Funkyray Cabaret took out the Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork and the Audience Choice awards at the inaugural Whangārei Fringe Festival. Photo / Kerry Marinkovich
Funkyray Cabaret took out the Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork and the Audience Choice awards at the inaugural Whangārei Fringe Festival. Photo / Kerry Marinkovich
A letter performed from a father to his young son, a walk-through time capsule and an out-there cabaret show were the big winners at the first Whangārei Fringe Festival.
After 17 days, the festival culminated with an awards ceremony earlier this week. Waiting took out the Best in Fringe award for the festival's standout event.
Auckland-based actor/writer Shadon Meredith and director Amelia Reid-Meredith devised a memorable one-person show, charting Meredith's life story and exploring the idea of waiting, that lingered on in hearts and minds, according to the judges who said: "This was a particularly strong field of contenders. Waiting is a polished piece of performance that took us on a journey through characters, time and personal turmoil. The minimal props were used to great effect, and the delivery was warm and poetic. Many of us kept coming back to this work, and how it left a profound impression on us."
Best in Fringe award winner Shadon Meredith wrote and performed Waiting. Photo / Sarah Marshall
Festival co-founders Hayley Clark, Laurel Devenie and Georgia-May Russ were delighted with how the public and the Whangārei arts community supported the festival.
Said Clark said, "Fringe exceeded our expectations in every way, from the number of registrations to the huge community support of volunteers, audience and enthusiastic promoters. It really emphasised and celebrated the fabulous local talent we have in Whangārei across a vast range of arts disciplines."
Numerous events sold out, and extra shows were added to cater for audience demand. There were 58 local events and 32 visiting, comprising over 450 participants and these were attended by over 11,000 people.
Russ said, "Audiences were delighted to have so many events to choose from and so many people got to multiple events, often racing to several in one day. Lots of people are excited for next year's festival and we hope to make that happen, if funding allows, after some serious catching up on sleep!"
Funkyray Cabaret, a collection of local performers in circus, aerial arts, dance, burlesque and more, took out the Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork award for collaboration/ensemble work, as well as the Audience Choice award.
The judges' comments were, "Funkyray Cabaret took us to some places we really didn't expect to go, and kudos goes to the wide range of organisations and individuals who brought their many and varied talents together to create a most excellent show."
Whangārei Fringe Bright Light winner Tom Gowing with festival co-founder Georgia-May Russ. Photo / Chris Schreuder
Whangārei-born Thomas Gowing won the Bright Light award (for a memorable performance that deserved extra recognition) for The Archive, a walk-through installation in a vacant CBD building.
Gowing interviewed a range of locals about their hopes, worries and stories, and projected the footage in spaces throughout the building. The show asked audiences to imagine they were stumbling across a physical and digital time capsule of 2020 after a catastrophic world event.
The Cherry Popper award, for a promising new work that had its world premiere at the festival, went to The Covid Snapshot Show. The new work was collectively devised by Whangārei Girls' High School students, who wrote about their own experiences and interviewed people at the coalface of our country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The judges' verdict was: "From heartfelt one minute to tragi-comedy the next, The Covid Snapshot Show beautifully captured an experience that we all passed through this year, which needs to be seen and processed. Our judges reported the audience in laughter one minute and tears the next."
Devenie said it was expected some of the events in the fringe would make a comeback in the next few months.
"We hope some people have got the kickstart they needed to develop new work and creative ideas. If people want to keep up with events in Whangārei all year round, we encourage them to follow Oneonesix, Northland Youth Theatre, Circus Kumarani, Naughty North Comedy and other creative organisations through their websites or social media."
Mayor Sheryl Mai said in the past few years the creative sector in Whangārei has "grown and evolved beyond expectation, in ways we could only imagine".
"Whangārei Fringe Festival further reinforces what a strong creative community Whangārei has and the festival's impact on Whangārei has been entirely positive.
"Whangārei District Council is proud to have supported the first Fringe Festival in our district and would welcome Fringe as an annual event. I congratulate all who organised, participated, volunteered and attended this fabulous, kaleidoscopic festival. Well done!"
Some of the Whangārei Fringe Festival winners at the awards ceremony this week. Photo / Chris Schreuder
Other winners were: •The A Genre By Any Other Name award, for a work that pushed the boundaries of a traditional genre and stepped into the unexpected: A Fantastical Journey by Boat. •The No-Frills Fringe award, for creating a quality performance on a shoestring budget: The Willing Horse. •The Side Splitter award, for consistently delivering moments of hilarity, surprise and delight: Bullrush Improv. •The Performers Without Borders award, for developing a performance that enabled Fringe to be accessible to all: Circus Extravaganza. •The Nooks & Crannies award, for creating work that made the most of Whangārei's underused, overlooked spaces: Free Art Friday.
