Stagebiz.com got a chance to chat with Britt Lafield, the managing director of the Soho Playhouse, and we talked about the International Fringe Encore Festival. The festival opened the first week of January and will run through March 2.

Stagebiz: What exactly is the international fringe encore festival?

BL: The IFES is a “best of” the theater “fringe” circuit from around the world. Myself and our Artistic Director, Darren Lee Cole, go to the biggest theater festivals around the world and see dozens and dozens of shows at each one. Then pick the best of each festival and invite them to perform on our stage. We are truly bringing the best of the world’s theater to New York City.

Stagebiz: And how do you decide which productions to showcase?

BL: We are looking for new, different, and inventive theater. Ways of telling a story that we haven’t seen before. Or perhaps performances that are truly moving and touching that speak to the human experience. These productions are outside of the commercial theater scene, usually developed and produced by the artist themselves. So, they aren’t compromising with producers or designers. They are usually their own producers and designers and are just trying to put their artistic vision on stage They are the closest to the spirit of Off-Broadway theater that is our mission to keep alive.

Stagebiz: How does this fit in with the overall mission of Soho Playhouse?

BL: As I just said, it is our mission to keep the spirit of Off-Broadway alive. To us that means having a place where artists can do something different or unusual. To be artists without the pressure of trying to please the most people with their work. We value their artistic expression and want to present the purest form of that on our stage. And we think with these shows we are offering the savvy New York audience something (or things) that they have never seen before. And that is saying something in this town.

Stagebiz: What are some of the more memorable shows you’ve already brought to us?

BL: Well, this is our 18^th year and with almost 20 different shows each year, we have had our share of memorable shows. Are they shows that went on national tours or are being made into films? Usually not, but if you saw them you probably remember Never Swim Alone from our first year in 2006, Krapp 39 (2008), some of PigPen Theater Company’s first productions (2010, 2011), 5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche (2012), or the amazing Bacon from last year.

Stagebiz: Have you seen a change in the kind of shows that you put on over the years?

BL: We always look for the most impressive pieces of work. What we have found is that there are usually multiple shows with themes or similarities in the work that speak to what we are going through as humans at the time. The series wasn’t always international. It starting off being the showcase for productions in the New York Fringe Festival. Then about 8 years ago we started to include productions from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and then we transformed the series into a truly international affair. And that certainly changed the scope of the work we present.

Stagebiz: Have the audiences changed? Either in composition or tastes?

BL: Our audience has always been very eclectic because the types of shows we present have been eclectic. The same people who go see BUTT KAPINSKI: A Film Noir (2018) were maybe not going to BEOWULF or WE NEED THIS MUSICAL TO STOP US FROM KILLING OURSELVES from that same year. But they could be. We hope they are. Go see things that maybe aren’t what you normally see, because we have done the vetting for you. All our shows are amazing! And it has been most important to us to keep the tickets affordable so you can go see more than one.

Stagebiz: What pitfalls are there in this kind of festival?

BL: The pitfalls are that we are presenting artists and companies that are performing in New York City for the first time. The audience doesn’t know them or their work, so they have to trust us. We have tried to present each show for a long enough run to be able to build work of mouth for the shows, because once people see them, they talk about them. And international artists don’t always understand that it is very tough to sell a ticket to a show in this city. That doesn’t reflect on the level of work being performed. It just reflects the plethora of offerings that New Yorkers have to choose from. Hopefully, interviews like this go a long way to letting people know about these incredible shows.

Stagebiz: Why do you think the festival has been such a success over the years?

BL: It’s been a success because of the quality of the work we present and the fact that people have taken notice and trust our judgement. We have built that trust and reputation over our 18 years. We hope that more people come to the series to see what we have to offer and start making it an annual part of their theater experience. We want people leaving our theater saying, “That was a damn good show!”

We usually do. Soho Playhouse is one of the gems of New York theatre.

For more info on the series readers can visit the IFES page on the Soho Playhouse website. The Soho Playhouse is located at 15 Vandam Street in Manhattan.