San Francisco Fringe Festival Continues to Accept Applications for 2011

The San Francisco Fringe Festival is now accepting applications for the 20th annual Festival, which will run for twelve days, September 7-18, 2011, in downtown San Francisco. Applications for participants in Standard Fringe Venues are accepted through midnight (PST) February 5, 2011. Applications accepted online only at www.sffringe.org.

Successful applicants will be drawn by lottery and announced at the Fringe Lottery Party at 7:00 pm February 12, 2011 at EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy Street in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Fringe Festival continues to be an open, non-juried, uncensored theatre festival where performers are selected through a lottery. The SF Fringe returns 100% of box office earnings to the performing company.

Phil van Hest (Los Angeles) performed his Phil the Void: The Great Brain Robbery at the 2010 SF Fringe Festival.

In a change from previous years, the 2011 SF Fringe Festival will reconfigure the number of spaces allotted to local and national artists. The number of local slots increases from 20 to 25; non-local slots remain at 15, for a total of 40. The Festival is seeing fewer applications from outside the U.S., due to Federal rulings regarding work permits for non-citizens. The following statement in this regard can be found on the SF Fringe web site:

"If you are a company from outside of the United States, you will need to supply proof of your legal right to work and earn money in the U.S. Please note the San Francisco Fringe Festival is not able to secure this for you."

Successful applicants are awarded a performance slot at one of the four venues that make up the EXIT Theatreplex: the 80-seat EXIT Mainstage, the 49-seat EXIT Stage Left, and the 40-seat EXIT Studio, all at 156 Eddy Street, and at the 66-seat EXIT on Taylor, around the corner at 277 Taylor Street.

Last year's SF Fringe saw the opening the new 40-seat EXIT Studio and the addition of some 90 minute slots, thereby enabling the EXIT Theatreplex to support a total of 40 shows, without the necessity of involving outside venues. To complement the 40 Standard Venue shows, the festival is also interested in including some Non-Traditional Fringe Venue (NTFV) shows. This category is for site-specific work, and in previous festivals has supported Fringe shows on moving buses, in local parks, museums, bars, cabarets and other shows outside the traditional theatre setting.

Continuing a policy initiated in 2010, 20% of the Standard Venue shows may be up to 90 minutes in length. In previous years, Standard Venue shows were limited to a maximum of 60 minutes. NTFV shows may be of any length.

Artists applying to perform their work at Non-Traditional Fringe Venues must arrange for a site and meet NTFV guidelines. NTFV shows are not chosen by lottery. Deadline for submitting an NTFV application is midnight (PST) May 31, 2011.

The Way the Fringe Works - and Why

The San Francisco Fringe Festival presents live theatre in an informal, accessible and inexpensive environment. It strives to break down traditional boundaries between audience and artist, encouraging open dialogue between theatre-goers and theatre-creators. Audiences are invited to experience the work of seasoned veterans alongside that of emerging artists. Local, national, and international performing companies benefit from working together and learning from each other in a vibrant and exciting festival atmosphere.

In order to stimulate artistic innovation, applications for participation in the Fringe Festival are accepted through a non-juried lottery. Traditional boundaries are broKen Down in terms of economics, as well, as 100% of the box office goes to the performers.

The 2011 San Francisco Fringe Festival will bring over 250 performances of more than 40 new shows to the EXIT Theatreplex site-specific venues over its 12-day run. The Fringe Festival features fresh, exciting theatre of all kinds for open-minded audiences of all persuasions. The S.F. Fringe brings performers from all over the U.S., from cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Orlando, as well as from the Bay Area.

NOW AND COMING UP AT EXIT Theatre

April 29 - May 28. 10th Annual DIVAfest, dedicated to new work by women writers.

September 7-18. 20th Annual San Francisco Fringe Festival. Over 250 performances of 40+ shows in 12 days. Features U.S., and Bay Area theater companies and performers in new, cutting edge, and often experimental works.

Sept 30 - Oct 1. The Best of the Fringe

Selected Thursdays, All Year Long. Mark Romyn's Thursday Night Combo. Theatre artists, musicians, and other performers try out new material at the EXIT Café.

For details on upcoming shows, go to www.theexit.org.

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