Cape Town Fringe sets off creative spark in City

The street posters are up, the venues are built and ready, and hundreds of performers are preparing to transport audiences to new time and places as part of the inaugural Cape Town Fringe festival, which opens today in the Mother City.
The 11-day festival features more than 100 fresh and feisty productions, ranging from comedy (Big Boys Don’t Dance, Marcel Lucont) and illusion (Stuart Lightbody, Morgan and West), to music (Herbie Tsoaeli, Guy Buttery) and dance (Between the Lines, The Architecture of Tears), to family theatre (Lake, Patchwork) and performance art (Exhibit S).
“It’s very exciting to see months of planning come to fruition today,” Festival CEO Tony Lankester said. “The global Fringe movement has, over the years, changed the way artists present, and audiences enjoy, live performance – and we’re happy to bring this spirit and approach to Cape Town for the first time. We’re ready, now it’s over to the audiences to sit back and appreciate the amazing work being presented to them.”
A project of the National Arts Festival, held in Grahamstown every July, the Cape Town Fringe stems from a three-year partnership with the City of Cape Town. Other partners are Standard Bank, MNET and 567 Cape Talk.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the National Arts Festival in supporting and hosting the Cape Town Fringe. The City as a cultural capital, is a fitting host and we are proud to have the festival’s hub at the City Hall, a key strategic asset of the City.
Cape Town Fringe has positioned itself as an innovative and accessible event and brings with it many benefits. These benefits – in relation to festivals of this nature- impact three specific areas. Firstly they drive tourism, promote the band of a city and created economic opportunities for entrepreneurs, mostly in the hospitality sector. Secondly they provide opportunities for local artists and performers who typically have the lowest barriers to participate in the event because they are on its doorstep – which provides them with greater opportunities to work; thirdly, festivals such as this give audiences the opportunity to see lots of work, in a concentrated period of time, much of which wouldn’t normally be staged in their city. The Cape Town Fringe Festival attracts performers from other cities and often from other countries, giving them a unique experience. Therefore within the growth and development of the City, with these three important touchstones, festivals such as this are a hugely important part of enhancing the life of a city and its people,” said Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development Councillor Gareth Bloor.
The Cape Town City Hall is the heart of the festival this year, featuring four performance venues and The Fringe Club, where artists, audiences and the media will gather to share experiences, coffee or a drink or two.
As a member of the World Fringe Alliance, a grouping including Amsterdam, New York, Edinburgh and Perth, the festival will also showcase some of the most innovative and popular shows touring the international Fringe circuit right now.
Some of South Africa’s leading performers are also participating this year, with comedy and music dominating the programme. Look out for Richard Antrobus’s Being Norm, Matchbox Theatre’s If These Bodies Could Speak, Nkosinathi Gaar’s Macbeth, Masiphumelele Community Theatre Group’s Qhawe, and Grace Newton’s The Bentleys Bettys.
Because this is a working city fest, the programme has been planned to keep step with the everyday rhythm of the city. A variety of “lunch-hour” shows have been scheduled to allow people to take time out of their busy days to take in some theatre, and the Fringe will be giving groups of learners from underprivileged schools a complete theatre experience through specially designed full-day programmes.
• Programmes are available at Exclusive Book branches throughout the City. Or see www.capetownfringe.co.za for the full programme.
• Book online at www.capetownfringe.co.za or by phoning 086 000 2004.

NOTES TO EDITORS
The Cape Town Fringe festival runs from 25 September until 5 October in various venues across Cape Town. A total of 100 productions make up the core Fringe programme. The full programme is available online at www.capetownfringe.co.za.
The Fringe is being produced by the Grahamstown National Arts Festival team, and is supported by the City of Cape Town and Standard Bank. 567 Cape Talk and MNet are media partners.
For more information, visit www.capetownfringe.co.za; email info@capetownfringe.co.za; or call the festival hotline: 060 948 2706.
TO BOOK
• Online: www.capetownfringe.co.za
• By phone: 086 000 2004
• By fax: 086 233 2122
• By email: boxoffice@capetownfringe.co.za
• In person: Fringe Box Office in the City Hall
SOCIAL MEDIA
• Follow us on Twitter: @CTFringe
• Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CapeTownFringe

Author: Gilly Hemphill from The Famous Idea.
More Info link: https://capetownfringe.co.za/
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A scene from Nkosinathi Gaar’s Macbeth.

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