FronteraFest lets artists spread wings

Fringe festivals are hothouses for unexpected and exciting projects to sprout and blossom. They're a place where ideas are planted by playwrights and fertilized by followers. Though sometimes those ideas wither and die, or even occasionally give off a bad smell, fringe festivals often allow new pieces to grow into full and glorious bloom.

And at Austin's annual FronteraFest at Hyde Park Theatre, plays and performers get a chance to flourish in the middle of winter.

In its 18th year, one of the longest-running fringe festivals in the country, Frontera has finally come of age. As it has matured, it also has also done a lot of growing, and the greenhouse has expanded in a variety of directions. Among the 80 participants in this year's five-week Short Fringe, which focuses on short performances, are people from coast to coast — the Bitter Poet from New York and Keira McDonald from Seattle, just to name a couple.

With "Bring Your Own Venue" shows and Long Fringe performances at Salvage Vanguard and the Blue Theatre, FronteraFest is now featuring more exotic fruit than ever. Teresa Harrison has trekked out from Colorado, and artists all over Texas are taking advantage of this slow-season oasis.

Not merely a playground for young creators and companies, the festival employs more artists than any other time of year, bridging generations of theater practitioners and producers. John Boulanger, author of the award-winning "House of Several Stories," jumped at the unique opportunity Frontera offers a starting playwright.

Speaking with Equity actor Lauren Lane back in September, Boulanger realized that Frontera, with its low production costs and short run, is a great chance to enlist as much talent as possible. His Long Fringe show, "A Writer's Vision," will be an extravaganza of Austin's acting talent, employing 13 cast members (instead of the seven that a "normal" full production would employ). And as the writer and director, he has tailored it specifically to them.

Though he recently graduated from Texas State University with his master's in playwriting, Boulanger's bachelor's degree is in directing, and he thinks of himself as "a director who accidentally wrote a good play."

"Vision's" cast runs the gamut of experience, from students to teachers, ingénues to experts, and Boulanger is thrilled to be working with so many talented actors (Lauren Lane, Jill Blackwood, Martin Burke, Babs George and Ian Scott, just for starters).

An evolution of an old-school project (three one-act plays that all happened to involve the same character), Boulanger's comedy is at least semi-autobiographical. The show revolves around Jerome (Michael Amendola), a young writer who is visited by various figures during the course of the evening. But other than that basic premise, "Vision" is shrouded in anticipation-building mystery. Boulanger prefers to keep his audience guessing, but he revealed that in order to tie the three pieces together he had to introduce a narrator figure into the piece ... a narrator who just happens to speak in Dr. Seuss-style verse.

Boulanger's plays are never entirely straightforward or realistic, but if "House of Several Stories" is any indication, "A Writer's Vision" promises to be a great ride. The wacky and absurd comedy about life, love and laughter will bring together an array of Austin's talent for a unique and exciting adventure on the fringe.

This year's fringe is extending its fingers of influence outward, however, with the most entries for the Bring Your Own Venue portion that the festival has ever had. Despite some familiar spaces (Applied Mechanics will be performing at the Vortex and VSA Texas at the Dougherty Arts Center), the venues (and artists) aren't limited to the Austin area. This year, BYOV is stretching all the way up to Round Rock, and Penfold Theatre is producing a play by a nationally recognized, Waco-based playwright, and they're doing it in a library.

Aside from artistic excellence, Penfold's mission is to bring more theater to Round Rock and the other under-served, northerly areas of Austin.

They've been working directly with the City of Round Rock to increase support for the arts, including plans for a new theater venue as part of the Round Rock Downtown Redevelopment Plan. After the success of their first performance up north, "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged," artistic director Ryan Crowder is excited about their upcoming experiment — this is the first production for which they'll be charging for tickets.