Fringe shows tour to Southern Festival of the Arts and International Comedy Festival

Venue: Southern Festival of the Arts / Invercargill

Three shows that took place in the recent Dunedin Fringe Festival are now part of the Southland Festival of the Arts which runs from 29 April to 15 May in Invercargill. The shows Scared Scriptless by Christchurch's Court Jesters will run alongside Auckland production Drowning in Veronica Lake at the Repertory House on 12-13 May at 6.30pm.

Fringe Festival director, Paul Smith, said this was a first for the Fringe Festival and shows the quality of acts are of a high standard. "The Southland Festival of the Arts is a relatively new event and its timing means that they can now pick a couple of fringe shows to include in their programme. This is a fantastic development for the artists involved as it allows them to develop new audiences and to make the most of their work."

Mr Smith said the Fringe Festival had attracted an increasing number of Festival directors scouting for talent. "Another example is Adam Hayward from the Body Festival of dance from Christchurch who came down to see a show called Capturing Other which played at the Fortune Theatre as part of the Fringe Festival.”

“The Fringe Festival is where new ideas and talent emerges and many artists go on to tour their work to other festivals."

Pecha Kucha Night is another event that will take place at the Southland Festival of the Arts on 1 May. This is being produced by the Fringe Festival using artists and designers from the Southland area and will be the first Pecha Kucha Night to be held in Invercargill.

Mr Smith said a further seven comedy acts were scheduled to perform at the upcoming International Comedy Festival in Auckland and Wellington. The Dunedin Fringe Festival ran from 17-27 March.