ANCHOR INTRO: San Diego International Fringe Festival promises “11 days of eyeball busting shows.” KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando says that’s an accurate description. As an adjective, fringe is defined as unconventional, not part of the mainstream, and even extreme. For the theater community, Fringe has come to define a certain kind of alternative festival where performers can try out original work without a filter, that means no censoring of content and no selection committees to pass judgment on what can be seen. The idea of a Fringe Festival started in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland, when an alternative theater event sprung up in reaction to the more mainstream Edinburgh International Festival. Now there are Fringe festivals all over the globe. The San Diego International Fringe Festival kicked off its third year last night to appreciative crowds. CLIP Applause Founder and executive director Kevin Charles Patterson advises theatergoers to get ready for a big adventure. KEVIN CHARLES PATTERSON: Get ready to go see things that you normally wouldn’t go see. The fact that the festival is so accessible price wise, they can go see some shows for free up to the most expensive ticket is $10. So they can go see a circus show in the morning, go see a dance show in the afternoon, see a play later than afternoon, in the evening go see a musical. A musical like Les Midge: An Unexpected Journey of Hobbit Proportions, which mashes up Les Miserables and Tolkein by way of Hollywood. CLIP Singing This year the festival has expanded to 18 different venues says Patterson. KEVIN CHARLES PATTERSON: Everything from Spreckels Theater all the way down to a hostel down in San Diego. One thing that’s new is we’ve added venues in Mexico. One returning venue is Les Girls in Point Loma where you can find the uniquely talented Kate McGrew and her show Hooker PI. KATE McGREW: It’s the story of a sex worker whose client dies while they are having sex, so she has to devise a plan to hide both of them from a pack of zombie radical feminists who roam the streets enslaving clients and eating hookers for strength. And it’s singing, rapping, and pole dancing. That’s right, feminism and pole dancing. McGrew won the Fringe on Fire Award last year and has traveled from Dublin to make her second appearance at San Diego Fringe. The Irish are also represented by Big Shot, The Musical. CLIP Singing But not all the performers have traveled from abroad. Jacob Surovsky is from San Diego and at 17 he’s the youngest playwright at Fringe. He’s debuting My Mother is in the Audience. JACOB SUROVSKY: It’s a dark comedy about four stage moms who engage in a deadly competition in order to win the coveted prize of best parental coordinator. It’s a combination of my obsession with Shakespeare and my experience backstage in theater. Phillip Magin stars as Macbeth in the play-within-the-play. He describes the craft required to butcher the Bard. PHILLIP MAGIN: The trick to performing bad Shakespeare is to know all the rules so you can break all the rules. One of the important elements that we went over was that we went over all the monologues and how to do them the correct way so we could pin together different areas where I could mispronounce words, screw up the verse and just go straight forward into the most horrendous Shakespeare so it’s comedic timing and value could be perfect. CLIP Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow… In addition to deliberately bad Shakespeare, Fringe serves up puppets, dance, circus, stand up comedy and even a juggling plumber who does a strip tease. CLIP Music The 2015 San Diego International Fringe Festival provides sensory overload through August 2nd. You must purchase a $5 Fringe Tag in order to be let into any of the venues. This is a donation toward the running of the non-profit event. All ticket proceeds go directly to the artists. The Fringe staff – excluding some of the tech crew – is all-volunteer. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
ANCHOR INTRO: Comic-Con is over but prepare for another kind of sensory overload with the third annual San Diego International Fringe Festival. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando has this preview. The San Diego International Fringe Festival takes its inspiration from the more than half century old Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Both festivals give artists of all kinds and levels of talent an opportunity to stage their work for the public without a filter. That means no jury or committee evaluating the work or passing judgment on what can be seen. The result is an assault on the senses with a wildly diverse array of work ranging from drama and comedy to magic, stand up, music, dance, and circus. Founder and executive director Kevin Charles Patterson advises theatergoers to get ready for a big adventure. KEVIN CHARLES PATTERSON: Get ready to go see things that you normally wouldn’t go see. The fact that the festival is so accessible price wise, they can go see some shows for free up to the most expensive ticket is $10. So they can go see a circus show in the morning, go see a dance show in the afternoon, see a play later than afternoon, in the evening go see a musical. CLIP Singing This year the festival is adding venues including one across the border. KEVIN CHARLES PATTERSON: Venues, we have 18 different venues this year. Everything from Spreckels Theater all the way down to a hostel down in San Diego, Les Girls Adult Club. It’s a big mixture of venues and it’s exciting. One venue we have that’s interesting is the Natural History Museum, and with the Natural History Museum the artists will be performing on the roof. The 2015 San Diego International Fringe Festival runs through August 2nd. You must purchase a $5 Fringe Tag in order to be let into any of the venues. This is a donation toward the running of the non-profit event. All ticket proceeds go directly to the artists. The Fringe staff – excluding some of the tech crew – is all volunteer. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
Recommendations on what to see at Fringe from KPBS arts and culture reporter Beth Accomando:
Feminism and pole dancing, that’s an unbeatable combination thanks to the audacious Kate McGrew. Plus she’s come out from Ireland for the second year in a row.
