Theater Bay Area Magazine
Expect the Unexpected at the SF Fringe
September 2006
Amber Adrian
Expect the Unexpected at the SF Fringe
September 2006
Amber Adrian
Edgy, creative and sometimes dark work blooms at the Fringe. It also has a reputation for being patchy. "Curation does
not dictate quality," asserts Augello. "It's hit and miss wherever you go." The Fringe is condensed so it seems like
more, but if you extend it out over an eight month season somewhere, there's the same average of excellent, good,
average and ew." Some of the Bay Areas most respected companies - including Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire,
Lunatique Fantastique, Cutting Ball and Killing My Lobster - appeared at the Fringe before going on to become
important parts of the Bay area ecology. Augello also notes that Fringe regular Banana Bag and Bodice was currently
hailed in Time Out New York, "The Fringe had something to do with that."
not dictate quality," asserts Augello. "It's hit and miss wherever you go." The Fringe is condensed so it seems like
more, but if you extend it out over an eight month season somewhere, there's the same average of excellent, good,
average and ew." Some of the Bay Areas most respected companies - including Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire,
Lunatique Fantastique, Cutting Ball and Killing My Lobster - appeared at the Fringe before going on to become
important parts of the Bay area ecology. Augello also notes that Fringe regular Banana Bag and Bodice was currently
hailed in Time Out New York, "The Fringe had something to do with that."
The Fringe is prime opportunity for new artists to dip in their toes and decide is theater is something they want to do.
It's also a shot for working performers to polish new work or tackle subjects that wouldn't sell elsewhere, Augello says.
"They'll be bad because they're allowed. It's uncensored theater."
The Fringe can also serve as a stepping stone for enterprising artists on the great publicity mission - an essential part
of getting you work sen and making a living in the theater. Slash Coleman, performer and playwright of The Neon
Man and Me, aims to have his show booked Off-Broadway by the fall of 2007. From Richmond, Virginia, Coleman will
be crashing on a friends couch during the San Francisco Fringe Festival, which he's using to gear up for the
Edinburgh Fringe next year.
It's also a shot for working performers to polish new work or tackle subjects that wouldn't sell elsewhere, Augello says.
"They'll be bad because they're allowed. It's uncensored theater."
The Fringe can also serve as a stepping stone for enterprising artists on the great publicity mission - an essential part
of getting you work sen and making a living in the theater. Slash Coleman, performer and playwright of The Neon
Man and Me, aims to have his show booked Off-Broadway by the fall of 2007. From Richmond, Virginia, Coleman will
be crashing on a friends couch during the San Francisco Fringe Festival, which he's using to gear up for the
Edinburgh Fringe next year.
(Photo: Mike Coleman)
Theater artists sick of rehearsing for eight weeks, performing for four, and netting a grand total of a hundred dollars (before travel
costs) should consider the Fringe. Christina Augello dubs it "Christmas in the theater," in part because you can walk out with a
pocketful of cash. "I think that validates you as a professional performer," says Augello. The Fringe is supported by the Exit Theater -
where Augello is artistic director - but is not curated by Augello or anyone else. The exit offers tech, publicity, box office, admin.
support and an audience, but no agenda is imposed on the artists. "It opens the doors to thinking outside the box," says Augello.
Artists show up for the opportunity to be innovative and take risks. "Quite frankly," Augello says," the kind of work we're nurturing would
not wind up on Broadway. Yet the theater needs variety of material to exist and have a future. We can't keep re-inventing musicals."
costs) should consider the Fringe. Christina Augello dubs it "Christmas in the theater," in part because you can walk out with a
pocketful of cash. "I think that validates you as a professional performer," says Augello. The Fringe is supported by the Exit Theater -
where Augello is artistic director - but is not curated by Augello or anyone else. The exit offers tech, publicity, box office, admin.
support and an audience, but no agenda is imposed on the artists. "It opens the doors to thinking outside the box," says Augello.
Artists show up for the opportunity to be innovative and take risks. "Quite frankly," Augello says," the kind of work we're nurturing would
not wind up on Broadway. Yet the theater needs variety of material to exist and have a future. We can't keep re-inventing musicals."
The exit support the risk taking by writing grants and raising money. "We rely on the kindness of friends and strangers," says Augello," and word of mouth. It's
really grassroots driven. But the Exit is a solid investment for funders and performers (who contribute a performance fee that makes up a third of the budget.
"People respect us. People see us as a place where dangerous, edgy stuff happens. The Fringe is right up our alley." Augello notes that the Fringe is here to
support the artist. "Not because we're do-gooders but because we love what we do. We love the work, we love the excitement of seeing new work. Of
watching artists grow and develop.
The Fringe open up the local community and morphs it into a national and international community for a 12 day period. Local artists mingle with artists
from as far away as Singapore and form connections that help keep the art scene fresh and vibrant. "As theater artists, we are about community," says
Augello. "It's a communal sport" Networking is done, new projects are envisioned, new companies formed. Everyone learns from everyone else work. It's
important to me to keep those doors and windows open, she says.
really grassroots driven. But the Exit is a solid investment for funders and performers (who contribute a performance fee that makes up a third of the budget.
"People respect us. People see us as a place where dangerous, edgy stuff happens. The Fringe is right up our alley." Augello notes that the Fringe is here to
support the artist. "Not because we're do-gooders but because we love what we do. We love the work, we love the excitement of seeing new work. Of
watching artists grow and develop.
The Fringe open up the local community and morphs it into a national and international community for a 12 day period. Local artists mingle with artists
from as far away as Singapore and form connections that help keep the art scene fresh and vibrant. "As theater artists, we are about community," says
Augello. "It's a communal sport" Networking is done, new projects are envisioned, new companies formed. Everyone learns from everyone else work. It's
important to me to keep those doors and windows open, she says.
| © Slash Coleman 2009 |
