The Toronto Fringe Festival’s Executive Director chats with us about the value of theatre and getting your children interested in the arts.
I say “theatre,” and you think, what? Three-digit ticket prices, yawning into your fist and stuffy great-aunts who pronounce it “theatah”? That’s definitely not the case according to Gideon Arthurs, Executive Director of the Toronto Fringe Festival. In addition, he’s the Artistic Producer of Groundwater Productions, married to actor/playwright Erin Shields, and father to 16-month-old Olive.
The Toronto Fringe is “by the people, for the people,” and consists of 150-odd plays selected at random, involving more than 11,000 artists. Last year, more than 79,000 people came out to see them. Arthurs is convinced that all 90, 000 benefit from their Fringing experience, be they artists or audience members. “My theatre training was one of the most practical things I’ve ever done,” he says, crediting that training for his ease with job interviews. “You learn how to communicate clearly [and] how to present yourself to the outside world.”
