PREPARING FOR A FEVERISH FRINGE (July 2)

By JON KAPLAN

Time to get out those water bottles, running shoes and between-show snacks. You’ll need them as you hustle from one theatre to another.

The Toronto Fringe is back. And this year, though the heat is sure to be there, last year’s garbage-filled streets aren’t part of the picture. Thankfully.

It’s the festival’s 15th year, and no surprise that it’s grown since last July’s edition. This time around the festival features 125 show – actually up only marginally from 2002 – running for 12 days. That’s a whopping 900+ performances, spread across the city.

Don’t turn up at some of the usual venues for the Fringe, though – you’ll find they’re not part of the festival this year. There’s some work being done at the Tarragon, so its two theatres are out of commission for the summer. And the Poor Alex, which has been involved in just about every festival since the beginning, isn’t a venue either.

Instead, look for shows at Artword, a venue that hasn’t been used by the Fringe for several years, and the Palmerston Library Theatre, which returns as the site for the family-oriented KidsVenue. The George Ignatieff Theatre, one of several U of T spaces, is part of the festival after last summer’s construction work around the building.

The bring-your-own-venue theatres (BYOVs) often supply some of the Fringe’s most exciting work. That’s not just about the writing and acting. The locations themselves are often part of the action, since that’s why they’ve been chosen as BYOVs. Potential hot BYOV shows this year are Billy Nothin’, presented at the Honest Ed loading dock (BYOV A – and see more on its playwright, Sean Dixon, in the July 3 issue of NOW), a cut-down version of John Osborne’s 50s classic Brit kitchen-sink drama Look Back In Anger, offered to an audience of 12 who sit watching the emotion-charged action in a house on Euclid Avenue (BYOV D) and the Trinity College playing field (BYOV C), where those irreverent Upstart Crow people present another instalment of their outdoor, sports-oriented Shakespeare series. This year they’re tackling the Greek and Roman plays in Shakespeare’s Gladiator Games. The winner, presumably, is the last character left standing. Always lots of fun.

What else to see? That’s always a big question, and you can’t know the players without a program. The Fringe program is available at selected Starbucks, and also online either at the Fringe website or NOW’s website.

Traditionally, word of mouth while you’re standing on line is one of the best sources of thumbs up/thumbs down information. Critics’ reviews also come in handy – Glenn Sumi and I are filing them each day, so look for daily updates on NOW’s Fringe website, under listings – and so does the buzz at the beer tent, again located at the Tranzac Club (292 Brunswick, and also the festival’s BYOV K).

It’s important to keep up to date on changes in the schedule. The daily Fringe Harold, the festival’s official newspaper, is a good source for late-breaking news, and we’ll keep you up date at this site as well.

Look Back In Anger, for instance, mentioned above, recently altered some of its performance times from those listed in the Fringe program. The Saturday performances of the 70-minute show are now 1 and 4 pm, rather than the 1 and 5 pm listed. Hearing about shifts like those are important, not only to ensure that you get into your seat before the show starts – remember, latecomers aren’t allowed – but also if you’re working out a several-show day at the festival.

And that’s really the way to enjoy the Fringe – throw yourself into the deep end. You might start with two or three in one day, but if you’re turned on by what you see I promise you’ll be back for more.

That’s not to say that every show will be to everyone’s taste, or that every show is worth seeing. In fact, if you see a fair number of productions, there’s likely to be at least one that’s pretty bad theatre and for which admission should be limited to family members of the cast.

On the other hand, there are always surprises, and it’s those discoveries that I find really exciting. Last year I’d never heard of Nicola Gunn, an Australian who brought a show called The Elephant Club to town. She turned out to be a marvelous performer in that wordless piece, playing a multitude of characters. She’s back this year with Tyrannous Rex, in which she again portrays several figures, including a black leopard. It’s on my list of shows to line up for.

So gamble a bit on choices, mixing them up shows featuring artists whose work you like, and you’re sure to make your own discoveries. That’s what the Fringe is all about.