Island Fringe Festival returns July 28-August 1, 2021 with live performances happening in downtown Charlottetown.
This year marks our 10th anniversary, and we will be celebrating this milestone all year long.
The highlight, and to make it extra-special, this year’s festival will showcase the amazing talent that comes from right here on Prince Edward Island.
Cowardice

What do vampires have in common with mannequins? They’re both amongst the many things Benton Hartley is afraid of. When he’s tasked by his therapist to list everything that scares him, he quickly realises that the problem might be much deeper than he thought. Darkly hilarious and unblinkingly vulnerable, Cowardice tells the story of one man’s history with hospitals, panic attacks and the great american sitcom.
45 mins, R, Descriptions of Mental Illness and coarse language
Company: Desert Island Theatre Company
Created and Performed by: Benton Hartley
Deenie’s Exit

At 95, Deenie is fed up with the decrepitude, loneliness, and, most of all, loss of control that come with old age. She convinces her friend Max to write a play about her and her determination to end it all, but Deenie’s son Peter assumes Max is after his mother’s money. Mayhem ensues! Caretaker Ruby offers perspective.
Running time: 45 – 50 min
Rating: comedy/drama. PG
Playwright: Louise Burley
Directors: Francis Bird and Sharlene MacLean, with special thanks to Jan Rudd
Stage managers: Lorna McMaster and Sarah Compton
Set design: Cyril Armstrong
Deenie: Barbara Rhodenhizer
Ruby: Jessica Gauthier
Max: Robbin Ward
Peter: Gordon Cobb
Head War

Head War is a found text performance that pieces together the story of creator Sadie McCarney’s 2013 hospitalization for acute psychosis. Scavenging and rearranging words from the official records of her two-month hospital stay, McCarney has crafted an experience that reclaims sentences written about her as sentences not of illness, but of transformative power. These are her words, now.
An extended version of Head War is available as a chapbook from Frog Hollow Press.
Running time: 30 min
Rating: Mature/R – coarse language, mentions of adult content, and description of sexual interference
Credits: Written and performed by Sadie McCarney
Kings and Queens

Xclusiv Crew is a diverse Urban Dance Company that was founded in 2010 by Bahamian HipHop Choreographer, Joe Dames. In 2012, he met Dawn Ward, who brought her Contemporary and African Jazz feel and vibe. They have been creating together ever since and will finally tell their love story, through the beauty of dance. Each piece in “Kings and Queens” represent a different milestone in Dawn and Joe’s life. From the moment they laid eyes on each other, to the obstacles they faced and overcame. The show will also bring awareness to the different genres of dance and how African movement and HipHop are the definite roots of all styles we learn about and see today.
Company Name: Xclusiv Crew
Running time: 50 minutes
Number of Dancers: 22
Choreographed by: Dawn Ward and Joe Dames
Inner Urban Ecosystem

Inner urban ecosystem is a contemporary dance piece set in a local park in which the performers will evaluate the parks microcosm, allowing their personal experience and emotion to be portrayed through their movement and music. Exploring themselves through this performance will give the audience an opportunity to take a breath out of the overwhelming city life and enjoy the beauty of the local park.
Running time: 45 minutes. Suitable for all audiences
Choreographed by: Kylie Fudge Jensen in collaboration with the company members of Charlottetown Contemporary Dancers
Directed and produced by: Taryn Kristalovich and Kylie Fudge Jensen
Performed by: members of Charlottetown Contemporary Dancers: Taryn Kristalovich, Kylie Fudge Jensen, Callista Gilks, Marissa Laderoute, Megan Broome, Asia MacMillan and Megan Connors. Apprentices: Molly Rainnie and Isabelle Lee
Music Performed and created by: Michael Peters, Isaac Williams and Brielle Ansems
In sponsorship with: Dance Umbrella, Dance Virtuosa and Infrared Fitness
Playground

I’ll tell you a story…about how all the world is a playground, but all the people have forgotten how to play.” Lucy goes to the playground expecting to…well…play, but instead finds folx engaged in anything but. Is play an end in itself, or must one track progress toward a goal for an activity to be meaningful? Or is it perhaps best to just sit on a bench and not engage at all?
Running time: 40 minutes. Rated PG
Written and produced by: Malcolm Murray,
Directed by: Jay Gallant.
Stage Manager: Kim Johnston.
Performed by: Amy Lynn (Lucy), MaryAnne Fitzpatrick (Magdalene), Noah Nazim (Gus), Graham Putnam (Bertrand), Sophie Jane MacInnis (Rosa) and Cameron Bennett MacDonald (Simon).
Please Note:
*Please note: due to unforeseen circumstances, Apple Bones, Castor Oil and Snacks had to drop out of Island Fringe Festival 2021.