The Sydney Fringe Festival finds a vital voice through emerging artists.
Unfolding over a month and showcasing a diverse range of visual and performance arts, the Sydney Fringe Festival offers many new artists their first chance in the spotlight.
The PACT centre for emerging artists in Erskineville is a company that supports interdisciplinary and experimental performing art works from up and coming artists. This year for the Sydney Fringe, PACT is offering seven theatrical works that explore themes of gender, memory, the Wild West and more.
Artistic director Julie Vulcan believes that the Sydney Fringe Festival is the perfect platform for new artists.
‘Emerging artists are hungry and have a lot of energy to get their work out there. Festivals like the Sydney Fringe are invaluable in harnessing this energy by providing opportunities for early career makers to get their work seen within the context of a larger event,’ said Vulcan.
One show set to cause a buzz is Chris Dunstan’s The Defence. Dunstan describes the work as, ‘… a satirical play that begins with the explosive first marriage of playwright August Strindberg and ends with a modern rehearsal room where the gender dynamics are no less charged.’
Dunstan hopes people with engage with the grey area of gender issues in Australia that the play explores. ‘Openly misogynistic views, like those of Strindberg, have in some cases been replaced by more indirect sexist behaviour but the way this should be tackled is not always clear,’ said Dunstan.
Dunstan is positive about the involvement of emerging artists in his and other productions.
‘Emerging artists are forced to find creative solutions to problems that money would otherwise solve, which brings the underlying ideas into greater focus. Most of all, audiences will witness a level of risk taking that they may not get from more established artists.’
Shootin’ Sadie, written and performed by Natasha Soonchild and soon to be performed at PACT, is a one-woman show that explores the world of storytelling deep in the Wild, Wild West. The art of storytelling has always fascinated Soonchild.
‘In my case I’ve always been inspired by things like Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, and I’ve always loves fairy tales and just well constructed stories that kind of pull you in and hold your attention.’
Soonchild believes the Sydney Fringe will be filled with risk and innovation.
‘I think that Fringe artists and less established artists are probably more experimental in their approach. They’re offering new ideas that are in the very first stages of being born,’ said Soonchild.
As a dedicated supporter of emerging artists, the Sydney Fringe Festival will be filled with new, surprising and innovative arts productions waiting for audiences to discover.
The Sydney Fringe Festival runs from 6-29 September. Most tickets are under $30 and are on sale now through the official Sydney Fringe Festival website or by calling (02) 9020 69 80.
A comprehensive guide to programmed events is also available on the website. Events can be searched for through genre, location, venue or date.
(Pictured: Chris Dunstan’s ‘The defence’)
