With venues so small that actors could be almost sitting in the audience’s lap, separation would be impossible even if desired. In fact, the majority of the material is created with this relationship in mind. There is more direct interaction with an audience at one fringe show, than is usually on offer for a whole season at most theatres. Both the audience and the performers feel they have participated equally in the event.
Theatre at a fringe festival is no longer the “show” it has become today. It is a return to the roots of theatre - travelling caravans of actors setting up in the village square to enact the tales that everybody loved and knew would bring life to a standstill. That’s the atmosphere that is created at a good festival. The fair has come to town and the rides will take your breath away.
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the granddaddy of fringe festivals. It has gotten so large that it even has spawned a Fringe, fringe festival of its own. Monty Python, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Emma Thompson, and Rowan Atkinson all began their careers here. Robin Williams, Jude Law, and Hugh Grant have all performed at the Fringe.
There are now fringe festivals around the world. From major theatre centres to small towns, the attraction of inexpensive accessible theatre is almost impossible to resist. It’s theatre far removed from the glitz and glory of Broadway and Phantom of the Opera. Immediate and in your face, a fringe festival is a forceful reminder of theatre’s great potential to communicate ideas and emotions.
The Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival opening on August 7th this year marks the beginning of the fringe season. If you are lucky enough to have a festival in your town, or to have one in the vicinity, do yourself a favour and take a chance. Go and see theatre as it’s meant to be performed.
Ed/Pub:NB
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