Toronto Fringe’s executive director, Kelly Straughan - Annotation
This post discusses a sound document:
Straughan, Kelly. "Kelly Straughan." Interview. Good Morning Toronto. Jazz.FM91. Toronto, 6 July 2015. Radio. http://www.jazz.fm/index.php/listen-mainmenu/podcasts/12286-interview-kelly-straughan.
In Jazz FM’s interview of Toronto Fringe’s executive director, Kelly Straughan, Straughan uses her air time to highlight the importance of “unusual”, edgy theatre that Fringe produces, as well brand the Fringe Tent as a party “hub” by asserting its social popularity, even at four in the morning. The purpose of the interview intended to market Toronto Fringe to a similar arts community, jazz music enthusiasts. This audience would most likely bring in an older group of listeners, however Straughan still kept on brand of “theatre for the people”, as she plugged events such as outside performances and the Fringe Tent which are accessible to all.
This radio interview gives me first-hand evidence into the mind of Fringe’s main organizer, and how she implements initiatives and rules that follow the ‘Fringe model’. This is evident when she talks about the role social media plays in producing for a festival audience. Her reference to Fringe as “largely a community thing”, depicts organizers as aware to the festival being an arts community showcase, rather than an event. This will add interesting conversation to whether Fringe should be thought of as an international, globalizing event or a showcase for local arts, specifically in reference to Brian Batchelor’s reading on Edmonton Fringe. As well, Straughan brands the Fringe Tent as a place to both “shop” and “drink beer”, representing the Fringe as an event rather than a festival, which could be interesting when researching strategies to eventifying festivals. Lastly, the interviewer asked questions that framed Straughan as a brand ambassador rather than an executive director, which is interesting when contrasting that to Batchelor’s definition of Fringe organizers being like “administrators.” Having Straughan specify these topics firsthand is a more effective way of analyzing the Fringe as an institution, rather than relying on interpretation alone.
However, the interview was recorded a couple years ago, just before Straughan and organizers introduced the Strategic Plan, meaning some of these goals or strategies might have shifted since then. Rather than relying on this interview as current information, I must take the overarching aims of Straughan and contextualize them to my knowledge of the festival’s goals today.
Works Cited
Batchelor, Brian. "'This beer festival has a theatre problem!': the evolution and rebranding of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival." Theatre Research in Canada 36.1 (2015): 33+. Web. 26 July 2017.