At 17, Jacob Surovsky may be the youngest playwright at Fringe. He serves up a behind the scenes take on stage moms and young actors that looks hilarious.
I can’t resist anything about Don Quixote.
Les Midge: An Unexpected Journey of Hobbit Proportions
And yes, I am also a sucker for pop culture mash-ups like Les Mis meets Tolkein by way of Hollywood.
Scenes From Mars One: Now with 68% Less Gravity!
Props for a clever title and the wackiest look of all the shows to preview on Monday night.
Again just going on the vibe I get from the title on this one.
Check this dance piece out for the venue — the rooftop at theNAT.
Circus Collective of San Diego puts their circus skills to socially conscious use in this exploration of boundaries and walls.
You gotta love “improbable circus” and “sexy burlesque.”
This group from Ireland displayed some impressive vocal skills on preview night.
For times and locations click the title.
Comic-Con is over but prepare for another kind of sensory overload with the third annual San Diego International Fringe Festival.
San Diego International Fringe Festival takes its inspiration from the more than half century old Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Both festivals give artists of all kinds and levels of talent an opportunity to stage their work for the public without a filter. That means no jury or committee evaluating the work or passing judgment on what can be seen.
The result is an assault on the senses with a wildly diverse array of work ranging from drama and comedy to magic, stand-up, music, dance and circus.
Founder and executive director Kevin Charles Patterson advises theatergoers to "get ready for a big adventure. Get ready to go see things that you normally wouldn’t go see. The fact that the festival is so accessible price wise, they can go see some shows for free up to the most expensive ticket is $10. So they can go see a circus show in the morning, go see a dance show in the afternoon, see a play later than afternoon, in the evening go see a musical."
The schedule can be found on the San Diego International Fringe Festival website.
This year the festival is adding venues.
"One of the big differences this year is we are adding venues in Mexico, which is super exciting. We have 18 different venues this year. Everything from Spreckels Theater all the way down to a hostel down in San Diego, Les Girls Adult Club. It’s a big mixture of venues and it’s exciting. One venue we have that’s interesting is the Natural History Museum, and the artists will be performing on the roof," Patterson said.
The new spaces are inspiring the artists as in the case of the plays at San Diego City College where they will all be outdoors and site specific.
Update: Interviews with artists
At the returning venue of Les Girls in Point Loma, you can find the uniquely talented Kate McGrew and her show "Hooker P.I."
"It’s the story of a sex worker whose client dies while they are having sex, so she has to devise a plan to hide both of them from a pack of zombie radical feminists who roam the streets enslaving clients and eating hookers for strength," McGrew said, "And it’s singing, rapping, and pole dancing."
That’s right, feminism and pole dancing. McGrew won the Fringe on Fire Award last year and has traveled from Dublin to make her second appearance at San Diego Fringe.
But not all the performers have traveled from abroad. Jacob Surovsky is from San Diego and at 17 he’s the youngest playwright at Fringe. He’s debuting "My Mother is in the Audience" (and she really was too and I got to meet her).
"It’s a dark comedy about four stage moms who engage in a deadly competition in order to win the coveted prize of best parental coordinator. It’s a combination of my obsession with Shakespeare and my experience backstage in theater," Surovsky stated.
Phillip Magin stars as Macbeth in the play-within-the-play. He described the craft required to butcher the Bard: "The trick to performing bad Shakespeare is to know all the rules so you can break all the rules. One of the important elements that we went over was that we went over all the monologues and how to do them the correct way so we could pin together different areas where I could mispronounce words, screw up the verse and just go straight forward into the most horrendous Shakespeare so it’s comedic timing and value could be perfect."
You can see an example of his "bad Shakespeare" in the preview video below.
The 2015 San Diego International Fringe Festival runs through Aug. 2. You must purchase a $5 Fringe Tag in order to be let into any of the venues. This is a donation toward the running of the nonprofit event. All ticket proceeds go directly to the artists. The Fringe staff – excluding some of the tech crew, development staff, and interns – are all volunteers.
Previews
If you need some help deciding what to see, here are a few preview scenes performed at the Monday night press preview:
