Fringe Festival Turns 21!!!

3 February 2011

The New Zealand Fringe Festival has officially received the keys to the door and today launched its 21st programme.

Fringe 2011 includes a wonderfully inventive mix of acts that fully reflect the creative creature that is Fringe.

Over two weeks, from Friday, February 18 to Saturday March 5, the festival will host a nearly 60 theatre, comedy, dance, music and visual arts experiences, staged anywhere from the street to cafes to Somes Island to your front garden.

At today’s launch, local councillor Ray Ahipene-Mercer and local MP, Grant Robertson, both spoke of their pride in Fringe and appealed to Wellingtonians to show their support and attend Fringe events.

Acts include:

• A city-wide game of rock, paper, scissors;
• Dramas and comedies on death, zombies, vampires, writer’s block and love
• Musicals celebrating puberty and robot love
• Dances involving improvisation, acrobatics and bubbles
• A simultaneous live music performance between Wellington and Berlin
• New Zealand’s very own mentalist
• A horror staged on Somes Island
• A stage show using the infamous “election worm” technology.

Hosting this year’s Fringe was even more of a challenge than previous festivals because of the ongoing impacts of the recession on sponsorship funding, says chair Miranda Clayton.

“Fringe has focused its resources on the most important elements in order to provide our participants an opportunity to perform and the 2011 line-up looks fantastic. We’re very much looking forward to a challenging and inspirational fortnight that expresses our uniquely quirky character,” Ms Clayton says.

“If we can survive in this kind of economic climate, there’s no stopping us. Turning 21 is definitely something to celebrate and is a credit to all the performers and organisers who make Fringe happen.”

The Fringe 2011 programme is online at www.fringe.co.nz and a printed programme is available from cafes, libraries, brochure stands and various shops.

ENDS

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