ARTS & CULTURE
Petunia and Chicken by Animal Engine P H O T O : P R O V I D E D BY T H E C I N C I N N AT I F R I N G E F E S I T VA L
The Digital Fringe The 17th-annual Cincinnati Fringe Festival goes online only as a result of COVID-19 BY R I C K P E N D E R
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hen word came down from the state of Ohio in midMarch that mass gatherings were to be banned — in auditoriums, stadiums, arenas, meeting rooms, theaters, even outdoors — to help control the spread of COVID-19, a lot of scrambling began in the arts world, especially at Know Theatre. Know is the producer of Cincinnati’s annual Fringe Festival and its 17th incarnation had been announced for May 29-June 13. But just what could be presented in the midst of a pandemic? With limitations on gatherings, expectations about social distancing and concerns about protecting performers, some serious reconsideration was required. By the end of March, Know came forward with a creatively conceived plan. The 2020 Cincy Fringe will be “an all-digital, totally online, 100% ata-safe-distance, for 2020-only” affair with the same date range that had been previously announced. Performances will be available via online streaming, accessible by anyone with a computer, tablet, smartphone or smart TV. Tickets will still be required to view shows.
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All-access passes cost $200 and cover all performances; individual show tickets can be purchased for $11 a piece. If you can show additional support for performers, you can also buy a “Love Your Artist” ticket for $16 per show. “Because one of the best parts of Fringe is the sense of community that arises between audiences, staff and artists,” the Know Team stated in its announcement, the goal for 2020 is “creating ways for people to connect at a distance.” There will still be voting for the “Pick of the Fringe” awards, using online polls instead of paper ballots. Fringe-hosted digital hangouts and streaming segments will replace the popular nightly Bar Series events, still featuring the zany Fringe newscast. The Fringe production team has scrambled throughout April to identify artists whose performances can be made available via high-quality videoon-demand. There was a lot to consider, given a record-breaking number of 127 applicants. There won’t be as many offerings as in past festivals, which have topped 40 in recent years, and the happy mingling that’s been a big
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attraction over the years can’t happen. But there are numerous positives. Production costs will be lower, since venues don’t need to be rented, outfitted and managed. There will be broader availability, since there will be no limitations on how many people can view each performance or when they can tune in (aka no sold-out events). It will be easier for people to sample the Fringe, since performances can be observed using internetequipped devices. Fringe aficionados will appreciate the opportunity to binge as many shows as they wish, if they purchase an all-access pass. No one will have to hustle from one venue to another with narrow windows of time between presentations. Fringe virgins, who might have been hesitant to dive in, will have the opportunity to tune in show-by-show. That seems likely to give more Cincinnati theater lovers the opportunity to find out what Fringe is all about, exposure that surely bodes well for future years. So what’s going to be made available? Nearly 20 shows will be streamed online. Some are work by locals, including veterans who return annually with work that’s eagerly received. A few others are pulling something together for the first time. There will also be a sampling of out-of-town performers who have spent summers touring the fringe festival circuit across the U.S. and Canada. We’ll also have several
opportunities to see recorded reprises of shows that were hits in the past. Here are a dozen shows that you might want to consider adding to your Cincy Fringe schedule:
Shows from Fringe Vets It wouldn’t be a Cincy Fringe without the presence of Performance Gallery, a Cincinnati-based company that has produced wildly varied works in every Fringe since the beginning. For 2020 they have assembled a 21st-century fable, Hive Mind, featuring a diverse cast of bees, humans and puppets. They’ll ask big questions and provide whimsical fun. What do you do when the hive is in danger? Swarm? Dance? Buzz? It’s billed as an exploration of the nature and behavior of social creatures. Erika Kate MacDonald and Paul Strickland have a strong track record as performers in Cincinnati and beyond. They relocated to Cincinnati because they loved the Fringe scene here, but they are well known for shows presented at top-notch festivals across North America. For Paul and Erika’s HOUSE SHOW, streamed from their own couch, they’ll bring household objects to life using stories, songs, digital puppetry and more. Strickland’s monologues about Ain’t True and Uncle False at the Big Fib Trailer Park have been local Fringe favorites annually; last year’s 90 Lies an Hour was a sold-out hit.
