VocalEye is thrilled to partner with the Vancouver Fringe Festival to make their annual theatre extravaganza “Low Vision Friendly” and more accessible to people from the blind and low vision community.
The Vancouver Fringe Festival runs for 11 days (September 7 to 17) and features 100 productions on and around Granville Island and the Commercial Drive neighbourhoods.
Perks for VocalEye Members
Free Companion Rate: Regular ticket price is $14. People with vision loss may bring a sighted companion for no extra charge.
Complimentary Fringe Memberships: A Fringe membership is required to attend any show. Regular price is $5 and these memberships will be provided free to VocalEye members while quantities last. You will need your to present your Fringe Membership with your tickets at the door.
Priority Seating: Most of the seating is general admission, so please let the ushers know you require priority seating and they will reserve seats for you.
Please Note: Theatre Buddies are NOT available for this event.
HOW TO GET YOUR FRINGE ON
Some advice for having fun at the Fringe from Low Vision Friendly Frequent Fringer and KickAss Reviewer, Deb Fong:
FUN AT THE FRINGE FESTIVAL (Word doc)
Choosing shows
We can’t describe all those shows, so we’ve picked one to describe,
A Very Unpleasant Evening at the Rockefeller Rink Sometime Late December…ish on Saturday, September 16 at 3:50 pm at The Cultch Historic Theatre, 1895 Venables Street off Commercial Drive, near Victoria Drive. This fresh and quirky comedy features some delightful characters, including a legally blind zamboni driver. Running time is 60 minutes and it will be described by Rick Waines.
Going to as many shows as possible is called “Frequent Fringe-ing” or “Fringe Binge-ing” and it’s part of what makes the Fringe fringe-tastic! For instance, if you come to the VocalEye described performance, there are 3 other “low vision friendly shows” you could take in on the same day at the same venue: “A Night at the Rose Coloured Discotheque” at 5:35 pm; “The Indefinable Soul” at 7:35 pm; and “It’s a Glorious, Wonderful Life” at 9:10 pm.
“Low Vision Friendly” shows are recommended as being accessible
without description. There are more than 2 dozen shows with that designation in this year’s festival that should help you get your binge on. Check the listing on the
Fringe website or download our 2-part pdf schedule below that lists all the “Low Vision Friendly” shows for the Festival in alphabetical order by venue:
Of course, you are welcome to attend any show at the festival with the same benefits of a free companion rate and priority seating. The entire Festival lineup is available
online or in the full-length
program guide (this is a large pdf file with images and may take some time to download). Print copies of the guide are available at Blenz coffee shops and other Fringe friendly businesses in Vancouver.
Booking tickets
- go through the schedule and choose the shows, dates and show times
- Tickets are $14 with a free companion rate, so you can bring a friend
- phone or email Paige with your ticket request, mentioning VocalEye
- if you don’t have a Fringe membership yet, please let Paige know
- Paige will process your payment and send your e-tickets in an email labelled with the show title in the subject line
Paige’s contact info: boxoffice@vancouverfringe.com or 604-762-5294
Advance booking is advised. Please allow 48 hours to process your request.
At the venue
- bring your e-tickets on your smart phone or the printed versions with your Fringe memberships to the venue
- arrive at least 20 minutes before the show starts
- upon arrival, tell the Box Office and Front of House volunteers that you require priority/reserved seating and let them know where you would like to sit.
- line up at the front of the line until the house opens
Please note: priority seating may not be available after the house opens (15 minutes before show time)
Venue Locations
Studio 16 is near Granville Island, 1555 W 7th Ave (west of Granville on the north side of the street), in the same building as the Francophone Cultural Centre.
On
Granville Island, most of the venues are on Cartwright street. You will find them in this order walking east on Cartwright from Anderson:
The Waterfront Theatre, 1412 Cartwright Street, is closest to the Kids Market on the south side of the street
Carousel Theatre, 1411 Cartwright Street, is right across the street from the Waterfront
Studio 1398, 1398 Cartwright Street at Old Bridge Road
False Creek Gym, 1318 Cartwright Street
Arts Umbrella, 1286 Cartwright
Performance Works, 1218 Cartwright, close to the Granville Island Hotel
The remaining venue, The Revue Stage, 1601 Johnston Street, is part of the Public Market building right across from the Arts Club Theatre. There is also a taxi stand in front of the Arts Club.
Navigating the island can be a challenge for anyone. For a simple overview of the east side of the island, imagine a triangle made up of 3 streets, Anderson, Cartwright and Johnston. Anderson is the main road onto the island running under the Granville Bridge. Traffic is forced to turn right where Anderson and Cartwright meet, near the Kids Market. Traffic then flows east on Cartwright. Cars can turn left (north) on Old Bridge Road near Studio 1398, which leads to Johnston. Continuing east on Cartwright will lead to Performance Works and the Granville Island Hotel and onto Johnston Street with traffic flowing west, heading back toward Anderson Street where the Arts Club, the Revue Stage and the Public Market are located. Traffic then flows south on Anderson back toward the island entrance and 4th Avenue, or continues west toward Bridges Restaurant. All streets are one-way for vehicles.
KickAss Reviews
Our KickAss reviewer and low vision consultant, Deborah Fong, has 19 shows on her list this year. Her reviews and recommendations will be published here and shared on Facebook and Twitter. Send us your reviews for the chance to win tickets to next year’s Fringe: info@vocaleye.ca
Where to Eat
Near the Cultch: here’s a comprehensive list of restaurants from
TripAdvisor
On Granville Island: Tony’s Fish and Oyster Cafe; the Keg; Granville Island Brewing; Cat’s Social House; the Arts Club’s Backstage Lounge; Edible Canada; Bridges Bistro. The Big Rock Fringe Bar is located at 1531 Johnston; the Public Market is open until 7 pm with lots of food vendors and there should be food trucks along Johnston Street after 7 pm.
Near Sudio 16: Salades des Fruits
We hope these accessibility initiatives will make it easy and affordable for you to grab a friend and have a Fringetastic time! Let us know what you think!
