Fringe theatre
Theatre produced outside mainstream institutions, often small-scale and non-traditional.
Fringe theatre refers to theatrical work produced outside mainstream institutions, typically small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term originates from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and the concept is analogous to off-Broadway and Off-off-Broadway in New York City, as well as Europe's free theatre groups. In London, fringe denotes small-scale theatres distinct from West End venues.
Quick Facts
- Origin year
- 1947
- Origin event
- Edinburgh International Festival
- First use of term
- late 1950s
- Notable early figure
- Robert Kemp
- Notable early innovator
- James Haynes
- Largest fringe festival
- Edinburgh Festival Fringe
- Second-largest annual arts festival
- Adelaide Fringe
Facts from the source article.
History
In 1947, eight theatre troupes turned up at the Edinburgh International Festival hoping to catch the attention of the large crowds. A year later, Scottish journalist and playwright Robert Kemp observed that unofficial performances were multiplying around the main festival events. That same year, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe launched under the name Festival Adjuncts. The fringe movement in Britain is thought to have started in the 1960s, running alongside America's Off-Off-Broadway and Europe's free theatre groups. The label itself emerged in the late 1950s, and the production Beyond the Fringe debuted in Edinburgh in 1960 before moving to Broadway and the West End. An American bookseller named James Haynes founded the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh in 1963, an early pioneer. Other notable groups from that era include La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Jerzy Grotowski's Theatre of 13 Rows, and Józef Szajna's Studio Theatre in Warsaw. The Adelaide Fringe in South Australia, now the second-largest annual arts festival globally, began in 1960 as a side event to the main Adelaide Festival of Arts. Haynes, while running the Traverse, received state backing and a new venue in 1969; that same year he started the Arts Lab in London, which closed after two years. Peter Brook and Charles Marowitz opened the Open Space Theatre on Tottenham Court Road in London in 1968. Following the May 1968 protests in France, young British writers like David Hare, Howard Brenton, and David Edgar created agitprop plays. In the United States, experimental theatre grew amid political opposition to the Vietnam War, with Julian Beck's Living Theatre seen as a leader of the flower power and hippie movement. By the early 1970s, many fringe theatres began getting small subsidies. After the 1973–74 stock market crash, numerous fringe companies shut down, though the Bush Theatre and King's Head Theatre held on, as did touring groups like 7:84 and Red Ladder Theatre Company. Fringe theatres drew audiences in the 1960s for their boldness, but by the 1970s they had become less edgy as production quality improved.
Festival organization
A key distinction between fringe festivals and conventional arts festivals is the method of participant selection. Conventional festivals typically use a jury process, while many fringe festivals are unjuried or open-access, accepting all applicants. Some fringe festivals, such as the New York International Fringe Festival, do employ a jury-based selection. Performers of any professional or amateur status may apply, with no restrictions on the nature, style, or theme of the performance, though some festivals have children's areas with content limits. When applications exceed available spaces, selection may be based on order of application or a random draw. The number of performances varies widely; the Edinburgh festival in 2013 had 45,464 performances. Fringe festivals usually have a central organizing group that handles ticketing, scheduling, and promotion, with each production paying a set fee. The organizing group and venues often rely on volunteers. Ticket pricing varies; at UK fringe festivals, groups set their own prices, and some sell tickets at fixed rates in one or two tiers or in groups of five or ten. Although the organizing group rarely selects winners, other organizations may judge entries. Productions can be reviewed by newspapers or festival-specific publications, and awards may be given by certain organizations, which can boost ticket sales or lead to extra dates.
Elements of a typical production
Shows in fringe festivals are not judged or juried; some festivals use a lottery system for selection when demand exceeds space. Productions are typically technically sparse, presented in shared venues with limited technical time, so sets and technical elements are kept simple. Venues may be adapted from other uses. Casts tend to be smaller than in mainstream theatre, as many groups travel and venues are small, making one-person shows common. Fringe productions often showcase new scripts, especially those on obscure, edgy, or unusual material, as the lack of artistic vetting and easy entry encourage risk-taking. Shows are usually single-act productions of about one hour, unlike mainstream two- or three-act shows lasting two to three hours. Lower ticket prices allow audiences to attend multiple shows in one evening. Performers sometimes billet in local residents' homes to reduce costs.
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