Fringe Festival Features 100 Artists and 50 Performances Over Three Weeks

Berkshire Fringe Gala

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) — The 2011 Berkshire Fringe kicks off its seventh season with 50  original works of theater, dance and music by emerging artists from across the United States from July 25 to August 15 in the Daniel Arts Center on the campus of Simon’s Rock. The festival hosts seven innovative theater and dance companies from as far away as New Orleans and as close to home as Housatonic.

In addition, the three week festival includes 30 Live!, a free music series; EarlyStages, a showcase of new plays by emerging writers from New England; and dozens of special events, post-show artist discussions, free community workshops and a new artist residency program featuring the acclaimed San Francisco based comedy group, the Pi Clowns.

Since 2005, Bazaar Productions/The Berkshire Fringe has hosted over 300 emerging artists from across the country and around the corner. Hailed as “sassy and experimental” by the New York Times, the festival presents a diverse cross-section of original, interdisciplinary theater, dance and music.

This season, the Fringe offers ‘pi¢k your own pri¢e’ opening nights, as well as a full season pass to all seven shows for $75.

The 2011 season lineup is as follows:

PROPOCALYPSE!
A Party of Propocalyptic Proportions
Berkshire Fringe’s 7th Annual GALA CELEBRATION
Monday, July 25

Celebrating seven years of innovative, outrageous and entirely original programming, the Berkshire Fringe’s annual gala presents seven world premiere short works of dance, theater and film.  This year, the event is a celebration of artistic ingenuity and innovation centering around stage props and the various ways that they inspire, shape and inform the creative process.  Featuring an open bar courtesy of Domaney’s Liquors and Fine Wines, hors d’oeuvres from allium, dancing/dj, and a massive not-so-silent auction. Doors open at 6/Show starts at 7. Tickets to performances and party: $100, $50, or Pay-Your-Age!

MISSING, Written and Created by Jessica Ferris (Photo: Steve Savage)

MISSING: The fantastical and true story of my father’s disappearance and what I found when I went looking for him
Written and Performed by Jessica Ferris
Directed by David Ford
Original Music by Mark Orton of Tin Hat

Can you find a missing person between the threads of a bed sheet?

In this mostly-true, magical-realism detective story, San Francisco based solo performer Jessica Ferris embarks on a quest to find her father who disappeared under mysterious circumstances thirty years ago. In this deftly physical, imaginatively touching and quick witted performance, Ferris transforms everyday objects into extraordinary beings that propel her search for her father, the ultimate con artist living on the lam.

Wed 7/27 at 8 (Pick Your Own Price), Thur 7/28 at 8:45, Fri 7/29 at 7, Sat 7/30 at 8:45, Sun 7/31 at 6

THE EROTICS OF DOUBT, Created and Choreographed by Austin Seldon and Sarah Konner

THE EROTICS OF DOUBT
Created and Choreographed by Sarah Konner and Austin Selden

A lamp.  A toilet seat.  The infinite complexity of love. Using humor, text, inspired choreography and song, Philadelphia based dancer/choreographer duo Austin Sheldon and Sarah Konner rip apart our pre-conceived notions of romance and show us the seductive absurdness of human relationships. At times beautiful and stark, poetic and profane, the Ertotics of Doubt asks us to laugh without restraint at our own naiveté, dreamlike longing and desperation – meanwhile we wonder if we should be laughing at all.

Thur 7/28 at 7 (Pick Your Own Price), Fri 7/29 at 8:45, (Post Show Talk) Sat 7/30 at 7, Sun 7/31 at 8, Mon 8/1 at 8

 

RETURN OF THE PI CLOWNS (Photo: Glenn Koetzner)

THE RETURN OF THE PI CLOWNS!
Featuring Andrew P. Quick, Bruce Glaseroff, Tyler Parks, Leah C. Gardner and Jon Deline

Delightful mayhem and glory await you as the Pi Clowns make their return to the Berkshires.  With a heaping helping of new buffoonery, they will have audiences of all ages rolling on the floor with laughter. Using acrobatics, juggling, eccentric dance, live music and improvisation, this epically hilarious posse of Fringe favorites is not to be missed!

