London Festival Blog

More London Free Festival Fringe

“More London” is the name of the development on the south bank of the river Thames near Tower Bridge and next to the City Hall and Mayor’s office, and there’s a More London Festival Fringe event this summer, along with everything else.

The Scoop at More London is an outdoor sunken amphitheatre with seating for 800. Throughout the summer months it regularly hosts a variety of free events – from free films, free music and free theatre to local community events and activities. The Scoop at More London is open to everyone.

The Scoop, More London Riverside, between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, London, SE1 2DB

The riverside outdoor amphitheatre on the south side of Tower Bridge hosts a season of cultural happenings. Fringe festival shows take place in June, there’s music in July, theatre in August and open-air films in September.

This week, families and teens can watch The Pantaloons perform their version of ‘Macbeth’, which includes puppets, audience interaction and fast-paced fun (June 2-6). Then it’s choirs week, starting on June 9 with the Singology gospel choir.

Also on at The Scoop:

Macbeth

Until Sun Jun 6 Theatre FREE

If the Globe’s bloodbath is a bit gristly for you, a distinctly more oddball ‘Macbeth’ is promised from The Pantaloons, who return to The Scoop this year in what one imagines will be typically pop culture-laden style.

I’m a Londoner

Jun 16-18 Theatre FREE
The return of this work from Palladini productions, in which eight very different characters each tell a story of their experiences living in the UK’s storied capital.

Orpheus Down Under

Jun 23-25 Theatre FREE

Unexpected Opera rewires Jacques Offenbach’s ‘Orphée aux Enfers’ giving it a quirky, antipodean-themed twist, as Orpheus’s gal Eunice is lured to Australia by a perfidious folk singer. Company Artistic Director Lynn Binstock directs and adapts, alongside Tim Riley.

Toad Hall!

Aug 5-Sep 5 Theatre FREE
Boris’s City Hall moonlights as Toad Hall in The Steam Industry family-friendly, puppetry-assisted adaptation of ‘The Wind in the Willows’. In rep with ‘Don Juan in Love’.

Don Juan in Love

Aug 5-Sep 5 Theatre FREE

Riotous company The Steam Industry returns with its eighth season at The Scoop with an adaptation of José Zorrilla’s play about the knife-weilding, ladies’ man Don Juan. Phil Willmott adapts. In rep with ‘Toad Hall’.

London Alternative Fringe Festival

As well as The London Festival Fringe in August, as if that wasn’t alternative enough, there will also be an alternative fringe called wait for it… The London Alternative Fringe.

The London Alternative Fringe Festival is a celebration of Alternative Performance including Cabaret, Circus, Vaudeville, Burlesque, Fetish, Live Art and Experimental Theatre. A showcase of the capitals alternative nightlife

The London Alternative Fringe has been going for one whole year already, formed in 2009, and is an “open access” fringe festival which means there is no curating of events as such, the more the merrier. Any performance which wishes to take part is welcome but the remit is to promote the following types of performance:

• Cabaret
• Burlesque
• Vaudeville
• Variety
• Live art

London Alternative Fringe comes together with the Camden Fringe and the London Festival Fringe to help create a rich festival experience for London throughout August.

For more details see http://www.alternativefringe.com

London Alternative Fringe Festival

London Festival Fringe Valentine Weekend 48 hr film competition

London Festival Fringe is organising a Valentine Weekend with a short film competition.

48 Hour Short Film Competition based on the theme of ‘Love’

This competition will test the creative and technical skills of everyone taking part. Writers, directors, film crew, actors will all be given a title and a genre to work from. Then it’s a mad race to finish the movie in 48 hours.

Here are some entries from last year’s London 48 hr film competition

Behind Closed Doors – A London 48 Hour Film Project

Piccadilly High Noon – London 48 Hour Film Project 2009

Fused

Lesson One – 48 Hour entry for the SCI-FI London Competition

London Festival of Theatre

The London Festival of Theatre takes place in July each year, so if the London Festival Fringe idea goes ahead for August, then there will have to be some accommodation with the dates I would have thought.

LIFT, the London international Festival of Theatre, is one of Europe’s most adventurous and influential producers of international contemporary theatre, creating extraordinary festivals and programmes of work that transform London into a stage and inspire everyone to participate in the stories of the world.

LIFT’s rich and varied programming of international work in London has had a major influence on the development of British theatre – challenging its conventions, introducing new forms of theatrical expression and bringing fresh perspectives on audience, communities and spaces throughout the city. In anticipating our future we are excited to take LIFT’s legacy forward, connecting the world’s boldest and brightest theatre makers with the people of one of the world’s great capital cities.

London Festival Fringe coming in 2010

Major London Arts Festival coming in 2010

More than 13 West End theatres – some big, some small – are meeting today (Tuesday 24 November) to discuss taking part in London’s first city-wide fringe arts festival. The London Festival Fringe is set to explode onto the capital’s cultural scene from 6 – 30 August 2010.

Representatives from the venues will meet with the organisers to discuss taking part in the Festival, a month-long event that will celebrate fringe performing arts. The Festival will showcase a wide range of fringe arts from all over the world; from music, theatre and film, to comedy, poetry and more. In an exciting addition to London’s summer events programme, the Festival will bring together a host of performances to captivate, entertain and maybe even surprise festival-goers.

London Fringe Club

The London Fringe Club gives artists and performers the opportunity to get involved with the Festival right now. It has been organised to offer a social networking forum where people can meet with one another and discuss ideas to make their show or event happen. It is open to all, free, and no membership is required. All are welcome and details of forthcoming events are available at www.londonfestivalfringe.com

Director Greg Tallent said, “London is the world’s greatest art centre, drawing performers from around the globe. We want to bring together fringe artists to give audiences innovative acts in one place at one time – in every sphere, from comedy and drama to music, film and street theatre.

“In July 2009 we organised the London Bridge Festival, which was a great success. It’s now time to bring together London’s fringe scene and give it the international recognition it deserves.”

The London Festival Fringe is being held in August to offer art and entertainment to Londoners and the large number of tourists who visit the city in the summer. In particular, London Festival Fringe allows artists and promoters living and working in London to put on shows and events to audiences on their doorsteps, at a price they can afford without earnings being eaten up by travel and accommodation costs.