2018 Perth Fringe Introduction
2018 Perth Fringe World is almost here! There are 752 shows this year, slightly up on 711 in 2017.
2018 Perth Fringe World is almost here! There are 752 shows this year, slightly up on 711 in 2017.
There is a new category this year, ‘Street Performance Buskers’, pages 102-103.
Printed Guide Vs the Website www.fringeworld.com.au.
Both are good in different ways. If you just want to focus
on one category, then it’s easier to read the program. If you want a cross
section of shows, you can use the various ‘filters’ on the website to find what
you are looking for, eg ‘Very Hot UV Rated Shows’. Looking through the
catalogue page by page means you won’t miss any shows. On the website some of
the shows are listed two or three times, (Fringe World Friends 2-For-1)
category.
An indication of how good a show is going to be is the price
and venue. The bigger the venue, the more ‘proven’ the act. The biggest venue
at fringe is always the ‘West Australian Spiegeltent’, which holds 400-600
people depending on wether the booths and rear bar are present or not. The
other big venues are the ‘De Parel Spiegeltent’ and the ‘Edith Spiegeltent’.
Top price shows are $40 upwards.
The ticket prices in the printed guide are slightly
different to what is on the website. There are nine different prices categories
but not all of them apply to each show! They are: -
Full
Group (6+)
Family
Fringe World Friends 2-for-1
Kids (12 and under)
Rushtix
Preview
Free
Pay Artist at Show
In the catalogue ‘The Naked Magicians’ is listed at $44.50
to $49.50. On the website there are three prices, Full Price $49.50 - $79.50,
Group (6+) $44.50 and Fringe World Friends 2-for-1 $25! Shows don’t want to
advertise the fact that they sell half prices tickets, so they don’t print
these prices in the catalogue.
A Fringe World Friend membership is only $20 and gives you
lots of benefits, Google ‘Fringe World Friends’ to see all of them. The biggest
benefit is that you can buy 2-for-1 tickets for 200 shows. Only the person
buying the tickets needs to be a Fringe World Friend to qualify. You can join
on-line at the time you buy the tickets to qualify for the discounts. ‘Briefs:
Close Encounters are ‘Full Price’ $40 to $48 and 2-for-1 $20 to $22.50! There
are only a limited number of 2-for-1 tickets for each show, some of the Briefs
discount tickets are gone already. Of the 200 shows who are selling 2-for-1
tickets a lot of them are good quality shows! Plan, book save! To see the
entire 200 shows, go to the ‘Home’ page of the website, click on ‘What’s On’ in
the top left, click on ‘All Events’. On the left is ‘+ More Filters’, click on
this. Click on ‘Price Types’, click on the Fringe World Friends 2-for1 box, and
you’ll see them all! To buy tickets in person, click on ‘How to’ at the top of
the website, click on ‘How to Buy Tickets’, to get a full list of all box
offices.
‘Rush Tix’ are tickets sold at a discount on the day of the
show only. They go on sale at 11am. It is up to each artist whether they want
to discount unsold tickets on the day, so don’t rely on it to see your
favourite shows. Generally, Fringe is so popular now that the good shows in the
smaller venues sell out completely before the day of the show. ‘Cabaret
Cathedral’ is only on for two nights each Fringe and sells out within two weeks
of going on sale!
My Spelling
Some of the show names below are a bit strange. It’s not my
bad spelling, but how the performers want to spell the name of their act!
Plan ahead to see the shows when you want to see them and
hopefully at a discounted rate.
Getting to the Show on time
Car parking is congested around Northbridge on Thursday to
Sunday nights with everybody trying to park as close to possible to the venues.
Arrive in plenty of time, especially if you need to pick up tickets from the
box office. Most of the shows are only 60 minutes! Some venues allow people to
enter 10 minutes after the show has started. Other venues, because of the size
or the intimacy of the venue, may not admit later arrivers! Look at the City of
Perth Car parking website for a list of all the public car parks in Northbridge
and Perth City before you head off.
Choosing a show to attend
Selecting the best shows from the Fringe World guide can be
a daunting experience for the uninitiated.
If it all looks too overwhelming, select shows from our “Top 10” lists
on the following pages.
This blog is the output of two Fringe World festival
enthusiasts. Each year we see about 50 Fringe World performances. The "Top
10" lists on the following pages are our suggestions for this year's
Fringe World festival. In general, we have listed shows that have been
reviewed by ourselves, newspapers, magazines and on-line entertainment guides,
or that have previously won awards or been nominated for an award. These are the shows we liked, or would like
to attend.