Pi Clowns Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the Door |  14 and Under:  $10

Sat 7/30 at 3:30 (Pick Your Own Price Performance) Sun 7/31 at 3:30
Wed 8/3 at 9:30, Fri 8/5 at 3:30, Sat 8/6 at 3:30 (Post Show Talk)
Sun 8/7 at 3:30, Fri 8/12 at 7:30, Sat 8/13 at 7:30, Mon 8/15 at 8

 

OUR MAN, Created and Performed by William Bowling and Christopher Kaminstein

OUR MAN
Conceived and performed by William Bowling and Christopher Kaminstein
With key collaboration by Sascha Stanton-Craven.

From the New Orleans based theater ensemble Goat In The Road, comes Our Man, a decidedly fictional approach to American political history. Filled with rapid-fire dialog and agile physical comedy, the play explores the contemporary political landscape through the lens of a surreal 1950’s era radio broadcast.  Somewhere at the intersection of performance and politics, two men inside a small glass box narrate the life and exploits of one of the nation’s most controversial leaders, “The Gipper”, who is deftly portrayed by a wooden tennis racket.

Wed 8/3 at 8 (Pick Your Own Price Opening Night) Thur, 8/4 at 8:45 (Post Show Artist Talk) Fri 8/5 at 7, Sat 8/6 at 8:45, Sun 8/7 at 6

FACE. Written and Performed by Haerry Kim

FACE
Written and Performed by Haerry Kim
Video/Projection by Yuni Moon/ Timothy Kim
Lighting design by Jakyung Seo
Sound design by Eun Jin Cho

Inspired by testimonies of Korean Comfort Women during World War II, FACE reveals the harrowing and true story of one woman at war with her past.  By unveiling vivid images and asking daring questions about history, violence and sexual slavery, FACE constructs a lyrical exposé of survival.  It gives voice to the suppressed history of Comfort Women and pays tribute to the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit.

Thur 8/4 at 7 (Pick Your Own Price Opening Night) Fri 8/5 at 8:45 (Post Show Artist Talk) Saturday, August 6 at 7, Sunday, August 7 at 8, Monday, August 8 at 8

 

WHAT HAPPENED TO BILL VIOLA? (Photo: Ben Arons)

WHAT HAPPENED TO BILL VIOLA?
Written by Cory Hinkle
Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh

On leave from her Banraku puppet piece on Amelia Earhart, Violet Foster brings the Berkshire Fringe her tour de force inquiry into the life of Bill Viola and a personal look at obsession. Guerrilla video, emotional ballad and ground-breaking performance art converge to ask THE ONLY QUESTION THAT MUST BE ANSWERED.

Wed 8/10 at 8 (Pick Your Own Price Opening Night & Post Show Talk)
Thur 8/11 at 8:45, Fri 8/12 at 6, Sat 8/13 at 8:45, Sun 8/14 at 7

TANGLED YARN

TANGLED YARN
Written and Performed by Anaïs Alexandra Tekerian
Featuring live drawings and projections by Kevork Mourad
Original music by Armenian a cappella folk trio Zulal

Using poetic narrative, Tangled Yarn unravels the story of Ismene, a heroine living in the shadow of her famed sister Antigone and without a fate of her own. Obscuring the lines between past and present, legend and invention, Ismene must untangle the stories of her Armenian and Latvian Grandmothers in order to determine her own destiny.  Featuring incredible and captivating  live-drawn projections and animations  by artist Kevork Mourad and a haunting original score by the Armenian folk trio Zulal, Tangled Yarn is a multi-media portrait of Ismene’s untold story.

