Fringe 2005 - It's a Smaller World After All

And more's the pity.

Two years ago, when I first started blogging for the Fringe, we had several companies from England, several from Canada, several from Australia, and even a dance company from Nigeria.

There were so many groups from out of the country that it wasn't possible to easily see them all, and see all the local companies, or even the ones from other parts of the U.S.A.

Sadly, we don't have that wonderful problem this year.

It's not the Fringe's fault.

In fact, the Fringe had a whole separate lottery set up within the larger lottery, with eight slots set aside to insure that we had a little international flavor in the mix.

Turns out they only needed five slots.

They had only six international applicants, and one of them had to drop out.

Those that currently remain at present are (in alphabetical order):

Mainline Theatre (Montreal)
Sea Peach
A combination of physical theater, multi-media, video projection and performance poetry with a live DJ.

Moving Target Theatre Company (Winnipeg)
Three Ring Circus: Israel, The Palestines and My Jewish Identity.
While Israel fruitlessly pursues peace with the Palestinians, a young Jew in Winnipeg fruitlessly pursues girls.

Never Surrender (Montreal)
Never Surrender's Greatest Adventures
Never Surrender (the world's greatest lipsync band) helps their friend Big Al save his business by putting on a concert in a haunted stadium. The entire show is prerecorded and synced live by Never Surrender.

Theatre Serendipity (Winnipeg)
TBD

The Three Sticks Theatre Company (London)
The Adam and Eve Diaries
In a world aching for a revolution, the Adam and Eve Diaries explode the myth of origin to reveal a new genesis. Physically and musically daring.

I'm planning to do my level best to see them all.

First of all, I don't have any disposable income to travel, even to go to Canada, at the moment, and probably for the forseeable future.

Second of all, how often does a theater company come to town from out of the country, and then the ticket price is as affordable as a Fringe ticket?

Lastly, it's just plain polite. They're coming all this way. The least we can do is provide them with a friendly and attentive audience. After all, at worst, you're out ten bucks and an hour of your life. Chances are it won't come near approaching that.

Of the six international Fringers, five were from Canada and one from England.

They're the only ones still speaking to us.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Australia doesn't have a problem with the Minnesota Fringe Festival. We're still as friendly and open as we've always been.

But international travel ain't what it used to be.

Plus our country's policies toward people wanting to visit are making it harder and harder and harder for people to come and share their art. (school? jobs? marriage? - harder still).

And let's face it, the U.S.A. isn't exactly all that great at playing with others these days in the family of nations that make up the wider world. Would you really want to visit a country and share your art and entertain a populace that was electing leaders who made decisions that made smoke come out of your ears? I thought not.

(Sure, we're a "blue" state, but we're one of those United States, so for a lot of people, we all get painted with the same brush)

It's a shame. Because we're the poorer for it.

So, again, let's make sure that the folks that did make the effort to cross the border and/or cross an ocean feel like their trip was worthwhile. Let's support their shows and help spread the word, since they don't have the built-in network that some of the local companies have.

Heck, see them all. After all, it's ridiculously simple.

We're down to only five.

(For more of my writing - plays, past blog entries and more - visit www.matthewaeverett.com)