\u201cThe best thing about Fringe is the sense of community and the sense of exploration,\u201d says Jang. \u201cI don\u2019t come from a theatre background, and it\u2019s something that I got myself into, and a lot of my first discoveries in theatre came from the Fringe… discovering the theatre community and discovering what theatre actually is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fringe producer and Intrepid Theatre director Janet Munsil approached Jang to take over the reins this year, an opportunity that the recent Camosun graduate didn\u2019t hesitate at grabbing. A longtime volunteer for the festival, the former Applied Communication Program student and Nexus<\/i> contributor has experience volunteering, working at, and attending different Fringe festivals across Canada, but Victoria\u2019s Fringe has always held a special place for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like that it\u2019s different every year and it\u2019s such a huge community,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery year there are people that just pop out of the woodwork and I only see them at Fringe and it\u2019s a big, huge family. I love seeing my Victoria Fringe family every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Included in that family are the casts and crews of the 54 different plays from all over the world that were selected this year in the Fringe Festival\u2019s lottery system. Every year the festival includes many local production companies, some of which camped outside of Intrepid\u2019s offices in January in order to secure one of 10 guaranteed local spots.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the second time our company waited outside overnight for an early-bird guaranteed spot,\u201d says Dyana Victoria of Broken Rhythms, a Victoria-based dance company and former Pick of the Fringe winner that\u2019s mounting a new show called SEVEN<\/i> this year. \u201cIt always feels great to perform in Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
First-time Fringer but longtime local spoken-word artist shayne avec i grec will be performing in a two-man show called The Anthropocalypse<\/i> this year and says although Fringes around the world share the commonalities of bringing art lovers together through live theatre, the Victoria festival is particularly special for him because it\u2019s happening in his community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that excites me most about Victoria being our first Fringe Festival is the community that rallies together this time every year, and all of the smiles that I see throughout downtown,\u201d says grec, who also camped out in January to get his spot. \u201cI know these are commonplace things of any Fringe, but this community is directly mine and I\u2019ve always loved to ride that glow. Now I\u2019m excited to help create it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a mid-sized Fringe festival, Jang says Victoria has the benefit of being small enough for theatre-goers to get to know each show in the program just enough to decide what they want to take in.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictoria\u2019s Fringe is big enough that you can\u2019t see every show; it would be physically impossible,\u201d says Jang. \u201cBut it\u2019s small enough that you can get to know every show a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
As opposed to smaller Fringe festivals such as Calgary, which only has about 30 shows, and much larger ones like Winnipeg and Edmonton, with nearly 200 shows apiece, Victoria is a good balance of variety. And some inherent risk for good measure.<\/p>\n
\u201cFringe is also about that sense of discovery,\u201d says Jang. \u201cBecause it\u2019s a lottery, we have no idea what the shows are going to be; whether they\u2019re going to be any good, what genres they\u2019re going to be… It\u2019s the cheapest theatre you can possibly see, and either you\u2019re going to see something amazing like you\u2019ve never seen before, or something horrible like you\u2019ve never seen before, which I think is a great reason to see as many shows as possible at the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the shows hoping for attention this year is The Princess Rescue Force<\/i> from Robin Gadsby\u2019s New Blood Theatre. Gadsby agrees that the theatre community in Victoria is a wonderful place for creative minds to develop their shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favourite thing about the Victoria Fringe is the close support of the community,\u201d says Gadsby. \u201cThere\u2019s a great mix of reliable favourites, but it\u2019s also the perfect city for new writers and creators to try out their work for the first time, and it\u2019s going to be exciting to see what fresh stuff comes out this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
UVic Fine Arts undergraduate Markus Spodzieja is such a fan of performing in the Fringe that he\u2019s actually in two shows this year, The Rise of Basement Boy<\/i> and Improv on Trial.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good to be a local in the festival because Fringe is something that Victoria does extremely well, and I\u2019m glad to not only be surrounded by local talent, but also be witness to everyone that travels great distances for our festival,\u201d says Spodzieja. \u201cAnd any festival that has the creativity to make their mascot a llama mixed with a unicorn is alright in my books.\u201d<\/p>\n
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