Toronto Fringe Announces Programming for New Primetime Festival

The Toronto Fringe presents their new festival, the Primetime Festival, with five digital theatrical experiences from October 30 - November 28, 2021.

The Primetime Festival will include live and on-demand virtual presentations of works from Jacqui Du Toit, Mind of a Snail Puppet Co, Tita Collective, Velvet Wells, plus the opening night presentation of With Love and a Major Organ (The Audio Play) written by Julia Lederer and starring Fiona Reid, Michela Cannon, Kaleb Alexander, and Jennifer Villaverde.

The Primetime Festival is a curated virtual festival that provides financial support and a producing platform to notable Fringe artists who are ready to offer exceptional digital, interactive experiences to audiences. Each show will have a digital venue on Fringe's gather.town platform, Twitch, or Zoom, with audiences and artists alike using gather.town as an imaginative lobby space for pre- and post-show exploration and connection.

The 2021 Primetime Festival Line-Up:

Djinn Joint

Created by Velvet Wells
From Velvet Duke Productions
After almost a million requests, dJerald is on the verge of retiring from Wish Fulfillment. Come join the Djinn as he grants life-changing wishes, tells 1,001 tales, and tries to manage wish returns in song. What will you do when your wish is granted? Djinn Joint is an interactive, virtual production developed by, and starring, Velvet Wells. Using gather.town's browser streaming technology, audience members can experience the world of Djinn Joint before and during the show, including making a wish of their own.

Once Upon a Time - an African Theatrical Storytelling Production

Created by Jacqui Du Toit
From Origin District Theatre
A mesmerizing storytelling experience from international theatrical and movement storyteller Jacqui Du Toit. From Kimberley, South Africa, and now based in Ottawa, Jacqui Du Toit is known for animating stories from her motherland. This acclaimed artist takes audiences on a journey into the imagination and beyond.

Project-a-Sketch

Created by Chloe Ziner, Jessica Gabriel
From Mind of a Snail Puppet Co.
Project-a-Sketch is a playful portal to experience togetherness. Shadow theatre duo Mind of a Snail have constructed a magical land in their living room featuring live music, a multi-camera set-up, overhead projectors, and delightful use of interactive technology. This award-winning Fringe company (Multiple Organism, Caws & Effect) presents an interactive and surreal adventure.

Tita Power

Created by Ann Paula Bautista, Belinda Corpuz, Ellie Posadas, Alia Rasul, and Maricris Rivera
From the Tita Collective
Tita Power is a love letter to a community; specifically, to the female elders the artists lovingly call "tita". Through their own stories, audiences learn more about each Tita member as they take a tour around their homes in Titaville! The show explores the struggles and heartaches of this ultra-talented collective, and how they cope through humour, storytelling, and songs. Audiences may have caught this multi-award winning, multidisciplinary, all-Filipina collective in Tita Jokes, at the 2020 Next Stage Theatre Festival.

With Love and a Major Organ (The Audio Play)

Written by Julia Lederer
After international acclaim, With Love and a Major Organ returns to the Toronto Fringe, marking the first time the full script has been performed by Canadian artists. A funny and wildly original exploration of emotion in the age of technology - about what it costs to give your heart away and what happens when you discover you have one. With Love and a Major Organ was the first show to do Toronto Fringe and Next Stage sequentially in one year.

Audiences can enhance their experience with the limited edition Primetime in a Box. Styled after the popular summer Fringe in a Box, this premium package has everything needed to enjoy Primetime at home. Each Primetime in a Box includes a Festival Pass with access to all five shows, a Fringe cap, a Fringe face mask, a Fringe highlighter, and special offers, deals and treats from Festival favourite partners.

Toronto Fringe is a grassroots, charitable organization that runs the Toronto Fringe Festival each July, the Next Stage Theatre Festival each January, and various year-round programs that benefit youth, emerging artists, BIPOC artists, artists with disabilities, and the performing arts community at large. Embedded in Fringe's operations are the values of Access, Accountability, Creativity, Exploration, and Support.

The Primetime Festival, presented by Toronto Fringe, runs October 30 - November 28, 2021. Learn more online at fringetoronto.com. Tickets will be Pay What You Can in support of Toronto Fringe. Full listings available and tickets on sale at www.FringeToronto.com

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