The National Arts
Festival and the City of Cape Town have entered a partnership which will see
the launch of a new performing arts festival in September, modelled on some of
the world’s iconic events.
The new Cape Town
Fringe is inspired by the energy and ethos of popular Fringe Festivals in New
York, Amsterdam, Adelaide and Edinburgh, and will feature “young, dynamic and
cutting edge” work from some of the country’s leading theatre-makers, according
to Festival CEO Tony Lankester.
“The Fringe model
rests on two pillars – firstly the nature of the work on a Fringe is such that
it is bold, innovative, exciting and it pushes boundaries for both artists and
audiences; secondly a Fringe festival has a business model behind it which
encourages independence and sustainability, while costs are shared between
performers,” he said.
The Cape Town
Fringe aims to present around 40 productions in venues in and around the city
centre, as well as in satellite venues in areas such as Langa. “Access is
critical to the success of a Fringe and was a big factor in our decision to
proceed with this project,” Executive Deputy Mayor, Ian Neilson, acting Mayoral
Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing said. “Ticket pricing,
choice of venues as well as the scheduling of performances all contribute to
making a Fringe Festival appeal to as many people as possible, both traditional
and non-traditional theatre-going audiences.”
A public call for
proposals was made at the launch of the event, with the Festival’s Artistic
Director, Ismail Mahomed, saying that organisers were looking for work that is
“brash, bold, cheeky, outspoken, confident, socially aware and independent”.
“The Fringe model
means that productions will pay a modest registration and venue hire fee, and
then take the lion’s share of the box office,” Mahomed explained. “The Fringe
itself then manages the bulk of the marketing, ticket sales, venue setup and
all the staffing, financial, technical and legal requirements for the event.”
While the Fringe
will use as many as 16 venues, Cape Town’s City Hall will form the ‘home base’
for the event, and will boast several performance venues and a Fringe Hub where
artists, audiences and the media will gather at the end of each day.
“That kind of hub
is critical – it breaks down walls between performers and their audiences, and
it creates a sense of Fringe community around the event,” Lankester said.
The choice of Cape
Town as a host city came about after the National Arts Festival conducted an
extensive analysis of where to stage a new Festival.
“We wanted to
extend our reach beyond Grahamstown and stage a new Fringe in a City which
already puts creativity at the forefront; which has a strong and loyal theatre-going
audience; which has the right energy for a free-spirited event such as this;
and which has the scale to grow the Fringe over time, without losing the sense
of intimacy that is so important,” Lankester said. “On each of those scores Cape
Town came out tops – it’s the best possible home for the country’s newest
Festival.”
The National Arts
Festival is a member of the prestigious World Fringe Alliance – a grouping of
nine Fringe Festivals which, collectively, reach an audience of over 3-million
people. Alliance membership comprises the Fringe Festivals in Grahamstown,
Hollywood, New York, Edinburgh, Brighton, Prague, Amsterdam, Perth and
Adelaide.
“We’re building the
Cape Town Fringe on this bedrock of global best practice,” Lankester, who was
the founding Chair of the Alliance, said. “Through our network we will be able
to bring some great international productions to Cape Town, and continue
creating opportunities for our artists to travel the world.”
The City have
committed to partner on the project for a three-year period, provided the event
meets certain attendance and participation targets. Ian Neilson added: “We want
this event to not only enrich the lives of residents, but also to create jobs,
contribute to the economy and drive tourism. The National Arts Festival team
delivers one of the world’s best-known and biggest events each year in
Grahamstown. Through this partnership they will weave the same magic in Cape
Town and put the City on the world Fringe map.”
The Cape Town Fringe
will run from September 25 until October 5, 2014. The call for proposals is
currently open and more information can be found at www.capetownfringe.co.za
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