THE first-ever Salisbury Fringe theatre festival is coming to venues across the city in October.

The event aims to bring together local writers with professional actors and directors to create “bite-sized”

plays to be performed in pubs and cafés in Salisbury.

Julian Demetriadi, managing director of marketing and public relations company CommunicationsPoint, came up with the idea while at the pub with fellow theatre writers.

The event is supported by Salisbury Playhouse and Salisbury Arts Centre and sponsored by The Urmson- Burnett Gallery, Boston Tea Party and The Old Mill at Harnham.

“You won’t see any plays you have seen before, you won’t get ornate costumes or fancy sets. You will experience short, snappy dialogue, fastpaced storytelling and stripped back production,” said Demetriadi.

“We want to make you laugh, to cry, to feel connected to our stories, but most of all to leave you hungry for more.”

To introduce Salisbury Fringe 2013, an opening 3D writing workshop was held at Salisbury Arts Centre.

The focal point of the evening was sculptor Charlotte Moreton’s bird and animal sculptures.

The workshop was run by tutor and scriptwriter Angela Street, of Scriptwriter’s Doo Dah.Writers were invited to take part in a number of exercises to inspire them to write short plays based on Moreton’s sculptures, and they went away to write their pieces, which will be submitted by the beginning of September.

The best play will be performed by professional actors at The Old Mill.

The event will see performances and workshops taking place at various venues in the city on October 5 and 6, and in the week before there will be two open mic nights held in Salisbury pubs.

n For more information, visit salis buryfringe.org or search Salisbury Fringe on facebook.