FronteraFest 2017


Theatre from the Edge

"The fringe theater event of the Southwest!"
-Austin American Statesman

That's right: it's time to heat up your winter nights again, with the 24th season of FronteraFest at Hyde Park Theatre. The Short Fringe, BYOV, and Mi Casa--as always and ever, FronteraFest is five weeks of alternative, offbeat, new, and just plain off-the-wall fringe theatre. Too bad there's no actual way to expect the unexpected, because that is your only hope.

FronteraFest is produced in collaboration with ScriptWorks, a group dedicated to supporting emerging playwrights and developing new dramatic works.

 

Many thanks to our splendid FronteraFest 2017 sponsors:
Hyde Park Bar and Grill
New World Deli
ASTI Trattoria
Travis Heights Beverage World
BuyPlayTix
Dane's Body Shop
Motorblade
The Parlor
Worley Printing

 

Calendar
Just want to cut to the chase? Here's a handy calendar of all FronteraFest events.

 

The Short Fringe
January 17 - February 18, 2017
at Hyde Park Theatre

We're down to "Best of the Fest"week: shows chosen by our panel, our audience, and our staff as the cream of the 2017 crop. If you find your night is sold out, check back: seats sometimes open up throughout the week. And we always get people in from the waiting list that starts at the theater at 7pm every show night.

In any case, don't miss our closing night FronteraFest afterparty Saturday, February 18, 2017 after the show. Meet us at Dane's Body Shop, right next door to HPT, for delicius eats from New World Deli and The Parlor and drinks from Travis Heights Beverage World.

What is the Short Fringe? Every night we present a new, unjuried bill of four or five plays no longer than 25 minutes each. Brilliant monologues? Plays in progress? Comedy improv? Cabaret singers? Avant-garde dance? Short films? Multimedia? We've seen it all.

Every Saturday night is a juried "Best of the Week" performance, and the last week, February 14-18, is the juried "Best of the Fest"--with a few wild cards thrown in.

Show descriptions and tickets are now available.

PARTICIPANTS: We have a few waiting list slots still available. Fill out your application here.

 

Mi Casa Es Su Teatro
Saturday, February 11, 2017

A day of site-based work performed in local homes and other surprising locales, Mi Casa is consistently one of the most popular components of our festival.

And this year, a walkable Mi Casa will be held in our very own Hyde Park neighborhood!

For full details, download the PDF or check out the (more abbreviated) Facebook event page.

The day begins at 11AM at The Elisabet Ney Museum, with

  • A short play featuring Ney and her death masks
  • A text/dance piece unpacking accessiblity issues
  • An improvised avant-garde play "walking a fine line between pretension and intention," and
  • Ghost Card, an interactive card-game-turned-performance.

And that's just the beginning. At the next three locations, you'll experience a staged reading of the best/worst parts of your neighborhood listserv; a walk in the urban wilderness listening to a tape-cassette audio-play; an English and Cantonese piece adapted from O Henry-- plus music, collaborative ritual, and much more. It all ends with the yearly Mi Casa afterparty at the last site.

Events at the Ney are free. After that it’s $5/house or $15 for the day (available at Casa #2). All payable in cash only.

This year's curators: Hassan Christopher is an artist, choreographer, designer and recent transplant from New York. He's thrilled to get in the mix here in Austin.

Patrick Shaw is an Austin-based playwright, actor, and dancer. He writes big, fun, lyrical plays about global lives and the messy search for understanding in a constantly changing world.

 

B.Y.O.V. (Bring Your Own Venue)

January 25 - February 5, 2017

The name says it all: participants bring not just their creative work but also their own venue. It's all part of FronteraFest.

This year we have four shows, from longtime festival faves The Back Pack to bluebonnets to baseball--with a new twist on Shakespeare thrown in for good measure. Read all about it.

 

The Long Fringe

Due to the Austin venue crisis, we are not able to offer a Long Fringe portion of the 2017 festival. With real estate values going up, small arts venues across the city are being priced out. When you're talking to your city council representatives, please consider mentioning the desperate need for small performance spaces.

 

Hyde Park Theatre is located at 511 W. 43rd Street. Covered off-street parking for the patrons of HPT is available during performances in the lot at 4315 Guadalupe Street, just north of The Parlor. You can drive through The Parlor's parking lot to reach it. Evening HPT parking also avalable at the Hyde Park Church of Christ on the northeast corner of 43rd & Avenue B. We are grateful to them both for their generosity.

Follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

 

Many thanks to our season sponsors:
Hyde Park Bar & Grill logo

 

New World Deli logo

 



Be our hero: make a tax-deductible donation to HPT today.

This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department, by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts, and by an award from The National Endowment for the Arts. Art Works.

HPT is also funded by grants from The Still Water Foundation and Tocker Foundation.


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