Fringe Festival finds fresh excitement online
The second annual Hartford Fringe Festival runs Oct. 9 through Nov. 9, with a staggering array of original theater, music, dance, storytelling and social issues performance projects. But the festival has already begun for its founder, Jeffrey Kagan-McCann and his co-producers Kirsten Easton-Hazzaa and Norman LeBron.
The festival has gone virtual this year, and Kagan-McCann has been bingeing the shows for hours on end. “I was up until 3 last night,” he says. “I can’t stop watching them. They’re really imaginative, really exciting.”
He knew that he’d be getting some great submissions, because “artists have been working on new stuff all during this pandemic,” but the limitations of the pandemic regulations have been “defeating creativity.” A fringe festival, he says, is a way to give performers a break they might not get elsewhere: a chance to try challenging new projects before appreciative up-for-anything audiences with little risk. “We are there to help,” Kagan-McCann says. “We hold your hand for a while.”
Compared with the more than 10 months of preparation he had for the first fest, this year there were barely five months to get ready once the decision was made to refresh the Fringe for online.
“I’m surprised we’ve been able to pull this off so far,” Kagan-McCann says. Beyond just the thrill of it happening again, there’s been innovation. Films have also joined the mix of plays and cabaret-style shows.
“We’re now international,” Kagan-McCann says, of the more than 20 acts participating. “We have two from Canada.” Connecticut is still well represented, accounting for around a quarter of all shows this year.
Some of the acts:
“A Night with the Dead,” the Something Abroad ensemble’s original “fantasy/comedy” musical about the origins of the Día de los Muertos holiday.
Canadian storyteller Polly Esther’s “Dammit, Jim! I’m a Comedienne,
Not a Doctor,” which mingles her search for sobriety with the voyages of the Starship Enterprise from her favorite show “Star Trek.” Polly Esther’s show is about not drinking, but the festival also features a piece about drinking, “The Wine Monologues” by Yolanda Shoshana.
The metatheatrical “Don’t Stand Up,” a comedy by Amy Losi about an amateur theater group preparing to stage a show on Zoom. On a similar but more serious note, “im ur hamlet” by Sour Grapes Productions.
“Partial Perspectives,” a synchronized dance piece from Connecticut’s MB Dance Theatre where the dancers are on different screens, synchronizing partially by coincidence.
The spooky, silly, drag/ mime trivia game show with the longwinded title “PeeVira’s SCAREavan SingAlong (Online
Edition); Musical M.D.”
Local improv team Mowfs, which features a human beatbox.
The Connecticut-based Free at Last Players, who use live performances to explore their own experiences with mental illness.
The locally produced films “Empty Windows” (about schizophrenia, depression, and domestic abuse) by the Rosenstein brothers Andrew and Joseph and “Potbelly” (a PG-rated lark about a chef who’s a furry puppet).
The full lineup is at hartfordfringefestival.org.
All the shows are pre-recorded, and some were even made pre-COVID, so you’ll see actors interacting in ways you wouldn’t today. Some have been found in other festivals or online, but many are being seen for the first time anywhere. These include the AIDS-themed “Notes of Me & You” with music from Hartt School student Dawson Atkin, and the spooky, silly, drag/mime trivia game show with the longwinded title “PeeVira’s SCAREavan SingAlong (Online Edition); Musical M.D.”
All the shows are available for the entire month.Tickets are $10 for each show, which can be watched for 72 hours after activation. An “All-Fest Pass” to see all the shows is $99. Tickets will go on sale through the hartfordfringefestival.org website on Oct. 1.
MB Dance Theatre’s“Partial Perspective”brings synchronized movement to Zoom.
The Connecticut-made puppet-based film“Potbelly”is among the diverse offerings at the second annual Hartford Fringe Festival.
Madame PeeVira has extensively revised one of her mime drag shows for a premiere at the online Hartford Fringe Festival.