FringeArts to Present FEST, 1/13-14

Introducing local audiences to one of the international performance scene's most acclaimed artists, FringeArts presents Fest, a darkly funny fantasy of sex and power created and performed by Ivo Dimchev. Fest is on stage January 13 and 14 at FringeArts' waterfront headquarters (140 N. Columbus Blvd.): tickets are available now by calling 215-413-1318 or visiting FringeArts.com.

Fest opens at an imaginary arts festival in Copenhagen, where a performer played by Dimchev attempts to persuade administrators to present his latest show. The dry professional negotiation quickly devolves into a hallucinatory and hilarious exploration of ambition, lust and control. Anchored in Dimchev's intensely physical performance, Fest makes visible the subconscious connections between power and desire in any professional relationship.

A Bulgarian artist living in Brussels, Dimchev is celebrated for his extreme and colorful mixture of performance art, dance, theater, music, drawings and photography. "One day I just realized how bored I was with the conventionality of my everyday professional communications," says Dimchev. "So I thought that breaking this convention by creating a fictional story would be a good way to go...Fest is absolute fiction and is not based on any real personal experience. Let's say it's inspired by some...but mostly it's inspired by my guilty love for theatre in its more 'conventional' setting."

Fest is performed by Nicola Schoessler, Annina Machaz, Mirko Feliziani and Ivo Dimchev, and is for mature audiences only.