Theatre
on the Edge: Woodstock Fringe 2007 Festival of Theatre and Song
By Jay Blotcher
Since
we are talking via telephone, I have no idea whether Wallace Norman,
Producing Artistic Director of the Woodstock Fringe 2007 Festival
of Theatre & Song, is decked out in a beret, a serious goatee
and a piano scarf. If not, the man ought to sport such gear, to
complement the heartfelt and lofty pronouncements Norman makes about
the lively arts – pronouncements which led him €ve years ago
to cofound this program which has suddenly become a local theatrical
tradition.
”It’s
a signi€ cant effort,” Norman said of Woodstock Fringe, “and
I did it with the intention of [the event] growing and becoming
important.”
Such
words tumble effortlessly from Norman’s lips. Grandiose or
not, however, the man’s convictions have weight. Woodstock
Fringe returns August 5 through September 2 to the historic Byrdcliffe
Theatre, with a noble purpose: to showcase living, breathing playwrights
and singers. In this regard, Woodstock Fringe stands alone with
Vassar’s Powerhouse and Stageworks in Hudson, serving up new
work, in stark contrast to the raft of laudable but done-to-death
crowd-pleasers —The Pajama Game, anyone?—that have become
a cornerstone of summertime community theatre.
This
year, Woodstock Fringe returns with its offerings of drama, comedy,
cabaret and staged readings. Much may enchant audience members;
some will not. But one thing is certain: adventurous theatregoers
and patrons of the arts keep returning for this highwire act, knowing
that even the mis€ res will beguile.
CONTINUE....
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