So You Wanna Be a 2012 Fringe Artist?

So you wanna be a Fringe artist? Well, you can! Applications for 2012 Fringe Festival will be available online starting November 1! Applications are open to everyone! And we want everyone to apply!

How do we choose shows for the Festival? They are literally drawn from a hat!

Applications for the Mainstage Category (to be onstage at the Waterfront, Performance Works, etc.) are open November 1-30. The Mainstage Lottery Draw Party (where we literally draw shows out of hats) will be held on December 7 at the ANZA Club. There’ll also be an improv performance from 2011 Pick of the Fringe winners, Peter ‘n’ Chris, followed by a dance party that night!

BYOV (Bring Your Own Venue) and Onsite applications will be accepted starting January 17 and shows will be chosen on a first come, first served basis (as long as they meet criteria set out here).

Want to know more? Click for information! And please share this link with any and all performing artists you know!

We’re Ever So Grateful!

Thanks to all of you who donated to the $5,000 in 5 Days campaign! We had a lot of fun telling you about the amazing things your donations do for the Festival and its artists. We’re also proud to have included our Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Everyone who contributed to the campaign is helping ensure that the 2012 Festival will be the best one yet!

We didn’t quite hit our $5,000 target, but we did get a whole whack of new donors. So, a massively huge hug to all of you solid supporters who renewed your donation and an extra special smooch to the awesome newbies who joined the Fringe Lover family!

We asked our Facebook fans to tag themselves in this photo if they donate to the Fringe.

Aleksandra Brzozowski
Odessa Cadieux
Lois Dawson
David Dowis
Miranda Duffy
Kiersten Eis
Barbara Ellison
Eddie Hung
Tammy Isaacson
Isabella Kessel
Shantini Klaassen
David Magallon
Annastasia Palubiski
Thomas Paolucci
Samantha Quon
Rebecca Shindler
Lindy Sisson
Lara Smith
Vaughn Something
Lisa Turner
Katia Tynan
Kate Wilkins

Thanks to all Fringe supporters—during $5,000 in 5 Days, during the Festival, and throughout the year!

Forgot to donate? It’s not too late.

A Special car2go Deal for Fringers!

Our Communications Director's first trip in a car2go, earlier this summer.

You’ve seen the little white and blue car2go smart cars dashing around town. Maybe you saw them around the Fringe? That’s cause they’re one of our fantastic sponsors! We used car2go to travel between BYOVs in East Van and the Festival’s hub on Granville Island—and boy, was it handy!

Have you ever wondered about the nifty car share company? Well wonder no more! They’re offering Fringe lovers a special deal. You get free registration and 30 minutes of free drive time when you sign up with the promo code “FRINGE”! Once you get your card, you just scan it in the car2go scanner, get in, drive, and then you can leave the car anywhere in the operating area! You can book ahead of time, but you don’t need to—it’s super easy and it’s fun to drive a smart car.

Theatre Deals and Happenings

Alright theatre lovers! Here’s a round up of special stuff that we like and that we think you’ll like. (Some of them even have special deals!)

Smile: The Musical
Oct. 26-30 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre
Awkward Stage Productions are remounting their Fringe hit, Smile: The Musical, today till October 30! And they want to offer Fringe lovers a special deal! Fringe Members get two for one tickets when purchased at the door! Plus they’re having a contest. Spot their transit shelter ad, take a photo, and send it and the bus stop number to awkwardstageproductions@shaw.ca and you could win a pair of tickets to their show! Tickets and info.

Here Be Monsters Festival
Oct. 27-30 at Performance Works
On this weekend! It’s all about new play creation, performance, and artist workshops, forums, mentorship, networking, and opportunities for theatre artists to collaborate. Schedule of events and tickets.

Snowman
Nov. 4-19 at the Revue Stage
Rumble Productions presents Snowman. Denver and Marjorie spend their time doing cocaine with Jude, a young gay man, in a remote northern community at the edge of a glacial sheet. When Jude discovers the body of a prehistoric boy frozen in the glacier, everyone’s life begins to change. Fringers are being offer 20% off tickets to evening performances from November 6-19! Just use “FRINGEFAN” as the promo code! Production info and tickets.

Waiting for Godot
Dec. 27-Jan. 21 at the Cultch
Don’t wait to take advantage of this special Fringe promo code! You’ll get 20% off tickets purchased between October 27 and November 22—just use “GODOT” in the “Use Discount Coupons” section of your online checkout. A British Royal National Theatre poll voted Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot as “the most significant English language play of the 20th century.” Don’t miss your chance to see it! Info and tickets.

Last chance to raise $5,000!

It’s the final email of the 5-day campaign… You got off to a really strong start (thanks!), but donations have slowed down. Everyone knows that Vancouver is a last minute sort of town—so, if you’re thinking about donating or renewing your support, now’s the time!
This is the last day to reach the $5,000 goal!

Donate Now!

The Fringe really expanded its physical and artistic presence this year, spreading the Fringe out to all corners of Granville Island. We had site-specific theatre with Fringe Onsite, Art (Is)Land installations peppering the Island, and expanded programming at the Fringe Bar that kept Railspur Alley bustling every night.

A busy night at the Fringe Bar. Photo by Skot Nelson.

These site innovations are just the sort of evolution the Fringe wants to continue into the future. Your contribution helps build exciting Fringe projects like these each year.

Monthly support of $5, $10, $20, or more is the best way to help us plan the 2012 season with confidence—all normal Fringe Benefits apply and can be made by either direct deposit or credit card.

You can also make a one-time donation online, by mailing a cheque (payable to “First Vancouver Theatrespace Society”), or by phoning us at 604.257.0350 (Ex. 107) for personal service.

Lost in Place: 2011 Onsite show. Photo by Thorsten Gohl.

