ON THE EDGE OF A NEW FRINGE
Budapest Times, Hungary
March 13 2006
The Budapest Fringe is adding an experimental edge to the end of the
well-known Budapest Spring Festival and perhaps will bring a carnival
atmosphere to the streets. Whilst the world-famous Edinburgh Fringe
drew only eight performers when it was launched in 1947, Budapest’s
fringe has already got off to a sharper start.
Close to 1,000 artists will appear at eight venues between Friday,
March 31 and Sunday, April 2 from noon till 2 am. Some, in true
fringe style, are alternative, while others are not so close to
the edge. According to Spring Festival director Zsofia Zimanyi,
the organisers want to give unknown artists the chance to come face
to face with an international festival audience. “This way street
performers and rock bands, as well as professional groups not in the
main programme of the festival will also be able take part,” she said.
“We were shocked to receive so many applications to perform,” says
Zimanyi. Alongside the many Hungarians, a number of foreigners will
also perform. Most are from neighbouring countries, but France and
Japan will also be represented. According to Zimanyi the festival
will act as a kind of talent show, with the most successful artists
to appear at the main Spring Festival next year.
Well known and unknown
Whilst many of the artists are unknown to Hungarian and international
audiences alike, they will be joined by some well-known names, such
as Ando Drom, known for their mix of authentic Gypsy music and daring
innovations, at the Korona theatre on April 1. David Yengibarjan,
famous for his blend of Armenian folk music, and Argentinian tango,
will play together with the trio of Montreal-based jazz trombonist Tom
Walsh at one of the Fringe’s closing concerts at the Merlin Theatre
on April 2.
“There are no restrictions on the nature of performances and
no artists were turned away,” says Zimanyi. Unlike in Edinburgh,
performers are not expected to pay for the use of stages. Financing
the Fringe will come to around HUF 20-30 million (EUR 78,000-117,000)
from the Spring Festival’s total budget of HUF 1.2 billion (EUR 4.67
million). Performers have been given the choice whether to charge or
not, but most shows will be free.
Other performances include contemporary dance from the L1 experimental
collective, the Hungarian Youth Opera Singers with Mozart’s La
finta giardiniera, Cavalcade fire acrobats and an English-language
performance of Alfred Sutro’s comedy A marriage has been arranged,
as well as an individual take on Debussy and Prokofiev by the Kontars
Improvisation Centre.
Quality and quantity
Whilst only five city-centre venues were planned, more were added
as artists lined up. The event will extend from the Merlin, Orkeny
and Korona theatres, the Godor club, the Pavilion in the town-hall
garden and open-air venues at Vorosmarty ter and Madach ter.
If this year’s Fringe proves to be a success, Zimanyi has hopes
of attracting more international artists, or perhaps extending the
Fringe from three days to a week next year. “This is still a very
early stage for this event and we can’t vouch for what the quality
of the performances will be like, but the main thing is that already
the idea has taken off.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress