Brien Lang has been with the Providence Fringe Festival “pretty much since the beginning.” Actually, Lang has been part of the festival since its second year, and it’s now in its 11th year.
Lang is the Director of New Works at the Wilbury Theatre Group. Since his first year with the festival, it has “grown to a two-week festival, on both sides of the Woonasquatucket.”
Wilbury’s main stage is found in the Waterfire Center off Valley Street in Providence. The Woonasquatucket runs behind it, with Olneyville on the other side – basically. “There are 50 different shows,” says Lang. “The works span from brand-new stuff to artists tweaking stuff.”
It’s Not a Show, It’s an Opportunity by Megan Stern. Photo from Upline:
Lang has a work of his own in the festival. He calls it “another bad idea.” The work is called “Rhode Dawn.” As he describes it, “it’s a retelling of ‘Red Dawn.’” The 1984 movie starred Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and others, and focused on a Soviet invasion of Colorado. Local youths formed a resistance force, calling themselves the Wolverines. In Lang’s piece, “the rebels are in Rhode Island, and their battle cry is ‘Townies’ instead of ‘Wolverines.’” The piece runs 45 minutes or so. “It’s kind of multi-media, with puppets, and cameos by local journalists as resident Rhode Island experts.”
“Red Dawn” will be on stage at the Steelyard on July 18, 19 and 20. “There are 15 or 20 different stages locally.” All that information can be found on the festival’s website: www.fringepvd.org. The website is a fun journey all on its own.
“We’re collaborating with a lot of local businesses.” By allowing their spaces to be used as stages, the business should benefit from the traffic generated.
– Ricky Rainbow Beard performance from Family Fringe last year.
Providence’s Fringe was inspired by Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, self-proclaimed as “one of the greatest celebrations of arts and culture on the planet.” Dating back to 1947, Edinburgh welcomes “an explosion of creative energy from around the globe” on “hundreds of stages all over the city to present shows for every taste.”
Providence Fringe, says Lang, provides “an unjuried space to try out experimental things, to push the limits of performance.” The acts are “all over the place. Most nights, you could see three completely different shows.”
Lang says the goal is to “do something that uniquely belongs to Providence. We try to accommodate everyone who wants to be part of it.”
Yarn Monster was party of Cabaret Jeté last year
Sure, there are entries that won’t appeal to everyone. But the good news, says Lang, is “if you hate something, it’s probably only going to be 45 minutes.”
The shows are short by design, “definitely under an hour.” Performances are allotted blocks of 90 minutes, from set-up to performance to strike.
Audience members get to vote on their favorites, and audience awards will be presented on July 27 as the festival wraps up.
When we spoke, Lang and company were putting the final touches on the festival, which is now underway. I asked if he was ready. He responded quickly and confidently, “Sure.”
I was convinced.
[The Providence Fringe Festival runs through July 27 on both sides of the Woonasquatucket in Providence. Lang recommends buying a Fringe Pass which will give you access to all the shows, plus discounts at local businesses. All the information can be found at www.fringepvd.org.]