Fringe
Contents
BEING EDITED
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 to the largest arts festival in the world, this alternative set in motion an international fringe movement, with fringe festivals occurring each year in most major metropolitan areas. Since then numerous so-called "Fringe theatres" have sprung up, particularly so in London, (where they are the equivalent of the New York "Off-Broadway theatres") - most of them small venues, seldom built as theatres, but often housed in "found venues" such as converted warehouses, factories, basements, and so on. Later on the name was also applied to studio theatres attached to civic theatres and the multi-purpose arts centres which were built in the 1970s and 1980s, also in South Africa.
Numerous fringe groups tour these locations, among the most important being Shared Experience (founded 1975), best known for its adaptations of novels, such as Zola's Germinal; Cheek By Jowl (1981), which presents lively productions of classical plays with minimal scenery, including British premières such as Corneille's The Cid and Ostrovsky's It's All in the Family; Joint Stock (1974) (, GASKILL, and HARE, DAVID), Paines Plough (1975), and the feminist Monstrous Regiment (1975), all committed to new work. Joint Stock works by Collective Creation, and other fringe groups use it at times. (.)
has been used two ways in South African theatre.
As the name of a set of events at a festival
Deriving from the concept of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and later the Adelaide Fringe Festival, where "fringe" events have in some ways gradually assumed the status of independent venues or festivals, we find the same usage in South Africa. Starting with the Grahamstown Festival's there have been a number of "fringe" events at South African festivals, and later the Cape Town Fringe.
As 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
Return to
Return to South African Theatre Terminology and Thematic Entries
Return to South African Theatre Venues, Companies, Societies, etc
Return to The ESAT Entries
Return to Main Page