Thur 8/11 at 7 (Pick Your Own Price Opening Night) Fri 8/12 at 8:45 (Post Show Artist Talk) Sat 8/13 at 6, Sun 8/14 at 8:45, Mon 8/15 at 6

 

FREE PROGRAMS

EARLYSTAGES

On Sunday, August 14, participants in the EarlyStages playwright mentorship program will present staged readings of new works. Be the first to hear these new American voices presented as three fresh, insightful and exciting world premiere staged readings. This is the culmination of a two-week residency where emerging writers from New England develop scripts under the guidance of Award-winning writer Laura Maria Censabella. This event is free and will be followed by a discussion with the writers. The schedule is as follows:

Sunday, August 14 at Noon – True Believers by Thom Dunn

True Believers tells the story of star-crossed lovers, psychotic fanboys, aspiring comic book writers, cybernetically enhanced humans, and girls dressed as Princess Leia as they all intertwine in a whirlwind at Comic-Con , the largest comic book convention in the world.

 

Sunday, August 14 at 1:30 – Waltz for Rosemary by Michelle Meyers

Todd returns home to find his mother’s memory falling apart while his father takes advantage of the situation to reinvent himself as the perfect husband. Waltz for Rosemary deals with art, manipulation, and how we hurt the people we love.

Sunday, August 14 at 3 – You Can Have Me by Iris Dauterman

Want to find the love of your life? Just sign here. Richard and Charlie have tried everything they can think of to find love. The solution might be a new technology that claims it can locate your one and only soul mate. But what if no sparks fly?

 

:30 LIVE!

The Berkshire Fringe’s free music series takes place each Monday and Wednesday and features an eclectic mix of new music, emerging composers and sonic innovators from throughout the Northeast.  Please check website for a full line-up details. Performance schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, July 27 at 7
Monday, August 1 at 7
Wednesday, August 3 at 7
Monday, August 8 at 7

Wednesday, August 10 at 7
Gut Bucket – Composer-driven, art-rock-tainted chamber jazz

Gengis Barbie

Monday, August 15 at 7
Genghis Barbie – All female French horn quartet performing arrangements of pop music from the 1970s, ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000s and today. A visceral and unadulterated musical adventure

 

COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

All workshops are free, open to the public and take place on Saturday afternoons at 1:30 in the Daniel Arts Center. Each workshop is taught by a Berkshire Fringe festival artist and welcomes participants of all backgrounds and levels of experience ages 16-96! Space is limited and early registration is strongly recommended.  Please call 413-320-4175 for more information.

Saturday, July 31 at 1:30- Storytelling through Movement and Text.

Dance Workshop with Philadelphia based choreographers Sarah Konner and Austin Seldon | creators of The Erotics of Doubt

Saturday, August 7 at 1:30-  The Beauty of Boundaries

Group and Solo Performance Workshop with Will Bowling and Chris Kaminstein of Goat in the Road Productions in New Orleans.

Saturday, August 13 at 1:30 – Devised Performance.

Theater workshop with the hilarious ensemble of What Happened to Bill Viola? Led by company director Pirronne Yousefzedeh
Pi CLOWN RESIDENCY WORKSHOPS

Gain first hand insight into the zany and captivating world of clown! San Francisco based Pi Clowns will offer three workshops focusing on a range of topics including circus skills, physical comedy and original performance technique. Workshops are open to participants of all backgrounds and levels of experience ages 10 and up. Suggested donation for these workshops is $10 and early registration is strongly recommended. For more information, please call 413.320. 4175

Monday, August 1 at 1:30

Monday, August 8 at 1:30

Monday, August 15 at 1:30

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

All performances, events and workshops take place at The Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, 84 Alford Road in Great Barrington, Mass.. 2011 Tickets to all events are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. All opening night performances are Pi¢k your Own Pri¢e, available only at the door.  Ask our box office about a Season’s Pass – See all seven shows for only $75. All workshops, :30 Live! performances and EarlyStages readings are free unless otherwise noted. For directions, tickets, workshop registration, and all other information please call (413) 320-4175, e-mail us at info@berkshirefringe.org or visit http://www.berkshirefringe.org.

 

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