Kingston fringe fest turning empty storefronts into stages
If you're in Kingston, Ont., over the weekend, don't be surprised to see a red-nosed clown performing magic tricks in the storefront of a former American Apparel store.
Ewerton Martins, who hails from Brazil, is one of more than 17 artists filling empty storefronts along the main drag of the eastern Ontario city this weekend for the first official Kingston Storefront Fringe festival.
Kingston has hosted fringe festivals before, but this is the first year the event has obtained official status from the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals.
Seventeen theatre companies, including eight out of town acts, will put on shows over eight days in three vacant storefronts on Princess Street. In addition to the former American Apparel, other empty venues include a former Indigo Books store and a former nightclub, the XO Lounge.
The old nightclub is where Callum Lurie will act out scenes in the play (Better than) Dying Alone by Bad Dress Productions.
The cast will have to find a way to make the nightclub work for scenes that revolve around a wedding. Lurie said a curtain hiding the bar will be used for his costume changes.
"Hopefully the guests won't notice too much kerfuffle," he told CBC Radio's All in a Day Tuesday.
Performers chosen by lottery
Festival director Mariah Horner said the shows were picked through a lottery system and the peculiar venues were chosen before she had read the synopses.
"So, that way it kind of keeps us flying by the seat of our pants and it's awesome work. I often find artists, when they get backed into a corner, they end up with these massively creative choices," Horner said in an interview.
Keeping with the unconventional theme of the event, one of the shows in the former nightclub storefront will have guests cozying up inside a camping tent for the performance.
Horner hopes to have downtown Kingston bustling with people over the multi-day event, and encourages guests to stick around after the show and socialize with the artists.
Beers with a clown
"Who doesn't want to have a beer with a magician from Brazil after he's wowed you in some sort of magical way?" Horner said.
"My ideal world is to have people fill and explore all the storefronts we've created and all the killer local businesses that fill Princess Street. Anyone from Kingston … knows that we have this really beautiful downtown stretch full of artists and full of businesses that thrive on tourism and thrive on this local community."
The Kingston Storefront Fringe festival runs June 23 to July 1, except June 26. For more information about the event, visit theatrekingston.com.
