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September 12-18, 2002 art Fringe, Interrupted
A Fringe hoax causes a stir at this year's festival. The Philadelphia Fringe Festival has long featured artists pushing the tolerance levels of their audiences -- whether “surprising” passersby with impromptu theater or exposing themselves (literally and figuratively) to unsuspecting Fringe-goers. The general attitude has always been “it’s Fringe … anything goes.” Well, apparently not anything. One Fringe show this year had other Fringe artists up in arms. Turns out the story behind this act is even more interesting than the brouhaha it created. The description in the Fringe guide, under the Unfiltered (self-produced) section, is cryptic. A company called Apathetic Theatre Company presents a show called "The Ruiners." The description warns, "Fringe artists beware!!! Keep your eyes and ears open. Tighten your security. And be prepared. Members of the A.T.C. will enter with your audience, and when you least expect it, ruin your performance! Try to break a leg and have a great show, just try!" Then there were the posters. Appearing at the Fringe box office and around the city, the fliers featured a group of people labeled "The Ruiners" with blacked out faces flipping off the camera. Scrawled across the bottom of the poster in black marker is a Latin phrase translated as "It is art to conceal art." With only a few days left in the festival, no performance has been "ruined," but the guidebook and posters caused quite a stir among the artists, who called Fringe program director Deborah Block to complain. Block says The Ruiners was "probably the most asked-about show from the artists. I got a huge reaction, the majority of them were [fearful], many of them really wanted to understand what was going on with it. ... With the best of intentions the artists were trying to figure out why someone would come [ruin a show]." Block estimates that about 20 people have called her over the past two weeks to complain about The Ruiners. Well, the artists of Philadelphia can relax -- The Ruiners is a hoax, perpetrated by artist Michael Triolo. Until now, as far as those involved can tell, only Triolo, Block, Fringe producing director Nick Stuccio and Block's assistant Lee Etzold knew of the hoax, an amazing feat considering the buzz generated by the threat of shows being disrupted. There was never any intention of actually ruining a show, and even Block's suggestion that Triolo and co. "ruin" an evening at the Cabaret was rejected. So why did Triolo do it? What's the point of agitating your fellow artists during a festival that's supposed to be about the community of artists coming together? The explanation has its roots in last year's festival. In the 2001 fest, Triolo presented an Unfiltered visual art piece called "Brickclub." Triolo placed 100 painted bricks on street corners around the city, labeled with an address. Triolo hoped that people would come together to bring him the bricks so that he could then construct a sculpture out of them. Last year's City Paper preview coverage of Fringe included a mention of Brickclub as an event that looked promising. A few days after that, Triolo received a postcard from another Fringe show (he declines to say which one) with a handwritten message on the back: "You'll never know how lucky and undeserving you are." Triolo was shocked. "I thought it was ridiculous that this was being viewed as some sort of competition," he says. "Like any artist I wanted exposure, so I did Brickclub hoping to get a gallery's attention, and just as a means to have fun or make a name for myself. But when the City Paper picked me as a Fringe Pick, I was more shocked than anyone." After that experience last year, Triolo was disheartened by what he calls the "backstabby-ness" of the festival. He and a friend were talking and they ended up "joking about how funny it would be to stand outside [of a show] and say it was canceled." From that joke, The Ruiners was born. Triolo says his mission was simple: “We thought we would give all of the Fringe shows a common enemy” in the hopes of eliminating competition between artists. From the beginning Triolo decided that he did not want to actually do anything, thus the name “Apathetic Theatre Company.” Triolo brought his guidebook description (it costs $75 for an Unfiltered entry in the guide) to Block and took her aside to let her in on the truth. Block agreed to go along with the hoax, telling only Stuccio and Etzold. When artists called, she says she never lied, she just didn’t reveal the entire truth. “I told them it’s an Unfiltered show and our philosophy is such that I won’t censor [any show], but as program director my job is also to protect the integrity of the shows.” She sometimes molded her story to fit the individual artists. For those performing outside of Old City, the festival’s center, she told them that if The Ruiners were going to create a stir, they would do it in Old City where it would be the most visible. One irate artist asked Block to sign a contract promising that The Ruiners wouldn’t come to a specific show. Another artist called and said she wanted The Ruiners to come to her show. Triolo said he heard thirdhand from some smaller companies who were convinced that The Ruiners would target them and leave the big-name shows alone. “I’m not entirely sure that his intention came through to the artists,” Block says. But, she adds, “If his only goal was to pit the group against one, he accomplished that goal.” Aside from that aim, Triolo says his hope was that The Ruiners would prove that “a) you shouldn’t believe everything you read and b) we’re all in the arts and we should be supportive of each other.” The implications of putting forth any notion that challenges the “security” of Fringe shows at this particular time is not lost on Triolo, either. “With everyone being so paranoid about security and terrorism, I think it played into it on a subliminal level.” Triolo works on sets as his day job, and through that work has made contacts with many local theaters. His studio is in the same building as Brat Productions and Pig Iron Theatre Co., and he seems genuinely concerned that his hoax may have offended the local theater and dance community. Yet Triolo is unapologetic about the possiblity of making a name for himself through his stunt. “I hope someone wants to take note and see my real work,” he says. Triolo has had his work exhibited at the Painted Bride and as part of Fictitious Theatre Co.’s Philly Blunts theater festival, and last year he produced the “Oddball Art Show,” which he describes as an “art rave” -- the fliers had a phone number which you had to call for directions to the not-quite-legal exhibition. So, with a few days of Fringe to go, everyone can rest easy with the knowledge that no one was ever in danger of being “ruined.” Triolo says he is relieved to finally come clean, that he’s amazed it didn’t leak sooner and that he definitely owes Deborah Block a drink. And, of course, he leaves open the possibility that this isn’t the last time Fringe artists could be duped. With a laugh he says, “Just wait ’til next year…” 
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