"By promoting Durham FRINGE beyond the Triangle and North Carolina, we are inviting new audiences to experience the work of Durham-based artists while also supporting the city's hotels, restaurants, bars, and retailers," Carolina Theatre President and CEO Randy McKay said in the theater's September announcement of its first FRINGE Festival.
That quote explains how the festival is built. The Carolina Theatre opened as Durham Auditorium on February 2, 1926, and its biggest new event of the centennial year books zero performances inside its own walls. Durham FRINGE runs October 30 through November 8, after an Opening Night celebration on Thursday, October 29. More than 50 Durham-based artists perform in more than 20 downtown venues. The theater's own release says the festival places itself "in small businesses and local venues throughout the downtown."
So the program reads best as a map. Look at it by street and the ten days sort themselves out.
Why the venue list matters more than the lineup
Most fringe festivals hand an artist a time slot and leave everything else to them. Durham's version gives participating artists administrative and logistical help, money, technical support, marketing and ticketing, depending on what each project needs. Durham-based producer Myra Weise of Proxemic Media is coordinating the artists, venues and production partners.
That support is what makes a 10-minute dance piece possible in an improv theater, or a shadow puppet show in a hotel. The rooms are small, and that shapes how you plan. The festival FAQ says many works happen in "intimate or unconventional venues with limited capacity." It also warns that free events can hit capacity, so it suggests arriving at least 15 minutes before start time. It also suggests checking the location and walking time before you book two shows in a row.
Durham Magazine's fall arts preview said the festival would use storefronts, alleyways and green spaces. Here's how those places line up.
The festival by street
The table below covers a selection of venues from Discover Durham's festival guide. The official daily schedule has every listing.
| Corridor | Venues and addresses | A show to anchor the stop |
|---|---|---|
| Main Street, west | Pinhook, 117 W. Main St.; Arcana Durham, 331 W. Main St.; E.O.'s Athletic Club, 341 W. Main St.; Five Points Plaza; Museum of Durham History, 500 W. Main St. | KT Collective plays free contemporary jazz at the museum Nov. 6 and 7 at 4:30 p.m. |
| Chapel Hill Street | The Durham Hotel, 315 E. Chapel Hill St.; Kingfisher, 321 E. Chapel Hill St.; Provident1898, 411 W. Chapel Hill St. Ste. C2 | "Still Life and Other Stories," free shadow puppetry at The Durham Hotel, Nov. 2 and 3 at 6:30 p.m. |
| Geer and Mangum | NorthStar Church of the Arts, 220 W. Geer St.; Living Arts Collective Ballroom, 410 W. Geer St.; Zeitgeist Bar, 725 N. Mangum St. | "How Glory Goes" at NorthStar, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m., $33.15 |
| Foster Street | Durham Central Park; Cecy's Gallery & Studios, 417 Foster St.; BOOM CLUB, 600 Foster St. Ste. B | "Smashable Poems" at Cecy's, Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., free |
| East side | Golden Belt green space; Empower School of Movement, 807 E. Main St. Bldg. 7; The Durham Fruit, 305 S. Dillard St.; Mettlesome Theater, 800 Taylor St. Ste. 9-156 | "An Undiscovered Room" at The Durham Fruit, Nov. 3 and 4, $16.53 |
Several venues carry local history of their own. "Mapping the Movement," a piece on Durham's Black artistic legacy by Empower School of Movement, is staged at Provident1898 inside the historic North Carolina Mutual tower on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. KT Collective plays in the outdoor foyer of the Museum of Durham History. Discover Durham describes that building as a historic bus stop "that was once the gateway to downtown." And Wendy Hower's "Procession of Cardinals" connects two of the corridors outright. On Nov. 2 at 5 p.m., one hundred participants carry glowing laser-cut cardinal puppets from Durham Central Park along downtown sidewalks to The Durham Hotel at twilight.
Opening weekend stays close together
The first three days fit easily around a normal weekend.
On Friday, Oct. 30, Candy Carver's "Find Your Glimmer" opens at 113 Orange St. It's a free black light installation of affirmations and interactive art for kids, open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Nov. 8. At 5 p.m. that evening, Elise Janson and Willie Hinton dance a 10-minute piece at Mettlesome Theater. At 5:30, D'Vorah Dance Arts' "B-SIDE" follows in a recreated 1990s bedroom where the audience picks the next song. Lennon KC plays The Durham Hotel rooftop free at 7 p.m., and Cameron Wade closes the night at Arcana Durham with "COMMUNION: A Liturgy For Samhain" at 9.
