"First" Fringe

This is a post I just wrote for the Show You Our Blog site connected with the Edmonton Fringe. Right now the post is pending review (standard procedure for all new posts), so it may not be quite up yet when you read this.

Enjoy!

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This is my first Fringe. Okay, so technically this is my third Fringe, having acted in a Fringe show in both 2005 and 2007. This is, however, the first time I have directed a Fringe show. It is also the first time I have written a Fringe show. It is the first time I have directed a show I have written in the Fringe (or anywhere). It is also the first time I've produced, designed, marketed, and all those other things, a Fringe show. That adds up to a lot of firsts. What all these firsts tend not to add up to, however, is buzz or excitement. This makes for a steep learning curve.

I'm Justen Bennett and I'm directing Addition: An Unconventional Love Story at the Edmonton Fringe. As I said, I'm swimming neck-deep in a sea of firsts and trying to doggy-paddle my way over to the sweet, promised beaches of Audienceland. Sometimes I feel as though I'm making excellent headway and the shore is coming closer than ever and other times I feel as though I can barely keep my head above water. Allow me to explain.

I am not a Belke, Hagen, Craddock, Schmidt, or Lemoine. I have no place in the Edmonton theatre consciousness with a list of known and respected past work. Addition: An Unconventional Love Story is my second play. As a director, while I've directed a few productions, only one has actually been reviewed. It was the first production of Mockingbird Close by Trevor Schmidt back in 2008 and, while praised, the only quotes I can pull are "well-explored" and "one of the most gripping one acts I've ever seen." There are no well-known actors in this production, but all are talented up-and-comers. Finally, we have not toured the show (I said it was a premiere) and have no reviews from other Fringes to buoy us on our way. All of this has meant a vigorous start from the ground-up that has taught me so much.

Right now, on the eve of the show's premiere (Thursday, August 13 @ 8:00p, for those curious), my worries aren't about the acting, writing, or directing. I know we have a solid show with a skilled cast and a script that, in previews, at least, has had audiences constantly engaged and laughing. My worry, as I'm sure all theatre artists have, is "who will see this show?" How will we stand out amongst the cacophony of posters, handbills, starred reviews, and sound-bites? With hundreds of other performances, how will potential audience members avoid missing out on a show they may enjoy? That has been the bulk of my work these past few months.

I said earlier I learnt a lot on this process, thus far. I've learnt the value of sponsorship, helping to generate interest and reach out to potential theatregoers who may otherwise get overlooked and provide an otherwise unaffordable presence through targeted advertising. I've connected with places like Gaywire and Team Edmonton to help get the word out with interviews and newsletter mentions. I've even learnt a bit about selling my own show and embracing its various themes and potential audience pulls. That has to be one of the more useful pieces of knowledge I've picked up.

Depending on who I speak with, Addition: An Unconventional Love Story is one of many things: a sex comedy; a new work; a local production; queer theatre; littered with jokes about the Jonas Brothers, Paris Hilton, and Edward Cullen; littered with jokes about Patrick Stewart, She-Ra, and Dungeons and Dragons; about polyamory; a show with partial male nudity; or a love story. I'm sure in speaking with more people I'll discover the play is many more things and all of these wrapped up in one. Being in the position of the primary advertiser for a show you've both written and directed forces you to think out of the already-multipled boxes you've used to inhabit the show to explore it in writing and rehearsals, and look at it from not only the view point of 'the audience,' but from the viewpoints of many different audiences, all of whom would walk away loving the same play, but for seemingly-infinite different reasons.

So, that is the question keeping me awake right now, after midnight, the night before my "first" Fringe show premieres. This is a question with an answer I can't create or control on my own. As playwright and director, I've created and controlled many answers to many questions along this process. I'm confident in what I've done and what we've done as a team. I'm used to control and this, this huge, incredibly important element to the production's life, "who will come?," is beyond my control and though I and my team have worked (and will continue to work) long and hard to try and get the best possible answer we can, we're not the ones who, in the end, make that decision to buy a ticket. We'll push through to handbill and shout out our name, good reviews or bad, high attendance or poor, but I will also hope, and hope hard, that my team will have the opportunity to show this work of which they're so proud to as many people as possible and that those who see it take away with them a wonderful, fantastic experience.

I'm sure this is what we all hope and I'm likely not the only one wide-awake right now, kept up by this question with an answer out of our control, "first" Fringe or fifteenth. So, to the rest of you who may be awake, I wish you sweet dreams, great reviews, and long lines at the box office.

Justen Bennett
Director/Playwright