FronteraFest 2016

One of Austin’s most popular and longest running performance events, FronteraFest, returns for its 23rd year. A collaboration between Hyde Park Theatre and ScriptWorks, the Fest runs from January 12th through February 13th (Short Fringe) at Hyde Park Theatre, 511 West 43rd Street, January 18 through 31st (Long Fringe) at Ground Floor Theatre, 979 Springdale Road, and Mi Casa es Su Teatro for one day only on February 6th in primarily private homes (see website, www.hydeparktheatre.org).

 FronteraFest is composed of three separate performance events; the Short Fringe, which showcases pieces 25 minutes or less, and runs the entirety of the festival, the Long Fringe, with pieces between 45-90 minutes, and ‘Mi Casa es Su Teatro’, which offers one day (Saturday, February 6) of performances hosted primarily at private homes from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. A full listing can be found on www.hydeparktheatre.org. 

Over the course of two decades, artists, actors, musicians, poets and performers of all types have helped build FronteraFest into one of the largest and most popular fringe performance festivals in the Southwest, attracting national and international attention.

In the past few years, performers have traveled from as far as Chang Ung University in Seoul, South Korea to perform a fascinating adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in both Korean and English. Other U.S. cities represented in recent years include New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and Los Angeles. Throughout the life of the Festival, there have been thousands of participants.

While the spirit of the festival is collaborative rather than competitive, there are weekly three-person voting panels as well as audience voting in the Short Fringe.

The highest ranked performances get to return to the stage each Saturday of the Short Fringe for a ‘Best of the Week’ showcase. The final week of the Short Fringe is reserved for ‘Best of the Fest’ February 9 – 13, which are pieces selected from ‘Best of the Week’, in addition to a special ‘Wild Card’ night which are pieces selected by FronteraFest staff and crew.

 FronteraFest is widely regarded as an incubator for new work. Many performances that germinated at the Fest have catapulted to become full-length, professional award-winning productions. Austinites Steven Tomlinson, Ron Berry, Hans Frank, Cyndi Williams, Lowell Bartholomee, and many others have been widely recognized for their work. Participants have also included former LA television actress Beth Broderick, now living in Austin; Hank Schwemmer, and slam poet ‘Big Poppa E’ who made a name for himself on HBO’s former television series ‘Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam.’ 

 The Fest is a collaboration between two of Austin’s foremost arts organizations, Hyde Park Theatre, an award-winning professional theatre in Central Austin and ScriptWorks, a playwright development and service organization with members in Austin, the state and around the country.

Venue, ticket information and schedules are posted on the Hyde Park Theatre website, www.hydeparktheatre.org.