Fresh Theater and Dance Collide at the Fringe

The 2010 Westmont Fringe Festival, modeled on fringe festivals throughout the world, features a dynamic interplay of new works for theater, dance and performance art April 22-24 from 7-10 p.m., beginning at Porter Theatre. Nightly admission is $10.

Westmont students, faculty and alumni have created original pieces for this year’s Fringe Festival, “Fresh Space,” set in conventional and unconventional theater spaces. The box office will provide maps to aid audience members as they plan their own journeys to the performances, which have staggered starting times throughout the evening.

“Every year, we work hard to create an original, exciting festival,” says Theater Arts Professor John Blondell, festival organizer and producer. “This year’s festival occupies spaces across campus, including an Armington Hall laundry room, the Voskuyl Prayer Chapel, the swimming pool and even a women’s restroom in Kerrwood Hall.”

Blondell says the site-specific shows provide unconventional ways to create and experience theater, inviting the audience to move from space to space, engage in the process of movement and travel, and see the Westmont campus through new eyes.

“This festival uses the entire campus as both palette and locale,” Blondell says. “The pieces have been designed specifically for the spaces in question, and the unique properties of the spaces have been used to both inform the pieces and create a stimulating, delightful experience for our audiences.”

The festival features pieces by Westmont seniors Kim Crawford, Jessica Papp and Marie Ponce; student directors/choreographers Joyelle Ball, Jessie Drake, Misha Matsumoto, Hannah Rae Moore, Rachel Nesseth, Heather Ostberg, Malia Wee, as well as alumnus Casey Caldwell, adjunct faculty member Victoria Finlayson, and faculty members Mitchell Thomas and Erlyne Whiteman. Whiteman and her dancers have augmented a performance originally created by American dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp.

Martyn Bookwalter, resident scenic designer, Miller James, resident costume designer, and Lukas Bridgeman, technical director, provide design and technical support.

To purchase tickets or for more information, please contact Beth Whitcomb at (805) 565-7140.