“Does LA need a Fringe?” – Anthony Byrnes, KCRW
Colin Mitchell | Jul 02, 2012 | Comments 8 |
Fringe Central Station at Santa Monica and Vine. Credit: Stacy Jones Hill.
This was the question posed recently by KCRW’s theater critic, Anthony Byrnes, in his most recent radio segment/column.
Anthony is clearly a fan of the Fringe, but his question in this context is a very good one. Here’s the meat of the matter from Anthony:
So here’s the first problem with LA’s Fringe. What is it a ‘fringe’ to? Our major regional theaters? The Geffen, the Taper, Pasadena Playhouse? Or to the international and national offerings at RedCat and the newly reborn UCLA program? Or is this a fringe to LA’s vibrant 99-seat theaters?
The trouble is the answer to all of these seems to be: yes.
Now that’s no surprise when it comes to the bigger institutions. What’s shocking is that the festival feels like an outsider even to the 99-seat scene, which is itself a sort of year round fringe festival with the wealth of theater companies and spaces that call LA home.
Now, I love the idea behind a non-curated, open to all festival. I wish I could quote Steven Leigh Morris of the LA Weekly on the radio who wrote basically, ‘you have to be a jerk not to love the fringe festival,’ but in more colorful terms.
At the risk of being that jerk – I love the festival but does LA need more opportunities to make theater? Or does it need more opportunities to make theater with a bigger impact?
The first answer to Anthony is, yes, it does need more opportunities to make theater with a bigger impact, and he is right in making the case that basically the majority of theater made in this town – that of the smaller theaters – is already, well, “fringey”, for want of a better term. It’s small budget, short run, produced by pop-up companies and maverick producers and a couple dozen more established theaters, some with homes, some without. We need to continue to hold our work to higher standards and allow more opportunity for shows to succeed here in LA, not somewhere else.
The inside of Fringe Central Station. Credit: Stacy Jones Hill,
But back to Anthony’s central question: “Does LA need a Fringe?” To that I offer an even more emphatic, “Yes!”
And here’s why.
What the Hollywood Fringe Festival does for LA Theater is one of the most crucial things that no one yet has been able to do within the LA Theatre Community. It centralizes it. Geographically. Yes, it’s only a brief centralization, a couple of weeks, and yes, clearly the rest of the theater community is carrying on as it should, making theater, running their season, mostly ignoring the Fringe as the fledgling festival it still is.
It’s not that we need more opportunities to make this kind of theater – though it does allow the opportunity for those new to the scene to make a splash – what we need is a center. And why not Hollywood? And why not the Fringe? Time and time again people lamented the fact that the Fringe station building with its bar and down stage and up stage were going to vanish after the Fringe closed. Why? Because it was a center. A unifying location around which the rest of the smaller theater community could orbit.
And perhaps even more importantly – and this is an extension of Anthony’s argument - the Fringe also capitalizes on what LA Theater already is: The Wild West. Hell, Los Angeles IS the Fringe of American Theater! Just nobody outside of here knows it yet. And part of that problem is the continued provincialism of our more established companies.
At our Bitter Lemons sponsored panel, entitled Theatrically Incorrect: Tapping the Potential of LA Theater, I put panelist Fountain Theater Producing Director, Simon Levy, on the spot, “Why doesn’t the Fountain use the Fringe? Why don’t any of the established companies use the Fringe? To experiment, to try out a new project, to reach out to a newer, younger, more technologically advanced audience? Why not use such an opportunity instead of letting it pass?” Simon’s response? Basically he said that the Fringe just isn’t a priority for them, just a blip on the screen and their energies are focused elsewhere. My interpretation: We’ll wait til the Fringe gets to our level and then we’ll see. And that’s a fair response for a company as prestigious as the Fountain.
But I think it’s a mistake.
Los Angeles needs a Fringe desperately. Yes, the festival itself, those eleven days of shows, but more importantly it needs what the Fringe represents – a place to call our theatrical center.
This year many companies took advantage of the Fringe timing to launch shows that would carry on after the festival was over, or to blend in a show that was already playing. Smart, smart and smart.
