Fringe begins!
It's a sunny Monday morning in Edmonton, Alberta and I'm bashing away on my housemate's laptop. I've been working at the Fringe Theatre Festival box office for over a week now. My supervisors realised I was spending a fortune at the hostel so they kindly added me to the billeting roster. Artists from other provinces and overseas are billeted out to private residences during the two week festival. I've moved into a sharehouse on 84th St, just off Whyte Ave and only 5 min walk away from the show venues. I'm getting along well with my housemates. The guy who offered to billet me is a journalist from Ottawa who works for the local paper (he reports on politics from the Legislative Assembly where a relative of mine works as an MLA - small world eh?). The other guy is a musician from Halifax in Nova Scotia. Edmonton is one of those cities in transition that's bursting with young people who grew up elsewhere.
Work in the box office is flat out. We're constantly inundated by patrons who order tickets in advance. Front desk work is pretty cool. Occassionally someone will comment on my accent and start chatting away about how their kids are studying in Austarlia or there was one Canadian woman who told me she married a no-good rugby league player. 'Enjoy your stay in Canada. Just don't get married while you're here' she said with a sigh as I handed her the show tickets.
I'm getting over my fear of handling other people's money. I wasn't particularly competant as a cashier in a department store back when I was studying. Whenever it came time to balance the till, 'lil Matty could usually be found lurking someone at the back of soft furnishings. Cash-out at the end of the night is a drag but i'm finding I'm making fewer mistakes as the festival progresses.
Anyway, the fun stuff: I can see as many shows as I want during the festival for free! With tickets going for $14 each that's a pretty good work benefit. I'm arting up this month!
The Fringe is such a cool concept. The first and biggest fringe fest in the world started in Edinburgh many years ago as an inexpensive way for local talent to get up and perform their creations. The Edmonton Fringe Festival was the first in Canada and is now the second largest in the world. There are over 100 productions - many are local because Edmonton has a very strong theatre scene. The rest of the troupes come from throughout Canada and a handful are from the US or overseas. The artists have to pay to hire the venue but they get every cent of the ticket sales. Sponsorship enables the festival to run.
Anyone can put on a show here. The final lineup is selected by lottery and the shows are completely unjuried. There's no telling what could pop up. It also means that quality varies tremendously. Shows range from inspired artistic creations that have toured throughout the country to rave reviews, to limp bearly-rehearsed joke-fests pieced together by a group of mates on a drunken night out. So the beauty of the Fringe is the element of controlled chaos - you take your chances with what you get tickets for. It's very random. Inevitably word will spread about the 'must see' shows, especially those that get rave reviews in the local press. Some shows will be disasters and drop out before long.
I'm just impressed that in these conservative times when so many people are out for a quick buck and most entertainment thrust upon us is incredibly bland, here is a community of enthusiasts who are just getting up there and having a go. And the punters sure give the Festival strong support. The atmosphere is great. I can't take photos inside venues but i'll take a few outside shots and post em up here.
And thus begins "the great fattening up of '07". This Aussie bag 'o bones is terrified of the approaching winter. I don't intend on buying a car any time soon and I'm wondering whether it's even possible to wait for a bus for more than 10 minutes in -40C weather, without ending up with blackened toes. So i'm spending most of my meager Fringe salary on a variety of Canadian festival food: green onion cakes, poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds - a native dish of Quebec), elephant ears (like a big flattened-out donut) and perogies (a traditional Ukranian potato dish - Alberta is heavily populated by Ukranian immigrants; lots emmigrated to escape Stalin I believe).
I'm going to see my first Fringe show today. I'll cram in as many as I can this week.
MG
Work in the box office is flat out. We're constantly inundated by patrons who order tickets in advance. Front desk work is pretty cool. Occassionally someone will comment on my accent and start chatting away about how their kids are studying in Austarlia or there was one Canadian woman who told me she married a no-good rugby league player. 'Enjoy your stay in Canada. Just don't get married while you're here' she said with a sigh as I handed her the show tickets.
I'm getting over my fear of handling other people's money. I wasn't particularly competant as a cashier in a department store back when I was studying. Whenever it came time to balance the till, 'lil Matty could usually be found lurking someone at the back of soft furnishings. Cash-out at the end of the night is a drag but i'm finding I'm making fewer mistakes as the festival progresses.
Anyway, the fun stuff: I can see as many shows as I want during the festival for free! With tickets going for $14 each that's a pretty good work benefit. I'm arting up this month!
The Fringe is such a cool concept. The first and biggest fringe fest in the world started in Edinburgh many years ago as an inexpensive way for local talent to get up and perform their creations. The Edmonton Fringe Festival was the first in Canada and is now the second largest in the world. There are over 100 productions - many are local because Edmonton has a very strong theatre scene. The rest of the troupes come from throughout Canada and a handful are from the US or overseas. The artists have to pay to hire the venue but they get every cent of the ticket sales. Sponsorship enables the festival to run.
Anyone can put on a show here. The final lineup is selected by lottery and the shows are completely unjuried. There's no telling what could pop up. It also means that quality varies tremendously. Shows range from inspired artistic creations that have toured throughout the country to rave reviews, to limp bearly-rehearsed joke-fests pieced together by a group of mates on a drunken night out. So the beauty of the Fringe is the element of controlled chaos - you take your chances with what you get tickets for. It's very random. Inevitably word will spread about the 'must see' shows, especially those that get rave reviews in the local press. Some shows will be disasters and drop out before long.
I'm just impressed that in these conservative times when so many people are out for a quick buck and most entertainment thrust upon us is incredibly bland, here is a community of enthusiasts who are just getting up there and having a go. And the punters sure give the Festival strong support. The atmosphere is great. I can't take photos inside venues but i'll take a few outside shots and post em up here.
And thus begins "the great fattening up of '07". This Aussie bag 'o bones is terrified of the approaching winter. I don't intend on buying a car any time soon and I'm wondering whether it's even possible to wait for a bus for more than 10 minutes in -40C weather, without ending up with blackened toes. So i'm spending most of my meager Fringe salary on a variety of Canadian festival food: green onion cakes, poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds - a native dish of Quebec), elephant ears (like a big flattened-out donut) and perogies (a traditional Ukranian potato dish - Alberta is heavily populated by Ukranian immigrants; lots emmigrated to escape Stalin I believe).
I'm going to see my first Fringe show today. I'll cram in as many as I can this week.
MG
posted by Matt G at 8:26 AM
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