What Fringe Means for Local Playwrights The Kansas City Fringe recently held its 8th festival, and if there’s one thing the festival has become known for (besides burlesque) it’s as a breeding ground for new plays by local writers. There are several theatre companies in Kansas City that will occasionally...
In my role as executive director of the South Florida Theatre League, I regularly get asked why South Florida doesn’t have a fringe festival. If we can support one of the largest and most important art festivals in the country, why aren’t we able to support a fringe? It’s an...
Fringe Festivals are a time for experimentation in theater. I look forward to seeing the mix of sights and sounds at the Capital Fringe Festival every year. There’s one thing I don’t understand: Why do so many people decide to produce Shakespeare? I will never produce a Shakespeare play for...
Each time my theatre company has taken a show to a fringe festival, it’s been one of my own scripts–the playwright works cheap, which helps. But there’s a difference between self-producing at home and self-producing for fringe, especially if you plan to take the show to more than one festival....
I’ve been lucky enough to experience many different aspects of fringe marketing. I’ve promoted my own shows, reviewed shows (a questionable choice), and was brought on this year to be the Social Media Manager for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. I had the opportunity this year to explore new networks in...
One of my favorite things about summer in an arts organization is that you get a couple of precious weeks where, in between the planning and the subscription mailings, there’s a little fallow time where you can sometimes rise above the fray and say, HEY. What are other people doing...
When I read Howard’s HowlRound article “What’s Wrong with Canadian Theatre” I chuckled to myself. Name five Canadian playwrights? I immediately rattled off five Vancouver playwrights, three of which had shows or workshops produced in the last 12 months that I had been a part of. But if my friends...
I’m currently writing a play called The Secret of the Biological Clock, about a former girl detective who is turning 37 and wants to solve the mystery of what makes a family. I have spent the past two months flipping out about stage directions. Stage directions. The play itself is...
Somewhat by accident, I stumbled into a weekly twitter conversation about new play development (hashtag #newplay) despite the fact that I am not a playwright. What I am is a university professor who for six of the ten years I spent in academic administration led a large theatre/film school whose...