Floating Gounds Mini-Festival Preview

These photographs, taken by our good friend and amazing photographer Tatjana Todorovik, capture some of the magic that was in the air at Floating Grounds Mini Festival on Midsummer's Night. 

Many thanks to the artists who previewed their work and to all who came along to see the show and enjoy the beautiful open air location under the stars. 

See you for more fun 4 - 14 September at Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam 2014.

 With hammer, 2 ukuleles and a slab of beer we're all set for a day in the country 

The roustabouts plying their trade

Sin Sin Acoustic opened the show

Silvia Terribili in Moonflower

Ton Haas greets the guest of honour

Astarotheatro's Piazza del Popolo

Daniel Rakish shortly after nearly burning down the tent

In-Players presented a double bill of Pinter shorts, Precisely, pictured here . . . 

. . . and the resonant Mountain Language about a people forbidden to speak their own language

James (Ghsts n Guitars) put the Summer Solstice sun to bed . . . 

 . . . and we were all onder de indruk

Gogol's Diary of A Madman performed by Francis Cox

Fay Heady presented a preview  premiere of her new animation Flashback

Anamorphic Dance Theatre with the visually stunning Owl Service 

Theatropo and NORTHKOREOGRAPHIES

Ton Haas and Joost van der Knaap brought the house down with an excerpt from the comedy Jarry Unchained

On Midsummer’s Night join us at FLOATING GROUNDS Mini Festival celebrating the flourishing artistic and cultural freedom still to be found here in Amsterdam with exclusive previews from the forthcoming
FREE FRINGE FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM 2014

Be part of the Midsummer magic and drink a toast to freedom. Guests are welcome to camp overnight in the festival tents or to bring their own floating ground rules here. Floating Grounds is a wonderful opportunity for the artists to meet and exchange ideas for the Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam and to generate publicity for the events. Future Vision Amsterdam will be recording interviews and other footage for inclusion in the arts and underground culture programme which goes out on SALTO 1 (UPC Channel 32) Wednesdays 18:00 - 19:00.

The programme of short theatre, music, AV performances, dance, animation & film will run from 20:00 and on into Midsummer's Night, staged in beautiful podium tents supplied by Tatteljee. 

Come and find out what  the Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam is all about.
email samheady@hotmail.com for directions to our secret location 20 minutes by bike from Amsterdam Centrum

Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam is not your usual shovel load of shite. Now in its 3rd year, Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam is a genuinely diverse multidisciplinary arts festival showcasing Amsterdam's REAL Fringe scene. The best of independent, cutting edge art and performance and all for FREE - Are they CRAZY?

Join the fun 4 – 14 September 2014 at De Vondelbunker and other city-wide locations.

Check the website in the coming weeks for updates, archive and press coverage
freefringefestivalamsterdam.com

Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam 2014 is now open for proposals!

Last year, this wonderful little festival featured a wealth of theatre, music, dance, improvisation, film, animation, games, exhibitions, comics and all sorts of music and weird goings-on for 10 exhilarating days at Amsterdam's historic Vondelbunker, nestling in the bosom of the beautiful Vondel Park and other city-wide locations. 

In 2014 it is our mission once again to present a genuinely diverse programme of art and performance celebrating the thriving artistic community in Amsterdam and beyond, all for FREE.

GET ON BOARD FREE FRINGE FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM 2014

Proposals are open to artists of all disciplines

The Deadline for proposals is 30 June 2014

We offer technical support and an environment where creative freedom and respect for the artists’ vision is central.

No costs are incurred by participating artists for hire of the venues.

The Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam will take place 4 - 14 September 2014.

Artists may also have the possibility to present their work in a preview for press and invited guests at Floating Grounds, a small open air festival on Midsummer's Day on an organic farm just outside Amsterdam and on Future Vision Amsterdam, Underground Arts & Culture Television Programme on SALTO 1.

The festival is in the hands of the artists and is not controlled by the objectives of any corporate sponsors.

Venues who would like to host or programme their own event under the umbrella of Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam in September 2014 are also invited to apply.

