespeare to their kids can go see “As You Puppet,” an adaptation of “As You Like It,” while others may enjoy following the adventures of “Chicken Licken” or see British writer Rudyard Kipling’s “Just So Stories.”
For schedules, venues, and a complete listing of Fringe Festival plays, visit www.fringetoronto.com. The festival runs until July 12.
