Come Party With Us!

January 8, 2019

Mainstage Artist Applications Due Today!

Puppeteer Adam Proulx won a spot in the Mainstage Lottery in 2015 and brought Baker’s Dozen: 12 Angry Puppets to the Fringe! Photo by Clayton Wong.

Are you hemming and hawing about applying to the Fringe? Make up your mind now (or before the end of today!), because the application deadline for our Mainstage Lottery is almost here! You have until 11:59pm (PST) to apply via Eventotron. And if you want to hit other Festivals in one sitting, click here to see a list of other Fringes still taking applications! Remember: you don’t have to know what your show is yet to apply!

Want to learn more about applying for the Festival, including how much it costs, if your show will be censored, and how much money you can make. You can also read our Frequently Asked Questions. You can also watch these videos from our Fringe 101 sessions, where we talk about that, as well as some artists’ experiences during the Festival!

Be Our Guest at the Lottery Party on January 14!

Come party with us as we draw our Festival line-up! Pirate Kathy draws a number from a magical hat held by Robyn. Photo by Bruce McPherson.

It’s that time of the year again—and you’re invited! Get your lucky charms out for our Lottery Party, happening on Monday, January 14 at the Backstage Lounge on Granville Island. Be the first to know which shows are coming to the 2019 Festival as we draw their names out of a hat!

Doors open at 6:30pm, with the Party starting at 7:00pm. Get ready to be merry—in between celebrating the Lottery winners in our International, North American, and British Columbian categories (yes, we’ll be drawing them in that order!), we’ve prepared some live comedy for you throughout the night. Stay tuned for more details!

This casual event is free and 19+ only, so remember to leave your kids at home. No RSVP required—just bring yourself and be prepared to have fun with us! Please note that the Backstage Lounge is accessible for wheelchair and mobility aid users. See you at the Party!

Announcing the 2019 Fringe New Play Prize Winner!

Playwrights Theatre Centre (PTC) and the Vancouver Fringe Festival are excited to announce that Lili Robinson is the 2019 Fringe New Play Prize winner for her play, Mx! Premiering in the Festival from September 5-15, she will be developing the play with PTC’s Project Dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel.

In Mx, Lili Robinson questions what it means to be mixed-race and Black in the world today. Through the lens of a character stuck in the in-between, Lili’s work follows the clown protagonist ricocheting through representations of Blackness from historical to present-day. Cracking open notions of racial identity in a mashup of disciplines, Mx will reflect on these colonial narratives.

Congratulations to multidisciplinary theatre artist Lili Robinson, who will be bringing Mx to the Fringe Mainstage this year!

This exciting new play is created by multidisciplinary theatre artist Lili Robinson, who graduated from Studio 58’s acting program. Her artistic practice, which explores the creative space where poetry, music, and physical theatre collide, is mirrored by her intersectionality as a queer, biracial Black woman. In addition to having worked as an actor with Boca del Lupo, Theatre Replacement, and The Troika Collective, she is also currently working as an assistant director to Mike Stack at Theatre Temp. She debuted her first play with Chimera, co-written with Heather Barr, at Studio 58’s FourPlay in 2018. We’re also looking forward to a new play that she will develop through the Emerging Playwright Mentorship with Carmen Aguirre at Rumble Theatre, as well her stint as the Artistic Producing Intern at Theatre Replacement!

Joining Lili is producer and director Shanae Sodhi, who is one of the establishing members of the Student Diversity Committee at Studio 58, which aims to increase access and opportunities for diversity and inclusion within the program. Currently an Associate Producer Intern with Green Thumb Theatre and Associate Producer at Diwali in BC, look forward to him assistant directing Anita Rochon on 4000 Miles at The Belfry Theatre in March.

Keep your eyes open for Mx at a Mainstage venue this September!

Fringe the Halls with Applications, Signs, and Theatre

December 11, 2018

Mainstage Artist Applications Now Open!

