Students shun mainstream in weekend festival
It can be difficult to find fun activities over the weekend and it is nearly impossible to have fun for free.
However, this weekend is a little different.
The ninth annual Fringe Festival is advertised as “all arts, all weekend, all free.” The festival kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the University Theatre Building and will continue through Sunday night.
The festival, put on by the student organization CU Onstage, is a weekend long celebration of theater, dance and performance art. This year’s theme is “Sugarcoated: Beneath the Wrapper.”
Grant Scovel, a 22-year-old senior theatre and marketing major, who has worked on the festival for the past few years, said that it’s something that a lot of students always look forward to.
“It’s basically a weekend of the arts,” Scovel said. “It’s all student run, and it’s a time for all the theatre students, art students and everyone to show their work.”
The performances cover a wide range of topics, consisting of original works by students as well as other works that students have always wanted to perform.
Daniella Vinitski, a 30-year-old doctoral candidate for theatre, wrote and directs a play for the festival called “Distance.” She said the quality of all the performances is amazing despite limitations.
“The more constrictions you have with time and money, the more creative you have to be,” Vinitski said.
Vinitski’s performance “Distance” is a one act play about how people’s attitudes about the past affect their future, which will show on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Another performance that looks entertaining is “High Skool Musikal: The Musical,” which is a play that follows numerous high school stereotypes as they struggle through their senior year. This musical will be performed at 8:30 p.m. on Friday and 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Frank Crane, a 21-year-old junior psychology major, plays a foreign exchange student from New Zealand in the musical and is looking forward to the festival.
“Everyone’s very riled up,” Crane said. “There’s no pressure and the excitement is definitely passed on to the audience.”
Performances aren’t all the festival has to offer. A fashion show followed by a dance will be held on Saturday night at 10, an event that Scovel said is always fun and entertaining. There will also be art installations from various artists all over the theatre building. The festival ends on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. with a drag show.
“It’s just a good, entertaining weekend,” Scovel said. “It’s a nice time to get away from finals.”
For a complete calendar of the festival, go to the CU OnStage Web site.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Morgan Keys at morgan.keys@colorado.edu
