In 2019 the Sydney Fringe Festival featured more than 1,600 performances by over 2,000 artists presented across 25 postcode areas. In May 2020 Kerri Glasscock, Sydney Fringe Festival CEO, made the devastating announcement that the 2020 Festival planned for September would not take place owing to the uncertainty posed by the Covid-19. The blow to the creative sector can hardly be underestimated as well as the loss to a large culturally diverse audience of varied ages and interests.
What began in Newtown as a small group of venues hoping to promote the locality as an entertainment destination celebrated its 10th year in 2019 as the largest independent alternative arts and culture festival in NSW. While most of its theatre performances and comedy took place in the Inner West, the Fringe was poised to “really paint the CBD pink” in 2020.
However, it was not to be. Bravely, and in common with many other art and cultural events, the Fringe sought other ways to bring artists and audiences together. As a consequence, the decision was made to partner with five other international Fringe Festivals – Stockholm, Brighton (UK), New Zealand, San Diego and Hollywood – in the presentation of an online Global Fringe to be live streamed this coming September.
The program will premier five Sydney-produced events: Our visions begin with our desires – Chapter 2 performed by Blackbirds, a response to the lack of representation and the misrepresentation of Women of Colour in the Australian arts; the physical theatre company Clockfire’s new production We, the lost company, inspired by Brett Whiteley’s beach paintings; A Murder Story Retold by Ninefold which features Max Richter’s recompositions of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons; a celebration of Sydney’s queer underground in Queer Stories Fringe Edition hosted by Maeve Marsden; and author Oliver Mol’s theatre debut in Train Lord, a true tale.
Whether audiences will be watching from their sofas or in person at a restricted theatre screening, the Global Fringe offers amazing opportunities. Sydney artists will benefit from having their work seen internationally and audiences everywhere will benefit from seeing performances not otherwise available to them. While some may feel that digital is the future, it has to be remembered that it is live small theatre that generates new writing, and that the Sydney Fringe has a very important role in fostering talent.
