Festival Puts a Refreshing Spin on Theater

Westmont’s annual Fringe Festival, a unique combination of theater, dance and music performed in non-traditional spaces, explores the new architecture around Adams Center for the Visual Arts. “Fringe 2011 Refresh” is April 14-16 from 7-10:30 p.m. Tickets, $5 for students and $7 for adults, can be purchased by calling (805) 565-7140.

Audience members, who’ll receive a complete schedule of performances and locations, will be able to choose what they want to see since some show times overlap. Student producer Jessica Drake ’11 says we’d have to attend multiple nights to see the complete festival. “The spirit of Fringe is one of adventure and abandon,” she says. “Westmont’s theatre program is exceptional because it celebrates and validates every student’s creative ability while we’re still being trained and refined.”

Drake says one of the highlights will be seven Chance Projects, short theater pieces composed from actions, objects and text that the directors chose at random. “They are fun, funny, refreshing pieces that follow dream logic and are sure to charm audiences,” she says.

Other highlights include: the Senior Projects of Joyelle Ball and Hannah Rae Moore; the choreography of a three-part dance that moves through three outdoor locations, alumna Heather Ostberg ’10 directs a silly clown piece; and sophomore Matt Dorado premieres an original short film, “Nemesis.”

Drake says many of the directors and choreographers have taken artistic chances with non-traditional spaces, new media (like film) and original choreography. “We hope audiences will sense the joy of creativity behind all these pieces, enjoy the celebration of new spaces on our campus and leave the Fringe refreshed,” she says.