guilford

What is the Fringe Festival?

When I tell people that I'm part of the Greensboro Fringe Festival the most common response is... "I didn't know Greensboro had a French Festival." Smiling when I correct them, they then usually ask, "what is a Fringe Festival?" And the answer is pretty simple really.

We are a theatre festival, one that focuses on premiering new works by artists who wouldn't be able to produce on their own, and by doing so bringing excitement and business to downtown Greensboro.

All the artists you see in the Greensboro Fringe Festival do not own or have access to a regular venue, which makes it very difficult to present art for the live performer. Simply being "poor" doesn't place us on the fringe, but rather it is our passion to present new and provocative ideas for the stage that gives us an edgy - or dare I say - fringy perspective. Yes, that is my stump speech to the press.

For me the Greensboro Fringe Festival has become a big fat excuse to spend two weeks downtown begging businesses for sponsourships, hanging posters, drinking in every bar downtown, designing lights, finally finshing the ITC play, performing said ITC play, answering my iPhone "Greensboro Fringe Festival, this is Todd," selling tickets, dancing, seeing everything in the GSO Fringe, handing out flyers, updating the web site, performing some more, drinking in every bar downtown... again, all of which helps me to answer the proverbial question, "what is a Fringe Festival?"

- Todd Fisher, Director, Greensboro Fringe Festival