Save the dates for Chennai Art Theatre's Fringe Festival

The first edition of the Fringe Festival promises a varied line-up of artistes
Performers at the event
Performers at the event

In what is an attempt to put the spotlight on lesser-known faces in the performing arts arena in the city, Chennai Art Theatre’s Fringe Festival features a month-long line-up of shows ranging from theatre and standup comedy to music and poetry sessions. “I was inspired by the various fringe festivals that happen across the world, like the Edinburg Festival Fringe (which was held last month),” says B Charles, founder of Chennai Art Theatre, adding that he took a month to finalise the list of names for the event. “Due to shortage of space at the venue (The Artery in Royapettah), we decided to stick to eight artistes,” he shares, adding that the biggest challenge was generating funds for the same. “There were many who expressed doubts over the estimated footfall, considering that all the performers were up and coming and the show is ticketed,” he says, adding that the main aim was to give these artistes from various fields a common platform to perform. 
“We know that groups like The Madras Players, Indianostrum, Theatre Nisha and others are well established. But groups like Theatrekaaran, which has been performing storytelling sessions everywhere and will inaugurate the festival, fit the bill,” he says, though his other annual event Theatre Binge features the bigwigs. Tomorrow, Carnatic musician and veena artiste Baradwaj Raman will perform, followed by Akshay Yasodharan on Sunday. “Akshay is a KM Conservatory student who performs everywhere in ensembles, but we thought a solo performance by him will also be a good addition to this show,” says Charles. Following Akshay’s show is a poetry session called Instincts, where participants will present poems based on human emotions, and standup shows called The Half Boiled Improv and Go Bananas. The last two shows are a play called 1/4 by Colour Slate and a clown and puppet show by John Pradeep. 

Till September 30. Tickets from Rs. 200.  

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