South Jersey gets weird: First annual N.J. Fringe Festival breaks out in Hammonton

Jim Donio feels theater in his bones, even if he's never delivered a dramatic monologue or sung in a musical.

"Not yet, at least," says Donio with a laugh.

A longtime Hammonton, N.J., entrepreneur in the produce-shipping business, Donio loves to show off his town as a destination point - and he also loves to present high-quality, adventurous theater. He has become the managing director of the Eagle Theatre - a historic, 100-year-old live theater space that closed in 1929 and reopened in 2009. It is now South Jersey's only year-round professional Equity theater.

With artistic directors Ted Wioncek III and Ed Corsi, Donio has created the the first annual New Jersey Fringe Festival. Running Friday through Sunday, it will feature about 15 different avant-garde productions, everything from a version of Punch and Judy to a version of Euripides' The Bacchae, at various venues all within walking distance of the Eagle, the festival's hub and box office.

"First, we're looking to promote Hammonton and its businesses," says Donio. But having a professional Equity theater is a big deal and a point of pride. The rest of the Eagle's 2016 season features one world-premier comedy (Kelly McCarthy's King of East Jabip, Sept. 9-Oct. 9) and a renovated, in-the-round Godspell (Nov. 4-Dec. 11).

On the Sunday before the Fringe, Wioncek says, "This New Jersey Fringe compliments our mission by cultivating an arena for outside artists to find their voice, brand their work, and share their talent with a new audience."

Why something as potentially bizarre as a Fringe Festival? "After having gotten the theater off the ground," Donio says, "the initial idea was to uplift South Jersey's access to art and culture - we can always use more access and attention."

Having attended and studied Fringe festivals in Philly and New York, Donio, Corsi, and Wioncek felt that a variety of theatrical productions and moods - encouraging folks to move throughout the township, sample beer and wine garden pop-ups, and check out interactive live street artists - would best show off the Eagle and its surrounding area.

"Everything is going to have a very Fringe-y feeling to it, especially since we're partnering with friends such as Stockton University and the Noyes Museum of Art on the event," says Donio. It isn't bizarreness for bizarreness' sake - but the Eagle and friends do want to take risks and show that Hammonton can be as adventurous in its aesthetic choices as Philly or New York.

While New Jersey Fringe features the homegrown likes of Eagle Theatre's Innovations Factory (Noir) and hosts nationally known performance artists such as Pandora Scooter's Samurization, the boldest attractions come courtesy of Philadelphia.

"I have been to a few shows at the Eagle, and their audience is very hungry for theater and also very new to it," says Philadelphia theater vet Amanda Schoonover. Her silent-film-based comedy The It Girl, created with fellow Philadelphians Brenna Geffers and Anthony Crosby, will be performed, complete with elements of clowning, boxing, tap-dance, and ballroom dance.

Schoonover says the spirit of New Jersey Fringe "hearkens back to what the original Philadelphia Fringe used to be, with a three-day festival packed with events at an affordable price. Remember those days?"

Then there's the 10th anniversary of Philly's Tribe of Fools athletic, propulsive fight-movement comedy Antihero. It will play at New Jersey Fringe and then appear in Philly's FringeArts Festival come September at the Painted Bride. "Ed Corsi from N.J. Fringe reached out and asked, and Antihero's set," says Terry Brennan of Tribe. "It is designed by our lead actor, Peter Smith, who is also the tech director at the Eagle."

Tribe of Fools is updating Antihero and its relevant themes - "violence, alienation and other-ing people," Brennan says, "lots of other-ing in America now, lots of polarization" - and creating new fight scenes and more, "just to keep everything fresh." Since Tribe of Fools is building toward a tour of the region and country soon, doing New Jersey Fringe seemed like "a good way to see (1) if we're any good at traveling and performing; and (2) if people outside of Philly like us."

Brennan says that so far New Jersey Fringe, "as pure as you can get - if you're running a fringe festival," is easier for artists to navigate than Philly Fringe was years ago. "They hooked us up with a venue and are handling a lot of the administration stuff," he says. "We just have to show up, put our set together, and do our show. That's a dream come true. I love doing Philly Fringe every year, but I'm surprised at how much leg work the Eagle is doing as a producer. It really allows us to focus on the work."

The first annual New Jersey Fringe Festival takes place Friday through Sunday in Hammonton, N.J.. All performances within walking distance of the Eagle Theatre hub and box office, 208 Vine St. Single-day passes: Friday, $20; Saturday, $25; Sunday, $20. All-access weekend pass: $40. Information: 609-704-5012, jerseyfringe.com