On Saturday, Oct. 31, The Southern Brothas host the TSB THRILLAH Block Party at CCB Plaza, 201 Corcoran St., from 7 to 10 p.m. Triangle on the Cheap lists it as free and all-ages. DJ NABS headlines. He's a GRAMMY Museum honoree, and Discover Durham calls him a "Durham homegrown hero" and the only DJ to tour with Michael Jackson. Costumes are encouraged.
On Sunday, Nov. 1, Joseph MacPhail's "SunSp.t" brings a Durham take on Arab American fusion music to the Golden Belt green space at 2 p.m., free. That evening, "RECITAL (Ms. Victoria's Version)" plays Stanczyks at 6 and 9 p.m. It's a one-woman variety show with original work by 11 local artists, and seating is first come, first served.
Weekday shows you can fit around work
The schedule doesn't go quiet after the first weekend. Several free events fall at lunch or right after work:
- "GOOD EFFORT" by Londs Reuter, Durham Central Park, Nov. 4 and 5 at 12:30 p.m. Dancers decide in real time how much effort to give.
- "REHEARSAL" by COMPANY, E.O.'s Athletic Club, Nov. 5 from 11:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It's an open-ended, site-responsive rehearsal.
- "The Language is Asleep" by Chris Vitiello, Five Points Plaza, Nov. 5 from 5 to 9 p.m. Durham's Poet Laureate, also known as the Poetry Fox, writes you a one-line poem on a torn-out dictionary page.
- "Rusk" by Nik Narain, Mettlesome Theater, Nov. 4 at 10 p.m. It's an hour of stand-up after sold-out runs in Edinburgh and New York.
- "Bird Drum Lounge" by Saleem Reshamwala, BOOM CLUB, Nov. 6 through 8. Visitors remix field recordings of Durham birds on a drum machine, often alongside Reshamwala, musician Phil Cook and guest musicians.
Five Points Plaza and E.O.'s Athletic Club sit a short walk apart on West Main, so Nov. 5 lets you catch the open rehearsal at lunch and pick up a poem on the way home. On Thursday evening you could also see "IKIGAI," Anthony Otto Nelson Jr.'s mix of Japanese shodo calligraphy and live dance, at Kingfisher at 7 p.m. It also plays Nov. 6 at 8 p.m.
How tickets work without a festival pass
FRINGE ticketing works differently from a typical night at the Carolina Theatre, and these four points from the festival FAQ are the ones that affect planning:
- There's no pass this year. Each ticket covers one performance, date and time, and each ticketed event is bought separately.
- The Carolina Theatre sells every paid ticket. Use the purchase link on each event listing. Listings marked "Free and Open to the Public" have no admission charge and need no ticket or registration.
- The base price goes to the artist. The FAQ says one hundred percent of the base ticket price goes directly to Durham FRINGE artists. Taxes and ticketing fees are separate.
- Shows can sell out. Buying ahead is recommended for ticketed events.
Paid shows in Discover Durham's selection range from $16.53 to $33.15. At the low end are the Durham Theatre Workshop's three new plays by Andy Li, Nik Narain and Charlie Probus at Pinhook on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. At the top is Micaela Shanyce Bundy's "How Glory Goes," a theatrical concert built around the repertoire of Audra McDonald. If you're bringing kids, Erim Akpan's "The Royal Treatment: A Jester's Court of Fun" is for ages 5 and up and closes the festival at Living Arts Collective Ballroom on Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. for $22.07. Content and age guidance varies, so check each listing before you go.
For the Oct. 29 Opening Night, check durhamfringefestival.org for the location and time. The FAQ says event details may change and suggests confirming date, time, location and status before you leave.
The rest of the centennial is still going
FRINGE is one part of a centennial calendar that runs through December 31. The centennial programming page lists "The Magician" with a live score in Fletcher Hall on Oct. 28, the night before Opening Night. Durham Magazine also listed the "Playhouses and Picture Palaces" exhibit, which opened Oct. 16, as part of the anniversary programming. The nonprofit Carolina Theatre of Durham manages the city-owned theater at 309 W. Morgan St. From Oct. 30 through Nov. 8, the FRINGE shows happen at the venues listed above, all outside that building.
If you end up walking between Geer Street and Golden Belt this week and start wondering what life is like on those blocks the rest of the year, I'm always glad to talk about downtown Durham over coffee, no agenda. Reach out to Meagan Black at Triangle Home Sales and let's connect.
