So today I had the opportunity to be interviewed for a documentary film about the New York International Fringe Festival, also known as FringeNYC. The project is being spearheaded by filmmaker Frank Kuzler, who has been gathering footage and interviews from FringeNYC since 2006. As the festival is in its 20th year, the plan is to continue documenting this year's festival happening in August, and then the hope is for a release at some point in 2017. It's also exciting to note that I will have my fourth show at FringeNYC this year, when Jenny Macdonald premieres her solo show ENTHRONED, which I was lucky enough to develop with her and direct over the past year. Stay tuned for more about that in coming weeks!
Frank asked some great questions about what it means to be at "the fringe" or margins of society and how "the fringe" can influence mainstream culture. Not always easy to answer, but I gave it a shot. It's interesting to consider how frequently the mainstream can be affected by the margins, how the center can be pushed one way or the other by the so called "fringe." We're seeing it play out in our national political arena right now, where perceived "fringe" movements have attracted a whole lot of support. I often think of "fringe" in only quantitative ways, like as in smaller numbers, but that's not necessarily the case at all.
The conversation about the meaning of "fringe" came at a great moment. It helped me to clarify many of the thoughts that have been running through my head over the past few days. It also reminded me to reflect on the importance of community when making working in the theatre. I make performances because I like working with other people. In fact, I need to work with other people. An applied psychologist colleague once told me that I'm "such a relational guy." She's right. I don't know how else to be.
PS: I'm through 7 days of the Whole30, and I feel remarkably well. A little hungry at times, but I'm starting to understand where that hunger actually lives--in my head, most of the time. I feel less bloated, I'm eating lots of great food, and I feel way more in control of what, when, and how I'm eating. And that translates into feeling control in other areas as well. If nothing else, the Whole30 is teaching me about my relationship to food in a very powerful and noticeable way.