More than 800 “fringe” thespians showcase unjuried pieces in a five-week festival of unconventional staging, and take part in the Short Fringe, the Long Fringe, and Mi Casa Es Su Teatro through Feb. 17th.
The14th Annual event, which started Jan. 16th, is being held at the Hyde Park Theatre, 511 W. 43rd and the Blue Theater, 916 Springdale, both in Austin, TX.
A local paper calls the festival “The fringe theater event of the southwest.”
Fronterafest is produced in collaboration with Austin Script Works, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works. This year’s festival is sponsored by The Austin Chronicle, 107.1 Radio, Pink Avocado Catering, Worley Printing, Austinist, Motorblade Postering Service, Texas Commission on the Arts, Cultural Arts Division, and 4thWallTickets.com.
Each night a play no more than 25 minutes is presented and every Saturday night is a juried “Best of the Week” performance. The last week (Feb. 13-17) is the juried “Best of the Fest.”
“The Long Fringe” is Jan. 23-Feb. 4 at The Blue Theater and The City Theatre. Officials say that this year demand was so high for these 90-minute shows that “Long Fringe” shots are being held at two theaters.
Mi Casa Es Su Teatro is being held Feb. 10th at various locations around Austin. This perennial audience favorite is being curated by Shrewd Productions.
Hyde Park Theatre develops writers, designers, directors, and actors from within the Austin community, while at the same time producing works by exciting new and established voices of the alternative theatre scene.
The theatre is in need of donations including: free rehearsal, shop, or storage space, Mac computers, scanner, laser printer, slide scanner, digital camera, copier, fax machine, lighting and sound equipment, tools, in kind gifts of printing, copying, film developing, and the services of skilled plumbers, carpenters, electricians, or audio-visual professionals.
Hyde accepts query letters with sample dialogue pages for full-length plays year-round. Due to budget cuts, the theatre has had to suspend their Play Development Reading Series.
The literary department seeks works that confront, challenge, and entertain from both new and established writers of the alternative theatre. Plays must be typed in standard playwriting format with character names centered and stage directions italicized.
Call 512-479-7530 for Fronterafest prices and schedule.