A Poem about the Fringe

Future of the Fringe

What will the next time feel like?
What nooks and crannies will we squeeze into?
What surprises will we find between
show times, on wooden walkways,
or deep  in curious conversation
with our fellow lovers of theatre
under  the stars on Granville island?
I’m  already dreaming.
And you’re there.

Robyn Williams Dann: From the tips of her toes to what’s under her pants

During the Festival you probably saw Robyn Williams Dann running around with her radio headset, solving problems for volunteers. Or maybe you saw her surrounded by the Frunks at the Fringe Bar. She is a major fan of the Fringe and it all started with a free pair of underwear.

Robyn Williams Dann even got a Fringe chicken pedicure!

“It was 2005, [the Fringe was] giving away Ginch Gonch underpants as part of the curtain speech and I won a pair! … I just remember thinking ‘this festival is where I belong,’” Robyn shares. Since then she’s become a superstar volunteer, dedicating 40-plus hours during the Fringe. You’d think that after giving so much she wouldn’t feel a need to do more—but you’d be wrong.

“It is my grown up summer camp. It’s where I spend 11 days hanging out with my theatre peeps, drinking beer, dancing, laughing, riding my bike, and seeing some amazing shows,” Robyn explains. “When I learned about Canada Helps and how easy it was to become a monthly donor, I thought ‘why not?’ I donate $25 a month, automatically, and while I don’t even notice it coming out of my account I end up donating $300 a year! Can you imagine if everyone set up an account to donate $1 monthly? What about $5 or $10? It’s staggering what a small amount from a lot of people adds up to.”

We couldn’t agree more! Thanks Robyn!

$5,000 in 5 days continues!

We’re halfway there—only three more days to reach $5,000!

Donate Now!

And thank you so much to those of you who’ve already donated! If you’re on Facebook, tag yourself in this fun image and share it with your friends!

A world without artists, especially Fringe artists, would be boring—you know it’s true! The Fringe makes it easy and affordable for artists to develop and share their craft. Your donations support emerging artists before and during the Fringe through valuable workshops, artist promotion, and mentorships.

In particular, the Fringe Onsite mentorship program, led by The Only Animal, gave artists the chance to develop skills in producing site-specific theatre. “The Onsite program opened my straight edged box and let my brain out to play,” says artist Kyla Ferrier, of The Selkie Wife. We were so excited by Fringe Onsite that we asked our good friend Michael Sider to create this amazing video about the project.

Your contributions to the Fringe will help increase artist development by supporting the Onsite program, as well as the Fringe Playhouse Award, and other mentoring awards. Donate today so we can continue to support emerging artists in significant ways.

Monthly support of $5, $10, $20, or more is the best way to help us plan the 2012 season with confidence—all normal Fringe Benefits apply and can be made by either direct deposit or credit card.

You can also make a one-time donation online, by mailing a cheque (payable to “First Vancouver Theatrespace Society”), or by phoning us at 604.257.0350 (ex. 107) for personal service.

Artist Development through Awards

Marisa Smith winning the Joanna Maratta Award at the 2010 Fringe Awards Night. Photo by Thorsten Gohl.

On the last day of the Festival, we present a series of awards that help emerging artists develop and refine their work.

In 2009 the Fringe partnered with the Cultch to create the Cultchivating the Fringe Award. The winner is presented with a run at the Cultch and time to develop their show (2010’s winner, Alley Theatre’s Wicked Shorts, just wrapped up their run).

The success of this award inspired a similar award with the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company (The Fringe Playhouse Award), and 2011’s Little Orange Man was the inaugural winner.

On top of these awards, we also present the Joanna Maratta Award. This award honours the Fringe’s founder and offers a year-long mentorship to the chosen artist, providing guidance to the emerging artist as they become a established.

“The best thing about the Fringe and the Fringe Awards is that they have practical and pro-active components that help carry artists forward in their careers,” says Alley Theatre’s Marisa Smith, winner of the 2010 Joanna Maratta Award. “Along with having the status of winning … I was given a year long mentorship that I was able to apply to an up-coming project.”

Marisa recently learned that she’ll be the assistant director for the Electric Company’s production of All The Way Home, which will be presented at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in January! “If I had never given a platform to explore my art form at the Fringe then I may never have discovered how much I love directing,” Marisa explains. We’re glad we could play a part!

Susan Freedman: This time, she’s not lying

Susan Freedman’s affair with Fringe began at the Edmonton Fringe in 1984. At the time, she was working for CBC Radio, a major sponsor of the Festival. “I’d been acting on and off for much of my life so, of course, fell in love with the Fringe,” Susan says of her first experiences. The love intensified when Susan moved to Vancouver in 1994 and became the Vancouver Fringe’s Director of Marketing.

Susan Freedman's promotional photo for her show Sixty Four and no More Lies.

“I quit to do my first one-woman Fringe show in 1999 and have been doing shows since then,” Susan discloses. That show was Fifty Seven and Still Lying About My Weight, which she then took on the Fringe circuit. “I had never written a show before performing in the Fringe and I’ve learned so much from the process,” Susan shares. “Where else could I have had the opportunity to create my own show (so I was certain to get the lead!), have so much support, a venue, and—most importantly—an audience? Mounting a show is hugely expensive … [but] the Fringe has the built in audience and excitement waiting for any artist who wants to do a show.”

The support Susan experienced is the reason she decided to contribute to the Fringe and why she still donates today. “For young writers, actors, producers, and technicians, the Fringe provides an opportunity to learn and hone their skills,” Susan explains. “For more seasoned performers the Fringe allows them to take risks and try things they’d be unable to do anywhere else.” Susan is currently working on her next show, which she hopes to debut in the 2012 Fringe.