Further International Programming Announced For The Inaugural Global Fringe

Sydney Fringe today announces further programming for the inaugural Global Fringe, a program of live theatrical performances and digital multi-show events premiering Sydney made and award-winning works from leading Fringe festivals around the world.

Alongside the core program launching Wednesday 2 September 2020, Global Fringe will present events streamed live from the Stockholm Fringe Festival and by the award-winning UK based Flanagan Collective. The festival will also include a program of industry-focused digital events including panel discussions, aimed at supporting artists navigate the international Fringe network and maximize opportunities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Global Fringe exclusive, acclaimed UK based Flanagan Collective return for two intimate digital performances, streamed live to a maximum of 30 Sydney living rooms, of Orpheus and the sister show Eurydice, which saw sold-out seasons at Sydney Fringe Festival 2019. These internationally award-winning modern retellings of the ancient myth Orpheus and Eurydice tells a tale of impossible, death-defying love through hair raising spoken word and soaring soul music.

In partnership with Stockholm Fringe Festival, Global Fringe will present five live stream only events straight from the Swedish capital including:

● Stockholm Fringe Festival's Opening Party with Alex The Robot Dancer explores how our relationship with robots are changing fundamentally as they perform more and more roles around us. At what point do they become human and are our feelings towards them real?

● SANISTASIA - The Sanitation Gala is a multi-show event presenting the five finalists from the Festival's first digital performance art competition all responding thematically to the contemporary zeitgeist. Hosted by real-life Avatars, Leffe Crumlove and Ruccola Hängbjörk and filled with disinfected glitter and alcogel showers, SANISTASIA juxtaposes fiction and reality and features works by award-winning Swedish artists including Grebnellaw, Butcherqueen, Progressive Genitalia, Shaya Khalil, Farvash and Smiley, as well as Swedish female hip hop trio Yung Titties in concert.

● "... and trans people are from Mercury" is a bitchy, sci fi-political, dreamy spoken word-show by spoken word-artist and trans activist Yolanda Aurora Bohm Ramirez.

● Black Ocean presented by The National Black Theatre of Sweden is an open jazz space of stories and internal landscapes that immerse the audience within the worlds of Afrofuturism, fragmented texts and ghosts of the past and present.

● Egoland by SRSLYyours Ensemble is an intense psychological study that employs physical theatre to explore the relationship of the individual against a backdrop of an eroding sense of community and populist rage.

Sydney Fringe CEO and Artistic Director Kerri Glasscock said, "We're delighted to be able to offer, alongside our incredible program of international and local headline shows, a suite of unique Fringe experiences. Be it an intimate living room moment all the way from the UK or real time, in our case late night, access to some of Stockholm Fringe's incredible content there are some amazing additions to the program. Some of the best Fringe experiences are the late-night side shows that challenge the typical theatre experience, so we're delighted to be able to offer something similar this year online."

Sydney Fringe will also present a program of industry-focused digital events throughout September exploring the local and international Fringe network. Presented on Facebook Live, recordings for each event will be made available on the Sydney Fringe website until the end of September 2020.

● Trans Tasman Fringes | 8 September 2020, 3pm

Artists are invited to join the leaders of Fringe Festivals from across Australia and New Zealand for a conversation about what sets each Fringe apart and how they can take advantage of the opportunities within the Trans-Tasman network while international touring is on hold.

● The World Fringe Network | 22 September 2020, 3pm

Audiences can join leaders of Fringes from Stockholm to Sydney for a panel discussion about the world fringe network. This panel will explore the vast range of Fringe festival models, regional touring networks and innovative new programs from Festivals around the world designed to keep the global Fringe community together.

● The Sydney Fringe's new First Nations Arts Program | 5 September 2020, 3pm

The Sydney Fringe leadership team and a panel of First Nations artists and arts leaders from across to the sector discuss the breadth and depth of First Nations Art and what the Festival will be doing moving forward to better honour, celebrate and champion First Nations Work. This event will also serve as the commencement of an extensive community consultation process The Sydney Fringe are undertaking as they move towards the inaugural First Nations Hub Program in 2021.

Glasscock added, "2020 has hit our industry hard so we are really excited to be presenting a range of industry-focused talks that support our community during these unprecedented times."

For tickets and more detail please see the Sydney Fringe Website: https://sydneyfringe.com/.

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