Packaging Applications and Departures

November 7, 2019

Artist Applications for the 2020 Fringe Now Open!

We draw the Mainstage Category winners out of a hat! Photo by Bruce McPherson.

On your mark, get set, Fringe! Applications for the Mainstage Category at the 2020 Vancouver Fringe Festival are now open!

Artists who become part of the Mainstage Category are placed in a venue supplied by the Festival, including a technician, basic lighting and sound, Box Office services, and inclusion in the Fringe Festival Program Guide. Mainstage Artists receive approximately six performances during the Festival from September 10-20, 2020. Apply by entering your contact information and a $55 application fee on Eventotron. Applications close at the end of day on Sunday, December 8.

That’s it! As an unjuried and uncensored Festival, you don’t need to have a complete show, script, or outline when you apply to be part of the Fringe. We’ll ask you for more information once you’ve been accepted. In the meantime, make sure to save the date for our Lottery Party on Thursday, December 12 at CBC Studio 700. where we’ll draw the winners from a literal hat! For more details, make sure to visit the Artists’ page on the Fringe website.

Looking for other ways to be a Fringe Artist? Applications for Bring Your Own Venue (BYOV), Site-Specific, and the Dramatic Works Series will be available after the Mainstage Lottery is drawn. Additionally, if you’re a female-identifying playwright, you can submit to Advance Theatre: New Works by Diverse Women until February 15. Read more about Advance Theatre here.

Announcing Executive Director Laura Efron’s Departure from the Vancouver Fringe

Laura has led the Fringe through two successful Festivals. We’re sad to see her go and wish her the best of everything! Photo by Al Ricard.

The Vancouver Fringe Theatre Society’s Board President, Sharon Sutherland, and the Fringe Board of Directors announced on October 30 that Laura Efron will leave her post as Executive Director the at the end of the year to pursue other professional and personal interests.

Laura led the organization through two Festivals, during which she successfully returned the Vancouver Fringe to a surplus position, increased financial payouts to artists, and significantly moved forward with implementing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion work—this included launching the TD Fringe Forward Award in partnership with TD Bank Group and Neworld Theatre. As well, the Vancouver Fringe was again voted by Georgia Straight readers as the Best Performing Arts Festival each year during her tenure.

“It has been an honour to immerse myself into an organization that is so surrounded by enthusiasm and community support,” Laura said. “I am proud that I was able to play a significant part in providing thousands of people with the opportunity to share stories and experiences that were inspiring and impactful. I feel confident that the current team including the board, year-round staff, seasonal staff, and dedicated volunteers will move forward and continue offering excellent Festivals and making other positive impacts within the arts community.”

We’re sad to see Laura go and wish her the best with her future endeavours.

The Fringe’s Board of Directors will conduct a search for an innovative Executive Director to lead the Fringe into its next frontier. The job posting will be circulated shortly and expects to announce who the new Executive Director will be in the new year.

Fringe 101: Everything About the Fringe

Learn the nuts and bolts of the Festival at Fringe 101 on November 21! Photo by Neil Bryan.

How do you get into the Fringe? Mainstage, BYOV, Site-Specific—what’s the difference? What is the Fringe anyway?

If you want to know the answers to these questions and more, join Fringe 101 on Thursday, November 21, at Mount Pleasant Library Meeting Room from 6:00-8:30pm! Fringe 101 is a free information session where you can learn the different ways you can be part of the Festival, what to do once you’ve been accepted into the Fringe, and how to make the most out of your Fringe! Plus, we will be joined by Fringe veterans who will share their experiences with you and answer your burning questions about Vancouver’s Best Performing Arts Festival!

There will be food and refreshments during the event, as well space for informal conversations. If you’re interested, RSVP here and let us know about your dietary restrictions and accessibility needs.

Submit to Be Part of Advance Theatre 2020!

Sis Ne’ Bi-Yïz and ūtszan were part of Advance Theatre 2019, and just recently finished their runs at the Heart of the City Festival!

