About
Atlanta Fringe Festival
Overview
How It Works:
- Our festival lineup is selected via unjuried lottery, opening it up to artists of all backgrounds, disciplines, and experience levels.
- Our low submission and production fees make it easier for artists of all economic backgrounds to participate.
- Our open submission period typically lasts through December and January, with the festival taking place the first week of June
- Once selected, our artists are guaranteed four performances and one technical rehearsal in one of our spaces (typically in East Atlanta within easy walking/driving distance of our festival HQ.) All spaces come fully staffed with technicians and FOH workers. Artists need only worry about what they perform in the space.
- Artists receive 100% of their box office (after some small fees.) Atlanta Fringe does not receive any of the money the artists have earned at he box office.
- In addition to their box office, artists are eligible to receive cash prizes for awards as chosen by audience votes (for large and small cast), Critic’s Choice, and Producer’s Choice.
- All artists will also receive professional pictures of their performances to help them promote their shows going forward.
- In addition to mainstage shows, our festival typically includes a Five/5ths fundraising performance of a popular movie, a free preview night with 3-minute excerpts from all performances, late night showcases and afterparties, as well as free Kid’s Fringe activities for families of all ages. In 2024 we added a Street Fringe incorporating buskers performing in and around our festival HQ throughout the weekend.
The Mission
The Atlanta Fringe Festival is dedicated to connecting adventurous artists with appreciative audiences for the betterment of the Atlanta arts community.
Operation
The Atlanta Fringe is produced by Twinhead Theatre, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and is operated by a core volunteer committee of 10 dedicated people, with assistance from many event volunteers, as well as paid festival technicians and front-of-house staff.
The Gist
Years of ATL Fringe
Artist Companies Produced
Audience Members
Paid out to artists, technicians, and staff
Staff & Board
The Atlanta Fringe has been a labor of love for a small group of enthusiastic arts and Atlanta lovers. Since summer of 2010, we’ve been envisioning, constructing, and selling the Fringe from the ground up, using very little monetary resources and Facebook to get the word out. This grassroots approach has lent the festival its own unique energy and it has taken on a life of its own since we began building it. We hope for even more of that energy and growth in years to come!
Diana Brown
Executive Director
Diana Brown received her B.A. in Theatre from Georgia State University. In 2003, she helped found Twinhead Theatre, and has contributed as a writer, performer, and producer for over 30 productions. Since 2007, she has acted as the company’s Managing Director. She headed up the planning and organization of the Atlanta Fringe Festival, coordinating six venues across the city and managing ten volunteer staff members.
In 2012, she was invited to sit on the performing arts selection panel for Art on the Atlanta Beltline. She currently co-hosts the popular iHeart Radio podcast Ridiculous Romance, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Nadia Morgan
Production Manager
Nadia has a diverse entertainment design and production background, in a variety of roles as a production manager, stage manager, scenic designer, charge scenic artist, technical director, and more. She received her M.F.A in Scenic Design with a specialty in Scenic Painting from the California Institute of the Arts and returned home to Atlanta in 2009. Since then, she has worked with many companies, including Dad’s Garage, Theatrical Outfit, Full Radius Dance, the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival, The Lucky Penny, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Horizon Theatre, as well as being a Scenic Artist in the local film and tv union. She is proud to see the calibre of work being created in her hometown and loves the role the Atlanta Fringe plays in bringing adventurous new work to the city.
Chris Alonzo
Marketing Manager
Chris is a playwright/musician/producer and a regular performer in Atlanta live lit showcases like Write Club Atlanta, Scene Missing, and Naked City. He graduated from the University of Texas with a BA in Theatre, a three-time recipient of the university’s James Michener award for writing. In New York City he was a playwriting fellow with the New York Theatre Workshop, worked as a marketing assistant for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, served as Managing Director of Manhattan Children’s Theatre and independently produced and marketed theatre and music for himself and a bunch of other weirdos. He currently works as a Creative Specialist in financial services marketing and lives in Alabama with an awesome kid who looks just like him.
Jessica Bodiford
Fringe Audio Director
Jessica Bodiford has molded Fringe Audio from the ground up, making the Atlanta Fringe Festival the first festival in the Fringe circuit to have a podcast initiative.
For almost 6 years she lived in Haiti working on USAID-funded communication projects. She created messages for Haitian people ranging from the importance of handwashing to disaster preparedness. She returned to the United States in 2020.
She is a podcast producer and enjoys writing stories about the people and places she’s seen.
Molly Kristyn Shepherd
Fundraising Coordinator
Molly is a fundraiser by trade, actor by vocation, and rabble rouser by accident. A co-founder of Atlanta Fringe, Molly now supports the festival’s fundraising efforts. She is an Associate Director for Development at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. Her fundraising career stretches back to 2004 and her theatrical projects, performances, and experiences to 1993. Molly is an alumna of the American Musical & Dramatic Academy (NYC). She also holds a BA in Sociology, and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management, from Georgia State University.
Ted Wenskus
Fringe Audio Award Coordinator
Ted Wenskus is a playwright and theatre/voice actor who has worked on 100+ audio dramas and radio plays, including live staged performances, audio projects for the National Park Service, and titles for Audible. His own work has won an Audio Verse Award for Best Writing and national recognition at the HEAR Now Audio Fiction and Arts Festival. His short plays have been produced in England, Dubai, Australia, the Philippines and throughout New York, earning a TANYS award for playwriting in the process as well as Judges and Audience Choice awards in the Short + Sweet play festival in Dubai. He lives in Rochester, NY where he is currently working on numerous theater and radio drama projects (as always).
Mari Martinez Zinser
Family Fringe Coordinator
Larry Mason
Accessibility Coordinator
Larry Mason (he/him) is a multifaceted artist who has received awards for his Writing, Acting, Sound Design, and Instrumental playing. After receiving his BA in Theatre from Jacksonville State University in Alabama, he continued his education by pursuing his MFA in Collaborative Theatre Creation with Touchstone Theatre in PA. Now he is focusing on polishing his craft and developing his own form based on Augusto Boal and Brecht, focusing on facilitating conversations on and around disability and accessibility. About people affected by disability and their loved ones.
Atlanta Fringe Team
Bobby Andrews
Fringe Festival History
Today, Fringe festivals are all over the world (Prague, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Ireland, Budapest) as well as many major cities in the United States (New York, Minneapolis, Hollywood, New Orleans, Chicago), and they are a tremendous hub for new, original, and exciting performance work.