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The Hamilton Fringe Festival is an 11-day, unjuried theatre festival that occurs every summer in downtown Hamilton, Ontario. The festival has been going on since 2002 here in the Hammer, and it’s one of Hamilton’s most important festivals. So I bet you are wondering what exactly a Fringe Festival is? The Hamilton Fringe Festival focuses on theatre and emerging theatre artists presenting innovative productions to wider audiences.
The festival gives the artist the freedom to present live and informal performances in an inexpensive environment and also gives the artist a chance to do things much less traditional than what’s usual to the audience. Fringe Festivals were first founded in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947 where eight groups of young, talented and very eager theatre artists invited themselves to the official Edinburgh Arts Festival that was held that year. They made a deal with each other and the audiences that if there was an audience willing to see their show that they in return would see one of their shows as well.

It was a philosophy that has been carried on until now and will probably be carried on for generations to come. Actually the oldest and largest Canadian Fringe Festival is the one held in Edmonton, Alberta which first started in 1980. During their 20 year anniversary, the Edmonton Fringe Festival saw 250 productions in 29 venues and an attendance of close to 500,000 people. Now the concept of the Fringe Festival has spread to over 18 other cities across Canada, including Hamilton. It’s a touring circuit that takes the productions from Montreal to Vancouver.

Considering that the Fringe is home to new and emerging writers, to spice things up a little, the Hamilton Fringe Festival holds an annual playwriting competition and this year the prize is $250. The 2009 winner is Michael Wilmot from London, Ontario for his script Love Shack, a romantic comedy where the characters Sarah and Brandon discover what they really want in a seedy motel room on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Love Shack will be appearing at Theatre Aquarius from Thursday July 16th to Sunday July 19th as well as July 21st, 25th, and 26th. Times vary, so for full schedule details please go to www.hamiltonfringe.ca under shows and schedule.

This year Hamilton Fringe has four venues which will be presenting the plays. Venue Four is Pepper Jack’s Café at 38 King William Street. The Pepper Jack venue is a Hamilton landmark which serves great food and has a beautiful patio and will be hosting a total of 45 performances this year.

Venue Three is the Hamilton Theatre Inc. located at 140 MacNab Street North just north of Cannon. This venue has a long history of presenting amazing theatrical performances and will be hosting a total of 47 performances this year.

Venue Two is the B.O.M. located at 2 King Street West on James atop of Jackson Square. This venue is formerly Bank of Montreal and most recently used for Artopia and will be hosting a total of 49 performances.

And finally the number One venue is Hamilton’s popular Theatre Aquarius located at 190 King William Street between Walnut and Ferguson. Theatre Aquarius is a jewel to the theatre community in Hamilton and will be hosting a total of 49 performances this year for the Fringe Festival.

This year there is a total of 28 productions going on, with playwrights from Ontario to Oregon to Vancouver presenting their best works for theatre lovers and the like. Some plays that will be presented include Betting on the Riverman, which is a gambling and addiction drama about a gambler who’s luck has run out; Danny and the Deep Blue Sea is a drama production about alienation and the power of love where character Danny and Roberta find themselves hostile and desperate at a bar where one thing leads to another in a fascinating relationship; Head in the Sands will pose to be an interesting piece which has controversial themes of war, greed, the environment, drugs, prostitution and so on.

This performance piece was developed by a group of Hamiltonians about hot topics in the news and explores these issues. I’ll Always be there to kill you/Je serai toujours la pour te tuer is another dramatic and controversial production and some of the performances will be in French. This play has themes of romance, dreams, loneliness, and suspense when character Helen hires traveller Simon as her personal professional killer where she wants to be taken out without suffering. These plays among many others are going to be part of this year’s plethora of brilliant and new theatre productions.

If you are a theatregoer, and even if you are not, choosing which plays to attend is where the problem lies. But with 11 days of festival fun starting Thursday July 16th and going until Sunday July 26th, four venues and 28 amazing productions being put on, and tickets costing less than $10, I am sure you can find time in your busy schedule to fit a few of the productions in. See Hamilton’s Fringe Festivals website at www.hamiltonfringe.ca for show information and schedules, ticket information and so much more.