The Fringe Festival is a well oiled machine. Shows load in and load out in close to a dozen venues every hour or so. Inside the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, lines form about a half hour before each show opens. Performers from other shows work the line, handing out flyers, and explaining why their show is a “must see”.
The people around you in line, often can tell you which shows ave worth seeing, and which shows are bombs. Standing in line is also a good time to check the Fringe program to see what might come next. With over 70 Shows, it is impossible to see every show.
I tend to limit my shows to the one’s that had good buzz in the lines or at the Beer Tent on the Lawn of Fabulousness. In this line, I bumped into Aradhana Tiwari who is directing at Mad Cow Theater now. When I first started this site, she allowed me to document every phase of a show she was co-directing. I haven’t had that here of access to a shows production since. A woman playing clarinet worked the line. A mom tried to keep her energetic boys in line as they waited for the doors to open. Actors and actresses get to interact with theater patron one on one.