Their government wouldn’t let them come to the SF Fringe last year. But this year, they will be onstage. It’s Trup Sapsiway from Maritius, the island nation in the Indian Ocean best known as the habitat of the last living dodo.
Last year, Mauritian government officials decided not to let the group come to San Francisco to perform The Madogs of Diego. Officials felt the play would offend the United States, because it deals with the forced relocation of native Mauritians to allow for the construction of the giant U.S. airbase at Diego Garcia. Bay Area opponents of urban gentrification should find interesting parallels in the story.
The 39 other shows chosen by lottery to be in the 2011 San Francisco Fringe Festival include 25 from the Bay Area and features companies from San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Rafael, Castro Valley, Richmond, Albany, and Tiburon.
From San Jose comes a show called The Secret Adventures of Fat Woman and Remedial Girl, and from Berkeley, a piece titled Hitler’s Li’l Abomination.
Non-Local productions come from Nashville, TN, Portland, ME, Seattle, and Springfield, MO, with two from New York. Los Angeles leads the number of out-of-towners, with a total of seven entrants for the 2011 Festival. The Skinny Improv Company from Missouri brings Hamlet vs Zombies, which promises to explore what might really be rotten in the state of Denmark. Portland, Maine’s Good Theatre Company should strike a chord with nutritionistas on the Board of Supervisors with Is There Fat in That? From Los Angeles comes The Meanest Guy That Ever Lived. And what would a Fringe Festival be without a show employing the F-word in its title? This year, the company is from Nashville.
The San Francisco Fringe Festival is an open-access, non-juried, uncensored theatre festival where performers are selected through a lottery. The SF Fringe returns 100% of box office earnings to the performing company. 20% of the Standard Venue shows may be up to 90 minutes in length; the others are limited to a 60-minute maximum.
The EXIT Theatreplex (three stages at 156 Eddy St., one at 277 Taylor St.) supports 40 shows at this year’s Fringe, explains SF Fringe producer Christina Augello.
“By placing the shows in one central location, we can better serve both the artists and the audience,” Augello says.
To compliment the 40 Standard Venue shows, the festival will include a number of Non-Traditional Fringe Venue (NTFV) performances. NTFVs are for site-specific work, and in previous Festivals artists have performed on moving buses, in local parks, museums, bars, and other locations outside the traditional theatre setting. Shows designed for Non-Traditional Venues may be of any length.
Artists applying to perform their work at Non-Traditional Fringe Venues must arrange for a site and meet NTFV guidelines. NTFV shows are not chosen by lottery. Deadline for submitting an NTFV application is midnight (PST) May 31, 2011.
The 2011 Fringe Festival Shows – Selected by Lottery Feb. 12, 2011
Local Theatre Companies (Bay Area) Company/Performer Show Title Home City
Laura Austin Wiley Panic! Castro Valley, CA
Kurt Bodden Steve Seabrook: Better Than You San Francisco
Sarah Lau The Secret Adventures of
Fat Woman and Remedial Girl San Jose, CA
Malcolm Grissom Differently-ABLED San Francisco
Joseph Atmore Joseph Atmore is Dunninger San Jose, CA
Catherine Debon Alma Colorada Oakland, CA
Indistage 30 Days in September Richmond, CA
Angela Neff Beached San Francisco
Cassandra’s Call Productions Radiostar Improv San Francisco
Phoenix Arts Association
Theatre AFIELD San Francisco
Dirty Swan Projects Quatre-Vingt-Quatre San Francisco
George Dykstra No Kidding, The Meaning of Life Tiburon, CA
Monday night group A Piece of Work Albany, CA
J. B. Enterprises What to Do Til the Dogcatcher
Comes San Francisco
The Visible Theatre Breaking the Cassia Bough Berkeley, CA
DAVID AND BRADY The David and Brady Show San Francisco
Grooviness Productions Mercy Buckets Oakland, CA
Emprise/AFG Productions Here To See the World San Francisco
Miles Pawski Heartbeat San Francisco
Alison Whittaker Vital Signs San Rafael, CA
Jill Bourque Please Don’t Wake the Baby San Francisco
The Crew Submarine Oakland, CA
Annette Roman Hitler’s Li’l Abomination Berkeley, CA
Genevieve Jessee Girl In, But Not Of, the Hood Oakland, CA
Pulizzano/Forte’ Productions Attachments: “FIT”/
”ON A BENCH” San Francisco
Non-Local Theatre Companies (U.S., etc.)
TRUP SAPSIWAY The Madogs of Diego Rose Hill, Mauritius
Shameka Cunningham L.A.nguage Los Angeles
Shelby Company Sousepaw: A Baseball Story New York, NY
Community Collage MAYBELAND Los Angeles
Lily Spottiswoode The Meanest Guy That Ever Lived Los Angeles
Kevin J. Thornton I Love You, We’re F*#ked Nashville, TN
John Paul Karliak Donna/Madonna Los Angeles
Combined Art Form BLINK and You Might Miss Me Los Angeles
The Skinny Improv Hamlet vs Zombies, AKA
Something Rotten in the State
of Denmark Springfield.MO
Murray Meyer IT’S CRIMINAL: the Comedy Los Angeles
60 Miles North Productions/
P. J. Walsh Over There: Comedy Is His
Best Weapon Brewster, NY
Good Theater/Ellen Domingos Is There Fat In That? Portland, ME
4 Clowns 4 Clowns Los Angeles
Bill Bernat Microvation Seattle, WA
Rupert Wates and Friends Joe’s Café New York, NY
The Way the Fringe Works – and Why
The San Francisco Fringe Festival presents live theatre in an informal, accessible and inexpensive environment. It strives to break down traditional boundaries between audience and artist, encouraging open dialogue between theatre-goers and theatre-creators. Local and national performing companies benefit from working together and learning from each other in a vibrant and exciting festival atmosphere.
Audiences are invited to experience the work of seasoned veterans alongside that of emerging artists. Fringe-goers are encouraged to post reviews of the shows they see on the SF Fringe web site.
In order to stimulate artistic innovation, applications for participation in the Fringe Festival are accepted through a non-juried lottery. Traditional economic boundaries are broken down as well, with 100% of the box office going to the performers.
The 2011 San Francisco Fringe Festival will bring over 200 performances of more than 40 new shows to the EXIT Theatreplex, plus site-specific venues, over its 12-day run. The Fringe Festival features fresh, exciting theatre of all kinds for open-minded audiences of all persuasions.
NOW AND COMING UP AT EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy St., SF
April 29 – May 28. 10th Annual DIVAfest, dedicated to new work by women writers.
September 7-18. 20th Annual San Francisco Fringe Festival. Over 250 performances of 40+ shows in 12 days. Features U.S., and Bay Area theater companies and performers in new, cutting edge, and often experimental works.
Sept 30 – Oct 1. The Best of the Fringe
Selected Thursdays, All Year Long. Mark Romyn’s Thursday Night Combo. Theatre artists, musicians, and other performers try out new material at the EXIT Café.
