Fringe News
Fringe News
As we look ahead to our move to Scadding Court in 2017, we close the door on a great chapter of Toronto Fringe history. In our last year at our home in Honest Ed’s Alley, we ushered in a new dawn: our pass sales doubled, we had one of the best reviewed festivals in our recent memory, we were visited by Neil Patrick Harris ,our farewell evening blew our bar sales to a record setting level and we returned an incredible $485,000 to our artists.
It was a year that married established artists, the indie crowd and touring companies seamlessly. We had several shows receive high honours across the media board, including but not excluded to:
•Cam Baby by Jess Moss (Exclamation New Play Winner
• Life After by Britta Johnson (The inaugural Paul O’Sullivan Prize for Musical Theatre Award Winner)
• Bright Lights by Kat Sandler (Patron’s Pick and Best of Fringe)
• Orson Welles Shylock by The Shylock Project (Tour from Syracuse NY)
• Curious Contagious by Mind of The Snail (Patron’s Pick from Vancouver BC)
• Romeo and Juliet Chainsaw Massacre by Matt Bernard and William Shakespeare (Patron’s Pick, Best of Fringe)
• Wasteland by Sex T-Rex (Winner of the Second City Outstanding New Comedy Award)
• Twelfth Night...A Puppet Epic! By Tom McGee and William Shakespeare (Patron’s Pick and Best of FringeKids)
• Dance Animal by Robin Henderson (Best of Fringe)
• Toller by Sky Gilbert (Patron’s Pick)
• Collapse by Ryan Dillon (Patron’s Pick)
• Far Away by Caryl Churchill (Best of Fringe)
• The Unending by Strindberg, Beckett and Tepperman
Plus.... Special Mention to:
•Exterminating Angels by Alysa Pires Dance
•Silk Bath by the Silk Bath Collective
•Like a Generation by Coyote Collective (Best of Fringe)
•Elektra presented by Stichomythia Theatre
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#Fringe2016 was the year of new initiatives:
1Our new online e-ticketing system, which helped us reduce our carbon footprint and invest in a sustainable ecology. This new ticketing system also created an ease of access for our patrons—which they loved.
2Our commitment to the promotion of all artists through our live streaming Take A Chance on Me videos. Artists were able to tell our social media followers why they should invest in their work
3Our new FringeKids Story competition. Youth ages 8-12 submitted stories to have their work dramatized by our TENT program participants on the last day of the Festival. The inaugural winner was Ms. Phobe Rotman, who penned Grandpa’s Voice.
4Our expansion of the TENT program—which doubled this year to include artists ages 18-29. These emerging theatre entrepeneurs completed workshops and discussions with some of our leading voices in Toronto Theatre. In addition, for the first time, they completed a practical component that allowed them to write and produce their own Fringe Workshop on the last day of the Festival.
It was a great year for a big goodbye. Honest Ed’s you have served us well – we hope you enjoyed your turkey and a toast send off. Now...it is time to migrate south where things will surely heat up for Fringe 2017.
2016-07-11
Fringe: Toronto Fringe has a record-breaking year