Gwydion Suilebhan

Rebecca Gingrich—Jones

Stephen Spotswood

“Fringe” does not just mean tassels and trimming customarily used for ornamental decoration. In Washington — for the last six summers — “Fringe” means one thing: the Capital Fringe Festival.

Executive Director Julianne Brienza says that Fringe's history defines its essence. "Fringe originated in Edinburgh Scotland in 1947, when the locals were not allowed to participate in the big international festival that was happening," she says. "They got mad — and did their shows wherever they could — alleyways, bars, churches — what have you. A journalist Robert Kemp wrote in a newspaper that the international festival was getting 'fringed.' The group of artists took this term and created the Edinburgh Festival Fringe."

"The mentality / philosophy of artists being in control of their work and their product is what Fringe is all about," she adds. "There is no overseeing person or entity curating. Also, it is a huge part of Fringe that a portion of the ticket sales goes back to the artists."

This year, 134 mostly non—mainstream performances will take place July 12 to 29 at venues throughout the city.

“Fringe is used by everyone in a million different ways,” says playwright Gwydion Suilebhan. “Some people make a career of going from festival to festival around the country. Others use it to test an idea, to refine and produce. Younger playwrights, actors and directors use it to test themselves and learn what they need to learn. For me,” he says, “Fringe was a way to replicate a more traditional experience at a low cost.”

Suilebhan did one “well-rehearsed” staged reading of his play in progress at the first Fringe Festival. He admits to doing it “for fun” as well as “to hear the play in front of an audience.” In retrospect, he acknowledges the reading functioned “as a test of the work and a learning experience.”

The publicity the reading received served him well. Washington Post critic Peter Marks called his play “the find of the festival.” The following year, a full—scale production of the piece had five sold-out performances at Source.

Festival veteran Rebecca Gingrich—Jones has produced two Fringe plays, but her first exposure was as part of the audience. “I could see a really fun variety of plays and performances for reasonable prices. A lot of the work was experimental and felt fresher than some of the more established theatres in town,” she recalls.

Gingrich—Jones characterizes the benefits as “tremendous. Plays are meant to be performed, and Fringe is an opportunity to mount full productions and get an audience that's excited about new work. As a playwright, it's difficult to get productions at a lot of theatres, and self-producing at a venue like Fringe is a wonderful opportunity to have a full production of your work.” “After hours of toiling alone on scripts for months or years,” she adds, “it's thrilling to see your work onstage in front of an audience.”

Paco Madden did Fringe for three consecutive years. He served as playwright—producer—director for two, and as playwright—producer last year. “Overall, Fringe has been a wonderful experience for me,” he says. “However, for my own peace of mind, I am not producing at this year's Fringe.”

He enumerates some challenges: “You or your team needs to do everything — or it just feels like everything,” he says. “It's a lot of work, especially working independently when you are not only responsible for the script, but the entire production, including marketing.”

“Fringe gives you a space for your production with lights and sound and light board, house management, box office support, and promotion for the entire festival,” he acknowledges, but, “You have to find your own rehearsal space, hire all talent, take care of set, props, and costumes, and promote your show.”

Still, Madden feels that “The experience made me a better writer. Playwrights need productions to become better writers.

Stephen Spotswood has had five plays at Fringe, producing or co-producing four of them. He describes his first time, in 2008, as “kind of a trial by fire” since he wrote and co-produced two shows simultaneously.

He sees Fringe as “a relatively low-stress way of getting [a] play up and in front of an audience. It also introduces audiences and local theatre companies to my work, which can lead to future development opportunities."

“There's no reason to just sit at home sending out scripts and waiting for theatres to get back to me” Spotswood says “when I have willing collaborators and an affordable venue.”

Fringe benefits? For playwrights and audiences, it certainly does.

As part of the Fringe Festival, Gwydion Suilebhan, Rebecca Gingrich—Jones, Paco Madden, and Stephen Spotswood will lead a Training Factory Discussion titled Playwriting in the New Play Sector, based on their Fringe experiences. The July 16 session, from 7 to 8 p.m. at Fort Fringe, is open to both artists and the public.

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