Blog: Processed Theatre's Fringe Journey, Part I

We asked Processed Theatre to share their journey to Fringe 2011 with their piece, EDGES: A Song Cycle. They will be blogging from time to time, before, during and after this year's edition of the Fest.

Week 1: Why Fringe?
At one point, Fringe crosses my mind and everything begins to point us in that direction.
by Nichole Carlone and Christopher Pineda

We are Processed Theatre. Last September we produced a very successful “Reefer Madness: The Musical” at Mainline Theatre, and are now preparing for the debut of our second show, blindly hoping that we can continue to produce the quality and popularity of “Reefer Madness: The Musical.” 

The pressure is on. 

...get us into the Fringe, then into the venue, update the website, send out a memo, rebudget, and stress eat.


For the past three months, we’ve been rehearsing for what was supposed to be our April production of “EDGES: A Song Cycle,” a short, honest, simple and meaningful show that is about as different from “Reefer Madness: The Musical” as you can get. If any of you were at the QDF 2011 Spring Calendar Launch, you saw us perform “Be My Friend (The Facebook Song).” Last week I received a call from my friend and cast member Jade Hassouné. He was offered a film gig that shoots in April and likely could no longer be in our show. While he’s trying to get permission to still do our show, chaos ensues at Processed Theatre, and things are not looking good. 

Mind you, this is all unfolding two weeks before our originally scheduled opening night. We have press coming, venues booked, licensing rights paid, and sets designed around an April show at The Freestanding Room. 

With just two weeks, there is little time to get someone new in and up to speed. What can we do? It needs the next two weeks, and bringing someone new in means abandoning the other three actors to focus on getting the new guy up to speed. Is that fair? Should we compromise the quality of the show that much? All these questions happen simultaneously and the answer is no. There is just no doing this show without Jade in two weeks. It’s better to cancel it than put something out there just for the sake of putting something out there.

Not only do we now have the gift of time, but also, Fringe is effin fun! 

At one point, Fringe crosses my mind and everything begins to point us in that direction. I see that for an OFF Fringe show, the deadline to apply is Friday (this happens on Tuesday). I remember about an OFF Fringe venue where someone recently dropped out. As the next 24 hours unfold, we have a talk with the cast (who were all extremely supportive and excited), get us into the Fringe, then into the venue, update the website, send out a memo, rebudget, and stress eat. 

Despite a few negatives like major added cost, lower revenue, loss of momentum, and a big press recall, “EDGES: A Song Cycle” will actually be a much better show at the 2011 Montreal Fringe. Not only do we now have the gift of time, but also, Fringe is effin fun! 

This could work. 

Processed Theatre
2011 Montreal Fringe