Fringe Manila was started in 2015 as the brainchild of Festival Director Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan. He previously worked for FringeNYC and in productions at the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) and the United Solo Festival. Fringe Manila was born out of the need to provide safe spaces for emerging artists and collectives to create opportunities for themselves in order to produce experimental pieces, perform works they never had a chance to, while developing cross cultural exchanges, and engage with the local community.

Since its inception, Fringe Manila continues to be an artist-driven festival that has evolved into a city-wide collaborative effort. Over the past five years, the Fringe has had the support and participation of numerous art spaces, creative hubs, coffee shops, theaters and unconventional venues – abandoned apartelles, living rooms, cafeterias, rooftops, museums, parks, public spaces – providing broader access to the arts and cultivating audiences from different walks of life and interests in the creative sector. Read on to find out why you shouldn't miss out on the open-access festival:

Gawad Buhay-winning choreographer PJ Rebullida debuts his solo work ALIVE (Alliance Francaise de Manille), a theater of stories and poetry, a dance of people, places, and ideas. As the body tries to make sense of it all, Alive leaves room for surprises. Theater-actress and dancer Raflesia Chiarra Bravo performs K’RAZE (Yuchengco Museum) a new work discovering the K[orean]-Pop phenomenon within Filipinos. Through the medium of dance, Raflesia will not only embody this current craze, she will also try to break the aesthetic standards of the phenomenon to see if it will still capture the hearts of Filipinos.

The Dance Collective led by contemporary performance artist Brian Moreno comes back to the Fringe fold as his alter-ego in Lucinda’s Big Opening at the PARC Foundation. It is an autobiographical and experimental show that looks inside a drag transformation process. Combining elements of drag, dance, aerial arts and cabaret, Lucinda Sky (Brian Moreno) breaks the fourth wall and tells “herstory” of love and self-discovery, and opens up discussion about recent affairs of the country and the world in this most ambitious one man/woman show extravaganza.

Burlesque PH’s hit cabaret Bodabil at Pineapple Lab explores the localization of vaudeville in the Philippines and feature acts that highlight the heart of Filipino culture infused with the spirit of vaudeville (with a sexy burlesque twist, of course!). Experience a variety show like no other. Bodabil is a night that’s sure to entertain, delight, and inspire. Gayborhood goes to Quezon City at The Addlib Dance Studio featuring LGBTQIA artists battling it out in movement, style, and A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E.

This 2019, festival-goers can expect the comeback of Fringe artists from the inaugural festival such as long-time festival partners The Sandbox Collective with their production of Every Brilliant Thing starring Teresa Herrera as well as PETA with their comedy Charot! presenting Philippine current events for the freak show that it is, imagining the future and consequences of a new charter. Repertory Philippines partners with Fringe this year with the restaging of Silent Sky, and SPIT debuts at the Yuchengco Museum. 

The 2019 Fringe Festival also includes city tours for festival goers to get to know parts of Metro Manila. Street artist DeeJae Paeste takes foodies on the streets of Poblacion at the Starving Artist Tour food and street art tour. Manila Art Deco Weekend by Old Manila Walks celebrates the city’s rich and diverse heritage of 1930s modernist architecture, while community partner Bambike explores one of a kind pit-stops, showcasing various creative spaces and the neighborhood’s hidden and not so hidden gems while on their iconic bamboo bikes in Intramuros, BGC, and Poblacion, Makati.

Tickets will be made available at TicketWorld 891-9999 or at www.ticketworld.com.ph for some performances. For more details and updates, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/FringeMNL or follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @fringemnl or visit fringemanila.com