2024 was the year we launched the Croydonites Fringe. Over 4 days 23 artists presented their work in venues across the centre of Croydon including specific locations like Whitgift Square and North End. It was also the year that we took over a shop unit and turned it into our very own 55 seat venue. Frankly, we were like kids in a candy store!
We produced two participation projects. 'We Can Be Heroes' by French choreographer Arnaud Pirault was a lip-synching rollercoaster ride from Eminem to Bjork, performed by a community cast in Whitgift Square. 'Redux: All of Us Strangers' saw Richard DeDomenici return to Croydon following the success of 'American Assassin' in 2018, to create a short extract of the film in its original location with local actors.
Two artists, Chardine Makaveli Singh and Nathan Brown-Bennett, from the 2023 CroydonBites cohort developed work to present during the festival, and Simon Manyonda presented a further extended version of 'BLESSED, TRYNA BREAK THIS CURSE' which started out as a scratch performance in 2022 and is well on its way to becoming a full length touring work.
We welcomed Sarah Baltzinger and Isaiah Wilson from Luxembourg with their award winning duet 'MEGASTRUCTURE' in the beautiful setting of the Braithwaite Hall, supported by local hip hop dancers Elise Antonia and Marlon Matenhese. We also held our first mixed bill comedy night, curated by local funny man Dick Denham. Dick's Picks completely sold out and featured Nick Helm, star of '8 out of 10 Cats' and BBC3's 'Uncle', mc'd by Louise Bastock.
CroydonBites had a bumper year with 7 artists over 2 nights including a fantastic community work by the Croydon branch of MIND, the mental health charity. Hot on their heels was our first work for the very young - HurlyBurly's 'You are the Sun' is folk opera for 0-2 year olds.
We followed that up with national treasure and 'a brilliant renaissance woman of performance art' Wendy Houstoun and her ridiculous game show for one 'Watch It'. The final week was spent with Deadweight Theatre, who are the hottest thing in immersive theatre right now with 'Manikins: A work in progress', a performance for one audience member at a time. An intense, surreal and thrilling experience.
We were delighted to meet so many new artists through the fringe as well as attracting new audiences from Croydon and beyond. The fringe was sponsored by Croydon BID and we also received generous support from Croydon Council and Arts Council England.
Photo credit for main image: Hugo Glendinning