Who will follow the path of the Conchords?

Who will follow the path of the Conchords?

With Pick of the Fringe, Downstage continues a successful collaboration with the NZ Fringe Festival to showcase outstanding new talent on stage. Whose career will take off next?

Since it’s inception in 1993, The NZ Fringe Festival has hosted 16 seasons and given countless artists the opportunity to take their art to a wider audience. This has propelled many into professional careers and some to amazing heights.

Following the successful 2009 NZ Fringe Festival, the Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement were honoured as the inaugural members of the Fringe Festival Hall of Fame. After starting out at the NZ Fringe Festival, the Flight of the Conchords moved to Downstage Theatre where they took a regular spot for 3 years, developing their idiosyncratic style with Folk the World (twice) and High on Folk.

In 2008, The Pick of the Fringe was developed collaboratively between Downstage Theatre and the NZ Fringe Festival. Its objective was to identify promising shows from the NZ Fringe Festival and give them an opportunity to showcase their work at Downstage Theatre for a limited season.

Pick of the Fringe is back in 2009, with judges from Downstage Theatre, the Downstage Theatre Society and Fringe Director Mark Westerby selecting three exciting productions for a return season at Downstage from April 29 to May 7. The three productions are Poly-Zygotic by F.I.T Productions, PlayGround Collective’s The Intricate Art of Actually Caring and A Most Outrageous Humbug by Three Spoon Theatre.

Fringe Festival director Mark Westerby is pleased that the winning partnership between Downstage and the Fringe that developed last festival and has been extended to other areas like box office services this year. “Pick of the Fringe is a superb opportunity for artists to re-present their work on a professional Wellington stage. The Fringe provides a platform for artists to create exciting new work and any opportunity to give this work and the companies that create it a longer life we wholeheartedly support. We applaud the efforts of Downstage to make this possible. ”

For Downstage Director Hilary Beaton The Pick of the Fringe is an important step for emerging artists towards a professional career. Aligning with the new Downstage vision the three chosen productions are dynamic and original works. “The thinking behind the work is what is most important to me. I am attracted to the energy, commitment, rigor, analysis, inventiveness and passion of the individual artist or collective collaborators and the excitement their work creates in the community. Downstage has always played an instrumental role in the development of theatre artists and new work, and continues to proactively provide career pathways for sustainable arts practice.”

One of the selected works is PlayGround Collective’s The Intricate Art of Actually Caring, a comedy about apathy that won Best Theatre at the 2009 Fringe Awards. Written by Eli Kent, 2008 Chapman Tripp Award Winner for Outstanding New Playwright of the Year, it tells the story of two young poets on a trip to Jerusalem to see the grave of our nation’s greatest poet, James K. Baxter. Originally produced and performed in the writer’s bedroom, the crew are now working hard to adapt the show to the theatre.

Poly-Zygotic takes a look at a set of Samoan triplets preparing for their annual Lotu a Tamaiti (White Sunday), an annual celebration for the young that can either be the highlight of the year or a nightmare dreaded by all. The three triplets, played by Tupe Lualua, Taofi Mose-Tuiloma and Asalemo Tofete, all struggle to define their own personality in a family packed with rules and tradition.

Completing the season is A Most Outrageous Humbug, a tale of the grotesque and arabesque from the life of Edgar Allan Poe, devised by Three Spoon Theatre. Charlotte Bradley, director of A Most Outrageous Humbug which also received the Fringe Best Marketing award, says that Three Spoon are honoured to return to Downstage after taking part in last years Pick of the Fringe with March of the Meeklings. “Being chosen for Pick of the Fringe for the second year in a row is a real honour, and an awesome challenge for Three Spoon Theatre. We learned a number of things during last year’s translation of March of the Meeklings, and we will use this experience to inform this year’s shift from our outdoor venue, the Waimapihi Reserve, into the Hannah Playhouse."

Winners will also receive development mentoring to help their shows conquer New Zealand’s and the world’s stages. Pick of the Fringe will be running from 29 April till 7 May. More information can be found on Downstage’s website www.downstage.co.nz or at the Facebook group “Pick of the Fringe”. Ticket Prices for each show range from $25 for a full price ticket to $20 for students and Fringe Addict Card holders; a season pass for all three shows is only $60 and can be used on different nights. For bookings call the Downstage box office on (04) 801 6946 or visit www.downstage.co.nz/book

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