Q&A with KC Fringe performing artist, Rebecca Kling, on her Home Stay Haven in North Hyde Park

by Julia Smith

KC Fringe Festival has provided home stays for visiting artists since the beginning of the festival in 2004. In 2010, a formal billeting program was introduced based on successful programs in Orlando, Chicago, and Cincinnati, and matched 24 artists with 13 hosts. In 2012, the KC Fringe match home stays for 23 groups including 115 artists. Visiting artists this year by state include Nebraska (5), Illinois (5), Minnesota (2), California (2), New York (1), Virginia (1), Alaska/California (1), South Carolina (1), and Massachusetts (1). 


I checked in with returning artist, Rebecca Kling, from Chicago, IL to see how she liked her home stay and found her not just raving about but repeating the experience.

JS: Who did you stay with?
RK: I stayed with a married couple, Brooke and Chris, who live in what Google Maps says is the North Hyde Park neighborhood of Kansas City.

JS: Where did you sleep?
RK: Brooke and Chris have a beautiful turn-of-the-century house that they're slowly restoring. I was fortunate enough to stay on the third floor, which Brooke uses as an office but which has a private area with a pullout bed, a bathroom, and - blissfully - air conditioning. Being on the third floor, it got hot during the days (last summer was the week of 90-100 degree weather), but it cooled down quite nicely at night. I had absolutely no complaints, and am staying with them again this year.

JS: Were you compatible? Any funny or touching experiences during your home stay?
RK: Very much so! I brag that Brooke asked me when I was going to arrive and whether I had any eating restrictions, and she had a vegetarian dinner waiting for me when I showed up at her house. I loved hanging out with Brooke, Chris, and their roommate for dinner, in their living room after a long day, out on their porch, and so on. Brooke was particularly proud of the house's giant clawfoot tub on the top floor, and she convinced me to give it a try. A huge bathtub of perfect water, lit candles, and a record playing in the background? Fringe Festival bliss.

JS: Could you navigate the city? How did it enhance your performance?
RK: Brooke and Chris were really helpful in giving me tips on how to get back and forth from the various Fringe theatres, good places to eat, and so on. It was also really lovely just having a 'home base' where I could spread out my stuff, use a real kitchen, or plop down on a couch to decompress. I think I was much more sane for staying with Brooke and Chris than I would have been at a hostel or whatnot.

JS: How much can an artist save by staying in a home?
RK: 've lucked out on my Fringe housing situations so far, so have yet to pay for billeting beyond taking my hosts out for dinner and buying them a bottle of wine. But, for a festival lasting two weekends, 10+ days of housing would add up! Even at a discount hostel - where I would probably not be eager to set up camp for a week and a half - you're still looking at at least three or four hundred dollars.

JS: What advice would you give an artist or someone considering the program?
RK: The biggest piece of advice is be nice! Someone is opening their home to you, so try and be the best house guest that you can. I always offer to take my hosts out for brunch or dinner, and bring a (cheap...) bottle of wine the day I show up.

Beyond that, ask questions. What do you need to bring? Do they have towels? Bedding? Can you use their kitchen? Can you unpack your things a little bit? Do they have animals? Do they have AC? Beyond that, map out your venue and your housing. If you have a car, will you need to drive to and from your housing? What will parking be like? Do your hosts have any advice on where to eat? What neighborhoods to flyer and check out? What neighborhoods to really avoid? All that jazz.

JS: If it helps, I have the other perspective from a couple new to KC who opened their home to a performance group of four nineteen year olds. They didn't see many shows but stayed home, watched tv, surfed the internet, and slept in (on the futon in their living room) until 11 a.m. each morning. The couple loved the experience but thought it was amusing that they saw more of the Fringe than their visiting artists. 
RK: Well, I don't think sleeping in is incompatible with Fringing... If I'm out at Fringe Central or hanging out with other artists until 3AM, hell yeah I'm going to sleep until noon! But them I'm going to go work my butt off promoting my show. Being successful at a Fringe Festival isn't like a 9-5 job, but it's absolutely a full days work, every day.

More broadly, I think one of the best things about being a Fringe artist is seeing shows. I don't understand the artists who show up at a theatre an hour before their show, do the show, and go back to their housing. See other things! Promote your show! I was out every day putting up posters, and out every night handing out postcards. I can think of people who specifically came to my show because they said they saw me out so often, and wanted to see what I was working so hard to promote. A good housing situation can be a springboard into feeling more comfortable getting out into the local Fringe community.

If you're interested in opening your home to an artist, fill out an application on the Host an Artist page on our website. Each Host will receive a VIP Pass to the KC Fringe Festival, allowing free admission to all performances during the festival. For more information, contact Billeting Coordinator, Joseph Stryka, at josephstryka@kcfringe.org or (816) 678-8535.

Click here to find out more about Rebecca's show, "Storm Beneath Her Skin", plus show dates and times.