Fringe benefit

Friday was the official start of the biggest event of the year for a certain sub-section of theatre critics and theatregoers. I speak of course of the New York International Fringe Festival, a smorgasbord of performance-related things which officially kicked off Friday. My first Fringe show of approximately 15 (I keep adding and dropping, much like course shopping period in college) was yesterday and the thought of seeing all that theatre is still exciting -- if a little exhausting.

But I'll probably get a ton of reading done. Not during the shows, I mean, but while we're seated and waiting (I usually show up half an hour in advance), between shows on nights I'm covering more than one, and the inevitable post-work pre-show void. I won't have my laptop with me and I don't have a Blackberry, but I have a stack of books specifically marked for intra-Fringe consumption. It is suddenly clear to me why my parents always tried to get me books for long car trips: If I have a book, I can wait for eons.

If you are reading this and in the Fringe Festival, I salute you! It takes a terrific amount of time to get these shows up and audience sizes can be variable through no fault of your own. (And sometimes there are snakes like me hidden in them.) As for everyone else, I'll be in my seat, reading.