Be part of the 2020 Fringe by submitting to Advance Theatre, a five-day, five-play festival featuring dramatic readings of new works written and directed by diverse female-identifying Canadian artists! Presented in partnership with Ruby Slippers Theatre, Playwrights Theatre Centre, Playwrights’ Guild of Canada, and Savage Society, Advance Theatre responds to the under-representation of women, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender, and non-binary artists in the theatre industry.

Interested playwrights can submit their play synopsis, a brief bio, and a 10-page script, while directors can send a resume and cover letter by February 15, 2020 to diane@rubyslippers.ca. Selected playwrights and directors will be notified by May 30, 2020. Selected plays will have the cost of rehearsal space, promotion, and artists’ fees covered by the Fringe and Ruby Slippers Theatre and dramatic readings of the plays will be presented as matinees during the 2020 Vancouver Fringe Festival. You can learn more about Advance Theatre by clicking here.

Watch and Save With a Theatre Wire Package

Get spooked with Aenigma Theatre’s The Turn of the Screw, now playing at Studio 16!

Halloween may be over soon, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get an extra dose of horror in November! Aenigma Theatre’s The Turn of the Screw, based on Henry James’ provocative tale of suspense and horror, will terrify you! Playing now till November 10 at Studio 16, this adaptation of James’ classic novella follows a young governess in Victorian England who travels to an isolated Manor to care for two recently orphaned children. If you saw Aenigma Theatre’s production of The How and The Why in 2018, then you know you don’t want to miss out on The Turn of the Screw!

And if The Turn of the Screw has you wanting more theatre, you can get a Theatre Wire Package for more savings and more perks like a personalized discount code and easy ticket exchanges! Plus, when you build a package of 3-5 shows, you can get 20% off your tickets! In addition to The Turn of the Screw, this Package can also includes Roller Coaster, Ain’t True and Uncle False, and more shows produced by Vancouver’s best independent theatre companies. Click here to see the full list of shows that are included in the Theatre Wire Package and buy your tickets now!

The Theatre Scene

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

Heart of the City Festival
Now – November 10
Various venues in the Downtown Eastside
The 16th Heart of the City Festival illuminates the vitality of the Downtown Eastside’s community and its diverse and rich traditions, knowledge systems, ancestral languages, cultural roots, and stories. Vancouver Fringe alumni Taninli Wright, Yvonne Wallace, and Rohit Chokhani recently finished their runs of  Sis Ne’ Bi-Yïz: Mother Bear Speaks, ūtszan, and Diwali in the Downtown Eastside, respectively. You can catch Theatre Terrific’s remount of Workin’ at the Festival’s final weekend. Check out more events from this 12-day Festival in their program guide.

Fringe favourite TJ Dawe is back with Roller Coaster, a monologue that’s sure to take you for a ride.

Awkward Hug
November 8
Centre Stage at Surrey City Hall
Winner of the Fringe’s BC Touring Council Award in 2018, Awkward Hug by Cory Thibert is back for one night only! This coming-of-age story with a twist uncovers some hard truths about Cory Thibert’s family when the Ottawa Affordable Housing Unit informs his parents that they have to move out of the only home he has ever known.

Roller Coaster
November 13-15
Performance Works
TJ Dawe, solo show meister and Jessie Award-winning Fringe veteran (he’s been touring since 1994!), is back with a one-person show about why we go to war, who our real gods are, the bizarre phenomenon of Donald Trump’s presidency, and the end of the world. PLUS! This may be your last chance to see TJ on stage! He’s moving to LA in January for at least a year!

We’re the Best, and You are too!

October 7, 2019

Besting the Fringe

Thanks to all of you for making this year’s Fringe a blast! Photos by (clockwise from top left) John Roxas, Monique Sello, and Neil Bryan.

We’re simply the best—according to you! Thank you for voting for the Vancouver Fringe Festival as the Best Local Performing Arts Festival for the 24th Annual Georgia Straight Readers’ Choice Awards for the 16th year! Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who voted for the Fringe—here’s to the next 35 years with you all!  

