Standby For Auckland Fringe Fever

Standby For Auckland Fringe Fever

AUCKLAND FRINGE
11 Feb – 1 March 2015

Can you hear the noise? It’s the undeniable buzz of Auckland Fringe, which is about to carve up new space in Tamaki Makaurau with its next installment in 2015. Expect bold-and-ballsy drama, wildly frenetic dance and genre-busting street performance when fringe fever hits from February 11 to March 1.

Auckland Fringe is an open access arts festival where anything can happen. It provides a platform for practitioners and audiences to unite in the creation of form forward experiences which are championed in an ecology of artistic freedom. There are bugger-all boundaries and that’s one of its great strengths.

Aucklanders will find pieces of the Fringe in all the right places. A rooftop, a playground, a church, multiple city beaches, parks, a clock tower, a basement, a vault, a square, a loft, a box, a map. Fringe will satiate all types and tastes with kids shows, family days, free events, theatre, comedy, burlesque, dance, music, visual arts and more. There are 100s of performances with 100s of participants right across the Auckland Region.

“There is an air of celebration and rarity during a Fringe. Interchanges of diverse ideas and constructive critique flourish. What resonates is the sense that we’re all part of a critical mass, bigger than the sum of our parts, where momentum, once created, stays created” Michael Keating, Auckland Fringe.

A fringe provides an essential vantage point for artists and their works. Since premieringConstantinople in Auckland Fringe 2011, Theatre Beating actors Trygve Wakenshawand Barnie Duncan have become worldwide fringe darlings. Wakenshaw’s first solo show Squidboy (Adelaide Fringe 2012, AkFringe 2013) and the follow up Kraken have become cult hits touring Edinburgh, London, and right across Australia and Europe. Duncan’s Calypso Nights triumphed in Edinburgh this year, winning the Fringe Genius Award. Victor Rodger’s Black Faggot stormed the Auckland Fringe 2013, celebrated sold out seasons at Melbourne Fringe, the Brisbane World Theatre Festival, NZ Festival and two return seasons in Auckland before taking its place as one of the signature works in the 2014 NZ in Edinburgh season. It is currently being developed into a feature film.

Auckland Fringe 2015 is set to enjoy a ferocious lineup of talent including local heroes Dave Fane, Sal Valentine and the Babyshakes, Goretti Chadwick, Stephen Bain, Chris Parker, Victor Rodger, Eli Matthewson, Mika, Binge Culture and Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Emerging Artist for 2014, Grace Taylor. They will be complimented by a strong contingent of international acts to be announced with the full programme mid-December.

But the Fringe isn’t just about Auckland - it’s a nationwide phenomenon. Auckland Fringe now dovetails with the long established fringes in Wellington and Dunedin. These strategic alliances have created a consolidated touring network to back the growing number of NZ and international works which are making a considerable fuss with audiences.

Auckland Fringe celebrates valued partnerships with Auckland Live, The Basement, Q Theatre, TAPAC, the K Road Business Association, ASB Community Trust, Waitemata Local Board, Auckland Council and Phantom.

KEY DATES: Auckland Fringe: February 11 to March 1 2015

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