What promises to be one of Atlanta’s biggest theatrical samplers begins Thursday at nearly a half dozen venues across the metro area.
The first annual Atlanta Fringe Festival, which runs through Saturday, will feature some 27 eclectic shows from artists across Atlanta and the country. About 2,500 people are expected to attend.
Diana Brown, the festival's executive director, said the idea for Fringe was born eight years ago but didn’t come into fruition until 2010 when the Little 5 Points Business Association began looking for a festival that would be a spring compliment its annual Halloween fest.
The association wanted the event held at Little Five Points. The Twinhead Theatre, which Brown represented, thought it would have a bigger impact if it were spread out across the city.
When the two couldn’t agree, Brown and Twinhead moved ahead, offering underground, underrepresented theater artists a platform to perform without the expense of putting on a show.
"We handle the logistics and all the marketing because that’s where the obstacles really are for a lot of theater artists," Brown said. “Plus it's a safe place for artists to try something new without worry about failing and still make a little money.”
All shows are original and include everything from dance to comedy to drama. Some of it is wacky like Twinhead's own "F#%k, F#%k, Goose! Stories for Children (Not for Children)," a raunchy comedy inspired by the origins of classic fairy tales and fables. And some of the performances are serious, like “Mama Juggs,” a one-woman show on breast health by Anita Woodley, a 36-year-old NPR producer.
Woodley, who has gained international attention for her show, said friends encouraged her to write the play when she sang a song about breastfeeding that her great-grandmother sang to her as she struggled to breastfeed her newborn son.
Though she hesitated at first, she completed the play in 2009, performed it for the first time in her living room, then in other people's homes and eventually at local theater companies.
Last week, she took questions from her home in Chapel Hill, N.C., where she lives with her husband and now 9-year-old son.
Q: So why not just write a book?
A: There's something about performing that reminds me of Christmas and Thanksgiving, when we talked about family gatherings. Its capturing that and exposing people to our rich culture and the way we tell stories and what we do behind closed doors. I think I will write a book someday but there's nothing like performing and seeing people's reaction.
Q: Since breast health is such a serious issue, why take it to a Fringe Fest, known for the absurd?
A: The fringe fest brings a different crowd of people. I do regular theater all the time. Last summer, I went to off-Broadway New York, Chicago. I performed in Vermont in a barn, in Cameroon, Africa, and I'm currently performing monthly shows at a wellness center in Durham (N.C.).
Q: What is your mission and why this is so important to you?
A: My goal is to help people, to empower them to check on their own health and not wait until they're sick but to maintain it. Also as African-Americans, I think it's important to keep our tradition of storytelling alive.
Q: You’re a full-time wife, mother and award-winning journalist. How do you juggle it all?
A: I do so with the support of my husband of 16 years, son, a flexible supervisor and staying healthy. My health is definitely my wealth and without it, I can't perform, write or consistently deliver quality work as a journalist and performer. My greatest hope is to eventually sustain myself full-time as a working artist.
Q: What’s been the most surprising thing you’ve learned either about yourself or people in general through the show?
A: That I do not need to wear a padded bra. Once while doing a radio interview at home, I was telling the listeners to believe in themselves and that their bodies are perfect as they are. Then I looked down and saw two inches of Victoria Secret bra padding. That bra is now part of the "Mama Juggs" set and I never wear push-up bras! Since "Mama Juggs" is a true story, I refuse to live untruthfully and the growth around my body image is benefiting my audience.
The Atlanta Fringe Festival
5-11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sunday. $10 for a single ticket; $45-$220 passes. For detail listing of venues and shows: http://atlantafringe.org/home/schedule/show-schedule-by-date/; 404-637-8871.
"Mama Juggs"
8 p.m. Thursday; 6:30 p.m. Friday; 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday; and 12:30 p.m. Sunday. $10. The Mask Center, 1083 Austin Ave. N.E., #008, Atlanta, 30307. www.atlantafringe.org.
