Optative Theatrical Laboratories is going to the Buffalo Infringement Festival, easily Western New York’s largest and most popular arts festival, and arguably the world’s most independent and authentic one! With absolutely no corporate interference, artists can breathe freely and get important work done within a supportive community. It’s an artistic paradise that doesn’t normally exist under the […]
When Montreal artists protested the trademarking of the word “Fringe” in 2004 with a cheeky-sounding “infringement festival”, they never expected their activist gesture would blossom into the international movement of rabble-rousing festivals it has become today. Rejecting corporate models that co-opt culture to reduce artists to advertising and spectators to consumers, the infringement festival promotes […]
The dream of touring a performance seems more out of reach than ever for artists, but with the infringement festivals, there is hope! Because the cost of touring is often seen as prohibitive, many artists (and their works and performances) stay put in their home communities. Not only are there expensive travel and accommodation costs associated […]
Peace Park, a cultural crossroads for the city’s underground community, celebrated its 18th birthday on November 20th in style. The party was organized through social media by MQC, producers of the critically-acclaimed skater documentary Peace Park (2012). Spearheaded by skateboarder David Bouthillier, the film documents not just years of skateboarding on the park’s granite ledges, […]
November is often said to be the most depressing time of year. As the sunlight dwindles, temperatures drop below freezing and the first snowflakes begin to fall, life becomes more grey and difficult, especially for the disadvantaged. Luckily, the Quartier Latin, renowned for its students, tourists and extensive homeless population, is starting to heat up […]
This Hallowe’en season, on Sunday, October 28, horror-experts Donovan King and Karen Spilak are pleased to offer Haunted Mountain, a spooky walking tour up the slopes of Mount Royal. Beginning on the Plateau at the rumoured-to-be-haunted Barfly, the ramble visits various haunted sites on the mountain, including locations where ghosts have been sighted. Theatrical guides will […]
Exhaustion is becoming a common theme at the World Fringe Congress, and after only 2 or 3 hours of sleep I was back at it again, blogging and getting ready for the final day. My mission, in addition to wrapping-up the Congress, was to actually get out there and see some Fringe shows to help me reflect […]
Day 3 of the World Fringe Congress began with the World Fringe Fair, a showcase of all the Fringe Festivals present for the general public. We each got a small table, so I set up my infringement materials, including Buffalo Infringement Festival’s 2012 programme, a small booklet explaining the mandate and history of the movement, the […]
The second day of the World Fringe Congress, Friday August 17, had a jam-packed schedule of panel discussions, break-out sessions, and a reception chez the Lord Provost (Edinburgh’s mayor), leaving absolutely no time to attend any shows at the Fringe, Forest Fringe or Free Fringes. The themes I narrowed in on were seemingly contradictory. Fringe […]
All is not well at the Edinburgh Fringe, and like in North America, there is considerable discontent amongst artists on the street regarding an increasingly corporate festival. It seems that most artists go into an unreasonable amount of debt to play at the Fringe, while at the same time a deceptive new system, the re-branded “Edinburgh […]
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