When Tamar Neumann moved to Omaha from Minneapolis, she found a theater scene rivaling that in her previous city of residence—with Omaha Performing Arts bringing in national productions, Omaha Community Playhouse presenting locally-led plays, and other theaters bringing community and avant-garde showings. What surprised Neumann, however, was Omaha’s lack of a well-known performing arts festival.
Fringe Festivals are performing arts events that spotlight theater, dance, puppetry, music, visual arts, and spoken word. They typically enable new performing arts creators a space to present material as well as enabling professionals to expand their craft. Shows can be family-friendly or bawdy.
Anything goes.
“You get to hear from voices that you wouldn’t normally hear from in the theater community spaces,” said Neumann, executive director of Omaha Fringe Festival. She started the Omaha event with 10 shows in 2019 and is excited that the 2024 event now has nearly 20 performances. The festival enables attendees to see shows by some returning performers as well as new playwrights, directors, dancers, and more. This year’s event runs Aug. 8-11, with performances at UNO, Benson Theater, and Blackstone Theater.
Nic Jansen, the board president who also serves as marketing and social media coordinator, said that he’s excited that this year’s festival is more accessible.
“We will have ASL interpretation at all of our shows, thanks to a grant from the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.”
The shows are picked via a lottery system that happens early in the year. Artists don’t need a fully formed show to enter the lottery, only a working title and their contact information. Once picked, they create and polish their works before heading to Fringe Festival to stage them.
Those planning to attend the festival can pick and choose and purchase tickets ($10 each) to the shows they want to see. Performances range from one-person plays to classical Indian dance. There’s even a dance performance blended with film. Those wanting to view all, or most of, the event, would do well to purchase an all-Fringe pass at $75. No matter if someone plans to attend one show or all of them, there is one important part of the festival that everyone needs to purchase in order to gain access to the events. The pin-back button ($5) is a tradition of fringe festivals—a low-tech way of identifying those in the Fringe community.
That community is a large part of what Neumann (who now lives in Texas but still runs and comes back to Omaha for, this festival), and Jansen said that makes Fringe Festival in Omaha unique.
“The most special part of Fringe, for me, is the lasting connections among the artists and then the relationships made with others who have shown up for several festivals,” Jansen said.
More information about the event can be found at https://www.omahafringe.org/2024-fringe
