Prague Fringe - Edinburgh's "naughty grandchild"

This Friday sees the start of the 14th Prague Fringe one of the biggest events of the cultural season. This week I spoke to the head and co-founder of the festival Steve Gove. I began by asking him what set the Prague Fringe apart.

“Fringes the world over are different from other festivals and Prague Fringe is the same in that sense. We like to think of the festival as an experience, something to jump into and absorb. The idea is not to come and see just one show and then to go home but to see two or three, then to meet up with others afterwards to discuss what you saw, talk to others, maybe end up in a bar at the end for more discussion and so on. The experiences are varied: one minute you can laugh, cry, go on an exotic mini holiday; the aim is for people to jump in the deep end and for visitors to get the most out of it.”

Anybody who goes home early is basically selling themselves short… the website describes the Prague Fringe as Edinburgh’s naughtier grandchild… is it naughty or is that just a catch-phrase?

“When we founded the Prague version the aim was always to create a smaller version of the Edinburgh Fringe. Perhaps the naughtiness was kind of taking the idea of the festival to Prague. Can it be naughty? Sure. Anything is allowed as long as it doesn’t break the law. That goes for the performers as well. It goes an open-access festival: you can express your work and present your opinions. In Prague, like Edinburgh, if you want to do a show about you and your dog in a telephone booth you can. Of course, the Edinburgh Festival is pretty naughty itself and huge by comparison.”

Steve Gove, photo: S. Gove

There are many cities today which have their own Fringe Festivals…

“It’s true and we were not the second or third but many new ones came after us and caught on. It seems to be that Fringe festivals are in. Cities like them and there is a very good reason why: they bring people to the city not to see just beautiful buildings and churches and they bring them back the next year and the year after that. We have attendees who have been coming for most of the 14 years. So the Fringe is a money-spinner as well. They are definitely big these days.”

You talked about the freedom an artist can have if they get their act together (no pun intended)... does that mean the Fringe also bets on newcomers? Because obviously there are also established artists and some names are more well-known...

"Absolutely. There are a lot of up-and-coming groups who create work especially for Fringe: five or six years ago we had some students from Rose Bruford College in England who were helping us when they were doing a stint in Prague. They helped us sell tickets but got a taste of the festival and said we are going to create something for it for next year. So it is a breeding ground for new work. At the same time, it is a place where you will see work that has toured the world or is on a tour in Europe. So, a mixture of both, really."

What is one of the biggest chances that you taken performance-wise?

Neruda Nude, photo: archive of Prague Fringe Festival

"One of my colleague, a member of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival board which I was also a member of for a number of years, a wonderful actor by the name of Pip Utton brought his show "Adolf" to Prague. Adolf, as in Adolf Hitler. For obvious reasons, it was a culturally very risky thing to do... The play is fantastically written and when you see it, you get what it is about. It kind of deconstructs Hitler and at the end you see an ordinary person spouting the most horrific hateful and racist comments. You felt incredibly uncomfortable to be in that space but it underlined how simple it is for some people to respond to that kind of message or mind-set, convinced it is the right way forward. It was really deeply moving and disturbing. It was a risk-taker but it was generally also very well-received."

When you put together the programme, once acts are confirmed, the way you balance the festival and the different acts... is that one of the fun things to do?

"Absolutely. My colleagues live all over the world and Carol Wears - one of the co-founders and the associate director of the Fringe - comes back to Prague in October. And we sit with piles... hundreds and hundreds of applications. And it is incredibly exciting because there are several versions of the festival in front of you which you can pursue. Of course, we try and vary it among a bit of theatre, music, non-verbal performance so non-English speakers aren't left out. It is a tremendously exciting part of the year and it is at that point that we realise 'We are doing this again! It is going to happen again in a year's time!'"

You have said it is important for people to come the first day; why is that?

"Well, you know, I've heard this thing so often from people who finally make it on the last few days and when they experience what the Fringe is like they often regret they didn't come sooner! That it is ending. So I tell people now, come on the first day or two because it is highly addictive. You know, just the experience of seeing a number of international performances that you will never get the chance to see again, in such a short time, is incredible and worth it. You know, it is a kind of a cliche about Fringe. and I kind of don't like saying it, but there is a family atmosphere about Fringe, there really is. All of the acts have raised the money to come themselves, we have volunteers who are from all over the world who have flown themselves in and they work on the steps of all the theatres. We provide accommodation for them as thanks and they work for us for nine days but we are not some super rich festival that would pay for everything. They are there because they want to be there..."

It feels real.

"It feels real... it feels very real! And it is because of that, the spirit of it is fantastic."

Let's talk about some of this years performances... there are many and it is a little unfair to single out just a few, but what are some we should see?

Kafka's Metamorphosis, photo: archive of Prague Fringe Festival

"As we were talking about somewhat controversial things earlier, Pablo Neruda was a vey controversial poet and this year there is a Canadian theatre company who will be presenting his works this year in a piece called Neruda Nude because the poems will be read in the nude by the cast, so that is one to look out for. We have a fantastic company from Washington that will be performing Kafka's Metamorphosis. They did a couple of Havel's plays last year which went down really, really well, so we are very excited to have them back again. John Arthur Sweet is back, a beautiful writer and actor who has been here before and will premiere 'Who Waits at the Top of the Stairs". It is a one-man show and he will perform all the characters. It is a new piece which will be performer in a very intimate space called Kavárna 3+1. There is only space for around 20 people and we are very excited about this. This venue tends to sell out and I think that will be the case this time as well."