Fringe
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The word has had many meanings over the years of course, and its cultural and social meanings are also quite diverse.
Dictionary definition
For instance, the word is defined as follows in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary:
An ornamental border of threads left loose or formed into tassels or twists, used to edge clothing or material; The front part of someone’s hair, cut so as to hang over the forehead; A natural border of hair or fibres in an animal or plant; the "fringe" (or often "the fringes") are the outer, marginal, or extreme part(s) of an area, group, or sphere of activity.
The social/cultural meaning of the term fringe
Based on the last mentioned interpretation, the socio-cultural derivatives are the notion of something not part of the mainstream, or main event, e.g. Fringe culture and art forms, (otherwise also called Alternative, Experimental or Avant-garde culture art forms) are seen as work that deviates from, radicalizes and/or opposes the mainstream or conventional work of the time, and utilizes and experiments with unconventional forms, subject matter and content. (See also the notion of Counterculture)
Theatrical use of the term Fringe
In terms of theatre the concept of Fringe Theatre, (also referred to as Alternative Theatre, Experimental Theatre or Avant-garde Theatre)
Origins of the notion and the term
It is generally accepted by most sources that the specific theatrical use of the term Fringe originated from the late 1960s with the activities taking place on the "fringe" of the Edinburgh Festival. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe[1] began as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival and takes place annually during three weeks of August. Attached as it was to what would become the largest arts festival in the world, the fringe event set in motion an international fringe movement, with "fringe" events gradually assuming the status of independent venues and/or festivals, and such with "fringe festivals" occurring each year across the globe.
Fringe Theatre in South Africa
The term Fringe Theatre has been used in two ways in South Africa.
As the name of a set of events at a festival, or an alternative festival
Deriving from the processes described above, we find the first use of the term from the very beginning of the Grahamstown Festival in the mid 1970s. Since then there have been a number of similar "fringe" events at South African festivals,
The Cape Town Fringe
As the name for a theatrical venue
The Fringe at the Joburg Theatre Complex
Sources
Fringe theatre in South Africa
The term s=was first used by the Grahamstown Festival, in immitation of the Edinburgh Festival
The Grahamstown Fringe
Fringe, Cape Town - the name of a company
An experimental theatre company founded in Cape Town by in 1977 by Dawie Malan, Chris Galloway, Bill Curry and others. Productions include Exit the King, Deathwatch, Die Van Aardes van Grootoor (1977-79), Info Scandals, The Haunted Host and **. They played at the Space Theatre and a number of these also played at the Market Theatre
The Fringe , a venue in the Joburg Theatre
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe
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