The 2014 Dunedin Fringe Festival has arrived, with over 300 guests attending the opening Festival Gala and the Polsen Higgs Comedy Club. The Dunedin Fringe Festival, funded by the Dunedin City Council, Otago Community Trust and Creative NZ, is “an awesomely creative grassroots event that wouldn’t be possible without widespread support from the community” says Paul Smith, Festival Director.
Several shows have arrived from the New Zealand Fringe, including The Bookbinder by Trick of the Light Theatre, which sold out in Dunedin and won the Best of New Zealand Fringe award.
The Reels on Wheels short film event will continue throughout the week, where a mobile cinema will visit the Octagon, the Museum Reserve and the Dunedin Railway Station.
Highlights for this week include “an open-ended beginning” performance series by Samin Son, held at the Blue Oyster Art Project Space, and Carousel and Clothesline, a circus show direct from Adelaide’s Fringe Festival.
Lara Fischel-Chisholm will perform her latest show, This Is My Real Job, at her parents’ house, with each show limited to around thirty viewers and “tickets are selling fast.” Ombrellos will also be hosting three comedy shows: … Let’s Talk About the Golliwogs; Frickin Dangerous Bro; and Nick Rado – How Did We Survive the ‘90s.
A free preview of the Fringe Festival talent will be held at 12pm on Thursday 20 March in the Meridian Mall. Online discounts are being offered to the general public who book in advance and Fringe Festival Publicist Brooke Lowry says ticket sales have been “excellent” so far.
The Festival concludes by celebrating the stand-out artists of the Festival at the Festival Awards night, which is to be held on 23 March in the Porters’ Lounge at the Dunedin Railway Station. The festival organisers encourage guests to dress for a “sophisticated evening of urban glamour and film noir fashion” and there will be spot prizes for the best dressed. Event tickets can be bought from the OUSA office.
Ben Sherman pushes Paul Smith to Fringe
