by Courtenay Nearburg

What does one say about five weeks of continuous theatre? Well, we couldn't get to every performance, but damn! Sure wish we could have! FronteraFest '97 lives up to its reviews as "THE alternative theatre event of the year" (Austin-American Statesman, FronteraFest '96), with cutting edge performances and challenging new work by Frontera Company players and local amateur artists.

FronteraFest is set up to showcase new and developing works in a unique format that has four or five short pieces on each nightly bill, from which five are selected by community panelists to reappear at the end of the week in a Best of the Week performance on Saturday nights. The fifth and final week of the festival is devoted to those pieces selected as Best of the Fest, with Thursday night given up for the Wild Card Night, a selection made by the producers of FronteraFest, pieces not chosen for Best of the Fest but that the producers want to see again.

FronteraFest '97 featured poetry readings, Late Night Open Jam Sessions (for any and every body to get up and perform anything), dance performances, monologues, scenes, and short plays. Some of the more delightful pieces were the most innocently wrought, without staging and costume, just a slightly nervous performer taking their first baby steps into the spotlight. Other performances were brilliantly designed and directed, including selections from FronteraFest's featured artists, including Laurie Carlos (Minneapolis), Amparo Garcia (Houston), Mauricio Cordero (Boston), and Austinites Daniel Alexander Jones and Jason Phelps.

The featured artists held workshops and seminars throughout the FronteraFest, and there were also special performances held at local residences through a new program called "Mi Casa es Su Teatro." Frontera@Hyde Park has established itself as the premiere company producing new works in Austin through this festival. Jason Phelps' movement piece Aria Inertia premiered in the festival, and will be seen once a month throughout the year as it develops. FronteraFest moves into the vanguard of new theatre as it promotes new works, particularly interdisciplinary pieces incorporating spoken word, expressive movement and dance into theatre.

Some highlights of the nights we were able to attend: Aimee McCormick's shocking work, Major, a bloody tortured vision into the life of a child living with a father suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome after Vietnam; T.J. Gonzales' Under South Texas, a monologue on a meteorologist's return to his hometown and the memories of his brother's death; Laurie Carlos' The Cooking Show and How the Monkey Dances, a delightful smorgasbord of poetry, song and dance with three-bean salad on the side; and director Eric Case's rendition of John Patrick Shanley's Missing Marissa, a powerful and humorous scene between two jilted lovers of the mysterious Marissa.

FronteraFest '97 well deserves all the raves it has earned, delivering non-stop theatrical delight every evening for what seemed like a very short five weeks. The goal of the producers is to expand the festival into a city-wide, multi-venue event over the next few years. We look forward to the opportunity to see this quality entertainment shared on a wider scale.