Welcome to the Fringe

Namaste—Welcome! I am honoured, grateful, and excited to be a part of our highly ambitious team, in our relentless hard work to shift the Fringe despite these uncertain times.

At the heart of our Rohit Chokhani organizational and Festival Executive Director Vancouver Fringe Theatre Society planning is our passionate vision to cultivate and create an open and vibrant independent theatre community. Our ability to serve this mission has been considerably challenged and compromised by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite its significant impact on all of us, we believe in the resilience of our performing arts community, and the underlying hope and faith that exists within the human spirit. We are excited to move forward with a modified Festival, which will be different, unique, and intimate in its own way. We are truly overwhelmed with the love and support we have received, and we welcome you all to our Fringe Village with a collaborative spirit to take care of each other while we enjoy live performances—six feet apart but with our hearts and minds united!

Happy Fringing!

Welcome to the 2020 Fringe Festival! We are thrilled to build on our long history of innovation and creativity to find ways to offer live theatre in our ever-changing world. In difficult times, we need theatre more than ever!

Sharon Sutherland As a cisgender LGBTQIA+ President Vancouver Fringe Theatre Society settler of Scottish descent residing on the ancestral lands of the Tsawwassen First Nation, I am passionate about the Fringe vision of “Theatre for Everyone.” Now more than ever, we must prioritize equity, diversity, and inclusion as we find ways to continue our support of the arts and artists, while they in turn enrich our worldviews and offer us growth, excitement, joy, and respite, which are particularly important in these stressful times. Join us in celebrating the resilience of the Fringe community! I gladly welcome you all to this year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival, located on the ancestral, traditional, unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl ̓ ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (TsleilWaututh), and xʷməθkwəy ̓ əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Thelma Stogan Indigenous Elder and Spokesperson Creating and watching art is very important and healing, especially during these times Photo by Julie De Sousa. of uncertainty. Although the Fringe looks different this year, I hope that you are all able to safely enjoy the events and shows the Fringe has to offer online and in-person.

2020 has required a lot of us in many different and challenging ways. As the Fringe’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Director and an independent consultant on Equity & Disability Justice, it has been an incredibly busy time. As a gender-fluid artist of Siobhan Barker mixed racial backgrounds and Equity Diversity Inclusion (EDI) Director Vancouver Fringe Theatre Society living with disability, I have experienced some of the many ways that BIPOC and equityseeking communities have been deeply affected by world events. I champion efforts, such as the Fringe, to provide opportunities and outlets for the creative spark to flourish. It’s important during times such as these to recognize JOY as a revolutionary act. It is in this spirit of artistic celebration that I welcome you to our 2020 Staggered Fringe. Come share in some joy as we learn and grow.

Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) has over 30 member festivals across Canada and the USA and we exist as an organization to unite, support, empower, and strengthen our member festivals in order to cultivate Lucy Eveleigh and foster independent President Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals artistic exploration for artists and audiences across North America. I am thrilled to be able to welcome you to the Vancouver Fringe Festival, and I encourage you to take the time to get involved however you can. Your support is integral to these artists. In these ever-changing times of a global pandemic, precarious funding, expensive living costs, and the day-to-day struggles many artists face, having people see their work is now more important than ever.

Happy Fringing.

Greetings, and welcome to the 2020 Fringe Festival. What a stressful year this has been! As both a Fringe board member and a member of the BC Arts Council, I have seen how artists locally and nationally Member of the BC Arts Council Member of the Vancouver Fringe Board biracial person who is hard of hearing, I have seen how the BIPOC and disabled arts communities have been disproportionately impacted. To help make sense of the world, we turn to storytellers, dancers, musicians, and other artists. This year, their work is more critical than ever. As I have struggled to have my own identity seen and heard, one thing I have learned from being hard of hearing is that getting closer, listening harder and working to hear different points of view can lead to deeper understanding. And the Fringe is a great place to start. Happy Fringing! !Kona Community Development Director & Co-Executive Director CultureBrew.Art

2020 has us existing in a world undergoing a spreading consciousness and activation around justice at a time when coming together is full of complexity. It’s never been more important for Artists to use our talents to communicate and connect with one another. It was my pleasure, as Co-Executive Director of CultureBrew.Art, to partner with the Fringe to engage with BIPOC artists earlier this summer. Together we laughed. We learned. And we connected.