If you’re a theatre artist who wants to produce a show at the 2019 Vancouver Fringe Festival, we have good news for you: applications for the Mainstage Category are now open!

Vancouver Puppet Theatre was one of the 2018 Mainstage Lottery winners for British Columbia, bringing Baba Yaga and the Black Flower to the Festival! Photo by Bruce McPherson.

Keeping in the spirit of the Fringe as an unjuried and uncensored Festival, Mainstage Artists are chosen through a lottery—we literally draw names out of a hat! This means that everyone gets an equal chance of getting into the Festival. You don’t need to have a complete show, script, or outline when you apply. You only need to enter your contact information on Eventotron and a $55 application fee. We’ll ask you for more information about your show if your name is drawn. It’s that easy!

Mainstage Artists are placed in a venue supplied by the Fringe, and includes a technician, basic lighting and sound, Box Office services, and a listing in the Fringe Festival Program Guide. Shows run for approximately six performances during the Festival from September 5-15, 2019. For more details about becoming a part of the Fringe, visit the Artists’ page on our website.

Applications are close on January 8, 2019 at 5:00pm PST. Stay tuned for more details about our lottery party in mid-January, which starts at 8:00pm!

Other ways you can be involved in the Fringe include applying for Bring Your Own Venue (BYOV), Dramatic Works Series, and Site-Specific Categories. Applications for these categories open once the Mainstage Lottery is done.

If you’re a playwright who identifies as a woman/gender queer on the femme spectrum/nonbinary, applications for Advance Theatre: New Works by Diverse Women are open until February 15. Presented with Ruby Slippers Theatre and Playwrights Guild of Canada, selected plays will be staged as dramatic readings during the 2019 Festival. Find more information about Advance Theatre on Ruby Slippers Theatre’s website.

Partner Profiles: Thunderbolt Sign

Did you notice the beautiful signs we had during the Festival? We have Thunderbolt Sign to thank for that! Based in British Columbia and Alberta, they specialize in customized signages, banners, and graphics that reinforce a business or event’s brand identity and message.

Carl Rivera from Thunderbolt Sign personally delivered these Fringe Bar signs to our office before the Festival! Photo by Debby Reis.

Tell us a bit about your business.
Offering the latest in premier sign-making and efficient printing technology, extensive graphic design expertise and top-notch customer service, Thunderbolt Sign can help bolster your brand identity and business message through a variety of products and services.

How long has Thunderbolt Signs been around? How did it come to be?
Thunderbolt Sign has been around for nine years. It started as a small print shop and has expanded into a full-service sign centre.

What is something that people may not know about Thunderbolt Signs that they should?
We are like an extension of our client’s marketing team. As part of the service we provide, our staff also act as advisers to our clients on the best ways to achieve their marketing goals.

Four words that would best describe your business are:
Service-Oriented, Creative, Passion, Quality.

If Thunderbolt Signs were a show at the Fringe, what kind of show would it be?
Action Comedy.

If Thunderbolt Signs and the Fringe were people, what would they do on an afternoon together?
Have a productive conversation over a delicious lunch and some drinks.

We want Fringers to know a bit about why your business is involved in the Fringe. So, why Fringe?
Thunderbolt Sign supports local businesses and events. We take pride in helping them succeed.

The Theatre Scene

Just a taste of what Vancouver has to offer in the way of Theatre!

O Christmas Tea
December 10-11
Kay Meek Theatre
Calling all Monty Python, Mr. Bean, and Dr. Seuss fans—grab your teacups! Vancouver Fringe veterans James & Jamesy have just come off Off-Broadway to tour their Holiday physical comedy across British Columbia. Catch them at West Vancouver’s Kay Meek Theatre for two nights of funny and brilliantly inventive Christmas comedy!

Bah Humbug!
December 6-22
Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
The Charles Dickens holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, is being retold using Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside as the backdrop! Echoing the harsh social and economic conditions of Dickensian London, Bah Humbug! celebrates the transformative power of human redemption.