We here at Planet Forward often write about organizations that promote social and/or environmental sustainability initiatives both on a local and global scale and today?s post is no different. ?Theatre, as an art form, is one of the most expressive means of education and communication. However, the ability to participate in a wide variety of theatre is often limited by the availability of venues, money, and audiences. The North American Fringe circuit overcomes these barriers by providing artists and the audiences a theatrical experience like no other in the world on an unjuried, first-come, first served or lottery basis.?
The first Canadian Fringe Festival took place in 1982 in Edmonton, Alberta and was fashioned after the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the philosophy to provide ?accessible, inexpensive and fun theatre-going?. The tremendous success of that first festival led to Fringe Festivals taking place across Canada and the United States with each festival having its own distinct flavour. As the Fringe philosophy continued to spread, concern grew that the guiding principles may be compromised by Fringe ?posers?. In order to preserve the Fringe philosophy, the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) was formed and in 1994 it became an officially registered non-profit organization in Canada. The four guiding principles of CAFF (then and now) are:
- Participants will be selected on a non-juried basis, through a first-come, first served process, a lottery, or other method approved by the Association
- The audience must have the option to pay a ticket price, 100% of which goes directly to the artists (government taxes notwithstanding.)
- Fringe Festival producers have no control over the artistic content of each performance.? The artistic freedom of the participants is unrestrained.
- Festivals must provide an easily accessible opportunity for all audiences and all artists to participate in Fringe Festivals.
Canadian Association of Fringe Festival (CAFF) logo
The CAFF mandates remain:
- To safeguard the integrity of Fringe Festivals as outlined in the four minimum criteria
- To recognize that the health of all member Festivals is important to the Circuit and therefore the artists? health as a whole
- To encourage communication and cooperation between member Festivals thereby fostering the continuity of our guiding principles.
The Fringe Festival phenomenon continues to grow and today there are 21 CAFF members across Canada and 6 members in the United States. Canada enjoys more Fringe Festivals than any other country in the world and each Festival is a leader in the development of theatre artists and audiences in their community.
?For the artists, the Fringe provides an unequalled opportunity to bring to light new and innovative works or rarely staged classics. It is also a forum for local artists to mingle and exchange ideas with members of the national and international theatre community. For many groups, the Fringe has brought overnight success with productions being scouted and remounted by numerous established companies such as Mirvish Production, The World Stage Festival, Magnetic North, and the High Performance Rodeo. Fringe artists have also gone on to win numerous prestigious awards such as the Chalmers Award and the Governor General?s Award for Theatre.?
?For the audience, the Fringe is a unique and exciting menagerie of drama, comedy, musical theatre, clown, and multi-media works?a place of discovery and invention. Fringe audiences also have the unique opportunity to interact with Fringe artists and to share their thoughts about the performances while on the festival site. Fringe audiences are also encouraged to spread the word about the great shows they?ve seen and to post their reviews for others to read and consider when planning what shows to see. It is the audiences? positive word of mouth that has many a time led to productions enjoying sold-out runs at Fringe Festivals across North America.?
Fringe Festival Toronto image courtesy of blogto.com
The Toronto Fringe Festival kicks off today and ?There?s something for everyone, with musicals, comedies, family programming, drama, dance, improv and anything else you can imagine on offer. Don?t miss the Site Specific productions that take place in unexpected locations like backs of cars or down hidden alleys. The heart of the festival is the Fringe Club at Honest Ed?s (581 Bloor St. West) which includes the Visual Fringe?s eight living gallery spaces and all kinds of free forums, discussions and late night cabaret performances. Since 1989, the Fringe has showcased over 2300 independent theatre productions, returned nearly $5,000,000 back to participating artists, and provided thousands of artists with a launch pad for their careers.?
If you?re in the Toronto area, try to make it out to one of the fringe events. You can read previews of the Toronto line-up at BlogTO and National Post.
You can learn more about the Toronto Fringe Festival here and about other Fringe Festivals taking place across Canada and the US here.
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