The Phoenix Fringe Festival was started last year and evolved from one venue on one weekend to 30 artists, 130 performances and seven different venues over two weekends.
ASU graduate students Jonathan Beller and Patrick Demers started the first PHX:fringe festival, which was funded by a grant from p.a.v.e., the arts entrepreneurship program of the ASU School of Theatre and Film.
“That initial project generated enough interest to enable the festival to grow significantly for this, its second year of existence,” said Dan Frey, communications director for the festival in a press release. “Now it is making a huge impact on Phoenix’s cultural scene.”
This year, PHX:fringe will feature a variety of local, national and global performers.
Los Torreznos, a performance duo from Spain, will perform at the festival thanks to the support of Future Arts Research, at ASU.
Other acts include Antonio Sacre, performing his solo show “The Next Best Thing” and 7(x1) Samurai — a performance from David Gaines.
“The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity,” Frey said in an e-mail interview, “trying to figure out all the logistics of running a theatre festival that’s taking place all over the downtown area.”
A fringe festival a festival of nontraditional theater.
“PHX:fringe is realizing, in Phoenix, the mission of fringe festivals throughout the world: to celebrate alternative performance and bring the theatre of tomorrow to audiences today,” Frey said.
Tickets are $7, with discounts available for multiple shows. The festival will be held from March 27 to April 5.
For each $7 ticket, $6 is returned to the performing artists, Frey said. The remaining $1 helps the festival cover its operating costs.
“We hope that the festival will continue to grow each year in terms of the number of artists involved, the diversity of the work presented and the visibility of the festival as part of Phoenix’s arts scene,” Frey said.
Reach the reporter at ivy.morris@asu.edu.
