When The Rockwell embarked upon a creative reinvention in the summer of 2023, the vision for the Davis Square, Somerville, theater coalesced around four key words: “funny, dark, smart, great.” This configuration of traits makes it an ideal home for a fringe festival – and so it’s no surprise an inaugural Boston Fringe Festival takes over the theater in May.
Submissions opened Sunday and will be open until Jan. 15 for a wide range of performance arts. More “traditional” forms of comedy such as stand-up, sketch and improv are staples of fringe festivals across the world, but so are less comically inclined arts from storytelling and musicals to clowning, visual arts and puppetry. The selection process strives for true variety, which means you really can see anything at a Fringe Festival.
The first Fringe was held in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland, composed of eight theater groups who weren’t invited to the more “proper” Edinburgh International Festival but decided to perform anyway – on the “fringe” of the more formal festival. It meant something to them that they weren’t permitted to participate in the cultural exchange of EIF, and they thought their art deserved to be seen anyway.
Decades later, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe persists as the largest festival of its kind, while smaller editions continue to emerge all over the world. Today, fringe festivals are best known as for focusing on the experimental, unconventional and often provocative. They provide a platform for rising artists and innovative performances that may otherwise be relegated to the shadows.
For those already looking forward to the festival, mark your calendar for May 6-11 and keep your eyes on therockwell.org/boston-fringe for details including schedules, ticket and pass prices, and the finalized lineup. Deby Xiadani, artistic director at The Rockwell, said more than 70 applications came in within the first 48 hours of the submission process opening.
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