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SALT LAKE CITY — Local dancers, actors, puppeteers and other performers will entertain audiences this week in Utah's first-ever fringe festival.
A four-day performing arts festival, the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival will offer about 120 performances, an art gallery, live music and discounts at several Sugar House businesses, according to program coordinator Shianne Gray.
The event is primarily a theater festival, and will include original works from prominent local theater companies such as Plan-B Theatre Company, Pinnacle Acting Company and Pygmalion Productions. New theater companies and individuals who have decided to create their own show will also be featured at the festival.
Some shows are very clean, while others are risque, Gray said. Each artist has rated their show Family (F, or PG), Fairly Fringey (FF, or PG-13) and Full-Fledged Fringe (R), so participants are aware of the type of content they'll see.
Shows are between 45 minutes and an hour, and Gray said they encourage people to see multiple shows.
An abandoned Deseret Industries building at 2234 Highland Drive has been renovated for the festival and has been dubbed The Fringe Factory. The Courage Theatre and the Dumke Black Box Theatre at Westminster College will also be used as a venue, since students, alumni and faculty from the Westminster College theater department are putting on the festival.
Sugarmont Plaza will host parties Thursday and Sunday nights. Live music will be performed at the plaza as well as Sugar House Coffee and on the patio at Whole Foods. Three children's shows are available at no cost at the Sprague Branch library.
"Well, this is especially awesome for Utah just because we have this amazing, thriving theater community," Gray said.
Gray said because of cost issues, it can be difficult to come up with the funding to create original theater, but this gives them a low-risk way to come up with the funding, because if theater companies can get 30 people to see their show, they will have made back the money they paid for the venue.
"It's a really cool way for people to be able to create original theater and get to go outside the box a little more," Gray said.
Fringe festivals have historically been positive for the local economy, Gray said, because they partner with local businesses who sponsor them, and community members can get discounts.
It's a really cool way for people to be able to create original theater and get to go outside the box a little more.
–Shianne Gray, program coordinator
The festival will take place Thursday through Sunday from noon to around midnight. There is a $5 entrance fee, and each show costs $10. Attendees can purchase $25 tickets to see three shows and $70 to see 10. The entrance fee comes with a "fringe tattoo," which provides discounts to the stores and entrance for the duration of the festival.
While the entrance fee will fund the festival, the ticket proceeds will go directly to the artists. Audience members can buy tickets starting at 11 a.m. Thursday at the box offices at either The Fringe Factory or The Jewett Center for the Performing Arts at Westminster College.
To learn more about the festival and the schedule, visit the website or Facebook page.
