Capital Fringe to Receive The Washington Post Award

Together with The Washington Post,theatreWashington is delighted to announce that Capital Fringe, the only major unjuried, self-producing, open-access Festival in the Washington area will receive The Washington Post Award for Innovative Leadership in the Theatre Community at the 29th Helen Hayes Awards on Monday April 8, 2013.

The Capital Fringe mantra, "Connecting Adventurous Artists with Adventurous Audiences," speaks volumes about what happens throughout the District every July since 2005. Young, daring theatre artists are afforded the opportunity to present their work and express and develop their talents and artistic visions in total freedom to audiences eager for the kind of bold experiences Fringe artists offer. Since the Fringe was founded in 2005, artists have connected with over 100,000 audience members who seek the distinctive quality of Fringe Festival work, who then come back for more. More than 130 performances are presented in close to 20 venues throughout the District, some transformed just for this purpose.

Upon learning that Capital Fringe was the recipient of the 2013 Washington Post Award for Innovative Leadership in the Theatre Community Julianne Brienza, Executive Director/Founding Member of Capital Fringe said, "For eight years we have been creating space for adventurous audiences to connect with adventurous artists. Our work, our movement, has been filled with sweat and tears, pitfall and success. To receive this recognition is not just extremely meaningfully for Capital Fringe but also for our thousands of artists and audiences."

"The Capital Fringe Festival has brought new foot traffic, new theatergoers and new economic vitality into the city," saidSteve Hills, President and General Manager of The Washington Post. "With affordable ticket prices and exciting new work, they have made Washington theatre even more exhilarating, relevant, and accessible in the city."

theatreWashington President and CEO Linda Levy Grossman added, "Capital Fringe makes it possible for artists of all experience levels to learn, grow, and hone their abilities onstage-- an invaluable opportunity that is rarely available to emerging artists."

For the past 27 years, The Washington Post has been a partner with the Helen Hayes Awards, now theatreWashington, to recognize members of the community who provide support and leadership that integrates theatre and community development. Previous recipients of The Washington Post Award include Jane Lang and Paul Sprenger for their stewardship and development of the Atlas Theatre, the Ford's Theatre Society, arts activist Andy Shallal, Helen Hayes Awards Founder Bonnie Nelson Schwartz, and the alliance of Arena Stage, Crystal City BID, Vornado/Charles E. Smith, Marriott and Arlington County Economic Development.

The Helen Hayes Awards is a program of theatreWashington, dedicated to strengthening, representing, and supporting all segments of Washington's professional theatre community - theatres, artists, company members, and diverse audiences of all ages - and our community as a whole.

The 29th Helen Hayes Awards will be held on Monday, April 8th at the Warner Theatre and JW Marriott Hotel. For more information and tickets, go to theatreWashington.org or call202-337-4572.

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