Asian Journal wrote a very nice piece about the two Ilocano artists at FringeNYC this year: Joyce Lao and Jeremy Rafal. Check out an excerpt on the interview below. Make sure to click the link to go to the full article. After going to see The Boy from Bantay, also go see Behind the Wall to support our fellow Ilocano friends.
It’s the height of summer and it’s Fringe season again.
This year marks the 19th year of The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), touted as the largest multi-arts festival in North America with programming from 200 of the world’s best emerging theatre groups and dance companies.
Fringe festivals are open access, artist driven, uncensored arts and community events that showcase fresh, daring, and groundbreaking work. Fringe Festivals have been around since 1947 and the first was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the largest in the world. The festivals highlight the unique point of view of emerging and established artists from the Philippines and all over the world in theater, literature, music, dance, visual art, film, cabaret, performance art, circus and every other artistic genre in between.
From Edinburgh to London, New York to Philadelphia, Hong Kong to Taipei, South Africa to Melbourne, and numerous global cities with vibrant arts and culture scenes, Fringe represents the voices of artists and artistic genres that both challenge and reflect traditional and contemporary art forms.
This year, even the Philippines got into the fray as it joined over 200 international Fringe Festivals around the world through Fringe Manila, which organizers hope will be the perfect platform for emerging and local established artists to take risks and share their work to diverse audiences.
Here in New York, FringeNYC takes place over the course of two weeks and has about 20 venues in downtown Manhattan, particularly in the Lower East Side, East Village and Greenwich Village. With an attendance topping 75,000 people, FringeNYC is considered as New York City’s fifth largest event.
And this year, a couple of Ilocano artists made it into this year’s lineup and will be taking center stage to share their stories and journeys.
The Boy from Bantay
In a nutshell, The Boy From Bantay is a heartwarming autobiographical journey of growth and self-discovery through the life of a cartoon-obsessed boy who moved from the Philippines to the United States to chase his dreams of being a concert pianist.
– See more at: http://asianjournal.com/aj-magazines/ilocano-artists-share-their-stories-at-fringenyc/#sthash.KdAaV7Cy.dpuf