Why The Fringe (part 2)?

AshleyStrand
I could list the known facts about the Fringe concerning its size, history, variety, diversity, etc ... what's astonishing and attractive to me about the Fringe is the combination of those things with the democratic nature of the event.  There is a real opportunity for unknown talents to distinguish themselves ... and this goes deeper than getting good reviews or awards.  There is an access available at the Fringe -- a setting in which any artist who can get himself into the festival has the opportunity to work with the best performers in the world -- which doesn't exist elsewhere.  Presenting one's own material in this context is its own honor and challenge, but in many ways, the best part of the Fringe is the chance to do unplanned gigs ... I did an open spot on the Set List last year, and Rich Hall had gone one or two spots before me.  A lot of the booked performers stayed to watch the open show, and people stayed after and talked about comedy -- not careers -- but comedy qua comedy.  A real global community coalesces for three weeks, offering incomparable opportunities to cultivate one's creativity.

The Submarine Show

We want to tour The Submarine Show around the world.   The Edinburgh Fringe Festival offers a lot of international exposure, prestigious awards and a diverse audience. This is a perfect show to tour because we can play to any audience regardless of age or spoken language, we have no sets, very few technical requirements, two cast members, the ability to perform successfully in any space from tiny theatres to giant auditoriums, and most importantly ,forgive my frankness, we have a world-class show.  We are also both very excited to see a lot of shows at the world's largest fringe Festival.

Fronteiras Theatre Lab

I love the Fringe, I get a big energy and creative boost from it. It's the reason why I came to Edinburgh in first place. And although there is a huge and fantastic amount of shows to compete with, it is still a great way of getting your name out there and there are excellent networking and learning opportunities to be explored.

A Taste for the International

Last year, Flavia D'Avila was part of the dynamic Edinburgh company, Tightlaced Theatre. Being a restless soul, she has struck out with a new company for 2012, Frontereiras Theatre Lab, nipped across to join the Laughing Horse Free Fringe and come up with a triple bill that consciously crosses national borders, and copies a menu to bring a taster of short, sharp shows.

"Fronteiras wants to generate dialogue and exchange of knowledge and talent across cultures, and research ways of working towards the creation of multifaceted performance events that contain aesthetic elements of diverse cultures," D'Avila begins. "Hopefully the format of the 3-course taster menu will attract some attention. We have also teamed up with Howies from Waterloo Place and will be distributing vouchers for discounted 3-course dinners with our programmes for people coming to see the show."

The three plays range from Scottish (Heather Irvine’s Lovely Burden is the “main course” play, a comic piece looking at the juxtaposition of how being around old people and waiting for death is much like being single), Australia (Angus Algie's “starter” play, Misguided Tour, the tale of an ex-con who gives nocturnal tours of the old jail where he used to be an inmate) to Norway (Oda Fiskum brings the “dessert”: a quick-paced piece about chains and families and teams and guidelines and coupons and membership cards and making the customer happy and smiling and asking about your day and giving you 20% off on a pastry of your choice if you get a medium sized hot beverage). Yet they are all driven by Fronteiras' commitment to fresh, new writing.

D'Avila picks up the story. "I knew Heather Irvine from university and the first idea for the show was born from a text exchange between the two of us on a quiet day at our respective dayjobs. Heather wanted to write a play about the way we deal with singledom and relationships nowadays and I wanted to help her develop it and then direct it, so I invited Torya and Jasmin, two actresses who I've worked with before, to workshop Heather's ideas and develop the script, which would be our only show."

However, D'Avila's own roving led to an addition to the bill. "I went to Denmark for a couple of weeks to attend a course at the Odin Teatret and I met Oda Fiskum, a brilliant writer from Norway who lives in China. On one of our evenings off, Oda asked me to read some of her short scripts to give her feedback and I immediately claimed Team Player, and thought it would be a good idea to present it as a double bill with the play I was developing with Heather."

Even at this stage, the menu format hadn't been developed "I'm not sure how the idea for the Tasters came about, but I felt the need to add a third short play," she continues. "I sent out a call on the social networks and received a handful of submissions, eventually selecting Angus' Misguided Tour. The cast are mostly actors I've worked with before, apart from Sarah and Mandy, who responded to a casting call for actors with languages and will be performing in Italian and Punjabi respectively."

Despite being a new company at the Fringe, the diversity of cast and crew is hard to beat: D'Avila came to Edinburgh from Brazil, and has worked in London and Milan. But the Fringe is not the end of the company's ambitions. "Amongst the projects we are planning for the future are symposia, artist residencies and a full-scale transcultural show for 2014-15," she promises.

THEATRE TASTERS

by Angus Algie, Heather Irvine and Oda Fiskum. Directed by Flavia D’Avila.

3^rd- 12^th August 2012. Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix Cellar Bar, venue 146. 12pm (55min) - FREE