The Fresno Bee
(Published Friday, March, 1, 2002 10:25AM)
When Mallory Moad gets ready to present "The Circus of Life" at the first Rogue Performance Festival tonight, she likely will have at least a few fleeting thoughts about the first time she tried the one-act play on an audience.
Moad, a Fresno performance artist, was taking a child-development class at Fresno City College several years ago. The assignment was to create a "thinly veiled" autobiography that lasted precisely 20 minutes.
One suggestion was to take family pictures and tape them to poster board. Moad was appalled by the banal possibilities.
"I decided to do a performance piece, that that was the best way I could convey this information," Moad says. She settled on a game-show format with a circus theme that explored some of the darkest, most difficult moments of her life.
Her unsuspecting classmates were not quite prepared for this.
"Some people cried," Moad says. "Some people laughed. But when it was over with, it was met with stunned silence. The people in this class probably had no contact with someone like me before. I don't think conceptual art is something that they would seek out. But they had it inflicted on them."
Tonight's audience at the Rogue Festival (this weekend and Thursday-March 9 at the Sanctuary Theatre in downtown Fresno) is more likely to be receptive to Moad's peculiar brand of theater, having sought it out.
But her experience in that classroom serves as a microcosm of the challenge that awaits festival organizers. Will Fresno, a city where many residents wear the badge "middle of the road" with pride, embrace an event that celebrates coarse edges and imaginative perspective?
Theatre J'Nerique director Marcel Nunis, the primary force behind Rogue, hopes so. "Even if we raise the awareness of local artists one-half notch, that's something. We just want to get a crowd that's never gone out to see anything local. . . . That would be a success."
Local artists' enthusiasm for the festival encouraged Nunis and others to expand even before Rogue's debut. The original plan called for 10 spots to be filled. Organizers wound up with 17 groups or solo acts and scheduled 50 performances over six days.
Nunis would love to see the festival expand over the next few years into a 10-day event with troupes from across North America and maybe a half-dozen venues presenting everything from film to visual art.
For its initial run, Rogue will live in the 200-seat Sanctuary Theatre and a smaller "cafe" down the hall. It will encompass theater, dance, comedy, storytelling and music. (You can find a full schedule online at www. roguefestival.com.)
Some of it isn't appropriate for children. But at least one act, Marc Blake's "Animals on Parade," has kids specifically in mind.
The festival is patterned after fringe festivals elsewhere, most notably in San Francisco. Nunis says there are only about five such events in the United States each year, with another 20 or so across Canada.
Admission to each performance will be paid separately, with nothing costing more than $5. Many cost as little as $2 to see.
Jaguar Bennett, a writer and comedian who's helping to organize the festival, says Rogue is a bargain. "Fresnans have this weird notion that theater is glamorous if it's somewhere else and weird if it's here. We have all the glamour and culture -- at half the price. We expect people will be highly entertained."
Performances are limited to an hour. All box office receipts will go directly to the artists.
Another unique thing about Rogue is that it is a nonjuried festival. Nunis says it's important not to let experts dictate what should get attention. Audience members will have the opportunity to vote for their favorites. The two most popular will be performed again March 15-16.
Nicolette Tempesta, who will direct "The Day They Shot John Lennon," says the time constraints are likely to focus each play on the actors and text.
"It's very basic, a black-box type of environment," Tempesta says. "The whole festival will be like that. There aren't going to be fancy props and sets and lighting."
Guitarist Blake Jones, whose Rogue performance will include playing the theramin, a little-known electronic instrument, believes this is a good thing. "In a nightclub, often the attention of the audience is split between the party atmosphere, friends and the entertainment. This is going to be more focused on the performer."
Jones hopes that doesn't dissuade people from giving Rogue a shot.
"We wouldn't want people to think it's snooty -- or that having fun is not allowed," Jones says. "Having fun is a big part of it.
"There's an energy in the room, a satisfaction and fun one has in a live situation that's amplified in the same way that when you see a live football game, it's a lot more exciting than when you watch it on TV."
Tempesta also uses a television metaphor to describe the potential of Rogue.
"People are getting better entertainment these days with cable, as opposed to network programming," she says. "As a theatrical experience, this is cable, a little more cutting edge, a little more risque."
The reporter can be reached at dmayhew@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6322.