Did you indulge in some Theatrically Delicious shows this year? If you did, make sure to fill out the Audience Survey so we can learn more about you! Plus, your responses help the Fringe in reporting to donors and funders!  

If you’re feeling some post-Fringe blues and want to reminisce the good times you had at the Fringe, check out our Facebook page to see some highlights from the Festival taken by our lovely and talented volunteers!   

Love the Fringe for the next 35 years

Become a Fringe Lover today and you’ll help keep the Festival going for the next 35 years! Photo by Marie-Catherine Massie.

Thanks to your support, the 35 for 35 campaign to raise $35,000 by the end of the Festival is a success! The final amounts are still being tallied, but make sure to become a Fringe Lover by October 31. If you donate a minimum of $25 before the end of the month, you’ll receive an invite to an exclusive donor event in November!  

It’s thanks to Fringe Lovers like you that Festival continues to thrive. Did you know the entire Dramatic Works Series is possible thanks to one donor? And thanks to another donor’s idea, the Fringe was able to host its first ever Artist Welcome Dinner? And monthly donors are the reason the Fringe is able to secure venues months in advance of the Festival! It’s true! Become a Fringe Lover today to support the Fringe as it grows for another 35 years! 

Go On Tour!

Monica vs. The Internet: Tales of a Social Justice Warrior was one of the CAFF Touring Lottery winners this year! Photo by Brandon Law.

Calling all (potential) Fringe Artists! The Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals Touring Lottery is now open!

If you’ve ever wanted to take a Fringe show on the road, the CAFF Touring Lottery makes this process easier by giving Fringe Artists a guaranteed spot in a minimum of five Fringe Festivals in Canada and/or the United States. To be eligible for the lottery, Artists must have participated in at least one CAFF Member Festival before. Learn more about the Touring Lottery on CAFF’s website, and when you’re ready, start your application here and remember to submit by 10:00am (CST) on October 22. The lottery draw will take place on October 24, with results to be posted on CAFF’s website. Good luck and see you at the 2020 Fringe!

The Theatre Scene

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

Diwali in BC
October 6-November 1
Various Venues
Now returning for its third year, Diwali in BC is back with a groundbreaking and culturally diverse lineup of Artists from various traditions and backgrounds, including Fringe veterans Rohit Chokhani and Nyla Carpentier, and Mohamed Assani, who you may remember from his fantastic show at the Phillips Fringe Bar. The 2019 edition of Diwali in BC will continue to build on its success in Vancouver with special programming in the Punjabi Market and the Downtown Eastside, as well as Diwali presentations in Vernon and Cranbrook.

Did you miss (clockwise from top left) Didn’t Hurt, Legoland, How I Killed My Nan, and Where the Quiet Queers Are at the Fringe? Catch them again at the first Replay festival!

REPLAY: A Bunch of Great Plays, Again!
October 15-26
Havana Theatre
REPLAY: A Bunch of Great Plays, Again! features artists that are fresh from the Fringe, ready to pluck your heartstrings, knock you sideways, and make you laugh. Presented by Staircase Theatre Society, this festival features Amplify Choral Theatre (Where the Quiet Queers Are), Ragamuffin Productions (Legoland), Rodney DeCroo (Didn’t Hurt), Dion Arnold (How I Killed My Nan), and Power Pause Productions’ Joanna Rannelli and Hilary Filier, who are back with a new show after the successful run of The Most Massive Woman Wins at the Fringe! Plus, No Tweed Too Tight: Another Grant Canyon Mystery from a few years back, will be back at REPLAY Festival!

Certified
November 3-16
Vancity Culture Lab at The Cultch
Fringe alumna Jan Derbyshire needs help in determining her current state of sanity, so she turns the audience into a mental health review board. Join this irreverent fun of Jan’s hilarious and heart-aching journey through the mental health system. Grapple with hefty questions like: how do we define “crazy” and who gets to decide? In this case: you do.