Two Fringe Festivals Bring Organized Chaos to Atlanta Theater This June

This June, Atlanta is set to come alive with the organization of two different eclectic and vibrant fringe festivals that will light up the theater scene. Running concurrently of each other, Lavender Fest and the Atlanta Fringe Festival aim and promise to bring a genre of theater that is refreshingly unique, diverse, and liberating to the Atlanta art landscape. The two festivals, far from viewing each other as competitors, have engaged in a healthy promotion of each other’s works in a bid to create a cohesive season of theatrical fringe.

Atlanta Fringe Festival: A Spectrum of Diverse Performances

The Atlanta Fringe Festival, a brainchild of the energetic and passionate Diana Brown, has grown since its inception in 2012 to showcase a dynamic range of 20 different shows presented in 7 distinct venues from June 3 to June 9. Carefully chosen for their contributions to the diversity and range of theater, the shows present a unique deviation from mainstream performances. Such performances include performance poetry, dramatic storytelling, puppetry, and comedies.

Despite not having attended a fringe festival prior to setting up the Atlanta Fringe Festival, Diana Brown’s efforts at creating an alternative gathering for nontraditional theater acts has born fruit. The festival utilises both traditional theaters like 7 Stages and Limelight, as well as unconventional locations such as Wrecking Bar Brewpub and East Atlanta Kids Club.

Lavender Fest: Celebrating Queer Art

The much-anticipated Lavender Fest, happening from June 19 to 23 at Out Front Theatre, promises to showcase nine thrilling performances by queer artists. Directed by Ty Autry, a fringe festival veteran and a member of the Artistic Advisory Council, the Lavender Fest will be a celebration of the queer creative expression.

Autry’s vision for the fringe event is rooted in his desire to create a space that could fully support queer works and educate a Southern audience. He believes that the unfiltered and raw nature of fringe theater, often performed without long weeks of rehearsal and devoid of elaborate production, will bring forth stories never heard before, in a fashion that is both captivating and enlightening.

Fringe Festivals: A Novel Form of Theater

The concept of fringe theater began in 1947 with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as an alternative platform for nontraditional acts that could not find expression in the mainstream theater festivals. These events are characterized by their organic, bizarre, and wonderfully refreshing performances that usually run for just an hour. They give artists the opportunity to debut their works in front of an open and receptive audience who are there for the unique and quirky quality such theater commands.

As June draws near, Atlanta is prepared to host its season of fringe, where both festivals will create a collaborative synergy to uplift and develop the local artistic community. This amalgamation of organized chaos in Atlanta’s theater is expected to be the creative highlight of the year.