2018 Hollywood Fringe Scholarship Winners Announced

The Hollywood Fringe Festival is proud to announce the winners of the 2018 Fringe Scholarships. An objective and independent committee of former Hollywood Fringe participants and local arts professionals reviewed more than 125 applications for this award. The applications were evaluated based on the production's potential to increase the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of artists and audience and how much impact the production would have on the overall attraction of audience.

Fringe Scholarships provide each recipient with complimentary festival registration, a $550 stipend toward venue and production costs, a Fringe mentor, and marketing and networking opportunities as a member of the Fringe community.

Each winner reflects Hollywood Fringe's commitment to expand and diversify the pool of artists producing work at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

The winners of the 2018 Fringe Scholarships are:

• Baba, Jee (Father, Yes): Maria, the daughter of a Pakistani father and an American mother, lives in New York City with her boyfriend Dave. On the eve of Hurricane Sandy, her father (Baba) comes to visit from Pakistan for the first time in years. Trapped inside while the storm rages on, Maria, Dave, and Baba must all confront their differing views on culture, love, and expectations.
• Unapologetically Black: Unapologetically Black is a true story about Misty Monroe trying to fit in as a black woman (with a white name) who grew up in both South Central Los Angeles (predominately black) and the naval bases of Northern California (predominately "other"). The desire to "fit in" is universal and Unapologetically Black takes you on the journey of a black woman who gains the courage to stand out, unapologetically.
• Trafficked 2.0: Trafficked 2.0 tells a story that occurs much too often and told not nearly enough. On her 13th birthday, a young girl is kidnapped and sold into the horrors of sex trafficking. The show uses the expressive movements of the body to represent a story that forces audiences to acknowledge the awful operations that are going on right under their noses, in their countries, in their neighborhoods, by people that they know.
• Paisajes Marinos Con Tiburones y bailarines: "Seascape with Sharks and Dancer" is a 1974 play by Don Nigro. The story focuses on a young man, Ben, who saves a young woman named Tracy from the ocean outside his beach house. The production will be in Spanish, focused on attracting the latin community to the theater.
• Love, Locs & Liberation: Blending poetry, song and humor, Ella unlocks the history of locs experienced by Black women, revealing many mishaps and triumphs. Through the eyes of 21 different characters, a 5th grade bully to Madam CJ Walker, she exposes the hair connection - to politics, identity and culture, illustrating why hair is an intimate and essential part of Black life.
• I Came To Make Noise: I Came To Make Noise breaks the stereotype that women are expected to be quiet and agreeable. This groundbreaking work of theatre engages audiences with its use of dance, spoken word, and beatbox. This piece explores the inner most thoughts of a woman. The issues of race, politics, and sexual assault are presented through the lens of self-awareness.
• Liao Zhai: Tale of Extraordinary: China is a two-syllable word with extreme complexity. History, philosophy, ideology, politics - we would be stuck having these intense and serious conversation for years. Even though we are Chinese, believe me, we don't like that either. As an young ensemble theater company mostly consists of Native Chinese, we would like to share with you some mythical and fantastical stories that have been with us for centuries.
• A Mile in My Shoes: "A Mile in My Shoes" is a solo show written and performed by veteran actor Kathryn Taylor Smith. In this 90 minute Poetic Dramedy (clever mix of poetry, drama & comedy) Kathryn depicts 12 characters based on research and personal interviews with past and present members of the homeless community (real & created) as well as those who advocate for them.
• Gay Men Like Young Boys: Part adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" part social satire. The dark side of desire, gender roles, and the youth obsessed image-based gay community clash in this dark tale of love and revenge.
• The Goddesses Guide: Adura for the Women of African Diaspora: Follow the revealing journey of three Yoruba goddesses as they grapple with the responsibility of creating a guide for black women trying to survive in a world that doesn't always allow them to thrive.
• Land of No Shadows: Combining the Japanese dance art of Butoh with experimental animation and puppetry, "Land of No Shadows" uses stark, striking visuals to portray a fluid relationship between puppet and puppeteer, reflecting our unstable, fluctuating social and emotional status as humans.

The scholarships were awarded based on the following factors - the production features the participation of ethnically diverse artists; the production will enrich audience experience through the presentation of unique, underrepresented themes, and the production will increase festival attendance and participation by local Hollywood residents.

Fringe Scholarships, created in 2016, is open to first-time Hollywood Fringe participants. To learn more, visit hollywoodfringe.org/scholarships.

ABOUT HOLLYWOOD FRINGE
The Hollywood Fringe Festival is an annual, open-access, community-derived event celebrating freedom of expression and collaboration in the performing arts community. Each June during the Hollywood Fringe, the arts infiltrate the Hollywood neighborhood: Fully equipped theaters, parks, clubs, churches, restaurants and other unexpected places host hundreds of productions by local, national, and international arts companies and independent performers.

Participation in the Hollywood Fringe is completely open and uncensored. This free-for-all approach underlines the festival's mission to be a platform for artists without the barrier of a curative body. By opening the gates to anyone with a vision, the festival is able to exhibit the most diverse and cutting-edge points-of-view the world has to offer. Additionally, by creating an environment where artists must self-produce their work, the Fringe motivates its participants to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurialism in the arts.

To post a comment, you must register and login.