The festival, which includes more than 50 performances, will feature
theatre, music, dance, performance art, puppetry, spoken word and
storytelling. The Rogue Festival, which took nine months to organize, is an
entire world of cultural experience in one venue, a smorgasbord of
entertainment where you can see as much or as little as you like.

"The idea was hatched after I went to the Fringe Festival in San Francisco. This is modeled after that theater festival," says Marcel Nunis, artistic managing director of Theatre J'nerique, which is sponsoring the festival. "We named it the Rogue because, in the 1950s, rogue theater groups toured Scotland. They were plays that couldn't get into mainstream festivals. It was basically guerilla theater," he explains. "We realized there is enough talent in the local area, and, now, we will see if there is an audience."

The Rogue Performance Festival will take place in two venues. On the Rogue Main Stage, seven independent theater companies will present plays, offering audiences a choice of three to seven plays to see in a single day. There will be simultaneous performances in The Rogue Café, a relaxing cabaret where the audience can enjoy drinks and other refreshments while seeing music, dance, performance art and storytelling.

All of the actors are local community members and the festival is designed to showcase independent theatre. Every performance at The Rogue is by an independent theatre company or individual artist. The Rogue merely provides a stage where any artist can present the work he or she desires.

All of the festival's box office receipts go directly to the artists and ticket prices for each performance will cost no more than $5 per performance.

The Rogue is a non-juried festival. Rogue Festival organizers believe that
the audience is the best judge of quality theatre, so those who attend will
have the opportunity to vote for their favorite plays, and, in addition to
the regular festival, the two plays chosen by the audience will be held over for a special "Best of the Fest" presentation on March 15 & 16.

A special reception to inaugurate The Rogue Performance Festival will be
held on Thursday, February 28 at 6 p.m. at the Sanctuary Stage Theater, 336 Calaveras St., Fresno, CA 93721. The press is invited to attend.
Nunis says plans for next year's festival are already underway. "We want to expand the festival so that it show cases performing arts and visual arts of all kinds," he says. "We want to network with other arts organizations in the future. We are hoping to get national and international groups in Fresno for the next festival."