Putting out fires

Today’s #Bloganuary prompt is, “How are you brave?”

Personally speaking, I’m not that brave. If a building is on fire, the most I’ll do is call 911. Firefighters rush into burning buildings. These heroes repeatedly risk their own lives to save people and pets they don’t even know. Not me. Fire scares me. I don’t even like blowing out birthday candles.

But when it comes to theatre and poetry, I’m brave. I’m present, prepared and ready. I’m creative, trained and dependable. I’m not a firefighter but I assure you, as a producer, I put out all kinds of (metaphorical) fires.

The pandemic robbed us of live in-person performances. Zoom replaced *all* of my in-person gigs for more than a year and I’m still recovering from all the screen time. If I never Zoom again, it will still be too soon!

As such, I’m more committed than ever to produce free outdoor events that feature theatre, music, dance, performance art, poetry and spoken word.

Last summer’s fringe festival was a success. So was our poetry caroling event.

We’re building something unique and special and it takes courage from all of us. Whether you’re onstage, behind the scenes, in the audience or one of our media partners, we at the Rockford Fringe applaud your bravery and support.

Thanks for reading. See you at the Rockford Fringe. -Connie