To get onboard Free Fringe Festival Amsterdam 2014 contact us
c/o samheady@hotmail.com

Visit www.freefringefestivalamsterdam.com

VIEW PRESS & OTHER MEDIA COVERAGE

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR !

THE FREE FRINGE FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM IS BIG IN JAPAN ! photos by SATOSHI IGA

'The Pitch Unveiled' by Ryan Millar

http://www.roadstorome.blogspot.nl/2013/09/the-pitch-unveiled.html

The Pitch unveiled!

Pitching The Pitch to a rowdy crowd (Photo: Ed Calderhead)

I debuted my long-awaited (at least by me) new solo improv show last Saturday.

I've been scheming on The Pitch for quite awhile now almost a year and a half), and working it over in my mind as a concept and as a practical project. 

It's been a struggle to make it come together in the way I want it to. And even a struggle to think of how I'd like it to come together. But over the time I've been thinking and scheming about plot and story, reading books, writing spec improv features, but I've never actually put it on stage.

That needed to change. And finally it did. It just took a deadline.

A couple of months ago I was invited by the organisers of The Amsterdam Free Fringe to their Saturday night showcase, and given a twenty minute slot. I said I'd do The Pitch. Then, once that was in place, I needed to get it ready.

So last week I worked on making it happen, dreaming up how it would work, how I would interact with the audience, which elements I'd developed would be included and trying some out in my empty living room.

Then I got Chiara involved, and she gave me lots of useful input, and even pitched a film idea to me, which was pretty wonderful.

The Vondelbunker
And that night I did it, in an underground bunker, as part of perhaps the most eclectic and bizarre line-up I've ever been a part of. German punk hippy electrodub, solo modern dance, and other acts that defy description. And in the middle, me doing The Pitch. Well, I had a lot of "help".

Most of the show, especially the part where I actually pitched the movie title the had audience had voted for ("The Day After the Mushrooms")  involved me dealing with a far-too-drunk heckler, and attempting to incorporate his suggestions into the feature film-worthy plot I was narrating.

It was about a pair of young brothers trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, and it was pretty good. Excepting the overzealous guy in the backrow, shouting at every opportunity. It was mostly good fun, but he was also being a pain. But I got my revenge.

Death of a Heckler
In the last climactic scene, I got him up on stage (as I had warned him I would do), cast him as the villain, and then I, in character as our young protagonist, stabbed a mime mushroom through his heart, which the audience seemed delighted with. I sure was.

To his credit he died a relatively convincing death on stage, slumping into a chair and playing a corpse who only very occasionally sipped his red wine as I wrapped up the show. And that was that.

First show done.

The evil Mormon King gets his just desserts (Photo: Ed Calderhead)

They were not ideal circumstances to give The Pitch its first run out, but all things considered, I thought it went quite well. I look forward to trying it out, utilizing some other elements, and building the show up into something more substantial and fixed. And, not least of all, corralling the audience into giving helpful rather than uncalled-for input.

But if that fails, I can always mime-kill the heckler on stage. Which in this case not only gave a nice finish to the story I narrated, but a nice finish to the meta-show that was playing out. 
(Ryan Millar 2013)

Sunday 15th September : Canvas 2 with Professor Russolo

With his stalwart team beside him, the intrepid Professor Russolo pitched his tents in the depths of Vondelpark where he entertained the multitudes all afternoon. Well done chaps !!

Saturday 14th September THE HELLFIRE CLUB IN DE BUNKER : Part 2

Part 2 of THE HELLFIRE CLUB IN DE BUNKER was a really extraordinary and diverse afternoon of entertainment and the crowd wandered in from a rainy Vondelpark.These are some of the performances they enjoyed:

Michael & Jan began the day with a little music

Percussion and Poetry from RIK VAN BOECKEL

OLIFANTTAKEOVER - (How damned glamorous can you get ?)

 

The wondrous PANTORA !

 

 

 

 

 

 

as well as many others whose photos we haven't put up yet !