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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 organizational and Festival Rohit Chokhani planning is our passionate Executive Director vision to cultivate and Vancouver Fringe create an open and vibrant Theatre Society 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! As a cisgender LGBTQIA+ settler of Scottish descent President residing on the ancestral Vancouver Fringe lands of the Tsawwassen Theatre Society 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!
Thelma Stogan
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. Indigenous Elder and Spokesperson
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 mixed racial backgrounds and Siobhan Barker Equity Diversity Inclusion living with disability, I have experienced some of the many (EDI) Director ways that BIPOC and equityVancouver Fringe seeking communities have Theatre Society 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.
Vancouver Fringe Festival
Sharon Sutherland
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I gladly welcome you all to this year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival, located on the ancestral, traditional, unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (TsleilWaututh), and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
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 have been impacted. As a biracial person Jai Djwa who is hard of hearing, I have Member of the BC Arts seen how the BIPOC and Council disabled arts communities Member of the have been disproportionately Vancouver Fringe Board 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!