CBA is an online searchable database created by racialized artists for Indigenous and racialized artists working in the performing and media arts as talent, creatives, and support workers. We value intersectional racial equity, accessibility, privacy, and security. And we

Jai Djwa have been impacted. As a

value the work of the Vancouver Fringe Festival.

I am excited to welcome you on behalf of Playwrights Theatre Centre, co-partners with the Fringe on the Fringe New Play Prize, to this year’s unprecedented 2020 Vancouver Fringe Festival. As a long-time Vancouver Fringe supporter, I can attest to Davey Samuel the power of the Festival in Calderon connecting artists, audiences, Dramaturg Public Engagement and communities together. And, as a queer Filipinxdescent settler on Coast Playwrights Theatre Salish Territories—who has Centre had the privilege of doing shows in past Vancouver Fringes—I have witnessed its progress in fusing the celebration of theatre and performing arts in our city with values of inclusivity and equitability. Even during these uncertain times, I rely on the transmutable connective spirit that brings us together during a Fringe. Mabuhay, and enjoy!

Susan Jackson Chair BC Arts Council

The Fringe is a festival highlight in Vancouver, marking the end of summer and the beginning of fall. This year it will have a different feel but bring the same excitement we’ve come to expect.

The Fringe is a celebration of diversity. It truly is “Theatre for Everyone.” In that spirit, I would like to thank you all, whether you are an artist, patron, volunteer, or organizer, for making the Fringe what it is: unique, unpredictable, engaged, and engaging. At the BC Arts Council, we salute the Fringe Festival for meeting the challenge of the pandemic to bring exciting and essential theatre to an eager public. Our government appreciates the incredible challenges faced by the arts and culture sector in these difficult and uncertain times, and that includes building spaces where all Canadians can feel included. Steven Guilbeault By coming together to Minister of Canadian Heritage celebrate our diversity through the arts, we are also building better, stronger communities and a more inclusive Canada. Canadian Heritage is proud support the Vancouver Fringe Festival in helping create a venue where under-represented artists from diverse backgrounds are able to share their talents. As Minister of Canadian Heritage, I congratulate all the organizers, volunteers and performers for putting together this festival under unique and difficult circumstances. Thank you and enjoy the shows! Notre gouvernement est conscient des défis incroyables auxquels fait face le secteur des arts et de la culture en ces temps difficiles et incertains, et cela comprend la construction d’espaces où tous les Canadiens et Canadiennes peuvent se sentir inclus. En nous réunissant pour célébrer notre diversité au moyen des arts, nous bâtissons également des communautés meilleures et plus fortes, ainsi qu’un Canada plus inclusif. Patrimoine canadien est fier d’appuyer les efforts du Fringe Festival de Vancouver visant à créer un lieu où des artistes sous-représentés de divers horizons peuvent faire valoir leur talent. À titre de ministre du Patrimoine canadien, je félicite tous les organisateurs, les bénévoles et les artistes qui ont mis sur pied ce festival dans des circonstances uniques et difficiles.

On behalf of the citizens of Vancouver and my colleagues on City Council, I want to congratulate the organizers of the 2020 Vancouver Fringe Festival.

The Fringe Festival is one of the leading cultural Kennedy Stewart organizations in Vancouver Mayor City of Vancouver that has been at the forefront at showcasing new talent since 1985. The Fringe Festival’s mission is to open the door to artists of all genres and formats and allow the exchange of expression to flow freely – this has created one the best art festivals in Vancouver.

Congratulations to all the staff and over 500 volunteers who work so hard to create a successful festival during

this challenging time!

Welcome to the 2020 Vancouver Fringe Festival. Fringe is about making theatre accessible and celebrating diversity. This year the festival is shining the spotlight on diverse artists.

Lisa Beare Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Because of the pandemic, this year’s festival looks very different. By holding shows throughout the fall, audiences can enjoy the spirit of the Fringe safely. I encourage everyone to follow the rules.

Our government is proud to support the Vancouver Fringe Festival through the BC Arts Council. To support the arts and culture sector hard hit by the pandemic we provided immediate relief by advancing operating funding and a $3-million resiliency supplement.

Thank you to all the volunteers and everyone who is supporting artists in the audience, and through donations. You truly embody the Fringe spirit.