Can you imagine next year if the Fountain Theatre and Sacred Fools and the Odyssey and PRT and EST/LA and Circle X and Open Fist and Son of Semele and Rogue Machine and the Elephant and City Garage and Theatre 40 and the Ruskin Group and Zombie Joe’s Underground and Antaeus and all those other excellent smaller established companies that are spread far and wide had shows running in the Fringe along with the mavericks and the nomads and the new-to-the sceners?
Now that would be something to behold.
Filed Under: colin mitchell • Featured • Ponderings
About the Author: COLIN MITCHELL: Actor/Writer/Director/Producer/Father, award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Broadway veteran, Marvel comics scribe, Van Morrison disciple, Zen-Catholic, a proud U.S. Army Brat conceived in Scotland and born in Frankfurt, Germany, currently living in Los Angeles and doing his best to piss off as many people as possible.
Nice article, Colin. And, I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment that to build a strong community, geography is most important. But, something is being overlooked I think with regard to the central question of whether or not LA ( or Hollywood, more to the point) “needs” a Fringe. That is the inclusion of the many national and international companies who, due to the Hollywood Fringe Festival, are presented the opportunity to bring their artistic wares into the frighteningly insular world of Los Angeles’s ghetto-ized theatre scene. It’s typical of LA, really, to analyze the importance of ourselves to ourselves. But, if local companies (big or small) haven’t the time to deal with the Hollywood Fringe, then I say all the better. Bring in the outsiders. They’ll scrub us all up a bit and keep us on our toes. It’s an international festival now, not a local celebration. Let’s consider more than just our own when we consider the Festival’s ability to present theatre with a “bigger impact”. It’s quite possible the answer lies there.
And thanks, as usual, for your wise words and commentary.
Your Friend,
Ezra Buzzington
Excellent points, Ezra, and it’s definitely something that will grow over time, the international aspect, something that will not only add to the fabric of the festival, but that will also create heralds for LA Theater in distant lands. Or at least Canada.
And I also heartily concur with you, Tracey. I mean how many freakin’ times did we randomly run into each other? It was a blast.
Ditto! LOLOLOL!
The Hollywood Fringe festival has brought a cohesiveness to the LA Theatre scene where 99 seat theatre (theatre row) is concerned. We definitely need it! For the artists, the producers, the directors, theatre owners and most of all audiences who now have a fun, experimental, destination and forum with which to experience so much variety in such a short time. The Fringe Festival brings so much life to the boulevard and a renewed awareness of what’s happening locally, pulling in other theatres that don’t get enough notice. It’s great seeing people walking, bumping into one another, sharing opinions, likes, dislikes, even biz cards and enjoying the spontaneity of it all.
well let me be the devil’s advocate and defend Mr. Byrnes’ honor… Why would the Fountain or any other theatre pay to move their show and do it in some other space in Hwd when they could stay in their home and not compete with 100 other shows? I get that they’re trying to create a festival atmosphere in one area, but the Fringe is so geographically specific it really has nothing to do with you if you’re not located in Hollywood. I would go to look for good shows to bring to my theatre if it were a curated festival and I thought the shows would be great, but an uncurated festival… one can assume that it won’t all be great. When the Fringe becomes a great curated festival, Like Radar LA, then the Fountain and all other reputable theatres will want to be involved, mine included.
I think you’re missing my meaning on this one, Jay.
You’re right, it would be silly for the Fountain to move one of their mainstage shows to the Fringe. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the Fountain – and your theater for that matter or any established LA Company – using the Fringe as a laboratory to try out a new experimental piece at a low cost and in the process perhaps tapping into a new, younger, hipper audience that might not be aware of their work.
That’s really it. I believe the Fringe could be used by established companies in this manner while at the same time being used by up and coming companies to introduce themselves.
To say nothing of bringing international shows to LA.
Yes, the Fringe is still an upstart, but they have grown each year and I think it would be a missed opportunity for the established companies in LA to not take advantage of their centralizing influence. Wait too long and you will be left behind. It needn’t disrupt the regular season of the more reputable companies, instead it can revitalize and add to it.
And far be it from me to attempt to tarnish Anthony’s honor. Hell, I already said his question was a good one. That’s why I decided to engage. As have you.
I hate it when you’re right!
You bring out the best in me.